The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin – Details, episodes & analysis

With health insurance costs spiraling out of control, employers can feel powerless to help their employees get the coverage they need.

The situation becomes all the more tragically ironic for companies in the oral healthcare space.

If you are a group or DSO with more than 50 employees depending on you to provide them with healthcare coverage options that meet their needs without breaking the bank, then this episode is for you.

In Episode 181 of The Patient First Podcast, I interview Mark Gaunya, GBA, LIA to learn how his company Captivated Health® is helping oral healthcare providers leverage their individual and collective experience to build a better healthcare future for their people.

This fresh and daring approach could be the only solution for success in a system designed for failure.

If you want to learn more after watching or listening to this interview, join Mark again on Friday, September 19 for a webinar that takes a deeper dive into this unique strategy.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—a dentist, author, entrepreneur, data portability-enthusiast and patient advocate who wants more group practice owners to know how taking certain calculated risks can make health insurance better for all involved.

Register for Captivated Health’s Friday, September 19, 2025 webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_adBkpbNIS4S55Yht2Maq_Q  

Get in touch with Mark Gunya:
captivatedhealth.com 
borislow.com  
mark(at)borislow(dot)com 

Order your copy of my latest book: UnfairCare.com

In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, Founder of Dua Good Job Parul Dua Makkar, BSc, DDS, FACd joins me to share her story and discuss how dentists can prioritize patient wellness to the financial benefit of their practices.

Oral cancer screenings—and the difficult conversations that accompany them—are a vital yet easily overlooked part of dentistry. Dr. Makkar has drawn on painful personal loss to develop the educational resources dental practices need to train their teams to render the holistic care patients need.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—author, dentist, entrepreneur, advocate for patient autonomy and engineer of solutions that blend patient wellness with practice wellness.

Explore Dr. Parul Dua Makkar’s oral cancer courses: DuaGoodJob.com  
Follow Dr. Makkar on Instagram: @DuaGoodJob 

There’s always another aspect of dentistry that can be improved through innovation, and this is perfectly demonstrated by Debora Carrier, RDH of The CPR Sisters. Deb and her sister have developed an innovative and highly personalized CPR training curriculum that helps dental professionals get the maximum benefit from the training without added performance anxiety.

In this short and sweet episode of The Patient First Podcast, I interview Deb on-location at the Chicago Midwinter Meeting to learn more about how her team is helping dental teams everywhere experience a higher quality of CPR training.

If you like learning at your own pace and learning online or want to offer these training methods to your practice team members, contact The CPR Sisters!

Fill out the form to set up training for your team: CPRSistersTraining.com

Just as advances in technology are moving the practice of dentistry forward, so advances in clinical care are making a huge impact in the quality of care patients today receive.

And sometimes, more advanced clinical care means going back to deceptively simple basics.

The dynamic Aimee Vail, RDH, MHA/Ed and Special Markets Manager for Centrix joined me in the Toothapps® booth at the 2025 Chicago Midwinter Meeting to record this lively interview for The Patient First Podcast. In this episode, we talk about what she has been doing to help make more patients and providers aware of the benefits of minimally invasive dentistry and some modalities that can lower caries risk.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—author, entrepreneur and dentist who supports all initiatives that make dentistry easier, faster, more comfortable and more accessible for more people.

Connect with Aimee Vail on LinkedIn

Explore preventive dental solutions: CentrixDental.com 

In this current climate of healthcare worker shortages, many dental practice owners struggle to find and retain the talent they need to sustain efficient operations while delivering high-caliber care to their patients. As a result, most dentists understandably feel they can’t afford to be picky when it comes to hiring temp workers.

Fortunately, the highly rated Kwikly Dental Staffing takes care of the vetting for you so you can rest easy knowing that you’ll get high-quality workers right when you need them.

In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I interview Kwikly’s Head of Growth Pouria Nastaean on location at the 2025 Chicago Midwinter Meeting to learn how his team is transforming the face of the dental temp agency industry.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—a dentist, author and entrepreneur with extensive experience in dental practice ownership and in the development of tech-based solutions that elevate dentistry for everyone involved.

Learn more about Kwikly: JoinKwikly.com 

I always say that the two greatest charlatans in dentistry (after dental insurance companies, of course) are marketers and consultants.

But this one marketing consultant breaks the mold. In fact, she’s the one who set the bar in the first place.

Nancy Lashley Sullivan began her rich and storied career 25 years ago when “dental marketing” wasn’t yet a concept. While the landscape of marketing in dentistry has changed over the years, Nancy’s approach has remained solidly grounded in authenticity. Her success has earned her the well-deserved title of “Dental Marketing Specialist.”

In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, Nancy tells her story of how she got into this very special line of consulting and explains where taking her own advice has gotten her today.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—author, dentist and entrepreneur who has personally benefited from Nancy’s sage advice in the past and who enthusiastically recommends her to other dentists and business leaders in our industry.

Learn more marketing insights from Nancy: Nancylashleysullivan.com

The third-party payer system for healthcare in the United States isn’t as broken as you think…it’s much, much worse.

Although virtually every American citizen has had to contend with the needlessly yet deliberately complex circus of healthcare insurance, few have dug down as deep as author Frank Lobb to uncover the truth of how the system works.

In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, Frank and I discuss the chronic illness afflicting the American Healthcare System and exchange insights from our unique perspectives and experiences.

As Frank explains in this interview—and details in his latest book—healthcare providers across the nation owe it to patients everywhere to understand what we are all really up against.

This is an episode that anyone who has ever been a dental or medical patient absolutely must watch.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—author, dentist, entrepreneur, patient and advocate for Standards that regulate every process in our healthcare system.

Read Frank Lobb’s book: The Big Lie in My Healthcare Bill

Explore the only app designed to empower dental patients: Toothapps.com 

P.S. Apologies in advance for the flickering camera on my side in this interview. We didn’t notice this technical error until the interview was all wrapped up.

More important than being a skilled clinician is being a caring one. Dr. Michael Sonick is an internationally renowned periodontist who has learned this through personal experience, as both a patient himself and as a very successful practitioner.

And what’s really interesting is how technology like Toothapps® can actually support dentists in experiencing the benefits of being caring, people-centric providers.

Instead of de-personalizing care, technology saves time for busy dentists and specialists who can, in turn, spend more time showing personal interest and hospitality to their patients.

You’re in for a real treat with this episode of The Patient First Podcast in which Dr. Sonick shares one gem after another that can help practices build solid teams and loyal patient bases. We talk culture versus strategy, AI, how to choose team leaders, and much more in this captivating interview.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—a fellow author and dentist who believes in patient-first care, and an engineer of solutions that support it. 

Connect with Dr. Sonick: MichaelSonick.com 

Read Dr. Sonick’s book: Treating People, Not Patients

Watch more tips from Dr. Sonick on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/+@michaelsonick  

Explore how Toothapps® solutions can give you more time to spend with people, aka, your patients: Toothapps.com 

Although the concept of “teledentistry” has taken off in recent years, many dentists are still in the dark about its potential and the surprisingly simple ways they can begin implementing it.

At this year’s Yankee Dental Congress, I sat down with the dynamic dental personality Melissa K. Turner to talk about the benefits of teledentistry and what she is doing to help more practices and patients benefit from it.

In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, you’ll get some insider tips from Melissa herself and learn about the opportunities she is creating for more voices in dentistry to be heard and celebrated.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—dentist, author, entrepreneur and pioneer of virtual oral healthcare solutions that improve access to care while improving production opportunities for practices.

Learn more from Melissa K Turner: MelissaKTurner.com

Connect on Instagram: @thetoothgirl

Connect on LinkedIn: MelissaKTurner

Check out The Denobi Awards: DenobiAwards.com

Toothapps® is solving problems and bridging gaps in communication and in the continuum of care in dentistry. 

In fact, it’s developing new ways to do this so rapidly, even current users of the Toothapps software are surprised to learn about what it can do.

In this interview with Corey Hastings, DDS, MS, MBA and Owner and Operator of Blue Sage Management Group, you’ll learn how Toothapps is helping his team execute his vision for dental care and deliver successful outcomes to patients.

I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—dentist, author, CEO of Toothapps, engineer of Connected Dentistry® and entrepreneur who partners with truly innovative organizations like Blue Sage Management Group to advance the kind of care that benefits patients and practices alike.

Get in touch with Dr. Hastings: BlueSageManagementGroup.com

Explore Toothapps for yourself: Toothapps.com