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This is Riz Hatton with the
Becker's Dental Plus dsso podcast.

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I'm thrilled to be joined
today by Dave Salli,

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chief Strategy Officer of Singing
River Dental Partners. Dave,

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thank you so much for being here today.

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Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

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Fantastic. Could you start off by
just telling us a bit about yourself?

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Yeah, absolutely. I, uh, I
have grew up in Bend, Oregon,

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and, uh, tiny little mountain town
that's certainly exploded and, um,

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three kids and, uh, entered
into the dental space, uh,

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kind of from a unique side, uh, more
from a consulting, uh, practice.

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Um, got really engaged with a,
what a particular client, uh, Dr.

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Jimmy Gardner, the owner of
Steam River Dental Partners,

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and was so inspired by their commitment
to their mission and vision to take care

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of people that, um, that I decided
to, to jump on and, and help, uh,

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help to grow their practice. So it's
been, it's been an incredible journey and,

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um, and it's been really fun
to be in this dental space.

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Fantastic. Thank you for
that introduction there.

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So what are the biggest issues
you're following in dentistry today?

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Well,

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I know that probably previous guests
and others have obviously talked about

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labor shortages. So when I was thinking
about, um, some areas to discuss, uh,

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I didn't want to spend
the whole time on that,

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but certainly finding and
growing and developing, uh,

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talent is always going to be a challenge.

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But I think the broader issue there
is really one that contributes to just

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margin compression from
all sides. Um, you have,

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certainly the labor costs are
rising, uh, depending upon, you know,

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sort of how regional you are or how,
you know, remote you are versus, uh,

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maybe in a more urban setting where talent
might be more readily available, but,

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um, that certainly contributes to it,

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but then still have rising
costs of supplies, ppo, uh,

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reimbursement rates. Uh, it's hard
to, to get those to move a little bit.

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Um, and, and so I think that it's
just margin compression on all sides.

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I think what we definitely saw through
Covid is that the dental space was very

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resilient to recession, but it's
not resilient 100% to inflation.

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Um, and so I think, uh, we've just
been working to, to try to, uh,

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to mitigate those risks of margin
compression so that we can continue to put

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fuel in the tank of the business
to, uh, take care of more people.

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So that's been a big focus for us, uh,
that we we're, that we're staying, uh,

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keeping our pulse on.

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Interesting. Thank you.

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So what are you most excited about and
what makes you nervous when you think

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about the future of dentistry?

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Yeah, that's a great question.

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So most excited about is that, uh,

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there are so many new technologies
that are entering into the space,

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everything from AI enabled
technologies to, uh,

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greater diagnostic tools. So I'm
excited about that space. I think,

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um, the, the growth of
new technologies, uh,

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is going to be a huge game
changer for, um, for, you know,

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many practices and it certainly
has been for ours. Um,

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everything from 3D printing, which we're
investing in heavily right now to, uh,

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faster ways to produce same J Crowns.
Um, and so I'm just excited about the,

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the various technologies that are
coming into the space. Um, you know,

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certainly the challenge with those is
being able to invest and integrate those

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new technologies. Um, and,
uh, you know, we, we've,

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we've seen that as well, but, um,

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I'm excited about those new technologies
that are, that are coming in. Um,

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in terms of a more, you know,

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the second part of your question
around what makes you nervous,

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I think as we look out the next
12, 18, 24 months, the economic,

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uh, there's a little bit of
economic uncertainty, um,

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certainly as it already
has been. And so, um,

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I'm interested to see how that
affects the, the, uh, our patients,

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their ability to invest in their total
health, their ability to invest in, um,

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in, you know, maybe some of the cosmetic
dentistry that they've been hoping for.

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So I'm interested to see how
the, you know, maybe the,

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the tightness of available, you
know, uh, cash for them may,

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may impact their ability to invest
in, in their dental care. Um,

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so that, I think that'll be an
interesting space. One that, that I'm not,

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I'm not sure how it's
gonna go. Um, but, uh, I,

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I think that our approach has
been that regardless of, um,

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of what happens out there
in market conditions,

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we're gonna keep providing
world class dental care,

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taking care of people going the extra
mile on that patient experience. And,

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and I think that, we'll, we'll do fine
through that, but certainly something to,

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to watch.

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Interesting. Thank you.
Could you touch on and,

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and kind of go into depth about the
number one technology you're keeping your

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eye on at the moment?

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Yeah, so, uh, 3D printing is the one that,
that we've most recently invested in.

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And I'm, I'm really interested in this
space because, uh, I think it's going to,

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it's going to allow us to, uh,

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3D print our dentures eventually.

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And I know that there's even
some conversation around
the technology to be able

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to 3D print crowns, um, and, uh,

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on at a cost basis that's much
less than what it takes right now.

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So I'm interested in that, that
3D printing space that, um,

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that has made huge leaps
and bounds from, uh,

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what dense supplies invested in
it and sprint ray and others.

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And so I'm interested to see how that
space continues to grow and allows us to

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increase patient outcomes, bring
down our own costs, and, um,

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and be able to do it faster and,
and, and more accurate. Um, uh,

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so that digital dentistry space,
including the 3D printing is one that,

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that we're really excited about.

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Fascinating, thank you.

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So what will the most effective healthcare
leaders need to be successful in the

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next two to three years?

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Yeah, great question. I, uh,

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will take this from the approach of
my role as the chief strategy officer,

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and I think,

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I think one discipline that many
organizations have struggled with

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certainly, um, going through covid and
post Covid and now into this space where,

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again, the dental industry
is changing so quickly, is,

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is how do I lead and adapt to the rate
of change that that is now present within

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our industry? And, and so
I put a lot of emphasis on,

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I think there's really change.

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Leadership is really the skill that any
effective, uh, healthcare leader or in,

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in another organization really needs to
be able to build the discipline within

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their organization around, and, and
really comes down to four things.

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How do I create a culture of innovation
where we're constantly seeking and

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finding new, effective and
innovative ways to, to do our work?

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How do I then translate a vision
or an idea into a strategy that

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has steps and milestones in, in,

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in it that has multiple people
engaged in that space? Um,

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how do I then engage those individuals
and helping me push that change forward

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guide that change,

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and then how do I make sure we
execute it all the way through?

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It's not just an idea
that is up in the air,

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but we actually execute those steps
to make us better on the other side.

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And so I think that's a,
that's a skill set, um,

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that it's not just managing change,

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it's actually being proactive
around seeing where we can grow,

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how we can get better,

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and then building a discipline within
leadership within your office managers,

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practice managers who, whoever
those stakeholders might be,

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to be able to really translate
vision into strategy,

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strategy into executable items
and, and then into reality. So,

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um, that's a, i I think that's
a skill that has to be, um,

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has to be thought about and built,
uh, for healthcare leaders, uh,

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to be successful.

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Fantastic. Well, Dave,

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thank you so much for all of your great
insights today and for joining us on the

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podcast. I look forward to connecting
with you again in the future.

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Okay. Thank you so much. I
appreciate the opportunity.