Brews and Tiny Teeth, The Unfiltered Pediatric Dentistry Podcast

Dr. Alexandra Markou-Guzman is a pediatric dentist who works in a public health center treating children from a Hasidic Jewish population in New York City. She shares her experience working with this population, and the cultural challenges that come with it. We discuss some of the unique dental considerations that come into play with treatment planning and working with these families. Dr. Alex is a recent graduate of an NYU residency. She shares how she was able to apply for and receive a National Health Service scholarship to help pay for school. By qualifying for this scholarship and completing two years of work in public health, she was able to significantly reduce her student loan burden.

Dr. Amy Jones is a pediatric dentist from Mississippi. She comes on the show to talk about a variety of topics including:- How many chairs to have in a dental office- Medicaid limiting access to GA/OR in her state, and they combat this "scoring system"- Burnout and working 5 days a week- How to incorporate a therapy dog into the office- Challenges of taking time off for vacations as a practice owner

Dr. Jim Coll is a legendary pediatric dentist. With a career that spans 40 years in both private practice and academics at the University of Maryland, he has invested his time becoming a leading publisher of systematic reviews regarding pulpal therapies in primary and permanent teeth. Said another way... he's the guy authoring all of the papers in the AAPD journal with updated clinical trials and what the latest literature says about how we should be doing pulpal treatments on primary and permanent teeth. I was impressed at his level of knowledge, and how he was able to quote different studies supporting the effectiveness of indirect pulp caps, bioceramics, and Hall crowns.

Dr. Jessica Sliger is a former teacher who went back to school to become a pediatric dentist. She practices at a group practice in Arkansas where she is passionate about TOTs, seeing patients with special needs, using AI to help present treatment plans, and recently teaching new restorative techniques with the Bioclear method. She also helped Arkansas establish a dental school, with the goal of improving access to care in the state. Jessica shares her journey as a pediatric dentist on social media with the Instagram handle, "@dentistmama."

Dr. Tiffany Green is a pediatric dentist from the Jackson, Mississippi area. We have a great lunchtime conversation regarding a variety of topics including:- Why dropping Delta Dental was the right move for her practice- How her love for running keeps her sharp as a pediatric dentist- Why DSOs are struggling- Dr. Green's experience and appreciation for Invisalign First, and how she incorporates ortho into her practice

Dr. Stefanie Meek is a pediatric dentist and partner at a large group practice in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is currently on maternity leave with a new baby, so we took the opportunity to have a discussion about all things pediatric dentistry. We talk about how much time to take off after having a baby, what her oral sedation cocktail consists of, and how her partnership buy-in was structured prior to COVID hitting. This is a great episode for anybody wanting to hear a partnership story and the benefits of working in a large group-practice setting.

This episode is all about improving communications skills and becoming a better leader. This is a topic I haven't focused on with any previous episodes, so I'm excited to bring my listeners something a little different. Dr. Randy Weinshel is a pediatric dentist with a career that expands to include military service, academics, and private practice. Health issues forced him into an early retirement from private practice, allowing him to shift gears and to focus on consulting and helping other pediatric dentists lead and operate at their highest level. Randy reviews his six fundamental principals for good leadership. We also discuss examples of what he sees with poor leaders, and where many dentists go wrong when it comes to setting a good example for their dental team.

We are joined today by The Kindness Bro himself... Dr. Glenn Canares. Glenn is an academic pediatric dentist and the program director at the University of Maryland. Glenn shares his story of how he experienced bouts of panic attacks while in clinic, and he knew he needed to make some radical life changes. He talks about how he found success with weight training, giving himself grace, and expanding on what it means to be kind to yourself. We talk about how we all can strive to reach a "black belt level" state of nirvana in pediatric dentistry where we can disconnect ourselves from our outcomes, and focus on the aspects of pediatric dentistry that we love. Glenn was a fantastic guest and I encourage listeners to follow his social media as he has several speaking events and messages that help promote kindness and wellness in our profession. Coaching available (online group and one-on-ones)Email: canares.speaking@gmail.com or DM through Social Media PlatformsSocial Media to follow:Instagram: @kindnessbro (https://www.instagram.com/kindnessbro/)TikTok: @kindness.bro (https://www.tiktok.com/@kindness.bro)YouTube: @thekindnessbro (https://www.youtube.com/@thekindnessbro)Speaking Available:Kindness Curriculum: A New Model for Sustainable Dental EducationKeynote for the ADEA Fall Conference in Colorado Springs, CO (Oct 15 - Oct 17) Email: gcanares1@umaryland.edu

70,000 SDF applications and 11,000 ART fillings. Dr. Jonathan Norris and his partners own 10 practices across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. They have built their entire practice philosophy on being minimally invasive. I love having these conversations because its so interesting to see how different pediatric dentists can practice. We have a great conversation and discuss:- Their protocol for SDF and SMART fillings, when it works and when it doesn't- Why they only use glass products- Hall crowns vs modified Hall crowns- Papacarie for ART fillings- How is minimally invasive dentistry perceived by referring GPs?

Dr. Lizzy Standish is a pediatric dentist from Lafayette, Indiana. We met at AAPD when she was telling me about her involvement and passion for comedy, specifically improv. I invited her on the podcast to learn more about how this skillset improved her communication with parents and made her a better pediatric dentist.

Dr. Diana Pelzer is a pediatric dentist and owner of The Nest Pediatric Dentistry in Waukee, Iowa. She opened the practice from scratch in 2020 in a large modern building that she constructed at the same time. After just 5 years of being open, she added an addition on the building along with a bringing on a new associate.Dr. Pelzer has a virtual adult beverage with me as we discuss start-ups, commercial real estate as a new pediatric dentist, developing a great brand and reputation in the community, and dealing with the highs and lows of managing employees.

Dr. Shon Diguglielmo is a pediatric dentist and partner at a large legacy multi-specialty practice in Vermont. The partnership consists of seven pediatric dentists and three orthodontists. They have a unique system in which they equally split the same number of working days in a calendar year. The partners are all reimbursed equally (profits are not distributed by production percentage). Dr. Shon shares how they structure this and why it works so well for their doctors.Dr. Shon also shared with me that a previous Brews and Tiny Teeth Episode inspired him to explore the option of partnering with a DSO. He explains why their practice made that transition, how he did his due diligence, and why it was the right move for his group.

Dr. Karli Williams is a pediatric dentist at Black Hills Pediatric Dentistry in South Dakota. She is a partner at a large, established practice that serves children with major access to care barriers across South Dakota and the surrounding states. Her busy practice also owns and runs a stand-alone surgery center that operates with CRNAs five days a week. Carly cracks a beer and talks with me about South Dakota, treating Native children, operating a surgical center, using Equia strip crowns, and how they survived a Medicaid audit.

Dr. John Kiang is a pediatric dentist from Rhode Island. He is a partner in a large practice that has three pediatric dentists, a GP, and multiple orthodontists. He steps away from a day off at the beach to talk about a variety of topics including:- How their large pedo-ortho practice integrates orthodontics and makes that relationship seamless- The importance of offering partnerships to the right people- Dealing with challenging cleft patients- Nasal alveolar molding- Training for triathlons as a way to stay healthy and be a better dentist.

This episode is all about how to put a valuation on a pediatric dental practice. To help me dissect this topic, I invited on Jeffrey Moss from Moss, Luse, and Womble (MLW). MLW is a prominent accounting firm out of Texas that works with dentists from all around the country. They help approximately 150 pediatric practices with services ranging from bookkeeping, tax strategies, financial planning, and practice valuating. Jeff and I discuss the following topics:- What trends he's seeing in regards to the demand for pediatric offices- What metrics are looked at when considering high-quality practices?- What's a healthy profit margin and how is that calculated?- Is there such thing as a practice that is too big to obtain financing from a private buyer?- How does bringing on an associate who wants to eventually partner affect the valuation for both the buyer and the seller?

This episode comes to you live from AAPD in Denver, Colorado! Dr. Corey Hastings and I had a great time on the floor meeting other dentists and doing some networking. We had a ton of ambitious young docs come up to us and share their stories. Based on our feedback, Corey and I estimate that we've helped somewhere between 60-80 people start their own practice. Corey and I ordered some old fashions and share some of our thoughts about the new Cain Watters Practice Comparison Report. This is a report that shares practice production, collection, overhead, wages, etc. of mature pediatric practices that work with Cain Watters. We discuss some of the trends we are seeing, and why some of these numbers may be misleading.

Dr. Eric Phan is a pediatric dentist who decided to take the leap and go back to ortho residency after four years of practice. He developed an interest in ortho during his associateship and decided to purse being one of the few dual-specialists in our profession.Dr. Phan talks about the application process, why he chose to go back to residency, differences in personalities between pediatric dentists and orthodontists, and why he thinks adding an ortho skill set increases his value and will afford him a longer and healthier career. He also shares some tips for those listeners who may consider going back to specialize in orthodontics.

Dr. Vinny Miriyala is a pediatric dentist who wears a variety of hats in his professional career. Besides working both in private practice and academics, he also takes on an administrative roll by working with insurance companies and the federal government doing peer-reviews and fraud/waste/abuse claims.We have a great conversation about how to avoid liability as a pediatric dentist, specifically what mistakes docs make that get them served a letter from an attorney. Dr. Vinny can be reached at dr_vinod@hotmail.com

Dr. Adi Genish is pediatric dentist in the beautiful Beverly Hills area of California. She is also a well-known social media influencer and has attracted an impressive following to her profiles on Instagram and TikTok. Dr. Adi talks about why she went back to specialize in pediatrics, and what inspired her to open her practice in Beverly Hills. Her office vision was to create a dental spa for children, and you can tell she spared no expense in designing a very modern practice. We also discuss treatment modalities and parent expectations for the families she sees in Beverly Hills. Dr. Adi also gives us some pointers for social media and reviews its importance for having good content in the modern world of pediatric dentistry.

Dr. Ivy Fua is a pediatric dentist in Burbank, California. Right before COVID she purchased and renovated an established pediatric office to create "Grin Garden Kids Dental and Orthodontics." We talked about how she used a marketing and branding firm to help create her new office, along with the challenges of surviving the transition during COVID. We also discuss:- Outsourcing your insurance billing, is it worth it?- Difficulties when you hire and then lose an associate- Dealing with parents who have fluoride concerns- Being a mom and running a practice- Does it make sense to do full ortho or just phase one?