HR Hubris
For years I refused to hire “experienced” chairside employees. I knew that other offices weren’t as good as mine and that my treatment was superior to all others – well I believed this any...
Orthodontic Assumptions
I was perusing mass emails in my spam folder when I came across one from OrthoYes. It was interesting for lots of reasons but the thing that struck me most were the assumptions that almost all orthodo...
Your Focus Determines Your Results
I love Facebook groups. I’m a member of several – one of them is focused on investment ideas/questions for medical professionals of all types. It’s fascinating reading… the schemes and plans a...
It’s Not About Price
Yes we have a flat fee of $2998 at Smiley Face. Yes I love it because at this price point I have a great deal of freedom to practice as I see fit, I treat only people I enjoy and I work only when I wa...
All Things Being Equal…
All things being equal, all orthodontists KNOW the following to be true: A higher conversion rate is better than a lower one. A higher collection rate is better than a lower one. A lower no-show rate ...
Right or Rich?
We average a couple visiting doctors a week at Smiley Face these days. Doctors who generally come to see what we are doing and learn but in a significant number of cases it is readily apparent that th...
Orthodontists Don’t Understand the Definition of Average
Definition of average /ˈav(ə)rij/, noun a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is calculated by divid...
NEVER Tell New Patients Your Price Over the Phone!
If you listen to consultants and gurus they will insist that orthodontists and their staff should never, ever respond to the question “How much do braces cost?” with a number. Some of the more lib...
Anterior Implants Suck
I had a very interesting conversation with a dental school classmate today. He’s one of the smartest people I know and given his class rank in dental school, he could have done any specialty he want...
Omnidirectional Orthodontics
Marc Ackerman & Ben Burris We were discussing orthodontic theory and practice from an historical point of view today and remembering that 1) Transverse First was a big deal in the 1990’s and ear...