Orthotown September 2023 - 42

OFFICE VISIT
How'd you find your way
into orthodontics?
My dad is an orthodontist, so I grew up
around orthodontics. He would always
treatment-plan on the weekends in
his home office and call me into his
office to show me interesting cases.
My interest was piqued. In high school,
I expressed an interest in orthodontics
to him, and he let me start working
in the office during the summer and
school breaks. First, I started in his lab.
Then, he started letting me do simple
adjustments on patients.
Is there a memory about your
father practicing where you look
back and know you were hooked?
Definitely watching him review all of
a patient's records and treatment-plan
was like observing him piece together
a puzzle. At my young age, I didn't
fully appreciate the amount of time he
dedicated to treatment planning for
each patient. We have it much easier
now with digital radiographs, digital
photos and digital models, which offer
greater convenience in work settings.
However, this convenience can also
present challenges. In the past, Dad
used to carry a large, durable briefcase
filled with model boxes and charts to
work on treatment planning or reviews
for the upcoming week. Among dental
specialties, none demands as much
administrative time as orthodontics.
But putting that time in on the front
end saves so much time and headache
on the back end of treatment!
Tell us about the practice, the area
and what it's like to be a part of a
community so consistently.
Dad opened the practice in 1981 upon
completing his residency. He had
already practiced general dentistry for
six years before pursuing his orthodontic
residency. The office he established
during that period still remains
our Augusta location. As the greater
Augusta area has expanded, this
location has continued to serve as the
geographical center, despite significant
changes in the surrounding area
(some positive, some not).
When it came time for me to join
the practice in January 2014, it became
evident that the Augusta office could
not adequately accommodate both
of us. Identifying a growth area in
Evans, which was five miles from the
nearest orthodontist, we proceeded to
construct a second office. These two
offices don't function as a primary and
satellite office; rather, they operate
somewhat like two main offices. We
dedicate two full days each week to
each office, with a rotating schedule
for our presence in each location.
You've made a conscious effort
to keep things relatively small
and simple. Tell us about this
philosophy and how you act on it.
The practice has more than tripled in
size from what it was 10 years ago (in
employees and in starts/revenue), so it
does not feel small or simple to me on
many days! But relative to many other
orthodontic practices, it is.
I've considered an associate many
times, but each time I think I'm ready,
I hear a horror story from a friend or
colleague about something that has
gone horribly wrong or an HR issue
they're having with their associate.
While I'm young and energetic, I've
decided to get as efficient as possible
and see as many patients as I
can. We have a three-month wait for
SEPTEMBER 2023 | 42 | ORTHOTOWN.COM
new-patient exams right now, so I
know I'm leaving some money on the
table, but I'm probably also leaving
a new set of headaches on the table
as well.
When your dad retired and you took
over, you decreased the number of
doctors in the office but still grew
the practice. How'd you do it?
Part of becoming as efficient as possible
involved overhauling our schedule
template to optimize one doctor, and
also discovering a digitally customized
solution to reduce the number
of appointments needed for each
patient's treatment.
We engaged Mary Beth Kirkpatrick
with Gaidge360 Consulting to completely
revamp our schedule template,
and we transitioned all of our braces
cases to the Stride system from
KLOwen. The synergy between these
two elements was remarkable.
My dad retired at the end of 2021,
making 2022 my first year as a
solo-doctor practice. Emerging from
the orthodontic boom of 2020-2021,
2022 posted as a milder year for many
practices, but through the integration
of our new schedule template and
the personalized KLOwen braces, we
achieved 17% growth in 2022, despite
operating with only one doctor compared
with the previous 1.5.
While you keep things simple, you
by no means shun tech-you're big
into analytics. What are the most
important things to track? What
tips do you have for other docs?
You can easily become immersed in
analytics. Gaidge is replete with numbers
and data points that are trackable.
It's possible to become consumed
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Orthotown September 2023

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