DMD Staff

“I was very fortunate to grow up in the shadow of the Apollo program. My father worked on Apollo when I was a very young boy. In fact, I remember watching the lunar landing with my parents as a young kid and then actually watching Apollo 9 launch from Kennedy Space Center. My dad had special VIP tickets for him to go. My mom and I, my grandparents, watched from the beach nearby. But I remember feeling the vibration of the launch in my chest several miles away and wondering what it would be like to actually be on top of that rocket on the way to the moon. That certainly set me on a course to pursue exploration as my life’s work. I never lost sight of my ambition to one day fly in space and it also led me into other great adventures, including things like climbing Mt. Everest and other big mountains around the world.

This Is What It’s Like to Stand on Top of Mount Everest

Here’s What It’s Like to Walk in Space

Astronaut Describes ‘One of NASA’s Finest Hours’

I’m the only astronaut thus far to have also been in space and summited Mt. Everest, but I hope that will change in the not-too-distant future. One of my colleagues, Karl Henize, a shuttle astronaut, attempted Mt. Everest in 1993 and unfortunately he perished on the north side of the mountain at advance base camp. One of the things that I did on Mt. Everest’s summit is I left one of his mission patches on top of the mountain for him.”

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Scott Parazynski, M.D., is the only astronaut to have also summited Mount Everest. In this clip, Parazynski discusses his early exposure to the space program and watching man walk on the moon. These events put him on his career path, as well as established his taste for adventure.


One Astronaut's Journey into the Space Program

Gary Zelesky offers advice on finding the right people for your dental practice and putting new employees on a path toward growth.

How to Hire the Right People for Your Dental Practice

“Many of the practices that I have been involved with over the years, I’ve found that dentists hire fast and fire slow. What they need to do is hire slow and fire fast. I always recommend this, too: Never hire somebody that you can’t eventually fire. Forgive me now, but I see a lot of relatives being hired into the dental practice. That creates a weird kind of environment. I’d say be very careful that the people that you hire are people that you can fire.

The other thing is, I was in a dental practice — and this actually happened. It was a hiring technique. The dentist said, ‘You know, Suzie is leaving in two weeks and we need somebody to fill her place. Does anybody here have a suggestion?’ He’s asking the team, does anybody have a suggestion. This one girl raises her hand – this actually happened – and says, ‘I have a friend and she’s got a really good personality, really outgoing, and she’s really good with people, really good with dogs, and I think she’d really work out here.’ They ended up looking to hire that person.

Ask Yourself, Is My Dental Practice Productive or Busy

Look for Meaningful Ways to Reward Your Dental Team

Dentists: Try to Find Humor in Everything

That’s not how you find people. You go after people that you believe you don’t even deserve, they’re so amazing. Most dentists hire people they believe they can afford or they deserve. Go after people that you can’t even begin to image that that you deserve, that they’re off-the-chart amazing. Make sure they have passion. Make sure they have purpose. Make sure that you call and find out where they worked before. And put them on a 30-day success track.

I’m tired of the probation thing. ‘You’re a new employee. We’re putting you on a 30-day probation.’ Isn’t probation for somebody who broke the law and now you’re watching them? Put them on a success track, a 30-day success track. If you hit this target, this target, this target, you’re going to make it, man. It’s going to be great.

Help them succeed. And most important, with a new employee, keep them away from the cynical employee that you haven’t got the courage to fire yet. Because I’ve seen this happen so many times where a new employee will come in and go, ‘This is so awesome. I’m going to change the world one smile at a time. I can’t wait.’ And then they meet this employee: ‘I used to be like that too. But I’m not now, and don’t worry, I’ll get you where I am.

Dentists often don't do their due diligence when it comes to hiring employees, according to Gary Zelesky. Additionally, they're often slow to fire troublesome employees. Zelesky is an expert and speaker on the subject of passion in the workplace. In this clip, Zelesky offers advice on finding the right people for your dental practice and putting new employees on a path toward growth.

If dentists want to reach the mothers of millennial dental patients, they need to engage in digital conversations , says Maria T. Bailey.

Join the Social Media Conversation to Reach Millennial Dental Patients

If dentists want to reach the mothers of millennial dental patients, they need to engage in digital conversations on relevant social media platforms, says Maria T. Bailey, a speaker, author and authority on the subject. But don’t worry, says Bailey, this isn’t something that dentists need to heap onto their already busy schedules. There are plenty of moms, millennials, and members of Generation Z who will do it for you, if you ask.

Interview Transcript (Modified for Readability)

“Marketing to a millennial mom might be a little bit different and something new for a lot of orthodontists because I’m going to say the big S.M. words: social media. I know that every orthodontist has a full-time job and marketing is often not a piece of that. However, there are a lot of really great solutions for that. You can find a millennial or a Gen. Z in your office to help you do that. Or you could also go out to a local mom blogger and get them to maintain your social media. But really, millennial moms are maintaining digital conversations. You need to be in those digital conversations. That means posting pictures of things happening in your office on Instagram. It means letting your younger clients take Snapchats and maybe even having a dedicated, customized Snapchat filter for your office for when they’re there. It also means being on Facebook.

RELATED: More Advice from Maria T. Bailey

The Customer Service Millennial Moms Expect

It should definitely mean obtaining many great referrals and reviews online. Because 90 percent of all millennial moms consult reviews prior to buying a service. It’s really, really important that you have authentic, good reviews online because she will be looking for those reviews prior to coming in to your office.

And don’t forget YouTube. YouTube is the number-one search engine for millennials and for Gen. Zs. You want to think about maybe putting yourself in front of the camera or putting someone in your office in front of the camera to create short minute to two-minute videos that are solution-based. Perhaps you do a few videos on how to prepare your child for coming to their first orthodontic appointment, or how to sleep on that first night of braces, or how to cook brace-friendly recipes for your family. Anything that will be beneficial and solution-driven for your millennial mom.

But definitely start that millennial conversation today in a digital form. And don’t forget to use hashtags so you can track it.”

If dentists want to reach the mothers of millennial dental patients, they need to engage in digital conversations on relevant social media platforms, says Maria T. Bailey, a speaker, author and authority on the subject. But don't worry, says Bailey, this isn't something that dentists need to heap onto their already busy schedules. There are plenty of moms, millennials, and members of Generation Z who will do it for you, if you ask.


Chris Bentson is a partner at Bentson Copple & Associates — a consulting firm that specializes in orthodontics. In this clip, Bentson explains what orthodontists can do to compete with large group practices and corporate-owned entities. The keys to success, Bentson explains, are having a strong mission statement and creating an unparalleled patient experience.

“In order to remain relevant, individual practice and small-group orthodontic practice owners really need to define what their mission is. This is almost a throwback to the ‘90s when it was all about mission statements. People call it culture. People call it what I’m about. Once you define the level of care and service that you want to express to a consumer, and you can teach that through your employee base, and then express it to a marketplace, you can be phenomenally successful. Very few orthodontists take the time to really understand and define what that is. But we’re finding the most successful practices compete on culture and the patient experience. And if you can provide that at the level that is above where all the noise is in corporate, you’ll be very successful.”

Assessing the Financial Outlook for Orthodontics

“The outlook for orthodontics, long term, I think is very bullish. We only treat 2.9 million orthodontic cases in North America a year. Consolidation is actually going to get the message out to consumers and expand that market. There’s an estimated 70 to 100 million people in America that could benefit from Orthodontic treatment, and we’re only treating 2.9 million. With the pathways to digital workflows, we’ll be able to do that much more efficiently. I think it’s good for the specialty. I think it’s good for orthodontics long-term. The way we practice may be different. We may have to do higher volume, different price points. We may have to do it as employee doctors versus owners as a majority of us, but long term, it’s very bullish. We’re going to treat more people orthodonitically than ever before, going forward.”

Chris Bentson is a partner at Bentson Copple & Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in orthodontics. In this clip, Bentson explains what orthodontists can do to compete with large group practices and corporate-owned entities. The keys to success, Bentson explains, are having a strong mission statement and creating an unparalleled patient experience.

How Independent Orthodontists Can Compete with Corporate

Gary Pick, DDS, explains what he thinks is the biggest threat to the business of dentistry today.

 The Biggest Challenge Facing the Dental Business Today

Robert Pick, D.D.S., M.S., is the principal of Progressive Periodontics & Implants, as well as the dental consulting firm, the Pick Group. Pick has made his career in dentistry by becoming a dental entrepreneur. As a result, he’s learned a few lessons along the way. In this clip, Pick explains what he thinks is the biggest threat to the business of dentistry today.

“The biggest challenge that faces the business of dentistry today depends on what side you’re on. In the last five to ten years, and especially recently, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in dental service organizations. It comes from students being in debt. And so there’s the DSO. The dental entrepreneur sees that DSO as a threat. And that, as we see dentistry today, is the biggest threat — it’s the dental entrepreneur being threatened by the DSO. However, if you come into the 21

 century and you learn things that you didn’t learn in dental school — marketing, internal marketing, system operations, business retreats – you can become better than you’ve ever been with no worries of any practice ever interfering with your operation.”

“In my first year of practice, the biggest lesson was dental school does not prepare you for the business world of dentistry. And I’m one who went straight into my own practice with a partner. I never was an associate. We did it cold. I made every mistake in the book financially, business wise with my team. You are unprepared. My advice to young clinicians is, be an associate for a couple of years. Learn the ropes. If you’re going to go out and become a dental entrepreneur, hire the right consultants and find the right mentors to get you where you need to go.” 

Robert Pick, D.D.S., M.S., is the principal of Progressive Periodontics & Implants, as well as the dental consulting firm, the Pick Group. Pick has made his career in dentistry by becoming a dental entrepreneur. As a result, he's learned a few lessons along the way. In this clip, Pick explains what he thinks is the biggest threat to the business of dentistry today.


The Biggest Challenge Facing the Dental Business Today

Pat Little, D.D.S., FAGD, CFE, is a dentist who has reinvented himself as an expert on dental fraud and patient data security.

How to Secure your Dental Practice's Server

Pat Little, D.D.S., FAGD, CFE, is a dentist who has reinvented himself as an expert on dental fraud and patient data security. His companies, Dental Risk Concepts and Prosperident, have ferreted out numerous dental practice fraudsters and helped dentists stop patient data loss. In this clip, Little explains what you need to do with your dental practice’s server to stay HIPAA compliant and keep your patient data safe.

“When it comes to server security, one of the things that we really want to stress — and this is actually part of the HIPAA risk assessment as well – the server should not be sitting out in the open where someone can see it or get to it. The server is supposed to be secured, ideally in a separate room that’s locked. If it can’t be secured in a separate, locked room, get with an IT company and make sure that it’s literally in a server cage that can be bolted to the wall or bolted to the floor. My recommendation is, if you have the room in the office, have a separate room for the server and also have it bolted down.

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Because if there’s a data breach, what HIPAA is going to look at is, did the doctor take reasonable precaution to protect that data? If the server was just sitting out in the open, that’s not reasonable precaution. Having it locked in a separate room? That might be considered reasonable precaution. But having it in a separate room and bolted down in some manner, that is taking reasonable precaution at that point.

Mainly, the doctor just wants to think about safety. How can the doctor take reasonable care to protect patient data. Taking care of the server is probably job one.”

Pat Little, D.D.S., FAGD, CFE, is a dentist who has reinvented himself as an expert on dental fraud and patient data security. His companies, Dental Risk Concepts and Prosperident, have ferreted out numerous dental practice fraudsters and helped dentists stop patient data loss. In this clip, Little explains what you need to do with your dental practice's server to stay HIPAA compliant and keep your patient data safe.

Jason P. Wood, Esq., JD, is a dental attorney at 

, based in Mission Viejo, California. In his work, he often deals with dentists weighing the option of expanding their business into multiple practice. In this clip, Wood explains the common hurdles dentists face when considering multiple practice. Chief among them are the major banks.

“Some of the hurdles for financing practices, I would say, unfortunately is the banks; the traditional dental lenders, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, they all have this box that they like to work in and typically when you start moving to multi-practices, there’s a risk level that most banks aren’t used to. They’ve got some data that says, you take on a second and third practice, there’s a higher risk analysis for them. And so, for a lot of the banks, it is a question as to whether or not they feel comfortable with the risk analysis.

Some of the banks that have done it don’t even lend to dentists anymore, specifically because they targeted the multi-practice segment, and, as a result of the practices not doing the proper due diligence, they had loans that went bad. So, you don’t have many traditional lenders that understand dental that are willing to lend to multi-practices.

However, now you’ve got Bank of America, which is probably now one of the most aggressive banks in terms of going after the multi-practice. You’ve also got Wintrust, and a few other banks that are going after the market. They’re going after it cautiously but they understand that the trend is there for multi-practice ownership, and so, they are still lending.

It’s just that the lending environment is a lot more complicated, especially when you start getting over the $5 million range. Then you’re kind of flipped over into a completely different set of circumstances, ratios that they care about. They’re going to be analyzing things under a microscope, and, as a result, you need to make sure you’ve got your financials down pat. Eventually, they’re also going to ask you for a CPA compiled and then they’re going to ask for basically an outside independent CPA audited, and so, the financial process becomes a little more costly. But, hopefully, if you’re doing multi-practice you could afford it by then.”

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Jason P. Wood, Esq., JD, is a dental attorney at Wood & Delgado, based in Mission Viejo, California. In his work, he often deals with dentists weighing the option of expanding their business into multiple practice. In this clip, Wood explains the common hurdles dentists face when considering multiple practice. Chief among them are the major banks.

Why Banks are a Major Hurdle when Financing Multiple Dental Practices

Keith Washingtonexplains what your practice's website should include if you want to keep your dental patients engaged.

Here's What Your Dental Practice's Website Should Include

Is your dental practice’s website mobile responsive? Does it feature a call to action? Keith Washington is the vice president of products at 

, Inc. In this clip, Washington explains what your practice’s website should include if you want to keep your dental patients engaged.

“What’s important for a website? First of all, it’s the digital face of your organization, so, it’s got to reflect your brand, and it’s got to reflect who you are as a practice. So, it’s got to have a compelling design, it has to have content that people really want to go look at. No one actually goes anymore and says ‘I’m looking for Doctor Jones.’ They’re looking for a specific specialty, so you should have content that helps them find your website. So, most important for a website is being able to be found.

Some other components, it’s got to be responsive, meaning that most people are going to look on a mobile site, so you should be able to have a website that’s easily understood and read on a mobile site. Then you have to have a call to action, whether it’s a form, to call a phone number, or some way for a person to be able reach out to you, even when it comes to setting up an appointment.”

Is your dental practice's website mobile responsive? Does it feature a call to action? Keith Washington is the vice president of products at Prosites, Inc. In this clip, Washington explains what your practice's website should include if you want to keep your dental patients engaged.

Shayne Harris explains why its so essential to take a big-data approach to healthcare marketing, and what specifically dentists need to think about.

Parsing Big Data to Market Your Dental Practice

Shayne Harris is the founder and president of 

. Harris’ firm takes a big-data look at the healthcare market, helping doctors figure out whether the vision for their practice is aligned with the reality of the marketplace. In this clip, Harris explains why its so essential to take a big-data approach to healthcare marketing, and what specifically dentists need to think about.

 “What we really want to do is be able to pull the right information from the dentist, so they have a very, what we call, a ‘calculated look’ at who they want as a patient, what their vision is for their practice, and what that experience will be like for that patient in their practice. What we want to do is capture that essence, and then push those qualifiers into the marketplace, thus, ultimately quantifying where are those opportunities and how many of those opportunities exist — a viability study, ultimately.”

Shayne Harris is the founder and president of EOS Healthcare Marketing. Harris' firm takes a big-data look at the healthcare market, helping doctors figure out whether the vision for their practice is aligned with the reality of the marketplace. In this clip, Harris explains why its so essential to take a big-data approach to healthcare marketing, and what specifically dentists need to think about.

Scott Parazynski, MD is the only astronaut to have also accomplished Mt. Everest. He describes what it's like to watch a sunrise on top of the mountain.

This Is What It's Like to Stand on Top of Mount Everest

It’s something almost all climbers and certainly many adventurous souls have dreamed of: What would it be like to stand on Everest’s summit? Scott Parazynski, M.D., has done it, and he’s the only astronaut to have also accomplished the climb. In this clip, Parazynski describes what it’s like to watch a sunrise on top of the mythical mountain.

“Mount Everest is just this sort of mythical place, at least for lifelong climbers like me. It’s something that I read about for many, many years and dreamed about what that tiny summit would look like. It wasn’t anything at all like what I conjured up. Looking at tiny little photographs in books or seeing a few documentaries, but it’s actually the most airy place that I can possibly imagine. It’s about the size of a typical dining room table with very steep sides on all faces, covered in these beautiful Tibetan prayer flags. There’s actually on a little post a golden Buddah inside of a little glass shrine. It was really quite beautiful up there. I was able to see a full sunrise from the top of Mount Everest. I arrived at 4 a.m. on May 20, 2009 and the sun started to come up at about 4:05. I timed it just perfectly and saw the full sunrise and the curvature of the earth from up there. I remember seeing the shadow of Mount Everest over Tibet as I descended. It was a really spectacular scene.”

“Walking in space is really a misnomer. We’re actually crawling in space. We’re using a hand rail and pulling ourselves along or in basically a cherry picker — we’re on the end of a robotic arm, being moved around by someone inside. It’s really an extraordinary experience because you’re inside your own personal spaceship. You’re actually floating inside your spacesuit. It’s not like we’re wearing this thing and you feel the weight of it. You’re actually floating inside, bouncing around a little bit inside of the space suit. Everything that you need to sustain life is built around you. You have oxygen tanks in your backpack, CO2 removal, thermal control from the temperature extremes outside. You have lights on your helmet, TV cameras, tools that you need to conduct your tasks outside, are mounted in a tool kit right in front of yourself. Really, just an extraordinary amount of technology built around the astronaut to do this.

Then, you realize that every moment out there is precious. You have a very tight timeline of activities that need to get done. But every once in a while, you look up from your tunnel vision of the job that you have, and you realize, there are the Himalayas, or the Great Barrier Reef. It’s an extraordinary office to be in.”

It's something almost all climbers and certainly many adventurous souls have dreamed of: What would it be like to stand on Everest's summit? Scott Parazynski, M.D., has done it, and he's the only astronaut to have also accomplished the climb. In this clip, Parazynski describes what it's like to watch a sunrise on top of the mythical mountain.


DMD Staff

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