Orthotown January/February 2022 - 44

Office Visit
I now see patients about 13 days a month.
What I am most proud of is that we treat our
patients like they are family members. My
treatment recommendations are based on the
patient's needs and wants, not production
goals. One of my pet peeves is hearing
about overtreatment, where practitioners
place an appliance just to get a patient tied
into an office or early treatment without a
valid reason.
And because I don't overrecommend
treatment, I have gained trust within the
community, where patients can come and
get an honest assessment without needing to
worry about walking out with a mouth full
of braces or being " talked into treatment. "
What I have found over time, and what
I preach to the residents, is that one of the
best things about being an orthodontist is
that you can be extremely successful while
also being true to yourself. You don't need to
take shortcuts or take advantage of anyone.
while my office was being constructed. During
the construction and the early days of my
practice, I would work 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. as an
associate in different offices, eat dinner in the
car, then work at my practice until 9 p.m. My
wife would work as an occupational therapist
during the day and work the evening shift
with me. This was before the introduction of
cellphones, so we would talk on walkie-talkies
on our drive home after work.
I worked six days and two evenings a
week. During the early stages of my practice,
I signed up for almost all of the insurance
plans, because I wanted to be busy enough to
drop my associate positions and be available
full-time in my office, and eventually that
became a reality.
As I got busier, I started dropping the
insurance plans: I would prepare to drop
one plan, reassess my busyness level after
three months, and if I was still busy, drop
another. I continued to do this until I had
dropped all the plans.
What's your most
controversial opinion
regarding the profession?
I don't want to open a can of worms with
this, but it is the propagation of orthodontic
service organizations.
As orthodontists, we are very fortunate
that we can be extremely successful working
on our own. We control our own destiny:
We work as much or as little as we want;
we don't need to answer to anyone. I love
being self-employed!
When you bring a corporate entity into
the equation, it's one more mouth to feed,
and it's a mouth connected to a bottomless
stomach. It shouldn't be a surprise that
the reason equity firms are purchasing
orthodontic practices is to make money.
Why would I want to give a percentage
of my collections for the life of my practice
to a company that wants to push me to work
harder so they can make more money from
me? If I need management help, many terrific
consultants will charge a one-time fee to help
me, not a percentage of my collections. I work
as hard as I want to work. Unfortunately, I
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believe that if the OSOs keep proliferating,
because of their focus on profits and not the
quality of care, the two losers will be our
profession and our patients.
You've had your finger on
the pulse of orthodontics
for more than 25 years.
Where do you think the next
big step or evolution will be?
It appears that there is a strong trend
toward cosmetic or invisible appliances, so
it will be fun to see how far it goes. While I
am using InBrace clear aligners and ceramic
brackets, I still prefer stainless steel twin
brackets because of their predictability and
the ability to make quick, precise chairside
adjustments.
Give us a snapshot of
your life outside of
teaching and practice.
I've been very happily married to my
wife, Dana, for 37 years. We have been
blessed to have two wonderful daughters,
and we love doing things as a family.
Our favorite family activity is to travel,
and a close second is dining out. Fortunately,
when you travel, you need to
dine out, so the two activities are related.
COVID has slowed us down, but we're
itching to get back into the swing of
things! Fortunately, Southern California
has its share of nice restaurants, but we
also love to go to the Napa Valley, which
has wonderful restaurants. Our daughters
love musicals, so we've been to New York
many times to see shows and enjoy the
restaurant scene. We enjoy international
travel, but haven't taken as many trips as
we would like. That's my fault, because I
still have a hang-up about not being away
from the office for too long, so I've tried to
max out our trips at two weeks.
I love to play golf, and generally play
once a week with my local friends, and I
generally go on a boys golf trip once or twice
a year. I'm excited that this year's trip will
be to Nova Scotia! n
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Orthotown January/February 2022

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