Episode 59 - Dental Policy Update, Comparing Largest DSOs Size   2:26 Park Dental is public, Scott and Jinesh place bets 5:59 Government policy dental updates 23:08 Largest DSOs by locations and by doctor count

Scott and Jinesh chat with Sarah Ruberg, founder and CEO of Our Thrive Tribe. They discuss Sarah's journey to and through dental, and her entrepreneurship journey with Our Thrive Tribe. Sarah shares her thoughts around personal branding in the dental space, and several insights into optimizing LinkedIn as a platform for success.    1:20: Introducing Sarah Ruberg 2:50 Landing in dental via 'relationship management' 10:44 Our Thrive Tribe 13:43 Ideal customer profile 18:43 LinkedIn use in dental: an expert's thoughts 38:47 Industry shoutouts 45:04 Entrepreneurship and lessons learned  47:09 Striving for sparkle impact 52:05 Thoughts on a hospitality mindset 

Scott and Jinesh chat with Penny Reed, Executive VP of Membership and Events at the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM). Penny shares details about her career to and through her time in the dental world. She shares insights from her years working within the dental practice setting and years spent consulting dentists and dental groups. Penny emphasizes the importance of coachability and culture, and the importance of adopting technology as it evolves.  Penny also shares about AADOM and the value it brings to dental office managers across the country.    1:57 Introducing Penny Reed 3:52 Journey to dental via Walmart 15:42 Foray into office management 24:47 Consulting dentists 32:24 Technology adoption through the years 44:31 Culture and coachability 56:17 AADOM

Jinesh recaps the DTA conference and shares some of the key takeaways. Scott and Jinesh then discuss the recent CMS announcement about their medical-dental integration initiative, and the recent announcement of Henry Schein One's partnership with AWS on AI.    1:30 Intro and DTA conference feedback 16:36 CMS highlights medical-dental integration 22:08 Henry Schein One Partnership with AWS for AI

Scott and Jinesh chat with Mitch Olan, a DSO industry veteran. Over the years Mitch was COO, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Dental Care Alliance (DCA). Mitch shares an overview of his many decades in the dental space, notably through the lens of one of the largest multi-location groups in the US. The trio discuss the recent challenges and woes that have faced DSOs, and Mitch shares his outlook on the space moving forward.    1:13 Introducing Mitch Olan 3:19 Mitch's journey through dental 9:34 Evolution of the DSO space 14:11 DSOs going public, back then and today 24:24 Predictions about continued consolidation 34:05 Recent DSO struggles 39:10 Impact of Technology 45:53 Challenges of the 'ugly acquisition' 50:46 Thoughts about the 'DPO' rebrand 56:08 Optimism about the future of the profession

Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Tina Saw, founder and CEO of Oral Genome. Oral Genome is biotechnology company focused on saliva-based testing for oral health. Tina discusses the development of the Oral Genome test, the specifics of the test, and its implications for preventative care. Tina shares her passion for integrating dentistry and medicine, and explains medicine as an avenue for growth of her company. Throughout the episode Tina, Scott, and Jinesh all reflect on some of the challenges of entrepreneurship.   1:42 Introducing Tina Saw 3:07 Tina's journey from music to dentistry 7:22 Leaving the dental op 12:05 The Oral Genome test 16:47 Production complexity 20:21 ADA investment 22:52 Code created for Oral Genome testing, and impact on care coverage 27:05 R&D 34:50 Go-to-market and early adopters 40:30 Expanding into medicine and oral-systemic connection 45:23 Reflections on entrepreneurship 

Scott and Jinesh discuss their respective business updates.   2:40 Jinesh Updates: Growth from relationship with National Facilities Direct; Industry partnerships teaser   12:43 Scott's new business 

Scott and Jinesh discuss the recent announcement that Chicago-based Private Equity group GTCR is taking Canada's largest DSO Dentalcorp private (and paying a premium for it). They also chat about the backlash to the politically-charged comment / joke from the California-based 'MAGA Dentist', and the possible trademark / IP implications of dental practices in different states with the same name.    2:02 PE firm GTCR to take Dentalcorp (Canada's largest DSO) private 15:48 'MAGA Dentist' backlash

Scott and Jinesh chat with Samantha Strain, Partner and CDO and HealthStream Ventures and Cofounder of DoubleMint about all things M&A in the dental space. They discuss Sam's journey from distributor regional rep to healthcare lending to facilitating the purchase of dental practices. Sam shares her thoughts on the market opportunity from the buy side perspective, and then dives deep on changes in the dental practice market over the past 5 years, and the change in mentality of both sellers and buyers.  Sam wraps by sharing about her venture investing activity, and impressive female founders in the dental tech space.    2:24 Introducing Sam Strain 4:15 Sam's journey through dental 19:58 Early relationships mature to BD opportunity 26:21 Low-hanging opportunity in dental practices 29:44 Dentists don't learn business and management in school 34:18 Change in the dental practice market in the past 5 years 39:05 DSOs going public? 44:34 Venture investing via DoubleMint 54:12 Female founders in dental  

Scott and Jinesh chat with Matt Ingram about his career in dental marketing and media. Matt explains how the space has changed over the last 15 years and comments on some of the high-level marketing strategies he's seen play out. He recounts some of the best and worst he's seen over the years, and discusses the massive opportunity that currently exists in the world of marketing to dentists.    2:33 Introducing Matt Ingram 7:18 Mechanics of marketing to dentists 10:44 Do print ads still work? 18:44 Marketing strategies across dental 23:04 Best and worst marketing tactics 28:15 Marketing on a shoestring budget 31:19 The untapped data opportunity 32:51 Influencer marketing in dental 52:10 Promotional products advertising  

Scott and Jinesh chat about Epic's recent announcement that they're releasing their own native AI transcription tool to be bundled into their software, and Henry Schein announces they'll be restricting connectivity that Vyne has used to transfer data for insurance claims submissions.    1. Epic's AI announcement 2:18 2. Vyne vs Henry Schein 12:52

Scott and Jinesh chat with Marv Nelson, CEO of A-dec. They discuss A-dec's history, culture, and philosophy. Marv discusses the impact of COVID, A-dec's supply chain, and the impact of tariffs (or lack thereof) on A-dec. Marv shares his thoughts around price positioning, equipment servicing, DSO strategy, and dealer relationships.   3:05 Introducing Marv Nelson 5:29 Marv's path to dental 9:01 History of A-dec 11:35 A-dec's philosophy and culture 21:30 Navigating COVID 23:37 Supply Chain and impact of tariffs 27:35 Pricing strategy 30:16 A-dec's tech upgrade  38:16 Thoughts around equipment servicing 45:51 Dealer relationships 48:14 DSO strategy 51:22 Odd customer requests 54:59 Dealer relationships part 2

Scott and Jinesh chat about the recent increased risk to dental coverage via Medicaid nationwide, as well as the recent acquisition of the DSO Cherry Tree Dental by Delta Dental of Wisconsin. 1:59 Dental coverage at risk 8:50 Delta Dental of Wisconsin buys DSO Cherry Tree Dental 

Scott and Jinesh chat with Joe Cavaretta, Founder and CEO of Cavaretta Consulting Group. They discuss Joe's journey through dental, and how his career evolved from working at publicly traded dental distributors to venturing into startups, first at Whale Dental and then founding his own consulting firm. Joe shares his perspective on the maturing DSO space, and some of the ways he has helped guide DSOs to success.    2:31 Introducing Joe Cavaretta 3:50 Joe's journey through dental 14:03 The leap to Dental Whale 21:21 Launching Cavaretta Consulting Group 27:45 Facilitating DSO's software adoption 39:00 Investment in dental matures 43:03 Dental distribution growing pains 49:25 Dental distribution mimicking medical GPOs at scale

Scott and Jinesh chat with Santosh Patel, Founder of Complete Specialty Solutions and current Chief Revenue Officer of Subscribili. They discuss Santosh's journey building Complete Specialty Solutions, and his decision to sell the software piece of the business to Subscribili. Santosh shares why the relationship makes sense, and what the future at each respective company holds.    2:16 Introducing Santosh Patel 3:35 Medical Journey before dental 8:21 Broken referral system in dental  11:45 Founding Complete Specialty Solutions  15:06 Marketplace of specialists 19:06 CSS business model 28:08 Subscribili acquires CSS software 34:17 Becoming CRO at Subscribili 40:54 Customer profiles 45:11 Customer stories and advice from the trenches

Scott and Jinesh chat with Stanley Bergman, CEO of Henry Schein. They discuss Stan's path to Henry Schein and touch on key elements of culture at the company. Stan shares stories from the transition to the digital era, reflects on crisis management and leadership, and discusses his perspective on industry relationships and competition. Stan also shares how he thinks about innovation, and what excites him most about the future of the dental profession.    1:29 Introducing Stan Bergman 3:23 Leaving South Africa for the US 5:35 Joining Henry Schein 13:41 The IBM debacle 17:50 People-first culture 21:02 Innovation 24:51 Balancing manufacturer relationships 29:57 Crisis management and leadership 34:30 Competition and capital influx into dental 37:44 Macro trends in dental 42:01 Culture of giving

Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Kyle Stanely about his journey in the dental world, from clinical practice to lecturing to podcasting to communicating mental health. They take a deep dive into the importance of mental health in the dental world, and how it's so commonly neglected. They discuss the stigma around mental health, and touch on the biggest mistakes dentists make.    1:36 Introducing Kyle Stanley 7:14 Founding Pearl 14:38 Current work balance 18:44 The business of lecturing 23:31 Podcasting 29:11 Journey to mental health 41:55 Mental health mistakes dentists make 48:58 Light Side Academy   52:21 Communicating and crucial conversations

Scott and Jinesh chat with Landon Hilliard, COO of Dentisafe. They discuss all things waterline safety including what builds up in dental water lines, proper treatment and testing protocols, and legislation being passed to keep dental waterlines safe.    1:22 Introducing Landon Hilliard 5:38 Bacteria in dental water lines 10:43 Waterline maintenance overview 17:19 State laws around water line maintenance 23:03 Testing water lines 28:23 Dentisafe customer profiles 35:02 Adoption and cost of water line testing 39:38 Testing and maintenance best practices 42:30 Dentisafe helps NC after Hurricane Helene 

Scott and Jinesh recap several recent news articles including: dental sedation oversight in North Carolina, states ranked on 25 dental health related factors, and commentary about the potential impact of tariffs on healthcare.   1:34 Best times to post on LinkedIn 3:38 Dental sedation oversight in NC 11:54 States ranked on dental health related factors 24:37 Impact of tariffs on healthcare

Scott and Jinesh chat with Jordan Reiss, Senior Director of Clinical Strategic Development at Dexis, about the evolution of imaging technology in dental. They also discuss some of the latest applications of AI in imaging and case-planning workflow.    1:28 Introducing Jordan Reiss 3:30 Jordan's journey to and through dental 15:14 AI enters the picture 27:10 Software ecosystem and integrations 30:02 A future in the cloud 37:37 Dexis' new implant AI workflow 47:56 Tariffs and strategic planning