Very Clinical: Changing Our Minds on Business

[00:00:01] This is a production of The Very Dental Podcast Network.

[00:00:04] Welcome to The Very Clinical Podcast.

[00:00:18] In about the time it takes to do an MO on three,

[00:00:21] we will entertain and amaze you with tips and tricks on regular daily dentistry.

[00:00:26] Here's Kevin and Zach.

[00:00:28] What is up, Very Clinical listeners?

[00:00:30] Welcome back to yet another episode.

[00:00:32] This is Zach Miners coming from Kansas City, Missouri

[00:00:35] with me as always, my trusty co-host, Dr. Kevin Hare-Fryer.

[00:00:39] Kevin, what's up, my man?

[00:00:41] Hi, Zach. Who's our guest today?

[00:00:43] Alan Mead. Repeat from last week.

[00:00:46] From Michigan?

[00:00:47] Michigan.

[00:00:48] It's true.

[00:00:49] Say hello, Alan.

[00:00:51] Hello, Alan.

[00:00:52] So this is maybe a little premature, as they say, but summer is around the corner, correct?

[00:01:00] It's June when this podcast is being released.

[00:01:02] It is, and it's been very summery around here just lately.

[00:01:06] It's been very nice.

[00:01:07] Instead of our bit today is, what did you do last summer?

[00:01:11] It's, what are you going to do this summer?

[00:01:13] So Zach, what are you going to do this summer?

[00:01:15] Okay.

[00:01:16] So if this is coming out June 4th, which I did the math, I think that's right,

[00:01:20] I will be in the Grand Canyon.

[00:01:21] I'm taking the family.

[00:01:23] We're flying to Phoenix.

[00:01:24] We're going through Sedona.

[00:01:26] We're going to see the south end of the Grand Canyon.

[00:01:28] Love it.

[00:01:29] And we're going to stay in one of those.

[00:01:30] You're going to Sedona?

[00:01:31] Yeah, we're going to go to Sedona.

[00:01:32] Oh, jelly.

[00:01:34] And we're going to stay in one of the, I think I've stayed at this hotel before.

[00:01:38] I think at one of those Spear things when I was with you, Alan,

[00:01:42] one of those Phoenix places with the pool pools.

[00:01:44] Oh, the Princess?

[00:01:45] Yeah, like a resort?

[00:01:46] I think so.

[00:01:47] Oh, the Princess?

[00:01:48] I've stayed there once.

[00:01:49] It's a place that's got a lazy river and a bunch of pools.

[00:01:52] So we're doing like, it's a six day thing.

[00:01:53] A couple days here, a couple days there.

[00:01:56] And I'm looking forward to it.

[00:01:57] It's a new experience for the kids.

[00:01:59] We've only done the beach and skiing so far, so they get to see something new.

[00:02:03] So how much time will you be at the Grand Canyon?

[00:02:06] Two days.

[00:02:07] Are you going to ride a mule?

[00:02:09] I am not going to ride a mule because kids could not ride said mule.

[00:02:13] All right.

[00:02:14] I'm just curious because it's a mule.

[00:02:16] How would you have responded if I would have said yes?

[00:02:19] I would have said, a mule is also an ass.

[00:02:24] I was going to make some sort of joke, but since you're not riding it, that's cool.

[00:02:29] I'm out of the mule thing.

[00:02:30] All right, Alan, what are you doing?

[00:02:31] What do you got going?

[00:02:33] Okay, so I think we got to get down to Indianapolis to go to the zoo.

[00:02:40] We probably will go to the Toledo Zoo too because we like that stuff.

[00:02:44] We're going to do a little traveling.

[00:02:49] We're going to go up north.

[00:02:50] I'm going to ride my bike as much as possible.

[00:02:52] We have fair in August.

[00:02:57] Interestingly, I think this year there will be no waterfowl or chickens.

[00:03:02] So the ducks that we've been working on all year for fair, I don't think are going to get to go to fair because of the avian flu thing.

[00:03:09] Our summers are always really planned out, and I already feel like it's slipping away from me already.

[00:03:15] We don't have a trip other than we're going to go up north for the 4th of July because we always do.

[00:03:21] But I mean, I don't know.

[00:03:23] I'm hoping to ride as much as I can.

[00:03:25] I'm going to find some new places, a little further away to ride.

[00:03:28] I've been experimenting with that.

[00:03:30] Jealous, man.

[00:03:31] That's awesome.

[00:03:32] Good exercise.

[00:03:33] I'm going to be riding that mountain bike like crazy.

[00:03:34] I have been.

[00:03:35] I mean, I got a new bike in the late fall, and I didn't really use it over the winter at all.

[00:03:40] It is pimped to the max.

[00:03:42] I'm so excited.

[00:03:43] How many bikes do you have, bro?

[00:03:44] Don't ask.

[00:03:45] It's probably, I got five.

[00:03:49] Holy smoke.

[00:03:51] But Sean rides one.

[00:03:53] Jacob is going to be riding one.

[00:03:55] One of them is a gravel bike, and I've got a mountain bike that I don't need anymore.

[00:03:59] But I keep wondering if my sons are going to grow into them.

[00:04:02] I don't know.

[00:04:03] We'll see.

[00:04:04] I got a lot of bikes.

[00:04:05] I'm a hot mess.

[00:04:06] You're going to ride a bike, but are you going to ride a mule?

[00:04:10] I mean, I have the option, but I probably won't.

[00:04:14] He doesn't love being ridden.

[00:04:16] Let's just say that.

[00:04:17] Okay.

[00:04:18] Okay.

[00:04:19] Yeah.

[00:04:20] We have a miniature donkey.

[00:04:21] I understand that.

[00:04:22] I mean, he can be ridden.

[00:04:23] He doesn't like it.

[00:04:24] He can actually pull a cart too if you're-

[00:04:27] Oh, that's so cool.

[00:04:28] I like that.

[00:04:29] Yeah.

[00:04:30] A miniature donkey with a cart.

[00:04:31] Yeah, we got it all here in central Michigan.

[00:04:32] What are you doing, Kevin?

[00:04:33] I feel like I know your plans, but I think you've got some good ones.

[00:04:36] Let's hear it.

[00:04:37] We have a big trip planned to Croatia for two weeks.

[00:04:41] Awesome.

[00:04:42] So Missy's dad was born there, and it's always been his dream to have his daughters or one

[00:04:48] of his daughters go to see the homeland.

[00:04:51] So Missy and I and father-in-law, his wife and Charlie and his fiance are all going to

[00:04:58] Croatia.

[00:04:59] That's fantastic.

[00:05:00] And it's all been planned out by Missy's stepmom, and I am just along for the ride.

[00:05:07] I have no say in all of this.

[00:05:09] Oh, that's really cool.

[00:05:10] You do that?

[00:05:11] I don't have to do anything.

[00:05:12] You don't have to do the legwork?

[00:05:13] I just have to eat.

[00:05:15] Show up and eat.

[00:05:17] Follow everyone else.

[00:05:18] We were planning it over Christmas, and Dory was like, we can go here or we can go there.

[00:05:23] I'm like, you've been there five million times.

[00:05:26] Don't care.

[00:05:27] Whatever you say is great.

[00:05:28] Exactly.

[00:05:29] She'd show us these pictures on the computer of whatever the hotel or whatever the area.

[00:05:33] I'm like, looks amazing.

[00:05:34] Let's go there.

[00:05:35] Yeah.

[00:05:36] That is great.

[00:05:37] We're looking forward to that.

[00:05:39] Are you staying in that country the entire time?

[00:05:44] Yes.

[00:05:45] I guess we were going to go to Venice, but I don't think that's happening.

[00:05:49] Okay.

[00:05:50] I think that because of Charlie's flight, he may have to spend a day in Venice.

[00:05:55] Got it.

[00:05:56] That was all up in the air, but we're going to be 100% in Croatia.

[00:06:00] Is this new to you?

[00:06:01] Is this a new thing for you?

[00:06:02] Yeah.

[00:06:03] Last time I was in Europe was 1979 and did not go to Croatia.

[00:06:08] Okay.

[00:06:09] All right.

[00:06:10] Right on, man.

[00:06:11] That's super exciting.

[00:06:12] I don't think you could have gone to Croatia then actually, but whatever.

[00:06:14] That's another story.

[00:06:15] Is this a July trip or an August trip?

[00:06:19] It's last week of June, first week of July.

[00:06:23] Oh, nice.

[00:06:24] Right over the holiday.

[00:06:25] It'd be a holiday here.

[00:06:26] It will not be a holiday there.

[00:06:28] Yeah.

[00:06:29] Fourth of July in Croatia.

[00:06:30] There you go.

[00:06:31] Very cool.

[00:06:32] Sure, there'll be all sorts of celebrations and fireworks.

[00:06:34] Yeah.

[00:06:35] Uncle Sam.

[00:06:36] Just kidding.

[00:06:37] If you did not catch last week, we are doing a new concept series.

[00:06:43] Things we've changed our minds on.

[00:06:45] Last week we were talking clinical dentistry, and so this week we are

[00:06:49] delving into kind of the business-y staff, whatever you would call it,

[00:06:56] that side of the dental world.

[00:06:58] So, Alan, you're a guest.

[00:07:00] I have a feeling-

[00:07:02] You're in the guest of your own podcast.

[00:07:04] I have a feeling that I might be stealing Zach, so I'm going to put it out there.

[00:07:08] Uh-oh.

[00:07:09] Demographics are really important for where you would choose to practice.

[00:07:15] So here's the deal.

[00:07:16] Here's the deal.

[00:07:18] I practice where I grew up in mid-Michigan, and, I mean, I don't have regrets.

[00:07:25] I like where I live, and the cost of living is great and everything like that,

[00:07:28] but the reality is, is, like, we know people where the demographics are such

[00:07:32] that-okay, if you were a pediatric dentist in Saginaw,

[00:07:35] you could literally show up in any building, open your doors,

[00:07:38] and you'd be busy from the get-go.

[00:07:40] Maybe an oral surgeon too.

[00:07:42] General dentist, no.

[00:07:43] General dentist, I mean, you're a-but there are places in the world,

[00:07:47] whether they're rural places that just don't have a dentist at all,

[00:07:51] that need one, or places where there's limited licenses or all that stuff.

[00:07:57] Delaware.

[00:07:58] Let's just put it out there.

[00:07:59] Delaware.

[00:08:00] Mike Keller.

[00:08:01] We're talking about Keller here.

[00:08:03] Or how about Stroud, Oklahoma?

[00:08:05] I feel like Stroud, Oklahoma has a pretty good patient flow for the right dentist.

[00:08:09] Shout out to Brett Francis.

[00:08:10] Exactly.

[00:08:11] Here's my thing.

[00:08:12] I didn't do any of that research.

[00:08:14] I was just going to come home because it was home and that was that.

[00:08:17] I mean, I don't mind it here, but the story is you can set yourself up for success

[00:08:23] or maybe a little less heartbreak or something like that

[00:08:26] because demographics mean something.

[00:08:30] It's much better to try and go to a place where they really need you

[00:08:35] than to try and make success out of a place that's already got a lot of dentists

[00:08:40] and you're just going to be another one there.

[00:08:42] I mean, there's a lot of different variations on that theme,

[00:08:44] but I never paid that much attention to the demographics,

[00:08:49] but I think that if you have an option, because like I said,

[00:08:54] I came back and I was going to work at dad's office so I wasn't looking.

[00:08:57] But if you have an option, you need to know about that stuff.

[00:09:00] You really do.

[00:09:01] I mean, I know Zach has mentioned when you're talking about you can open your door

[00:09:06] and you've got more patients than you can possibly handle,

[00:09:09] I can't get my brain around that.

[00:09:11] I've never had that.

[00:09:12] No, it's just never been that way for me.

[00:09:14] Now, mind you, I have a patient population that I've had for a long time,

[00:09:17] but it's not like when you hear people talking about offices with,

[00:09:21] I've got eight new patients a day and I can't keep up.

[00:09:24] I'm like, what the hell are you even talking about?

[00:09:27] I just don't get it.

[00:09:28] But there are places like that.

[00:09:30] So you've got to pay attention to demographics if you're making the choice from

[00:09:34] any standpoint.

[00:09:35] I think that's important and I also think that it was not something that they

[00:09:40] talked very much about when I was in school.

[00:09:42] I have a retort, Alan, because I know your personal situation with your dad

[00:09:49] because I was obviously in the same kind of a boat.

[00:09:52] Let's just say you could get in the DeLorean,

[00:09:57] get up to 88 and go back to, what did you graduate?

[00:10:01] 98?

[00:10:02] 97.

[00:10:03] Okay, go back to 97.

[00:10:04] It was a good year.

[00:10:05] Gigawatts.

[00:10:06] Yeah, 1.21.

[00:10:07] 1.21, yeah.

[00:10:08] Okay, so you can choose to, I don't know,

[00:10:15] double, triple your income in Delaware, Stroud, Oklahoma.

[00:10:20] Name your place, but you're not anywhere near your family.

[00:10:22] Is that worth it?

[00:10:24] I mean, saying from where I am now, probably not.

[00:10:28] But I mean like the idea being your situation would be different.

[00:10:31] I met my wife here too.

[00:10:33] So I mean like that, but the bottom line is, I mean, I say this,

[00:10:38] I wouldn't change it now, but if I didn't have to,

[00:10:42] and of course I thought I was going to buy dad's practice.

[00:10:44] That was just kind of good.

[00:10:45] Sure.

[00:10:46] Well, I know you didn't, but you're close to your parents, right?

[00:10:48] Yeah, very close.

[00:10:49] You're not that far away.

[00:10:50] And my sister lives in town and my wife's family all lives here.

[00:10:54] You know, and they're all close.

[00:10:56] So I have family connections that a lot of people would just dream about,

[00:11:01] to be honest.

[00:11:02] Exactly.

[00:11:03] Like quite literally, I go to my parents' house multiple times a week.

[00:11:06] I talk to my mom and dad all the time.

[00:11:08] Shoot, my dad sometimes just drops into the office because he can.

[00:11:10] You know, so yeah, I mean, I have family there.

[00:11:15] All I'm saying is that if that's not the concern, I mean, there's a lot,

[00:11:21] let's just be honest.

[00:11:22] A lot of people that go to University of Michigan want to practice in Ann Arbor

[00:11:26] because that's, and I'm like, that's a hard way to do it.

[00:11:31] You know, there's a lot of dentists in Ann Arbor.

[00:11:33] Oh, also a giant dental school.

[00:11:35] So, you know, I mean, that's just a tougher market.

[00:11:38] So if you have some options, and I will say this a little bit,

[00:11:41] that there are places around me that are much, you know, it's a lot easier.

[00:11:46] There's rural places around here where you could show up and just freaking kill it.

[00:11:49] You could if you wanted to.

[00:11:51] That's not everyone's cup of tea, but I do think that it's worth looking at.

[00:11:55] So that's all I was going to say.

[00:11:57] Kevin, obviously you're doing extremely well in Cleveland,

[00:12:00] but you had to work your butt off to like learn advanced procedures,

[00:12:06] optimize all that.

[00:12:07] Whereas I feel like, you know, some of our friends that are in these demographic bombs

[00:12:14] where it's just amazing, I feel like they don't, they can kind of just,

[00:12:18] they don't have to do all that.

[00:12:19] I think you're right.

[00:12:20] They could do less.

[00:12:21] They could do less.

[00:12:22] Not that they have been, but they could do less.

[00:12:24] Be as successful probably.

[00:12:25] I would counter that with they could do, they could see less patients.

[00:12:31] Well, okay, there's no question they could do even better-er,

[00:12:35] but I'm just saying.

[00:12:36] But let's just say, let's just say comparing bread and butter to bread and butter.

[00:12:42] I feel like, I think Keller's not a big multi-specialty guy,

[00:12:45] and he's as busy as he'd ever want to be,

[00:12:48] and I think his demographics have a lot to do with that.

[00:12:50] You got Fran, he's doing all kinds of high-end stuff,

[00:12:54] but he's got an associate that's cranking out the bread and butter also.

[00:12:57] And that guy who's just doing the bread and butter is making more money than most people.

[00:13:04] Most dental dentists, pricing is.

[00:13:07] So I mean, that's the point.

[00:13:09] The demographics can make a big difference if it comes to that,

[00:13:12] and I never really knew that.

[00:13:14] I didn't really know that when I was, you know, I just did what I did kind of thing.

[00:13:18] So Kevin, obviously you had ties to Cleveland,

[00:13:21] but you know, Cleveland's probably a relatively competitive market.

[00:13:24] If you could go back and pick a demographically easy place to be successful

[00:13:32] versus stay in your hometown, what would you do?

[00:13:36] I can't even ponder this question.

[00:13:40] There was no doubt that I was going to end up back here.

[00:13:47] Okay, see that's the same thing for me.

[00:13:48] I was going to end up somewhere in Ohio at least.

[00:13:51] Okay, fair enough.

[00:13:52] My choice was here or Springfield, Ohio, which was never really an interchange.

[00:14:02] Not a real option.

[00:14:03] Okay.

[00:14:04] All right, Kevin, you're up next.

[00:14:06] What's your thing you've changed your mind on with regards to running a business?

[00:14:15] So I wish I knew or I wish I would have listened to people

[00:14:25] who were espousing block scheduling and priority scheduling.

[00:14:29] I see my practice as a game that I want to optimize every day.

[00:14:36] Tetris.

[00:14:37] It is a game that I'm playing.

[00:14:41] The way I can put the game in my favor is by allotting time spots in the schedule.

[00:14:50] We've talked about this before.

[00:14:51] There's another podcast about this, but it makes everything easier.

[00:14:56] The schedule becomes plug and play to the front desk.

[00:14:59] Oh, you need a crown?

[00:15:00] This is a crown block.

[00:15:01] We put it in that block.

[00:15:03] It allows me to see less patients and do more.

[00:15:09] So, yeah, that is to me, that's the key to the whole game.

[00:15:15] Right on.

[00:15:17] I love it.

[00:15:18] Love it.

[00:15:19] So here's mine.

[00:15:23] This was I had a I talked to Alan a little bit about this offline a few weeks ago.

[00:15:31] It's maybe slightly controversial from a clinical perspective,

[00:15:35] but I'm just going to go with it here.

[00:15:37] So one of the decisions I've that I've changed my mind or one of the things I've done differently business wise,

[00:15:43] and it's kind of a business and clinical meld.

[00:15:46] But like in this era where inflation took off and all my employees got more expensive and all my supplies got more expensive and all the insurance reimbursements.

[00:15:57] And you can always say, oh, you just got to drop the insurances.

[00:15:59] But that's that's a different topic.

[00:16:02] Those stayed flat.

[00:16:04] I started to realize that I needed to do things differently.

[00:16:10] So I wasn't running into procedures and blocks that were straight up losing me money.

[00:16:17] And so all of a sudden, you know, it was like I was looking on like on recall last week at a at a beautiful MOL composite I'd done on 19 from like 10 years ago.

[00:16:30] And it's like doing really well.

[00:16:32] And I saw like a crown patch, like on the same person.

[00:16:35] And I thought to myself, I won't do that anymore because that MOL, that 45 minutes I spent on that, that is a net loss.

[00:16:48] And so on one hand, I'm not choosing the less expensive procedure for the person, but I'm just not going to I'm not going to do that and lose money.

[00:17:00] And are that same thing with those difficult, not like a slam dunk little hole in a crown on the buckle where you can fill it in two seconds?

[00:17:07] I'll still do that. But if it's more complicated than that, I'm replacing it.

[00:17:12] And so I've just made the decision for myself that I'm going to put myself in less situations where I'm doing an appointment that is basically like a break even to loss, loss leader at best.

[00:17:28] Same thing with like what Kevin talks about with like fillings of like trying to schedule them with a hygiene appointment or something like that so that the hygienist can numb it and stuff.

[00:17:39] I'm trying to put myself in more favorable situations where I'm not doing a single filling.

[00:17:45] I'll do that if it's indicated, of course. I'm not saying I won't do it.

[00:17:48] I'm just saying I'm trying to put myself in better situations to actually run a profitable business for myself versus I think a lot of bad decisions I could make maybe at a better time when the procedure was a little more profitable, you know.

[00:18:03] So I've made a few decisions like that for what it's worth.

[00:18:08] You just jogged a couple thoughts for me.

[00:18:16] What you're really talking about is productivity in your schedule.

[00:18:24] Yes, that is for sure.

[00:18:27] And this is not going to be one of mine because I have another one, but I think we are misled for decades that we have to have this recall practice that your practice is successful if 90% of your people or whatever keep coming back every six months.

[00:18:47] But what that leads to is a practice full of these recall patients that you did all that dentistry on.

[00:18:54] What you really need are new patients and a healthy load of them.

[00:18:58] So if you block for that, like we have new patient blocks, you are eliminating those spaces in hygiene that would have been taken up by relatively unproductive recall with hygienist wages that are really high where reimbursement doesn't change at all versus, you know,

[00:19:22] I had a new patient that came in today that needed $7,000 worth of work.

[00:19:29] This is much more valuable to me and our practice than if that would have been, we schedule 90 minutes for a new patient, if that would have been two recalls or whatever.

[00:19:40] That's what I'm talking about looking at the game differently.

[00:19:45] All of those gurus that were telling us, that's all bull crap.

[00:19:48] You need new patients and you need to allot time for them.

[00:19:52] And I'm sorry, Mrs. Jones, if we can't see you in exactly six months, we'll still get to you.

[00:19:58] And by the way, you're relatively healthy anyway.

[00:20:01] So who cares?

[00:20:02] Sure.

[00:20:03] It took a long time for me to get to that.

[00:20:05] Yes.

[00:20:06] But I mean, along those lines, true.

[00:20:08] I as every time I check someone when I go into the room and I realize that there's a 0% chance that's going to be any Mike man, this is this is an unprofitable thing here.

[00:20:20] And there's this is an there's another unprofitable thing there.

[00:20:23] It's just and I've just you have I felt like I've been a little bit forced to try to change some of those things.

[00:20:30] So I don't know.

[00:20:31] Alan, your thoughts?

[00:20:32] All right.

[00:20:33] So I had a couple I was thinking of in this one is interesting to me and I okay.

[00:20:40] So I hate when Taroon and maybe Kevin talks about creating urgency in patients, but I did it because I was tired.

[00:20:55] I went from four days to three days, four days, four days with eight hours and then the seven hour day.

[00:21:01] So I think it's 32 hours clinical a week.

[00:21:05] I went to three days, three nine hour days.

[00:21:07] So I'm 27 hours.

[00:21:08] I'm more productive by a lot in three days than I am in four days.

[00:21:13] No kidding.

[00:21:14] I'm more productive by a lot.

[00:21:15] Guess what?

[00:21:16] It's harder to get an appointment with me.

[00:21:18] It's harder to get an appointment with hygiene.

[00:21:20] And so now I don't have as many people that cancel because it's much harder to get in or we just won't let them in.

[00:21:28] And that's I can't tell you the number of patients that will come in cranky about, oh, I can't believe you're on there.

[00:21:34] And you know what?

[00:21:35] That rolls off my back like nothing because I like three day weeks.

[00:21:38] I don't like how long the days are.

[00:21:41] I don't like the fact that I don't get as much sleep during the week as I used to.

[00:21:45] I really don't.

[00:21:46] But I'm working three tens, three nines, three nines.

[00:21:50] Yeah.

[00:21:52] And I'm more productive now than I ever was.

[00:21:55] That's great.

[00:21:56] On less hours.

[00:21:57] And my team loves it.

[00:21:59] I like it.

[00:22:00] There are times when I almost need more time.

[00:22:03] So I'll schedule, I can schedule bigger cases on an off day if I want to.

[00:22:08] I don't do it very often though.

[00:22:09] And the reality is I used to feel bad if I couldn't get someone in at X time within.

[00:22:15] I don't feel bad about that anymore.

[00:22:17] I just I don't know if that's just me getting older or.

[00:22:19] But I've and I have in doing so all of a sudden it's a little harder

[00:22:24] and a little worse for people that don't show or cancel

[00:22:27] because it's a lot harder to get in with us.

[00:22:29] And that has created urgency for them to keep appointments

[00:22:32] and to make appointments if they want to get this stuff done.

[00:22:35] And so it's.

[00:22:36] Also you can probably weed out some people.

[00:22:37] Yeah, yeah.

[00:22:38] That aren't.

[00:22:39] There are some people that have been like they literally are mad enough

[00:22:42] that we're only like I honestly think there's people saying

[00:22:45] that you only work three days a week.

[00:22:47] You're not a good person unless you're working out or something.

[00:22:49] I don't care.

[00:22:50] I don't care.

[00:22:51] People that work six days a week.

[00:22:52] Yeah, right in there.

[00:22:53] So they're like at this point I used to bug me in the beginning

[00:22:58] that when people give me a hard time now I just don't care at all.

[00:23:00] I don't care at all.

[00:23:01] It makes me not feel bad at all.

[00:23:03] I'm exhausted at the end of the day every day that I work.

[00:23:06] I'm whipped.

[00:23:07] I and I don't have as many people.

[00:23:11] I mean I'm busier now like I'm in the I'm busier now

[00:23:16] because I have more like the story is I don't feel like I've lost a ton of appointments.

[00:23:20] It's just like the ones that don't show up or the ones that are it's just we just have to be more efficient

[00:23:25] in the amount of time and I am I'm more productive.

[00:23:27] I'm doing you know I'm doing more dentistry in three days than it wasn't for

[00:23:30] and I heard people say that and I thought they were full of crap but but I actually am

[00:23:34] and I think that probably any practice that you have to get your mindset has to change a little bit more.

[00:23:39] You got to do more in that period of time,

[00:23:41] but you also patients start to realize I can't just like bail out on them at the last second.

[00:23:45] I'm not going to be able to get another appointment for a while.

[00:23:47] So we've created that urgency in patients to show up and to follow through.

[00:23:53] So I think that affected your recall department because that seems like the one area that would you know,

[00:24:00] that would be negatively affected by you know less less hours.

[00:24:05] Oh yeah.

[00:24:06] Well people don't people don't cancel their hygiene appointments like if they don't show up.

[00:24:10] They're not getting in again.

[00:24:11] I mean it's going to be like I will say that we are booked way out in hygiene

[00:24:15] and what happens is we'll schedule a day or two with someone extra or honestly,

[00:24:21] I mean in a pinch I can throw someone in a second chair if we need to or whatever which has actually worked really well.

[00:24:26] But but all of a sudden people aren't missing hygiene appointments like they used to because they can't if they miss a hygiene appointment.

[00:24:32] There is not another spot for them for a while.

[00:24:34] So I believe that that is a really smart thing to do

[00:24:38] and you can even do it artificially and just make it harder for people to get if they don't if they you know,

[00:24:43] if they miss an appointment just make it a lot harder for them to get in.

[00:24:46] We did it by just not having as many hours available.

[00:24:48] But the reality is if you're smart and your front desk is keeping track,

[00:24:51] you could potentially do it without changing your hours at all.

[00:24:54] Just make it a lot harder or make them prepay if they don't show or whatever.

[00:24:58] But I that creating that urgency and making value appointments is a big deal.

[00:25:01] We never used to care about that.

[00:25:03] An appointment was an appointment, but it's the reality is I like this more and it's it has paid off.

[00:25:08] So I think that's worth there's ways you can do it without necessarily cutting your hours down.

[00:25:12] But I did cut my hours down and it's totally been worth it.

[00:25:15] Kevin, yes, you got a second one?

[00:25:18] Yeah, I really have two.

[00:25:19] I'm trying to decide which don't go for it.

[00:25:21] Take them both.

[00:25:22] You got them.

[00:25:23] So what one thing I definitely changed my mind on is the EFTA thing.

[00:25:28] Oh, yeah. That's a big thing.

[00:25:29] If it was 1999 or 2008 or whatever, I need to do all the fillings.

[00:25:36] There's no way someone I'm the dentist.

[00:25:39] I have to do all that stuff.

[00:25:42] And as time went on, like you just said, Zach, the fillings become less productive.

[00:25:52] And I've said this before on the podcast and I'll say it again, that the prep is the surgical part that I need to do.

[00:26:01] The filling is arts and crafts.

[00:26:03] Other people can be good at arts and crafts.

[00:26:07] Sure.

[00:26:08] And so I definitely changed my mind when I purchased the practice that I'm at now and move mine into it.

[00:26:18] It came with an EFTA and I was like, OK, whatever. We'll see.

[00:26:21] And then I think I prepped like a buckle of number 19 or something silly.

[00:26:28] And I just walked away and she filled it.

[00:26:30] And I was like, wait a minute.

[00:26:32] I have more time to do other things right now.

[00:26:37] And that's led to better conversations in hygiene and all that sort of stuff where my mind's not.

[00:26:44] I've got to get back to this patient and fill the stooth.

[00:26:48] So it definitely changed my mind.

[00:26:51] That's a huge change.

[00:26:53] For sure. That's a huge change.

[00:26:54] The other thing, though, and this circles back to the conversation we had last week about going to indirect earlier.

[00:27:00] You're not probably asking that EFTA to do some complex custom replacement filling or even very many like back to back MODs because you're moving those to directs.

[00:27:10] Right. But also they understand their the software better when they're designing their CEREC.

[00:27:17] Sure.

[00:27:18] So there's a better spatial relations of, you know, this cusp looks weird on the CEREC software versus this is how I used to mess with teeth and making.

[00:27:28] Yes.

[00:27:29] Doing restorations and all that.

[00:27:30] Yes.

[00:27:31] What's your other one? Because you're right.

[00:27:33] The other one's huge. That's big.

[00:27:35] So this is a terminism, but allowing the patients to say yes to the best.

[00:27:43] So what that means is that if I can offer ortho, if I can offer sleep, if I can offer implants and you come to me and you need a plethora of those things, I can ask you like, you know, old school co-diagnosis.

[00:28:03] Are you happy with your smile?

[00:28:06] And so instead of focusing on one tooth dentistry, which we still do.

[00:28:15] Sure.

[00:28:16] That's still a part of normal dental practice.

[00:28:20] But, you know, letting them say yes to the best or another way of putting that is restoring your tooth to look like a typodont, whatever that means.

[00:28:33] That has allowed our patients to be healthier and for us to be more productive and more profitable.

[00:28:44] So I've always got to keep that in the like, I don't want to judge people's wallets.

[00:28:49] I want to offer them the best.

[00:28:52] And then if they can't do the best, then let's do the next.

[00:28:55] You know, if we can't do the whole mouth, then let's do the quadrant.

[00:28:59] If we can't do the quadrant, then we'll just do the tooth.

[00:29:02] But if I never present that to them as a whole.

[00:29:05] 100 percent.

[00:29:06] Then I've.

[00:29:07] That's a whole treatment planning philosophy that it's worth doing.

[00:29:10] And it's a struggle for me to get there.

[00:29:12] But you're right.

[00:29:13] You're exactly right.

[00:29:15] It's also better.

[00:29:16] It's also great when you can offer the treatment too.

[00:29:19] Also, you do a good job of being offering.

[00:29:21] I think that's where and I don't have this set up well in my practice.

[00:29:25] But having that, you know, I know that 3D is all about that financial menu or the, you know, and or having payment options.

[00:29:33] I think also giving them that best and then having a pathway for them to afford said options.

[00:29:42] Yes.

[00:29:43] Because I mean, I present plenty of plans and one of my weaknesses and one of my failures is not having that very well hammered out.

[00:29:50] And so it's like, well, this is going to be this much.

[00:29:53] I don't have that much.

[00:29:54] I'll never have that much.

[00:29:55] You know?

[00:29:56] Yeah.

[00:29:57] So it's been.

[00:29:58] Those two things go hand in hand.

[00:30:00] They do go hand in hand.

[00:30:01] They do go hand in hand.

[00:30:03] Very good.

[00:30:04] Well, I think we're about up against it.

[00:30:06] I think we did it.

[00:30:07] Yeah.

[00:30:08] Yeah.

[00:30:09] We did it.

[00:30:11] Well, hey, we want to know what you've changed your mind on as you've been practicing.

[00:30:15] And the best place to do that would be at the very clinical Facebook page, right, Kevin?

[00:30:20] Yes.

[00:30:21] Still free.

[00:30:22] You still have it.

[00:30:23] You haven't executed the.

[00:30:25] If you want a blue check, it's going to cost you three dollars a month.

[00:30:28] My hero, Elon Musk, does that over at X.

[00:30:33] It's still free.

[00:30:34] Still free.

[00:30:35] All right.

[00:30:36] Alan, thanks for joining us again.

[00:30:37] Next time.

[00:30:39] We're going to do a little non dental.

[00:30:41] Things we've changed our mind on in life.

[00:30:44] It's intense.

[00:30:45] It's a lot.

[00:30:46] There's a lot of things there.

[00:30:47] Yeah.

[00:30:48] Thank you guys for listening.

[00:30:51] I already said about the very clinical Facebook page.

[00:30:53] I already did that.

[00:30:54] OK, so just see you next Tuesday.

[00:30:56] See ya.