Dr. Amanda Wilson
Hi, I'm doctor Amanda Wilson, Straight Smile Solutions CEO and orthodonist. On this podcast today, you're going to learn a little bit more about launching orthodonics in a GP or primary care practice, or if you're an orthodonist, so you're going to learn a little bit more about collaborating with your primary care dentists. Looking forward to talking with you.
Dean Steinman
Well, hello everybody out there on podcast land. This is Dean Steinmann from Worth On Marketing and guess what, I am back with another podcast for you. So I am super stoked to be back here. It's been coming to the end of the year of twenty twenty four now, and boy, it's been a crazy year, and if you are orthodontic dental practice, it's been kind of a crazy year for everybody across board.
So we're obviously here to talk a little bit about how to make your practice more efficient or effective and help your bottom line. And I got with me a very special guest today that I'm super stoked to have a board. I have doctor Amanda Wilson, and we're going to talk today a little bit about how you need to why you need to incorporate orthodontics into your practice, and how you can take your practice at the next level. So, Amanda, thanks so much for joining. How are you today?
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Sure? Aloha
Dean Steinman
helloha to you. Thanks so much for joining and appreciate it. So before we jump into a little bit, why don't you give us a little bit of the background story. You know, I always love to have doctors that come on that you know that kind of transitioned away from that and into being in the business world. So tell us at about your story and how you ended up where you are now.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Sure. Absolutely, And to be honest, if you had told me twenty years ago when I graduated twenty three years ago, when I graduated from dental school, that I would doing consulting and product development and coaching as an orthodonist, I would say you were absolutely insane. But sometimes life has a way of guiding you in a direction that you weren't expecting.
So give you the quick one to two minute story. I went to UCSF for dental school, met my now husband of twenty one years. There we both had last names of w so we sat we were anatomy lab partners and everything, and after my residency he convinced me to move back to Hawaii, where he's from. El Yeah.
So, but Hawaii has some weird licensure rules, especially if you graduate after 2000 sorry, before 2004. So um I ended up we ended up working in San Francisco for about ten years and then coming back again. So we went back and forth a few times, but ultimately I wasn't able to practice here without having to go back and taking the licensure of the AdEx exam with Endo and Perio and you know, Crown of Bridge. And I was like, oh, my goodness, I'm an orthodontist.
This is just this is just wrong. So it was a little. Crazy initially, having a few kids and trying to balance our practices. You know, with having little ones.
If anyone has little ones, you realize how challenged it can be because anytime one kid is sick, it's always you know, who's got the most production on the books today, who's going to take off? And it just wasn't working for our families. So he and I kind of strategized and he said, you know, you're really good at teaching people about ortho, maybe you can teach, and there really wasn't anything out there for that was available for teaching remotely, So I said, Okay, I'm going to start my own company and I'm going to teach general and pediatric dentists how to do ORTHO. Because there was a serious lack of coaching services out. There that were independent and not directly affiliated with a certain brand.
I just was like, I want to teach people an easy way to do orthodonics and have fun with it and not be stressed out and feel confident they can do this in their practice. Ultimately, my goal was to educate primary care dentists on what ORTHO was, how to do it, and even if they chose not to do it, they could alway refer to a local orthodonosy it was too complex. But I know most sentists are not learning much about WORTHO in dumba school. I mean, they learned maybe how to refer and maybe how to make a retainer, but that's really not useful or though.
So that's why I do. What I do, and I've been doing it for ten years and I absolutely love it.
Dean Steinman
That's great, don't you love being the smile business? You know? I love.
Oh, it's so satisfying.
Dean Steinman
Yeah, it's a great you know, my job is to make my clients just not to smile, and our job is to make other people smile. And you know, it's incredible how you know, how seeing somebody walking down the street and just when they're the confidence that they have just from smiling, it's it's it's you know, by somebody, you know, busy street in New York City wherever it is, and so we walk down with a puss on their face walk but you're like, but somebody just walks by, smiling and happy. You could tell right away, you know how the life has changed, and you know, and it's it's great to be in sinstreekis to be around people that are changing people's lives. It's it's fabulous.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
It is.
Dean Steinman
So let's let's talk a little bit more about the industry in general. And you know, what is it what's the main pain point that you see a lot of dentists having these days, and you know, and how are you helping answer that problem that they have?
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Sure? I mean, for the most part, I do work with general and pediatric dentists. I sometimes work with new grad authors as well, who maybe just didn't get their COVID trained and didn't get a lot of hands on or maybe they just didn't have a lot of experience with growth modification or aligners.
But for the most part, I'd say for aligners, it's predictability. I mean, I think people believe that if they just roll this case into the you know, set up machine, whatever we're going to call it, they're going to get a great cling check. And I'm calling this you know, a branded name of course by any aligner company, and they just wear the aligners and hoof, everything works out. Well, that's not really how things work.
So you really have to drive the bus on any aligner brand, and you have to know how you want to. Move the teeth. Let's say we have a crowding case. You know, there's so many there's five main ways to treat crowding, right, how do you know which five to do? Are you going to do expansion proclination, are you going to do i PR? Are you going to take out some teeth and you're going to do sequential distallization? How do you know what's right for that patient? There's so many things you have to take into account and each patient, each case is a unique piece of art.
Basically, you have to take an account not only the airway, the soft tissue, the hard tissue. We got to make sure this puzzle piece is going to work together. So I help teach them how to easily solve the puzzle. That's really my goal.
Dean Steinman
Wow, and how hard is it is you teaching an old dog new tricks? Are you teaching an. Old dog old
Dr. Amanda Wilson
all the above? So new dogs new tricks, new dogs old tricks, old dogs nutricks. So you know, it really comes down to you know what their goals are, what their practice standards are, what state they're in, so many things, maybe who they have to refer to it. Like I said, I know you have a lot of orthodonists who listen to your program, and I think that that's awesome, and I also help orthodonists.
But in addition, I really I'm sure all of you who are orthodonists that are out there have had these referrals where they either just waited way too long and you're like,
oh my goodness, now everything's already impacted and we got to pull out teeth with a nightmare. They should have referred at age seven. I teach them, please refer if you don't know what you're doing. Please refer early, early, early, you know, or you know, maybe you're just not getting enough referrals.
And the more that this primary care dentist understands ORTHO, the more that they can explain and qualify that referral. Yes, they might take a few of the easy ones in house, but they're going to refer you even more. And most of the doctors I work with send way more referrals than they ever did once they go through my program.
Dean Steinman
That's incredible to hear because so many authos are complaining about the competition and people that were referris or now competitors.
And again, you can see the forest through the trees and the fact that you help them understand that you can do a basic phase or supplication, but in complex case, you know, refer it out and you'll see you come back in speeds over and over again. You know you've referred to a complex case. They're going to just keep They're going to open up their doors. You say, here's here's somebody great to come to for the other side.
So it's a great you know, relationship there, But how do you help them understand to the far again, the forests of the trees as well. By by referring it out, they're not going to get the billing for it and not make the money on it. There, but it's not the expertise, So how do you help them understand that part there and where the line where that line is crossed.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
That's it's a very fuzzy line. And I definitely have some doctors who are way more confident and I can do this, you know, and some that are much more timid. Oh no, it might be a ken on exposure. Yeah, you better refer that out. So yeah, I mean it's difficult.
It definitely hold the hands. But also you know, a lot of your orthodontis out there, they can also provide coaching services. I mean you do have to watch out with some of the terms of service and the liability. It's a very different type of insurance than what you have with your working with patients.
This is B2B, not B2C. But I think there's I mean, I know there's so much opportunity out there, and a lot of people would rather work with their local orthodonists on their cases because that way, if you help them out a little bit, then they probably. Will start referring you more patients, so you know, it's a win win for both of you.
Um I know that there's always problems when it comes for billing and coding and if you're not an orthodontist, and how do you so, how does a dentist who is offering authough code and bill if they're not an orthodontist today, how does that work?
To be honest, I refer them out for that. We even refer out for that. I have um two consultants that help with that. It is. It is a bit iffy.
I mean, obviously they need to write the right summaries and stuff like that, and they have to have the right diagnostics in the right records. That's the first thing, right. I can help them do that. But in terms of the billing, yeah, it can get a little clunky, you know, and they they a lot of times they're not they're used to working with one procedure type of things.
Right. They get their money up front. This is a this is a marathon, not a sprint, so it might comes in and drops, it might come in quarters, you know, and if the if the insurance terms, you know, then you're not going to get your money. And unless you have the right paperwork, you're not going to get your money.
So yeah, I mean, don't don't rush into things. You can always get pre offs. I mean, as much as we all know these things and just take all the right records. That's the main thing.
Dean Steinman
What's the number one question that or objection that the dentist has when talking to you as far as bringing on to their practice.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Doing it in house or bringing in a in an outside worthan honest.
Dean Steinman
Let's let's both. Let's talk about just bringing doing in house and then bringing some bringing in a partner.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Um, I mean bringing it in house. I mean ultimately it's it's how to how to organize it in the practice. I mean, you've got so many things going on. You've got hygiene going on, You've got a crown prep going on.
So it's a matter of I always strongly recommend that they do as much remotely and digitally upfront as possible. So if they're going to do braces, we got to do indirect bonding. Digital place the brackets, digitally, approve the brackets, put your digital signature on it, and now good, you're confident the brackets will go on the right spot. That way it can be delivered.
Maybe why you're doing something else depending on the state you're in. Of course, same thing with the liner is having taking a lot of time outside the practice. To do it. And there's no reason now with virtual consults and everything like that and that scanners that you have to give them a diagnosis right on the spot.
I know us orthodonists are really good at doing that. I mean ninety five percent of the time if the patient's in my chair, as long as I have the X rays, I can pretty much. I mean, your brain works like a puzzle, right you see it. You're like, I've done this.
This was Jenny's case. With some and say's case, you know what to do, right, but occasionally we get a little stumped and we're like, hey, I'd like to take a little more time to study this. With primary care Denis, they all need to take more time to study it. They can't just guess and be like, yes, this is a VISI line or yes we can do this with braces.
They have to take the time to go through the records and really work out the simulation and the puzzle to make sure it's going to work for that patient holistically. So I just tell them nothing wrong with saying, hey, I like to take my time with making a. Treatment plan and a diagnosis. Thank you for your patients.
Let's schedule a follow up phone call or a zoom with my treatment coordinator. What works for you, Let's schedule it next week. I'll have the answer by then, and that's great. Or if you use virtual consults, you can collect the rough data.
Ahead of time. It's not great, but they can use chopsticks or spoons to retract, and I see a lot of orthodonists are doing that. If you haven't checked that out, just go to Orthodonists near me comma virtual consult and I love to see what people are doing their synchronous and asynchronous virtual consults. It's a great marketing opportunity
It really is. But you know, nobody even heard of virtual consults before Covid, you know, yeah, you know. And then there was some great partners out there that we worked with, you know, that did virtual and I wouldn't practice that while they were closed for COVID did over a million dollars in business.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
I do so many of these webinars. Yeah, and I was like, right on, you guys are doing the right thing. Look, there was an entire direct consumer industry that's kind of fallen apart in the last ten years. But they were doing. Virtual consults and they sold how many millions of cases? So I'm not saying that everything was good.
But if they can do it, you can do it too, as long as your law is allowed.
Dean Steinman
Now We'll talk about the you know, adapting and technology, virtual consult you know, because it's very from my perspective, it's very hard to have somebody adapt and to change into into embrace and then you know, quote unquote embrace change. But you have to. So what's how would you give a little bit of advice to somebody that a has to change the way they think when they're when they're now looking at the whole picture versus just the whitening or the you know, the bleaching or the cosmetic part.
And if you're you're reading aligning in now, so you have the ABC is you have a line bleaching and you know whitening and then you have cosmetic line is big part of it. You can't get you cannot control you the perfect smile, let's teeth, the straight So to adapt, So how do you and then when you have to embrace technologies and use automation and use you know, things like virtual consult. So what bit of advice would you give somebody who's just doesn't get or afraid to make a change. How would you help them?
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Yeah, I mean it's hard so the first time when you make changes.
But I like to say, first of all, I like to say what do you like to do? What kind of dentistry do you like to do? And usually they say, you know, I love to do implants, I love to do sleep, I love to place veneers. That's great. ORTHO treatment begets treatment. So the more earth that you do, the more everything else you're going to have, and the everything else will work out better.
If we upright those incisors, the veneers will stay on better because they have better clearance. If we you know, upright the adjacency, the implants will drop better, and the and they'll integrate better. So you'll just get better outcomes, have less complaints if you just finish the ORTHO first. Now, no one says you have to do it, but you It is standard of care.
And now even the ADA is making recommendations about bite, about occlusion, about airway, about making sure your patients are aware what their options are. So it really is important that you understand it. If you don't want to do it, I don't care refer it out, but at least learn to screen them, you know, and then send them the referral if they need it before they get the cosmetic work.
Dean Steinman
Does a practice need to now hire and bring in a TC or something that they think a doctor could do themselves, because a lot of doctors are not salespeople, and this is almost like a sales position. You have to be able to communicate with the person the right way and listen and understand and help them, you know, see the journey. So how do you help them on this? You know, go through that part? Well, I can't afford to do this. I got to bring in a TC and I got to buy a scanner or blah blah blah.
So let's talk about you know, the initial part when you say, you get somebody finds your website because they hired a great marketing company and then they found you, you know, to come in. But then what do you suggest would be the person who meets with them, you know, is a doctor.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Yeah, I mean, honestly, I've trained orthro tcs that were I'm sure we've all heard this before, but that were honestly car salesman. I mean anyone, they were Starbucks people.
I mean, we hire people. You know. My husband's really good about this, he carries his cards and if he meets just an amazing person, you know, service in the service industry, he'll hang you interested in the job. I mean, as long as they're bright, and they're good talkers and they're motivated, we can.
Treat train someone in a matter of weeks. You know, it's not that hard to train someone to do a ORTHO if they're if they're interested, so you know, but if you have the team members that are already. Interested, it could be tricky. I think one of the hardest things is convincing your team that we're going to add this new menu of services, you know, something something new.
But usually most team members are thrilled about adding ORTHO because what's the benefit for them. Hopefully you're providing them care for them maybe and maybe eventually for their kids, you know, maybe at labbees or whatever, but you know that helps their families as well. So usually people are very motivated and you don't get a lot of pushback. Of course, they're going to wonder what's in it for them, so maybe have some incentives.
That's really a whole other thing. But yeah, I think it's definitely doable.
Dean Steinman
And no somebody does start in with the orthodontics and they're embracing it and bring it to their practice. How do you help them come up with pricing as far as how they price themselves in a market because you get just like throw. Something secret shopping.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
It's all about secret shopping. So have your team do some secret shopping. I mean, usually have a pretty idea.
If you're a primary care dentist. Usually your patients that you've referred. Ow are going to come back to say I'm getting orthoid so and so, and you can just ask, I mean, hey, you right, tell me how much the costs you know, or you can even ask to see the treatment pund you get some idea of what they're charging around you. You need to be under what the orthodonists are charging for sure, otherwise you're not gonna get any business.
I mean, I'm not saying it has to be okay. Let me tell you a story about this. So back a like goodness, Like maybe thirteen fourteen years ago, when I was practicing in the Bay Area in San Francisco, there was a guy down the street that put up a billboard right next to our office we were working that said Dizzeligned twenty nine ninety nine while I was charging seven thousand or something like that. So I was like, oh my goodness, he's totally undercutting me.
But you know, I mean they're gonna, i mean hopefully not gonna charge that much less. But then this guy was also assessing like ridiculous extra fees for retention and other stuff. And his goal, he even told me, his goal was to do more implants. That's his only goal.
He wasn't really interested in the orthough, he was interested in doing more implants. So that's why he made his price so low.
Interesting. And now, you know, when it comes to so many things have changed and so much competition, you know, what do you suggest the practice does from you know, from an automation that's kind of what we step in is we our job is to get people to show up, but you have to follow up with them constantly.
People have so many different options, you know, and the staff just doesn't get on board, you know, and they're because that's they're busy. So, you know, from a new business perspective, you know, how do you help a practice, you know, get the name out there more? And what would you suggest then them to do besides hire a great marketing company like wealth and marketing.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
I mean, honestly, that's not me. So I do the clinical stuff.
So I mean we hire, I recommend companies like yours, which is great now that we're partnering together. But I mean, like I said, you've got your own patience. Just start with. It's really easy.
And I'm sure you heard of wellness scan, so if you have a scanner, I mean, of course my preference and I have no affiliation with the line technology at all, but there the eye tear was amazing for wellness scans. I mean, it's just so visual and so pretty. And if you take a wellness scan at every other recall appointment, you know, once a year, and just kind of show them, hey, look so like you have some crowding, this many millimeters. Click, you have some nutrition, some abfractions.
Okay, you know definitely orthor would benefit your bite. We want you to keep the last for a lifetime. Let me just show you the plan, just so you have an idea of what it would look like, you know, especially if you can get it in the in face and see it with their smile. Don't be salesy, don't be saley.
Just explain the health benefits of this and why you think it would help their mouth and their bite. Then you know, move on and say, you know, if you're interested, let me know we do offer these services, or we can refer you out to unarthured honest and then just circle back one year from then. You know, obviously if they're interested, then you can follow up. But you'd be surprised just from doing that wellness scan, you're going to get so many starts in me not be that moment, but it might be a few months later or a year later.
Because people don't want their teeth to you know, implants are getting new implants. It's a lot more expensive, you know, or pera treatment than just doing the ortho now. And what if they have coverage, they might even. Have insurance coverage. It's insane if you don't want to do treatment.
Dean Steinman
Um, If somebody is thinking of doing this, what kind of commitment time wise are they looking at because they're you know both you know, sentos, some busy people. So if they now want to like learn about your services and then corporate it, what kind of investment time wise do they.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Have to from zero to fifty, zero two hundred.
So we also we have a ton of free resources. One of the fun things that I do is I make YouTube videos explaining basic ORTHO concepts. I also take requests, so a lot of times I get hey, can you make a video about this? Can you explain this? So it's almost like a wiki ortho page. If you go to street Smouse Solutions YouTube channel 2,300 videos to date, and they're kind of organized into buckets.
So we have like a whole braces one. We have a whole invisiligned one. We have a whole non invis aligned. We have a phase one in air away one.
So you can just go in and see what you're interested in. Just watch those videos. It's a lot, so you know, just click around and see what's interested, or you can search by keyword, you know, like RPE, and then you can watch all the videos on RPE. But that's a great way to get started, and it's freet it doesn't cost you anything.
We also have courses that are digital courses. Sometimes we have live courses. I post them on the website if I have them, and then from there, if you want to move on to coaching, we have coaching help with one case, one on one, or all your cases for one month two months three months, whatever you want. It's really there's no real commitment.
You're gonna get out of it what you put into it. So but if you just want to dip your toe in and try it, even if it's a case that you're stuck on. It doesn't have to be a new case. It could be some case that's like not finishing.
You know, maybe you keep having refinement after a refinement and you're like, what is wrong and the patient's getting frustrated. Let me help you with that case. Well, you're gonna learn so much. You pick a case and we're looking at it.
Let's say it's a new case, and we're like, you know, this is not appropriate. I think you should refer this out. We will give you a credit for another case. So you really have nothing to lose.
Dean Steinman
Wow um, So I got two more questions for you. First one is you're back in your in your ortho days and you a patient comes in and sits in the chair. You have the ability to choose one person in the history of the world to come in and sit in your chair and be able to look at them. Who would who you choose them?
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Wait? One one person to look like like phone a friend from my autho case.
Dean Steinman
The patient to sit in your chair and to have a you know, X many minutes with that person. Forget about what that teeth look like. But just this is going to be my patient. Patient.
Anybody in the history of the world that you would like to have sit in your chair, you know that you could talk to.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Oh my goodness, you didn't warn me about this question. Oh no, anyone that I want to talk to. Okay, I'm just going to pick something random, just because I admire him.
And this is kind of a Hawaiian thing, but do Kahanamoku. He is the godfather of all things water aquatics. My kids are swimmers surfing in Hawaii. He was such a good person, such a likable person in the community, and I really admire him, so I would love to meet him. And he had great teath.
Dean Steinman
Oh awesome, good All right, And then I've got one more important question that I don't know if you saw it, but I just came across my text that a asteroid is hitting Hawaii tonight. So you have now you have the ability to you have one last meal you got I think.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
You're kidding, right, because we've had this missile warning. Okay, thank you.
Dean Steinman
So now y ou're about to eat your last meal.
Dr. Amanda Wilson
Okay, well, we've actually had that happen to us before, if you go back to I don't know what this was 2020. Twenty nineteen, we had the missile crisis where we all everyone in Hawaii got a text saying that we were going to die and the missile was coming to bomb.
So yeah, you should. You should check that out. So, I mean, this is something we actually take seriously. But and it ended up being a oops.
Someone pushed the wrong button. But what is my last meal? I guess in Hawaii, we really we do good with luaus and we do EMUs, which is where you build like a giant kit in the ground and you roast a pick. I know it sounds really mean, but they're usually fresh and they're so tasty. It's really moist and yummy and it smells so good.
So I would love to have a luol
there you go? Okay, cool? Good? All right, Well, I mean thank you so much for joining. I really appreciate it. Now somebody more information learn about you, and you know, talk to you about potentially helping them out. What's the best way for the do so
Dr. Amanda Wilson
sure, and actually just an added plug to any of your listeners.
I'm going to give any of your listeners two free things. They do have to mention your podcast though, in order to get these for free. So number one, you can go to my website Straights Mouse Solutions, that's plural Straights Mouse Solutions, and if you go to the contact page, there's a button to schedule a free call. I would like to definitely give any of your listeners that free call and answer any of their ortho questions.
We won't be going over a case, per saying, but definitely get any. Of those ortho questions out there and concerns. So and in addition, I also have a document store on my website. You can find it understore, I believe, and I would like to offer any of your listeners a free document from my document store, or you can go to my YouTube channel and see some of the documents that are referenced.
And usually those fees are twenty dollars each, but it's a gift for any of your listeners who mention your podcast. And yeah, I would love to talk to anyone. You can shoot me an email at info at straightsmas Solutions dot com or just reach just find me on any of my socials and message me and we'll hook up.
Dean Steinman
Awesome, man, thank you so much for joining.
Everybody out there, she's great. If so, if you're thinking of taking a practice at the next level, have questions by implementing with the doontics, in's learn a little bit more. Figuring out what's the best way to also build up your referral basis is real important. Guys.
You know, you're you're in the smile business and you have to work together with everybody. You're not, you know, competing now, but if you work smart, you could come back and tenfold. So you know, reach out, you know, learn a little bit more and see how you can take your practice on the next level. So man, thanks so much for joining.
Appreciate it. Or out on podcast land, thank you so much for listening as always, really appreciate all of your your loyalty, your messages, everybody following us, you know, and once again little shameless plug here. If you are looking to your practice at the next level and you need more patients, if you need auth of marketing, we think you're gonna call weth A marketing. Thanks so much, appreciate it.
Everybody, be safe and smile Smile Smile
