He Oversees 650+ Dental Practices. Here's What He Thinks Dentists Are Missing.

Having systems in place is one thing... Making sure your team actually follows them is another. That's why Alex created Milo, an app that bridges the gap between having systems and actually getting things done. With checklists, recurring tasks, and built-in accountability, Milo helps turn your processes into action. Learn more at https://go.startmilo.com/jacd Dr. Gary Glassman is the Chief Dental Officer of Dentalcorp, a DSO with over 650 dental practices. And he's on a mission to change the way dentists think about oral health. He's calling it "Oral Fitness." The idea is pretty simple. What's happening in your mouth affects a lot more than just your teeth, and Gary believes dentistry needs to do a better job connecting oral health with overall health. We start off talking about a patient Eric had the day before recording who was adamant she'd rather have her tooth pulled than get a root canal. Gary breaks down some of the biggest misconceptions about root canals, including the claims that they cause cancer and other systemic diseases. Then we get into Oral Fitness, the relationship between oral inflammation and whole-body health, and some of the newer technology being developed to help dentists identify and monitor inflammation. Of course, we had to ask the practical questions. How do you actually implement this in a dental practice? Who's paying for it? And how do you convince patients to care about something that doesn't hurt? We also get into the differences between Canadian and American dental insurance, why dentists are terrible at letting patients finish a sentence, and whether a $10 inflammation test could eventually help with insurance approvals. Gary has spent his career saving teeth. Now he's trying to help dentists prevent the problems that lead to root canals and other major treatments in the first place. In this episode: Why patients still refuse root canals The myths connecting root canals to cancer and systemic disease What Gary means by Oral Fitness How oral inflammation relates to overall health New technology for measuring inflammation in the mouth Making preventive care work in a profitable dental practice Canadian vs. American dental insurance Why dentists need to get better at listening to patients Sponsor Shoutouts A big thank you to our sponsors for making this episode possible! 🖥️ Darkhorse Tech – Dental IT done right. From managed IT and cybersecurity to HIPAA compliance and cloud solutions, Darkhorse helps practices keep their technology running smoothly. JACD listeners get their first month FREE. https://www.darkhorsetech.com 💳 Nadapayments – Stop overpaying for credit card processing. JACD listeners get $25/month pricing, 1.5% processing, and $0.25 debit transactions. 🌐 https://www.nadapayments.com Check out their savings calculator to see how much money you are leaving on the table by not switching to nadapayments! https://nada-calculator-dentalpractic... Connect with Us If you got something out of this episode, the best way to support the show is to share it with another dentist. Thanks for listening!