Dentaltown October 2017 - 80

Our work restores oral health
and appearance, allowing
people to really smile at their
grandchildren for the first time.
A challenged-and challenging-
patient base
How often do you hear "No offense,
but I hate dentists"? I shrug and move on
nowadays, because usually it's a minor
struggle. For patients who need dentures,
though, the struggle is much more frightening
and real ... and most dentists aren't interested
in providing removable dentures.
More than 120 million Americans are
missing at least one tooth. Fifteen to 20
percent of people in the Midwest have lost
more than six teeth (and that percentage is
even higher in the South). Many dentists
lack the training in removable dentures and
the patient-management skills required to
address this population. Consider this my
encouragement for fellow dentists to step
out of the comfort zone and give dentures a
chance. It has changed my life, and it may
change yours.

A growing specialty
I found my current practice on Dentaltown. Our friends thought my wife
and I were crazy to trade an office in Fort
Collins for one in Indianapolis-and a
dentures-only practice at that. ("Breathing
too many fumes from the monomer?") I flew
to Indianapolis on a Thursday and bought
the office the next day.
For a full year, I commuted between
Colorado and Indianapolis every week to
maintain both offices until I could find a
suitable buyer for the Colorado location.
It was a grueling schedule, but something

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OCTOBER 2017 // dentaltown.com

I'll forever be grateful for. I learned a lot-
including the fact that you shouldn't keep
commuting 1,000 miles on a regular basis.
But since that laborious year, our practice
has grown exponentially. We now have
multiple locations with a large central lab. We
believe we're having a huge, positive impact
on the lives of our patients in Indiana. We're
committed to staying in the Midwest and
eagerly plan to add many more locations.
There is a need for dentists who enjoy
dentures-and that need is real.
We intentionally limit our patient pool
to extractions, dentures and implants. This
allows us to serve a specific, too-often-ignored
demographic. These include people who have
never seen a dentist, who come for their first
cleaning at age 50. Our work restores oral
health and appearance, allowing people to
really smile at their grandchildren for the
first time. We are determined to deal with
what new patients bring to our offices in
a positive, restorative manner. Our goal is
to treat patients.

Great rewards, grateful patients
After making 10,000 dentures, I've
found it pays to be crazy-a little "craycray," if you will, lighthearted and casual.
For example, I had a patient last year who
was dissatisfied with his lower denture. He
burst into the office at noon, yelled angrily
at the receptionist and stalked back to my
office to confront me.
When he opened the door, he saw a
modest work area, with me eating a sack

Discover the
author's secrets
of success in
the next issue
Hundreds of Townies have
signed up to be notified every
time Dr. Ryan McCall posts
on the message boards,
so the November issue of
Dentaltown will be a special
treat for them: McCall gives
us a tour of his Indianapolis
practice and discusses the
philosophies, products and
services that have helped him
be so successful.
http://www.dentaltown.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown October 2017
