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Integrated dental and medical care is closer than most dentists think. Joe Feldsien of PDS Health explains how blood work, salivary diagnostics, wearable data, and an AI health agent are coming together in one Epic MyChart experience for patients.WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ABOUTJoe Feldsien, who leads technology strategy at PDS Health, joins Adrian Lefler on BYTE SIZED to describe what patient care looks like once dental and medical data finally live in one place. PDS Health builds its model around the mouth-body connection, the link between oral inflammation and systemic disease. Joe pictures a near future where primary care and oral care share a reception area, a chart, and a team of collaborating clinicians.The diagnostics are getting deeper. Joe calls saliva the new blood and describes salivary tests that can measure the most harmful oral bacteria in about 10 minutes, blood panels that go well past the standard workup, and CBCT imaging, where PDS has passed 3 million scans since 2020. His point on CBCT is trust. For the first time, the patient can see what the dentist sees and actually understand it.All of that data lives in Epic, which Joe says now holds a chart for roughly 70% of patients in the country, and feeds a longitudinal patient dashboard. PDS is launching an app, starting with its own employee community, that gives patients an AI agent to explain results like ApoB and coach behavior changes. LabCorp and Quest results fill the gap when a patient's physician isn't on Epic, and Joe expects wearable alerts that prompt a clinician to reach out to be less than two years away.The hardest part isn't patients. It's clinicians. Drawing on 33 years in dentistry, Joe explains why many dentists stay inside the standard of care: fear of missing something and peer pressure. The ones who step outside it earn patient loyalty and full schedules, and Joe expects health systems and self-insured employers to speed adoption as they see how oral health drives down medical costs.QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE1. What is the mouth-body connection, and why are dental and medical care being integrated?The mouth-body connection is the link between oral inflammation and systemic disease, including several leading causes of death. Organizations like PDS Health are integrating dental and medical care so primary care and oral care share a chart, a reception area, and collaborative clinicians, giving both teams a complete view of the patient's health.2. How will salivary diagnostics change the way dentists assess oral health?Salivary testing is moving well beyond what practices use today. New tests can measure the most harmful bacteria in a patient's mouth in about 10 minutes and connect those levels to periodontal risk and how the patient will respond to treatment. Paired with blood work, saliva gives dentists and patients a shared, data-driven path to better oral and overall health.3. Can an AI health assistant help patients understand their lab results?Yes, and that may be its biggest value. Most patients see a number like ApoB in isolation, feel intimidated, and do nothing. An AI agent inside a patient app can put that number in context alongside blood and saliva results and the doctor's input, then suggest behavior changes in diet, exercise, and flossing that bring the number down.4. Why are dentists slow to adopt new diagnostic technology?The biggest barrier is fear of stepping outside the accepted standard of care. Dentists worry about missing something, and peer pressure keeps many of them doing what colleagues do. Those who adopt tools like CBCT and salivary diagnostics tend to earn stronger patient loyalty, patient advocacy, and fuller schedules because they deliver value most practices don't.5. How many US patients have an Epic chart, and can dental practices use Epic?Roughly 70% of US patients now have an Epic chart in some form, making it the largest EHR in healthcare. Few DSOs and almost no unsupported private practices use it for dentistry. PDS Health runs its own dental-optimized Epic instance, and lab results from LabCorp and Quest can still flow in when a patient's physician isn't on Epic.ABOUTJoe Feldsien leads technology strategy at PDS Health, the Henderson, Nevada-based healthcare support organization formerly known as Pacific Dental Services. With more than 33 years in dentistry, he joined PDS in 2004 and previously served as president of PDS Health Medical, which he helped build from its inception to connect primary care with dental practices. He is now building an integrated patient platform that brings blood work, salivary diagnostics, wearable data, and an AI health assistant into Epic's MyChart.CONTACT INFORMATIONGuest: Joe FeldsienWebsite: https://www.pdshealth.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-feldsien-a150163a/

A great interview tells you how a candidate talks. A competency-based onboarding program tells you what a new dental hire actually knows, and what they still need to learn.WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ABOUTIn this episode of the BYTE SIZED Podcast, Adrian Lefler sits down with Chavelle Galton-Rice, Director of Membership and Education at AADOM (American Association of Dental Office Management). Chavelle started in dentistry at 18 as a front office coordinator in Kansas, became a registered dental assistant in Iowa, directed a dental assisting program, and later joined the learning and development team at a large DSO, where she helped build the assessments and 30-day onboarding program for new hires.She explains why a traditional interview is a weak measure of skill, how structured interview questions with a scoring rubric took the guesswork out of hiring, and why she hires for attitude and trains for skill. Pre-assessments in dental terminology, tooth anatomy, and role-specific topics like insurance let experienced hires test out of the fundamentals, while every new team member still completes company-specific training.The conversation covers passing thresholds of 85 to 90 percent, what to do when a new hire fails an assessment, how retention improved once live virtual training connected new hires across offices, and why a practice management software conversion became Chavelle's favorite project. Adrian and Chavelle also talk about using AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude to draft interview questions from a practice's mission, vision, and values.For independent dental practices without a learning and development department, Chavelle lays out a lean version of the system: checklists, mentors, short training blocks, and a simple Excel tracker. She also previews AADOM's new certification program, built on 25 foundational dentistry courses planned for 2027.QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE1. Is a job interview a reliable way to evaluate a new dental team member's skills?Not on its own. An interview shows communication, personality, and experience, but it does not prove someone can perform a skill. Candidates may have learned different methods from different doctors. Pairing the interview with short knowledge assessments and skill demonstrations shows what a new hire knows and where training gaps exist.2. Should experienced dental assistants be allowed to skip onboarding training?They should be able to test out of foundational topics like dental anatomy, terminology, and tooth numbering by passing a pre-assessment. They should never skip company-specific processes, doctor preferences, or hands-on competency verification. The goal is personalizing onboarding, not shortcutting it, so experienced hires get to patients faster without missing what matters.3. What passing score should a dental training assessment require?A score of 85 to 90 percent is a reasonable target for general knowledge assessments like terminology and anatomy. Patient safety and regulatory competencies need a stricter bar. Even when someone passes, a manager should review the missed 15 percent with them one on one, because a passing score still leaves gaps worth closing.4. What should a dental practice do when a new hire fails a training assessment?Find out why first. Review the missed questions together, pair the employee with a mentor, and retrain. Document every coaching session. If repeated coaching still does not click, consider whether the person fits a different role better. If not, that documentation supports a clear, fair decision to part ways.5. How can a small dental practice build a training program without a big budget?Start with what a manager can realistically maintain: clear role checklists, set priorities, an assigned mentor, and short training blocks on the schedule. Track each new hire's progress in a simple Excel sheet. Use outside foundational courses for dental basics so in-office time goes to mentorship and practice-specific workflows.ABOUT CHAVELLEChavelle Galton-Rice is a dental operations and education leader with more than two decades of experience across clinical support, front-office management, multi-site operations, and professional development. She serves as Director of Membership and Education for AADOM (American Association of Dental Office Management), where she focuses on member engagement and building learning experiences that support dental office leaders at every stage of their careers. With a Master of Education in Education Technology and Instructional Design, Chavelle brings a practical, people-centered approach to education and leadership development. Her career includes leadership roles in both private practices and dental support organizations, where she partnered with doctors and management teams to promote operational consistency, team growth, and positive patient experiences across multiple locations.CONTACT INFORMATIONGuest: Chavelle Galton-RiceWebsite: https://www.dentalmanagers.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chavelle/Host: Adrian LeflerWebsite: https://mysocialpractice.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianlefler/Book Adrian to speak: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-expert/Dental Marketing Services: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-services/👍 Subscribe for more on dental marketing, AI in dentistry, and practice growth. #DentalMarketing #DentalPracticeManagement #DentalOfficeManager #DentalOnboarding #DentalTraining #AADOM #DSO

Google Broke Dental Search Traffic. Paid Ads Are Now the Way Back In.Google used to be a waypoint. Now it's a destination. Mitchell Leiman, CEO of iPromote, explains what that shift means for dental practices that depend on being found online, and why paid ads matter more now than ever.WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ABOUTOn this episode of BYTE SIZED, Adrian Lefler sits down with Mitchell Leiman, CEO of iPromote, a platform that helps partners manage paid advertising for small businesses. Mitchell started in a small business family, spent time at Bain & Company, then built his career at Constant Contact, VistaPrint and WordStream before leading iPromote.Adrian opens with what happened to his own company's search traffic when Google's algorithm shifted in January. Mitchell explains the bigger picture: Google went from a page of links you click through to a destination where people get their answer inside the AI overview and never leave. Total searches are actually going up, but the traffic that leaves Google is going down.From there they get practical. Mitchell breaks down Performance Max (PMax), the Google Ads campaign type that can place ads in and around AI overviews, and AI Max, the setting that rewrites and extends your search campaign for you. He's honest about the tradeoff: these tools are built to spend your money, they give you less control, and small budgets often can't feed them enough data to learn.They also cover how much a dental practice should spend on ads, how to split a budget between core search and PMax, why your Google Business Profile, reviews and website are still the foundation, and what dentists should know about the brand new ChatGPT ads platform.QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE1. Why did organic search traffic drop for dental practices?Google changed from a waypoint into a destination. The AI overview at the top of the page now answers many searches directly, so more people stop at the results page instead of clicking through to a website. Search volume is still growing, but the share of clicks that leave Google keeps shrinking.2. Can dentists run ads inside Google's AI overviews?Not yet. In iPromote's testing, dental ads show up around AI overviews but not directly inside them, even though other industries are already seeing ads placed inside. The best move for a dental practice today is to compete for the real estate around the AI overview.3. What is Performance Max (PMax) and should a dental practice use it?PMax is a Google Ads campaign type where you supply headlines, images and video, and Google decides where to show your ads across Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail, Display and Discover. It reaches people who are still exploring and gets you access to placements around AI overviews. Mitchell recommends about 30% of your search budget in PMax, with the rest in core search for high-intent patients.4. What is AI Max in Google Ads?AI Max is a setting on a standard search campaign that expands your keywords and matches searches to their intent, for example catching people who search a dentist's name. It doesn't give you recommendations. It makes the changes itself, and Google has only recently started showing examples of what it changed.5. How much should a dental practice spend on digital ads?Two ways to think about it. Top down: 3% to 7% of revenue on marketing, which for a $1 million practice is roughly $2,000 to $3,500 a month on digital ads. Or by patient value: you can afford to spend about a quarter to a third of what a new patient is worth to acquire one.6. Should dentists advertise on ChatGPT?It's worth experimenting with, but not with your whole budget. ChatGPT ads are new, healthcare advertisers go through a case-by-case approval process, and the performance data is still thin. If you're an early adopter with a larger budget, test a small slice now.ABOUTMitchell Leiman is the CEO of iPromote, a digital advertising platform that helps partners manage paid advertising for small and medium-sized businesses. Before iPromote, he was a consultant at Bain & Company and held leadership roles at Constant Contact, VistaPrint and WordStream. He grew up in a small business family and has spent more than a decade helping small advertisers succeed online.Want a paid ads audit for your practice? Reach out to My Social Practice and we'll set up a review with Mitchell and the iPromote team.CONTACT INFORMATIONGuest: Mitchell LeimanWebsite: https://ipromote.comHost: Adrian LeflerWebsite: https://mysocialpractice.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianlefler/Book Adrian to speak: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-expert/Dental Marketing Services: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-services/👍 Subscribe for more on dental marketing, AI in dentistry, and practice growth. #DentalMarketing #GoogleAds #PerformanceMax #AISearch #DentalAdvertising #DentalPracticeGrowth #ByteSized

Most dental practices think they have a technology adoption problem. What they actually have is a communication problem they've been calling something else.WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ABOUTOn this episode of BYTE SIZED, Adrian Lefler talks with Lisa Alvarado, founder of Empower Choice, about the human side of dental technology adoption. Lisa's position is simple: technology is only as effective as the team around it. Without communication, training, and alignment on why a change is happening, new software just exposes what was already broken.Adrian pushes back. What happens when an insurance verification coordinator finds software that automates 80% of her job? He shares how his own copywriters assumed they were getting fired the moment he floated an AI copywriting tool. Lisa's answer: good decisions happen in a circle, with the whole team asking how they can help each other.From there it gets practical. Looking for better tools belongs in the job description, with leaders acting as a sounding board instead of the fixer. Lisa explains why doctors will spend $100,000 on equipment before they'll invest time in team meetings.Lisa also walks through her beliefs, behaviors, results framework using a clinical assistant who avoids a new intraoral scanner because she doesn't feel competent yet. She closes with "choose your hard" and her new Rhythm of Excellence group coaching program for dental teams.QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE1. Why does new technology fail in dental practices?New technology usually fails because the team was never prepared for the change. When staff lack communication, training, and a shared understanding of why the change is happening, the software exposes existing gaps in systems and culture. A change-ready team is the foundation every technology decision runs on, and most practices skip building it.2. How do you get dental staff to embrace new technology instead of fearing it will replace them?Frame the tool around what it gives the team member, not what it takes away. When an insurance coordinator sees automation as a way to spend more time helping patients understand their coverage, adoption follows. Build a culture where suggesting a better tool is rewarded, never punished with a lost job.3. How can a dental practice build continuous improvement into its team culture?Make it part of every job description and measure it. Review it once or twice a year in growth conferences, and hold regular meetings where team members bring ideas for tools, training, or process changes. Leaders should act as a sounding board, not the person who fixes every problem. A responsibility without follow-up is only a suggestion.4. Why do dental assistants avoid using a new intraoral scanner?Usually because they don't feel competent yet. Behavior follows belief, so an assistant who fears making mistakes on live patients falls back on traditional impressions and blames a busy schedule or a dead plug. Leaders should define what proficiency looks like, set a timeline, provide training and practice time, and make it safe to fail.5. Is it worth investing team time before buying new dental technology?Yes. Lisa Alvarado's rule of thumb is that five thoughtful conversations before a decision prevent five months of frustration after it. Many doctors will spend $100,000 on equipment faster than they'll schedule a team meeting, but the time gets spent either way. Invest it upfront, while you still have options, instead of in reactive fix-it meetings.ABOUTLisa Alvarado is a Communications and Systems Coach and founder of Empower Choice, which helps dental leaders and teams build the communication systems that make change stick. After starting in corporate healthcare at Baxter Healthcare, she spent more than 20 years in dentistry as a practice manager, registered dental assistant, and team leader. She holds a master's degree in industrial/organizational psychology and a professional license in integrative coaching.CONTACT INFORMATIONGuest: Lisa AlvaradoWebsite: https://www.empowerchoice.comInstagram: @empowerchoiceFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.empowerchoiceLunch & Learn: https://www.empowerchoice.com/lunchandlearnLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-alvarado-13081b68/Host: Adrian LeflerWebsite: https://mysocialpractice.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianlefler/Book Adrian to speak: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-expert/Dental Marketing Services: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-services/👍 Subscribe for more on dental marketing, AI in dentistry, and practice growth. #DentalMarketing #DentalTechnology #ChangeManagement #DentalTeam #DentalLeadership #DentalPracticeManagement #ByteSized

Dentistry has never had better technology coming into it, and it has never been less able to put it to work. Dave Salciccioli of Relay explains why DSO technology implementation breaks down between the signed contract and real adoption.WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ABOUTOn this episode of BYTE SIZED, Adrian Lefler sits down with Dave Salciccioli, who leads Relay, a consulting firm working both sides of the vendor and DSO relationship. Dave entered dental in 2018 and spent years as a fractional COO and VP of operations, usually sitting between the vendor and the operations team to make the technology actually work.Dave's core argument is that the bottleneck has moved. Vendors can now ship more in three months than they once did in three years, a point Overjet CEO Wardah Inam made at the recent Overjet AI summit. New AI entrants sell what Dave calls AI theater, incumbents keep bolting on features, and DSOs run three or four pilots at once with no extra change management capacity.Adrian and Dave dig into the messy middle between contract and outcome: sales reps making undocumented promises, 8 to 12 week onboarding windows that are too short for real adoption, and voice AI rollouts that fail because scheduling templates and overflow columns were never built. Adrian shares what his team learned helping develop Annie AI, where scheduling quirks across practices took months to solve.They also cover the questions to ask before signing, PMS read versus write access, why the DSO middle management layer disappeared, the real cost of building your own tools with Claude, and how Relay works alongside DSO Compass, founded by Matt McGaw.QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE1. Why do DSO software rollouts go wrong after the contract is signed?A common cause is a broken handoff between sales and implementation. Reps promise customizations to close the deal, those promises never get documented, and the implementation team delivers the standard package. Months later the DSO feels shortchanged and the vendor calls it extra scope. Documented scope and recorded sales calls prevent it.2. Who is responsible for software implementation at a DSO, the vendor or the DSO?Both. Vendors should get a DSO about 80% of the way with technical setup, training, and onboarding that runs longer than the typical 8 to 12 weeks. The DSO owns the last mile: provider buy-in, updated SOPs, leadership, and project management that turn the tool into a daily habit. Vendors lack the authority to force that.3. What does a dental practice need in place before implementing an AI phone receptionist?The operational foundation has to exist first. Scheduling templates, defined blocks, provider time within those blocks, and overflow columns must be built into the PMS or a voice AI agent has nothing reliable to schedule against. The DSO also needs a defined use case, such as inbound calls, outbound scheduling, or outbound billing, before rollout.4. What questions should a DSO ask a dental technology vendor before signing?Ask whether real customers use the product in front of patients today, and whether you can speak with one directly. Ask what made implementation hard for other customers and what your group must fix first. If PMS integration matters, ask whether the product has read-only access or true read and write access right now.5. Should a DSO build its own software with AI tools like Claude instead of paying for vendor subscriptions?Usually not for core systems. Groups replacing a $300 per month subscription with custom builds can end up carrying $10,000 a month in labor and token costs, plus maintenance and bug fixes. Never rebuild a system of record like the PMS. Build narrow systems of action only where no product exists, and keep humans in the loop.ABOUTDave Salciccioli leads Relay, a consulting firm that helps technology vendors sell into and implement with enterprise dental groups, and helps DSOs evaluate, select, and roll out new technology. Since entering dental in 2018, Dave has served as a fractional COO for founder-led and doctor-led DSOs and held VP of operations roles at larger national groups, focused on change management and adoption. Relay works alongside DSO Compass, founded by Matt McGaw.CONTACT INFORMATIONGuest: Dave SalciccioliWebsite: https://relaywithus.com/Website: www.dsocompass.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-salciccioli-1b286b158/Host: Adrian LeflerWebsite: https://mysocialpractice.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianlefler/Book Adrian to speak: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-expert/Dental Marketing Services: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-services/👍 Subscribe for more on dental marketing, AI in dentistry, and practice growth. #DentalMarketing #DSO #DentalTechnology #AIinDentistry #ChangeManagement #DSOLeadership #BYTESIZED