Hello. This is Cameron Cortejano with the Becker's
Dental and DSO review podcast.
I'm thrilled to be joined today by doctor
Keith Kalas, CEO and dentist at SmileMakers Dental
Center. Doctor Kalas, thank you so much for
being here today.
Thank you, Cameron.
Just to start us off, can you introduce
yourself and tell us a little bit about
your background?
Sure.
First, I would like to thank you, Cameron.
I am thankful and grateful to you and
to
Biggers Health for giving me this opportunity.
I am Keith Gowas,
founder and CEO of SmileMakers
Dental Center.
SmileMakers Dental Center is an emerging
dental organization
of six locations
throughout
Northern Virginia,
providing general and specialty dentistry.
We have general dentist and specialist covering all
dental services.
At the
moment, beside we are focusing on vertical
growth for the current locations,
we are in growth mode,
searching for
fit dental practices to acquire
through the state of Virginia at this point.
My background,
I'm a general dentist,
been in private practice for over thirty years.
Beside being CEO of SmileMakers,
I am chief dental officer of the organization
where I set
the systems,
the processes
for all clinical
practices.
Same time, I'm, mentoring
the associate dentist in the organization,
helping them to reach their best
level
of clinical skills,
leadership
effectiveness,
and financial growth
by utilizing systems based on best practices,
benchmarking,
quality control, and six sigma.
And same time as a CEO, I work
closely with leadership team
and leaders throughout the organization
to create systems
and make
all the system work flawlessly.
Awesome. Thanks for that.
As we're almost a third of the way
through 2025,
what are some of the biggest issues in
dentistry that you've been following through the first
couple of months, and and what issues
are you giving an eye on for the
rest of the year? As I said, I
am a
dental
officer for the organization, and I am a
CEO. So as a,
the dental officer, the way, I see, things
that I want
the old procedure
to
be in the best way for patients
and making also all my associate to go
through
a systems
of
making those procedures,
making the right diagnosis.
So in order to do that so following
all
technologies
and adopt those technologies from the AI, digital
scanning, three d printing
that lead to comprehensive
treatment planning.
And same time,
we want to provide
the most sophisticated treatment.
So this is from one side. The other
side as a CEO, so following multiple issues.
One of the most
important issues that all
dental practices suffering from now is the staffing
shortage from dental assistant to hygienist
to quality dentist.
So
looking for that and making programs how we
can attract the
talents,
develop them, making them working
beautifully in in our organization.
Same time, I'm following with
global and local economy
and how this is gonna be
an effect on
rising
the overhead
cost.
Same time, I'm,
following the,
the insurance
reimbursement
cost
that is not
getting any more. That's been maybe for
thirty, forty, fifty years, the same. That low
yearly
amount
benefits is not getting any more,
and this is getting all always a concern
for all dental practices.
And then I'm,
also following the interest rate,
and this is very essential to,
acquire any new practices.
And as emerging,
dental organization
looking for
more practices to acquire, so also
I am following
the big DSOs
activities,
and their,
way of finding,
expanding,
or just
being
in
in a just,
mode of vertical
growth versus
acquiring more locations.
And finally that, I'm always,
following,
my leadership team, how we can
adopt new
systems
using technologies
based on
data and how we put it together in
getting all of our systems
and processes in a better way.
Yeah. Definitely. I think those are all topics
that I'm hearing other other leaders in in
the space kinda following and talking about as
well.
Something that I'm curious to get your thoughts
on are what are you most excited about
when it comes to dentistry right now, and
what are some things that are making you
a little nervous?
So when it comes to excitement,
I am very excited about the future of
dentistry.
I think we are coming into,
the best time yet.
And this is when my,
younger son came and said, dad, I wanna
go to dental school. I said, this is
the way you do it, Richie. This is
I see a great future. And,
I see
dentistry is gonna be changing more and more
from
an
art
based on science to science based on technology.
So right now with those
AI
X rays diagnosis help,
we can
just discover
30 some softwares gives you 30
different dental conditions. Some others gives you maybe,
60
different dental conditions.
So
we can develop
more
accuracy.
We can,
get into
sophisticated system to follow.
Patients will accept those more because this is
nonbiased
recommendations.
Dentistry is changing dramatically. It's gonna get better
and better.
So this is from the clinical side
and how it's
reflecting on dentist and dentistry in general.
Now when it comes to
acquiring
other practices and putting those practices together,
this is also
very exciting to me.
The way
you go and you look and you analyze
and
you
acquire and then how you change the systems,
how you make
it working
for
self run
practices
all based on
technologies.
It it's it's really very rewarding and very,
it's it's something
makes me really, really,
happy day today. And getting those
team around
me with leadership qualities and make them better
and develop systems for my,
all team members customized system for all team
members from doctors to who hygienist, dental assistant,
admins, even virtual team,
creating those systems that we created system systems
with a permit of success for each team
member and
based on
best practices
and all measure measurable
data,
and then
build those,
blocks of the pyramid little by little to
get them to
the most successful level.
I am
nervous about one thing, maybe a couple of
things, but but I am nervous about
our industry. Our industry is very fragmented.
We don't have that structure that all working
toward one goal. And then you have that
difference between
a one practice
mentality
to those
big DSOs, and that's a huge difference between
the two.
The the small practice is limited
in their,
research and development, and they're
acquiring,
recent technologies
in getting into
different levels of treatment to
providing the best treatment sometimes.
So they just refer out
to, insurance negotiations.
So it's so limited
where the DSOs,
they have all the resources,
but sometimes limited
in
getting the
small
office
feel. And so between those two, that's it's
a huge gap.
And then the other thing that when it
comes to patients say some patients just
due
to financial reasons, they
go for,
smaller procedures
versus
a more sophisticated procedures.
So, like, you have a big filling versus
a crown, so you go for the that
big filling
instead.
Those those are things that makes me really
sometimes
worried what's how we can solve that.
Yeah. I think those are some good points,
especially with the, you know, the differences between
the smaller practice
and and the big DSOs and kinda how
the industry can kinda connect the two maybe
going forward.
Absolutely.
Awesome. And then our last question that we
have today,
in in your view, what will the most
effective health care leaders need in order to
be successful over the next two to three
years?
So health care leaders,
they work always on balancing
between
patients from one side and
all team members from one side.
So always those patients come in for services,
and you have that big team. So and
that team sometimes in a small practice, very
small, and sometimes they're really big.
So it's you have
the people in the front from the admin
to the assistants to to
the doctors,
and then you go behind the scene. You
have multiple levels also of team members.
How
the
health care leaders
can get
everyone
in this
dental,
or medical health care
organization
working
together to help patients
receiving the best care,
the best customer service.
So this is
the most important thing for the,
leaders is to get this
systems
processes working
toward
best of patients.
So for that, you create
levels
of steps,
monitor it and tweak it and perfecting it.
To do that, you need to do,
so the to do multiple
work from enhancing
your knowledge as a health leader
to be dynamic
in making decision,
the using
new things that we never had before now.
It's a the AI.
Now the the software
that's cloud based,
the, virtual team members.
Now this is we are getting depending
on virtual team members quite a bit these
days.
And,
of course, you need to keep following
the changes in the regulations,
policies,
what's going around.
So all of this
make
that
health leaders in a better standing.
Yeah. Definitely. I totally agree, especially with the
adoption of technology and those kind of things.
Yeah.
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining
us today, doctor Kalas, and sharing your valuable
expertise and and insights into the dental and
health care spaces.
It's been a pleasure speaking with you, and
I look forward to connecting with you again
in the future.
Thank you, Cameron,
very much. I had the pleasure and the
honor to be with you. Awesome. Thank you
so much again for your time. I really
appreciate it.