This episode is all about clinical techniques, restorative materials, and procedures that didn't live up to the hype. Part of being a good pediatric dentist is trying new things. And sometimes these things don't always hold up as well as we would hope.

I asked listeners to write or call in and share some of their failures. I compiled a list of the 12 best ones, shared anonymously by our pediatric dental colleagues. This is a fun solo episode over a crisp beer to remind us that we all have failures, and the best thing we can do is learn from mistakes and move on.

Dr. Eric Vieth a pediatric dentist and owner of Sleepy Owl Dentistry in South Carolina. After completing his training in New York, Eric moved to South Carolina. He worked for years as the pediatric dentist doing big sedation cases for a large corporate DSO.

In 2020, he began branching out on his own to open three locations that offer EXCLUSIVELY IV sedation dentistry. We talk about how he structures his practice, building referal sources, and how he is able to provide a high level of care with this model.

A unique component of his sedation practice is that Dr. Veith offers same day consults, treatment planning, and sedation for his patients. We talk about some of the potential billing and insurance challenges associated with a sedation-only practice.

Dr. Kevin Kennedy is a pediatric dentist and practice owner from Clarksville, Tennessee. He fostered and adopted three kids during his pediatric residency before having biological children of his own. This experience really opened his eyes to the complexities and challenges of kids who have experienced loss, or as Kevin defines it "kids from hard places."

Dr. Kennedy shares his story and gives listeners some advice on how to care for these kids and communicate better with their parents.

Dr. Ann Bynum is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Holly Tree Pediatric Dentistry in Simpsonville, South Carolina. She has been in private practice pediatric dentistry for over 20 years, and maintains an active roll in the AAPD while also acting as a board examiner for the ABPD. She comes on the podcast to help us answer some long overdue listener questions and answers that have built up over the months. On this version of our Pedo Pearls Power Hour, we answer questions regarding:

- What's the best way to warranty restorative work that has failed?
- What metrics can you track that lets you know it's time to hire an associate?
- How soon in a new pediatric office should you start providing general anesthesia?
- How do you control the flow of Medicaid in your practice to keep it at a healthy level?

Any future questions, comments, or topics for discussion can be sent to cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com, or DM me on facebook or instagram Casey Goetz. 

McDonalds knows the cost of a sesame seed on every bun they sell, yet when you ask a dentist what their case acceptance rate/monthly breakeven amount/recall retention rate of their practice is, most have no clue. With 2021 having come to a close, now is a great time to sit down over a cold beer or a stiff whiskey and start making some spreadsheets to understand the numbers in the business you are running. 

Dr. Eric Hans is a private practice pediatric dentist with nearly 25 years of business experience. We have a great conversation about important KPIs (key performance indicators) that dentists should be watching in their practice. Dr. Hans really emphasized in our discussion that building a strong relationship with both your team and the patients in your practice is the foundation to why we need KPIs in the first place. 

This was a challenging topic to cover because it can be so broad, but we did a nice job touching on most aspects of it. Everybody knows that a practice owner should monitor production, collection, new patient numbers, overhead, A/R, etc. But many KPIs go a lot deeper than these numbers and are critical for keeping a pulse on how things are going in your practice. 

Some of the things we talk about in our conversation:
- Tracking your hygiene department, daily hygiene numbers, and restorative to hygiene ratios
- Breakeven costs and when are you losing money to do dentistry
- Production on GA/sedation days vs clinic days
- Setting goals and how often to track them
- Monitoring new patient flow, age of your patient population, and knowing how to expand your capacity
- Watching your P&L, and when is it ok for your overhead to be higher

Dr.  Kathleen Schultz is a dual-specialized pediatric dentist and oral pathologist. She teaches and practices at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. Dr. Schultz and I talk about a grab bag of oral path situations we sometimes encounter as pediatric dentists. Some of the topics we hit on:

- Dentigerous cysts in the mixed dentition
- Gun to the head, which is worse? Chewing tobacco or cigarettes?
- Nutritional deficiencies and the increase in scurvy in food insecure or special needs patients
- Magic mouthwash, prescribed topical agents, and geographic tongue
- HPV vaccination updates
- Primary failure of eruption cases

Check at Dr. Schultz on her Instagram @drkathleenschultz where she posts unique and interesting peds-oral path cases. 

Dr. David Bailey is a private practice pediatric dentist in Sheridan, Wyoming. He has been using SDF in his practice for years, and was an early advocate for using it as a caries-arresting medication. While still an important component of his practice, he has since limited SDF to specific patient situations. 

Dr. Bailey and I have a discussion about the potential issues with widespread SDF use in our profession, in light of recent issues regarding non-coverage by insurance companies for restorations placed on teeth previously treated with SDF. We discuss the pros and cons of its use, along with how the esthetic drawbacks can be perceived by the public.

We go over six different unique patient situations in which SDF may or may not be appropriate compared to more traditional means. This was a great exercise for identifying situations in which SDF would be the perfect first-line treatment option, while in others it may do more harm than good. 

Dr. Christopher Chance is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Oaks Point Pediatric Dentistry in Houston, Texas. He joins the podcast to tell us more about his start-up journey to create a boutique practice in an edgy, modern office in the growing Houston area. 

We drink a few cold beers and talk about some of the following start-up topics: 

- Using corporate associateships as a practice run for a start-up 

- Challenges with securing lending for a large or expensive practice space

- Using local resources and professionals in the community to create and design a modern practice space

- Marketing using word-of-mouth and social media

- Understanding how start-ups have a young patient base that matures over time, and how the demand for dental services evolve

Happy Holidays to all listeners and hard working pediatric dentists out there. I hope you all take some much deserved time to relax with your families. Don't forget that any listener questions, concerns, or ideas for future topics can be sent to cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com.

Are you a well-rounded pediatric dentist? You might not be as much as you think.

If I've learned anything about dentists, it's that they are resistant to change and easily get stuck in doing things the way they've always done them. A good dentist recognizes his or her own shortcomings, and isn't afraid to try new procedures and materials, and step beyond the edge of the comfort zone. 

Dr. Sean Whalen is a seasoned pediatric dentist and practice owner from Westminster, Colorado. We discuss different techniques, procedures, materials, and ideologies that a well-rounded pediatric dentist should be offering. Dr. Whalen is passionate about providing a full range of services to best serve our patients, including interceptive ortho, oral conscious sedation, oral surgery, posterior zirconia, advanced behavior management and many others. We discuss that if we do not distinguish ourselves with our skill sets as specialists, corporate dentistry may push us out of the marketplace. 

This is the this third and final segment of our giant student loan story-time.

Dr. Jared Johnson is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Arctic Dental in Muscatine, Iowa. He started his practice from scratch along with buying the practice building, buying a home, and piling all of these things on top of his large student loan debt. Proudly wearing the badge of "reverse millionaire" we discuss how he has financially and philosophically dealt with digging out this debt hole to have a thriving and profitable career, all while being able to see a high proportion of kids with medicaid in his community. 

Our final guest features a great power-couple. Dr. Stephanie Guinn is a pediatric dentist who started a scratch practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her husband, Tony, is an endodontist and a partner at his practice. They come on the show to talk about their combined 1,000,000 dollars in student loan debt, and how they have a plan to finish paying it off. Tony and I get deep into the financial weeds, but it's a great podcast for dual-specializing power-couples in the dental field. 

We are continuing with part 2 of our special on soul-crushing student loans and how to deal with them! Unlike our last episode, the two guests today are pediatric dentists who provide the sole source of income for their families.

Dr. Scott Folkman is a pediatric dentist in Layton, Utah. He started his own practice from scratch right out of residency, and has paid off 450K of student loans in 7 years. Dr. Folkman has utilized multiple rounds of refinancing to drop his interest rates. He is a great example of a pediatric dentist who has been successful with his student loans as the sole income provider for his household, while his wife runs the house with his 5 children. 

Dr. Kevin Brown is a pediatric dentist in Lehi, Utah. He paid off $285K over 4 years while simultaneously starting a scratch practice. He was able to aggressively pay down debt by associating one week per month at a profitable associateship out-of-state, all while taking advantage of the current federal student loan interest freeze to pay down $8000 per month towards principal. 

This week's episode is a special feature that should appeal to many of our dental listeners. We are talking about soul-crushing student loans and how to deal with them! Most of us leveraged some degree of student loans throughout our extensive education process, and these loans influence the financial decisions we make every day.

This two-part episode series features multiple short interviews with pediatric dentists who have opened up about their career paths, and how they tackled large amounts of student loans. The three guests in this episode are:

Dr. Megan Charowski is a pediatric dentist who works as an associate at Holly Tree Pediatric Dentistry in South Carolina. She used a simple strategy of keeping personal expenses low and living off spousal income to pay off 380K in student loans in 3.5 years. 

Dr. Phil Chung is a pediatric dentist practicing out of New Jersey. He has paid off around 400K of his 550K total in student loans, while also simultaneously investing for retirement. 

Dr. Beth Winans is a pediatric dentist in Reading, Pennsylvania. She started a practice from scratch 5 years ago, while her OMS husband bought into an existing practice. Together they have paid off 530K in student loans, paid off her husband's million dollar buy-in, paid off her 500K practice loan, and invested 270K in equity into a surgery center, all using a debt-snowball technique as they became successful practice owners. 

Steve Anderson is the owner and founder of Denco Dental Construction. He has helped design and build over 1000 dental offices throughout his 30 year career. He is also the author of the book DentalEase, The Essential Guide to Building the Stress Free and Profitable Dental Practice of Your Dreams. 

Steve discusses his career in the dental construction industry, changes and trends he has seen in the marketplace, and common problems pediatric dentists make when building out their office. We talk about office size, controlling sound, having room for expansion to increase capacity, and designing your office to allow your staff to help operate the practice as efficiently as possible. 

More information about Steve, his company, and his book can be found at https://dencodental.com/

This episode is all about pediatric dentistry in Canada! I'm joined by four awesome docs: Drs. Sara Werb, Shuran Liang, Nikhil Sharma, and Priya Kothari are all amazing pediatric dentists and each have their own unique experiences that they share with us. Some of the topics we discuss:

- What does Canada's administration of dental care look like? Is it similar to Medicaid?

- Certain materials that are and aren't allowed in Canada (Bioflx!?)

- What does it take to get a dental license in Canada? Are there any residency programs?

- What are the challenges to practice ownership, and how are employee rights/benefits different than in the US?

Dr. Shane Harpham is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Sea Smiles Pediatric Dentistry in Bluffton, South Carolina. Dr. Shane and I open a couple craft beers and talk about how to do the perfect class II composite restoration on a primary tooth. Some of the topics we discuss are:

- Creating a team and environment to set you up for success

- Treatment planning and case selection (composites vs SSCs)

- Isolation techniques

- Prep design, bonds, and finishing

- Glass ionomers and Equia Forte

- Areas that Class II restorations frequently fail

- The importance of learning from your failures and always trying to improve

It's been 12 full months since we opened the doors of my startup practice here in Missouri, and we had a fantastic (but challenging) first year. I wanted to take the opportunity to do a bonus podcast and review some of the things I've learned after one full year of starting and running a busy pediatric dental practice.

Cuivre Creek Pediatric Dentistry opened last October during the COVID-19 era, and in that time our team has a built a practice that has rapidly expanded to averaging 160+ new patients per month. We've had a lot of growing pains with such a high demand for our services, and I'd like to share some of the mistakes and lessons learned that might be able to help out young practice owners.

On this episode, I review 5 key lessons that I've learned as my first year as a private practice owner. These topics include:

1. Managing the work stressors that keep a dentist up at night

2. Pushing yourself to set goals and tracking your KPI's

3. Hiring and managing staff, treating them well while balancing a healthy overhead

4. Understanding your patient population

5. Why branding and social media is so important

Lots of exciting things to come on future episodes of the Brews and Tiny Teeth Podcast. Feel free to reach me with any questions at cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com, or hit me up on Facebook messenger at Casey Goetz.

Our final episode from Bourbon and Baby Teeth 2021!

Our last guest from BABT 2021 is Scott Childress of Magnify Dental Marketing. Magnify is a full-service digital marketing agency for dentists. Their services include startup branding and logo design, website re-builds, SEO, social media content development, and reputation management.

Scott and I discuss how young, tech-savvy pediatric dentists can harness the power of the digital age to increase brand awareness and new patient flow. We talk about targeting the correct demographics, the power and affordability of Facebook marketing, creating organic content, how Google reviews (and Google business account) influence SEO, and hacks that dentists can use to easily improve SEO and ranking without breaking the bank.

Link to learn more about Magnify Digital Marketing: https://askmagnify.com/

Recorded live from Bourbon and Baby Teeth 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky!

Diane Krueger is the founder and CEO of NuSmile. She founded the company in 1991 after noticing a demand from pediatric dentists for more esthetic options for restoring primary teeth. We discuss how the company has exploded since that time, expanding their product lines to include zirconia crowns, SSCs, and MTA-based products.

Diane talks about how NuSmile has evolved as a company, different types of techniques involved in the fabrication of crowns, and how the industry has changed over time. We do a cost-analysis of how using a more affordable SSC can translate into substantial material savings over the course of a pediatric dentist's typical year. We also talk about how NeoPutty is changing the way MTA is used, and its clinical applications. 

Diane was a great guest and I enjoyed learning more about what goes into creating their products. Check them out at https://www.nusmile.com/

Recorded live from Bourbon and Baby Teeth in Louisville, Kentucky! Dr. Richard Baxter is a prominent figure leading the pediatric dentistry community in the field of tongue and lip ties (or as he likes to refer to them "oral restrictions"). We sit down for an early morning chat over coffee after the previous long night of partaking in the black tie and bourbon formal evening event. Needless to say, some bourbon was drank and we were still shaking it off the next morning. 

We discuss how Dr. Baxter became so passionate about TOTs, different modalities to perform releases, performing releases on wiggly toddlers or during nitrous oxide sedation, and what current updates are in the literature for supporting these procedures. Dr. Baxter truly is a wealth of information on the topic, and you can tell how passionate he is about it when we speak.

Dr. Baxter's Tongue-Tied Academy Course: https://www.tonguetiedacademy.com/courses/TTA

Link to Dr. Baxter's Tongue-Tied Book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tongue-Tied-String-Impacts-Nursing-Feeding/dp/1732508208

We spend a lot of time talking on the podcast about rural pediatric dentistry, start-ups, and high caries risk populations. Let's shake it up and learn more about what practice is like out on the west coast of California. Dr. Evan Chang joins us to tell us more about what practice is like in San Fransisco. Dr. Change splits his time between practicing in a high-end FFS practice and a community health Medicaid clinic.

Some of the topics we discuss:

Challenges of the unique affluent community of San Fransisco

Utilizing a therapy dog in the office

Spending time developing relationships with patients early, and how sometimes watching decay lets you do better dentistry in the long-run 

Working closely with referral sources and how they can help you think outside the box

Keeping your treatment planning skills sharp while working in a FFS practice

Did Covid kill the future of study-clubs? Are we forever doomed to zoom calls and virtual dental meetings?

Stay tuned for future episodes from the Bourbon and Baby Teeth Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. We have a lineup of exciting guests to bring on, you wont wan to miss it!

Dr. Kevin Kennedy is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Spring Creek Pediatric Dentistry in Clarksville, Tennessee. Dr. Kennedy's scratch-start practice is only 2 years old, but it has grown to a point where he is averaging 50 patient visits per day and a new patient flow of 200-250 per month. 

We have a great discussion on a variety of topics, including challenges of practicing in a military town, aggressive marketing budgets, knowing your numbers, and what Kevin's game plan is for when he hits his office capacity. Dr. Kennedy also operates a separate tongue-tie clinic as a component of his practice, so we discuss that as well.

Dr. Kennedy really impressed me with his story and how he has grown his practice. You can tell how organized and driven he is just by listening to him speak about pediatric dentistry. He's a great guy and a wealth of knowledge, so please enjoy the podcast!

Dr. Corey Hastings joins us on the podcast for this week's episode. Corey is a pediatric dentist in Missouri and recently opened his third pediatric office. He has an MBA and a passion for developing systems to optimize the delivery of quality pediatric dental care.

This was a live episode we did in-person over a couple of craft beers. The initial conversation was supposed to focus on demographics to support a pediatric dental office, and we ended spending almost an a hour and a half going deep into conversations on pediatric dental hot-button topics. This podcast is raw, unfiltered, and unscripted. It's a good one, even though we don't stick to an agenda! Some of things we talk about:

- Demographics for a pediatric dental office

- Rural vs urban pediatric dentistry

- Solo vs group practice, single-location vs multi-location

- Prophy palace vs restorative heavy practices

- How do you convince an associate to buy in? And are associates more likely to start their own practice?

- How pediatric dentistry can be an isolating profession

Dr. Robert Elliott is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Cary Pediatric Dentistry in Cary, North Carolina. "Bobby" is an active leader within the AAPD, a pediatric dental consultant, and also the founder and owner of a very successful private practice pediatric office. He frequently lectures at the AAPD annual session to young doctors on practice management topics and leadership skills. We sit down to chat about young pediatric dental practices and the common struggles they face. 

Dr. Elliott owns two pediatric dentistry consulting companies. Pedo Springboard is a one-on-one consultation service for young pediatric dentists interested in doing a startup. His second company, Pediatric Dental Directions, is a consulting company more tailored to improving systems, numbers, and KPIs in more established practices. Dr. Elliott also runs Pedo Boot Camp, a CE course designed to help practice owners improve the efficiency of their systems in their practices.

We discuss some fantastic topics in today's episode, including:

- What is the best way to name a pediatric practice?

- Who would benefit from a dental consultant, and how does it work?

- Is a dental consultant worth the expense? (How will I get my money back?)

- What are common mistakes young practice owners make that get them into trouble?

- How practical is it to be a completely fee-for-service pediatric dentist, and how does dental insurance influence today's young dentists?

Dr. Elliott can be reached at info@pedospringboard.com

https://www.pedospringboard.com/#about-pedo-springboard

Dr. Ted Beauchamp is an endodontist and the owner of Beacon Endodontics in Wentzville, Missouri. Dr. Ted served in the Army after dental school, where he completed a one-year Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) residency program, then received his certificate in Endodontics after an additional two-year residency. Dr. Beauchamp continued to serve his country, practicing in South Korea, and then at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as Chief of Endodontics. He mentored and taught endodontics to new general dentists and oversaw twelve dentists and forty support staff on base.

Leaving the Army, he entered into private practice with a well-respected endodontics office in St. Louis, then started Beacon Endodontics in 2020. He and Dr. Casey grab a beer at a local brewery and talk about some of the tough endo decisions that pediatric dentists face. 

We discuss using MTA, permanent tooth pulpotomies vs pulp caps, when to leave decay, long-term outcomes of apexogenesis as definitive treatment, when to initiate root canal therapy after trauma, and a host of other topics. 

Dr. Donny Qafleshi is a pediatric dentist in Indiana. He comes on to share some of his personal and professional experiences as an immigrant, a dad, and a pediatric dentist. Some of the things we discuss:

-Dr. Donny's journey to the United States as a child to escape war

- How to know when a practice partnership is the right choice

- How many kids a day is a sustainable amount to see without burning out?

- Internalizing emotions as a pediatric dentist and a new parent

- Working on mindfulness and techniques to prevent work anxiety

Dr. Chad Carpenter is a general dentist practicing out of Rapid City, South Dakota. Dr. Carpenter identified that there was a substantial access to care problem for high-risk kids in his population. He took matters into his own hands and started a general-anesthesia heavy pediatric dental office, employing both general dentists and pediatric dentists. His unique situation as a GP owner who employs pediatric dentists allows him to provide a unique perspective on dental care in a rural population, specifically a heavy Native American population. 

Dr. Carpenter and I discuss how he runs both a GP office and a pedo office, challenges and benefits of treating Medicaid, and how he provides quality dentistry for these kids in his office.

This week's episode is a podcast swap! Dr. Casey Goetz joins Michael Arias on The Dental Marketer Podcast. Michael's podcast focuses on marketing topics, campaigns, and strategies to help dentists grow their business. They sit down and discuss the startup process and talk about a range of topics including:

- Choosing the right practice location

- Practice lending

- Using social media to increase patient flow

- Cash flow in a start up

And so much more! Check out Michael's marketing business and podcast at:

https://thedentalmarketer.site/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dental-marketer/id1153836877

Dr. Colin Boswell is a pediatric dentist practicing out of New Hampshire. He has a unique experience as a practice owner and shares some insight on his journey. Dr. Boswell bought an established practice, and ended up later partnering and merging with a former co-resident who had started a nearby scratch-start pedo office. The combination was highly successful and the two offices have grown synergistically. 

Dr. Boswell discusses his journey and talks about the importance of finding the right partner to go into business with. We also review the benefits of partnerships in pediatric dentistry, and why it may be a better choice for some clinicians over a corporate or sole-practitioner route. 

The infamous Dr. Evan Hershkowitz joins us today for a Pedo Pearls Power Hour session. Some of you may know Evan as the guy who screams profanities about first primary molars on iPedo, or maybe as the guy who tells parents to get the f* out of my office (ok he actually doesn't say that, but we all wish we could to those helicopter moms). 

Dr. Evan and I break down listener questions today, including:

- How many ops is ideal for a solo pediatric dentist?

- What do pedo full mouth extractions end up looking like years later?

- When does it make sense to bring an orthodontist into your practice?

Evan also shares some info for the upcoming Bourbon and Baby Teeth CE course, held this September in Louisville, Kentucky. What started as an excuse to drink whiskey has turned into a fantastic pediatric dentistry conference with some amazing speakers. You can find more info at https://bourbonandbabyteeth.com/

We have a very special guest for today's episode. Dr. Mike Kanellis has been practicing pediatric dentistry for over 40 years. Following his pediatric training at the University of Iowa, Dr. Kanellis started and operated a private practice in Muscatine, Iowa for 13 years. He then sold his office and made the transition into the world of academics and now acts as the associate dean for patient care at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. He continues to actively see pediatric patients at the dental school.

Dr. Kanellis shares a wealth of knowledge about his experience in pediatric dentistry. We talk about what it was like seeing 30-40 patients per day out of his original 400 sq/ft office. Dr. Kanellis has always been interested in outside-the-box thinking to manage decay, and he discusses his use of Hall crowns 30 years before it was an established technique. We take a deep dive into treating Medicaid patients, and why everybody needs to do their part to help address this population.

Dr. Kanellis also treats a substantial Amish population, and we have a long conversation about the challenges that exist with this community. Finally, we reflect on the direction that pediatric dentistry is headed in the world of DSOs, student loans, and private practice. Dr. Kanellis also shares his new book, Novocaine, a dark comedy involving a dentist, dental assistant, and the mob.

Link to Novocaine:  https://www.amazon.com/Novocaine-Michael-Kanellis-ebook/dp/B099DXX2XF/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=novocaine+book&qid=1627429645&sr=8-2

Pedo full mouth tooth extractions? Distal shoe candidates? Hypoplastic 6-year molars? Distals of primary canines? 

Today we talk about all of the things that make us cringe as pediatric dentists. How do you handle these tough restorative situations? As pediatric dentists, the dentistry we do is both incredibly simple, yet incredibly complex and challenging at the same time. Dr. Tyler Johnson is a practicing pediatric dentist out of Grand Forks, North Dakota, who joins host Dr. Casey Goetz. They break down how to tackle these difficult clinical scenarios, and discuss different strategies for caries management when the clinical restorability is not "bread and butter."

*** Sorry about missing last week's episode, I was out of vacation and wasn't able to get an episode uploaded. I've got a string of great guests coming up in the following weeks. Don't forget to continue to send in any questions, comments, or tough clinical situations to cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com for our next Pedo Pearls Power Hour. 

Thad Harker is the Project Advisor for Primus Dental, a design-build medical construction company that has built hundreds of dental offices across the midwest and beyond. Thad advises dentists on projects ranging from building out small existing lease spaces, all the way up to ground-up, multi-million dollar stand-alone buildings. His 20 years in business to business, bio-medical, and construction consulting allows him to help his dental clients design and build the office of their dreams.

We have a great conversation on creating a vision and working with a contractor to build out the ideal pediatric dental office. We review current changes in the building sector with COVID and material costs, trends seen in pediatric dental offices, common mistakes that dentists make, keeping building costs under control, and a variety of other pearls involving pediatric dental build-outs. 

We have a lot of exciting episodes coming up! Don't forgot to continue to send in listener questions, comments, and tough clinical situations to cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com. 

This is a short, live episode with Dr. Arik Amin. Dr. Arik graduated from dental school in 2020 and has spent the application year working in public health. He matched and will be an incoming resident at the NYU pediatric dentistry program in Columbia, Missouri. Dr. Amin came to the office today to shadow and watch a little live-action. We went to lunch and logged a quick podcast talking about what new updates are happening in the world of applying to pediatric dentistry residencies. The audio is a little rough, just because we recorded in a BBQ joint, but it was a still a great, short conversation on topics that are often overlooked during the application process.

Sedations are a huge part of what we do as pediatric dentists. In the era of alternative techniques to manage caries, it's important to keep our sedation skill set sharp to provide the highest level of care possible. Dr. David Bailey joins us to break down how he makes it work in his busy Wyoming office. Dr. Bailey has a wealth of sedation experience that he shares with us, with a hats-off to the great Stephen Wilson and his effective triple-cocktail method. We debate open vs closed airways, in-office vs surgery centers, effective oral sedation strategies, and how to have highly profitable days using oral sedations. 

*** Don't forget to submit any questions, comments, or interesting clinical cases you may have for our monthly Pedo Pearls Power Hour. Emails can be sent to Casey Goetz at cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com

This is our first episode of the Pedo Pearls Power Hour! A chance to throw a beer back and talk about pediatric dentistry just like the good ol' days of residency. We break down listener questions, clinical pearls, and even share a few humble flexes of successes we have in our profession.

Dr. Nate Green and Dr. Casey Goetz read three different listener questions/comments regarding the following topics:

1: Pediatric dentist associateships

2: Business plans to secure practice loans

3: When can you consider a permanent crown on a hypoplastic molar

If you have any questions, comments, or humble brags to share on the next Pedo Pearls Power Hour, send us an email to cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com.

Dr. Nick Luke is a pediatric dentist, originally from Iowa but now practicing at a busy office in Wisconsin. Dr. Nick is a big fan of finding creative ways to follow the guidelines and literature while also creating a fun experience for his patients.

In this episode, we discuss:

- Why Wisconsin is awesome

- Hall crown philosophy and techniques

- MTA usage in pulpotomies

- Caries removal and biofilm control

- How being a dad and work-life balance go together

Dr. Ben Popple is pediatric dentist in Georgia who started a scratch practice out of residency for $250k. Six years later, he is building his third office with 18 chairs in a ground-up build. The theme of this episode is minimizing the expenses of your start-up. We identify what things you need to do to keep your costs down, including choosing a contractor, dealing with equipment reps, knowing how to find affordable/used equipment, and reinvesting practice income during the growing years. If you're currently trying to start a dental practice, or have any interest in doing so, this is a great episode to check out!

Don't forget to send in your questions, comments, clinical scenarios, and humble brags in for our Pedo Pearls Power Hour. Send us a voice message or email to cgoetz@troypediatricdentist.com and we will break it down on our next episode. 

A couple weeks ago we interviewed a pediatric dentist who had established a busy, successful practice in a small town of 7,000 people. In this episode, we decided to switch things up and talk to a pediatric dentist practicing in New York City, a city with 8 million people! 

Dr. Arielle Faden is a pediatric dentist who associates at multiple practices throughout New York and New Jersey. We discuss what life is like practicing in a competitive urban environment, specifically Manhattan. We talk about patient demographics, general anesthesia, non-competes, associateships, posterior zirconia crowns with esthetically concerned parents, and just how to be successful in general in the big city. This is a great episode for residents looking to practice in a big city or urban environment. 

Where does a pediatric dentist put money in 2021? Let's talk a little about the personal finance and wealth-building side of pediatric dentistry. 

Evan Koch is a Certified Public Accountant holding the Personal Financial Specialist designation of the American Institute of CPAs. Evan's extensive tax planning experience allows him to incorporate individual and business tax strategies into comprehensive financial plans that include pension planning, wealth management, and business structuring. His practice centers around tax planning and financial consulting for dentists and dental specialists, including many pediatric dentists. He joins us today to talk about the current state of the stock market, inflation, savings rates, paying off student loans, and general steps towards reaching financial freedom. Evan also shares his #1 common attribute that he sees in his most financially successful dental clients.

Dr. Robbie Matthews is a pediatric dentist and the owner of Happy Campers Pediatric Dentistry in Peoria, Arizona. His young practice has exploded in growth over a very short period of time, even in a competitive area. Dr. Casey and Robbie sit down with a beer to go over strategies for growing a pediatric dental practice. We review how to post authentic Facebook content, TikTok, giveaways, and other social media pearls. The main strategy we discuss is simple... you have to "run for mayor" and become part of the community. Being involved and getting your name out there, along with treating patients right and presenting treatment plans properly, will generate internal referrals via the bulletproof word-of-mouth referral method. This is a fantastic discussion with a lot of great wisdom packed into an hour episode. 

Dr. Kaitlin Hoogeveen is a pediatric dentist in a small town in Iowa with just 7,000 people, yet she has grown exponentially and reached her current office capacity within 3 years of starting her practice. We discuss what life is like being the only pediatric dentist in an expansive rural setting, both the advantages and the challenges. We also talk about practice logo design, marketing in a small town, avoiding burnout, and also alternative techniques to conventional drill-and-fill dentistry. Casey and Kaitlin also share their thoughts on a recent online hot topic of how to respond if a parent flat-out refuses your proposed treatment. 

Conservative treatment, SDF, Hall crowns, parents back during ops... dentistry is rapidly changing to keep pace with the desires of the modern parent. But maybe those who forget history are doomed to repeat it? Dr. Brian Richards is a private practice pediatric dentist who joins us to discuss how he makes his practice successful using old-school techniques that work for him. Brian has posted several of these examples online showing traditional operative work being completed on 2, 3, and 4 year-olds using rubber dam isolation, behavior management, and no laughing gas or sedation.

We discuss parents back during ops, dismissing difficult families, voice control, building an efficient team, and how often sedation is really necessary. We also reflect on the changing of the times with more conservative treatment (SDF, Hall Crowns, ART), and are we using these techniques appropriately? 

Today's episode is all about general anesthesia. Dr. Geoff Ping discusses his techniques for doing 8-10 GA cases on his surgery days. This episode is loaded with good content and clinical pearls. We talk about order of operations during full-mouth rehab cases, how to decrease turnover time, tricks for cementing crowns, limiting wasted movements, and so much more. If you're a pediatric dentist and you do GA cases, you need to listen to this episode.

Dr. Bryce Evans joins us to discuss parent communication strategies to build trust and strengthen relationships. We touch on Covid issues, presenting treatment plans, cell phones in the office, allowing parents back during treatment, social media, and how parent demands in pediatric dentistry have evolved to the present.

Dr. Sandy Fox is a pediatric dentist in rural Iowa who joins us to talk all things practice numbers. She opened her practice during Covid in a high-needs area and has experienced rapid growth. We discuss how money gets handled in the practice, profit and loss statements, end of day metrics, daily/monthly goals, and managing overhead.

Justin Fodor of Wells Fargo Practice Finance joins the podcast to discuss lending and the path to ownership in the world of pediatric dentistry. We review how Covid has effected the marketplace for buyers, and touch on specific issues for both startups and existing practice acquisitions. Justin gives us some insight on how to position yourself to become a strong candidate for securing a practice loan. This is an important discussion for anyone interested in becoming a practice owner during their career.

Dr. Jay Leung is a pediatric dentist and owner at The Little Tooth Company Pediatric Dentistry. He practices and runs two offices with associates in Connecticut.

Dr. Jay comes on the show to share his experience of being audited by Medicaid. After receiving a daunting letter in the mail and being threatened with some hefty penalties, Dr. Jay was able to use legal help and great documentation to defend and protect himself. He gives listeners some pointers and advice in the event an audit ever happens to them.

Dr. Gabe Ross, a pediatric dentist out of South Carolina joins the podcast to talk about the changes seen in pediatric dentistry between now and 20 years ago. We discuss the challenges of a starting a scratch pedo practice, financial strategies with parents, generating reviews, DSOs, and things you can do to appeal to parents in the modern age of social media in the dental world.

Dr. Nate Green is a pediatric dentist who joins us today to share his tips for speed in the operative chair. Nate and Casey discuss strategies for increasing efficiency and providing better dentistry in a shorter time for our pediatric patients. Grab a beer, you won’t want to miss this one!

Dr. Casey Goetz is a pediatric dentist who opened a scratch startup practice in rural Missouri in October of 2020. He discusses his personal journey to ownership, setting aggressive goals, and developing strategies for implementing growth in today’s competitive marketplace.