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Hello. This is Cameron Cortejano with the Becker's

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Dental and DSO review podcast.

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I'm thrilled to be joined today by doctor

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Ancel Tucker, practice owner and clinical director at

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Aspen Dental. Doctor Tucker, thank you so much

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for being here today.

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Yeah. Thank you for having me. And then

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just to start us off, can you just

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introduce yourself and and tell us a little

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bit about your background?

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So once again, my name is Anchelle Tucker.

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I am a multipractice

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owner here in Virginia.

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I was born and raised in Las Vegas,

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Nevada,

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and I joined Aspen Dental back in 2022

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in Auburn, Massachusetts.

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I quickly became a clinical director in Worcester,

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Massachusetts.

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I've I've moved to Arizona with Aspen, and

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now I'm here in Virginia, and I am

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enjoying every bit of it.

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Awesome. Thank you so much for that.

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First question today, is just what are some

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of the biggest issues,

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that you're following in the dental industry so

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far in 2025?

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I know we're

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seems crazy, but coming up on on the

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end of the year almost.

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I know. The year is flying. I think

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a few things that I'm noticing, and I

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don't wanna completely call them issues, right,

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is just a

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very fast

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integration of technology.

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We're evolving

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and advancing

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at a rate that

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it's it can be difficult for certain practices

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to keep up with. I've had a lot

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of new patients, like, blown away,

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by the technologies that we have in the

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office. So I think that's

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one of the major things, like, when it

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comes to intraoral scanning and the digital dentures

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that we do.

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And sometimes it seems like we're just out

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of space

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for them. It's just like, well, what is

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this? I've never seen this before, which is

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which is really cool. And then I would

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say

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another thing that we notice quite a bit

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in our office is,

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you know, as things evolve and technology is

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constantly

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advancing,

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people still want, like, quality of care. They're

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they're on the Internet. They're saying all these

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things, and they have very high expectations.

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So

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I think when they come, they really want

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a one stop shop. Like,

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they they don't wanna be referred out for

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things, which is

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awesome because we do have an endodontist on-site.

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We do have an oral surgeon on-site, but

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they're being referred in for those things, and

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then they just end up staying because they

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don't

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want to to be

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moved around so much. It's like, oh, I

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can come here. I can get my dentures.

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I can get my implants. I can see

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the oral surgeon. I can see the endodontist.

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So

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I think that's

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just something new that I'm I'm noticing. People

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want everything in one place

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as well.

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Yeah. I think that kinda all in one

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shop

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kind of dental practice has definitely become a

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lot more prominent at least from what I've

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been seeing in the past couple of years.

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Something that I'm curious to get your thoughts

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on or Mhmm. What are some things that

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you're most excited about when it comes to

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dentistry right now, and what are some things

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that are making you maybe a little bit

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nervous?

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Well, I'm excited about mentorship

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always. Like, I think it's so important. I

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had people when I first joined the profession

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and even still

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that really pour into me and make sure

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that I understand, you know,

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the and I don't wanna call it old

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school, but, like, the old school way of

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doing things and and

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just really making sure that I I'm understanding

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the business and understanding

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quality patient care. So I think that it's

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important that we always

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reach back and and guide those coming in

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under us.

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So I'm very excited about that. I just

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hired a new doc, and, like, just sharing

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the knowledge that I have with her is

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has been a lot of fun and just

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seeing her kind of be a sponge and

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absorb these things. So I think that's always

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exciting, just watching the new classes come in

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and and being able to to pass certain

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things down.

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One thing that I am nervous about,

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if I'm being honest, I would say

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we're in the age of, like, just

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misinformation.

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Right? We have the Internet. Everybody has doctor

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Google.

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We're we we've all seen on Facebook where

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there are these magical mouth rinses and, you

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know, things of that nature. They're selling stuff

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online that the people can glue into their

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mouths. So

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that's one thing that makes me nervous because

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they've made, you know, certain parts of

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of dentistry just

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accessible by going online, buying certain things, and

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it can be a little dangerous for the

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patient.

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So, you know, as people have more access

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to the Internet, I'm definitely seeing a lot

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more of that instead of relying more so

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on their dental professionals.

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Yeah. I think that's really interesting and something

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that probably is going to continue,

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especially

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with AI and just the Internet in general,

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just continuing to have more access and information

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and all that kind of things. Yeah. Definitely.

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I know that Aspen has a pretty in-depth

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and expansive mentorship program. What are some of

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the things that you've learned,

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through being a mentor at Aspen that you've

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been able to apply, like, in your practices?

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I would say

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how to

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communicate effectively with patients

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and just have more compassion for a situation,

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like, really listening and and

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giving the patient exactly

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what they need. Sometimes we can't give people

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what they want, but we're here to give

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them what they're what they need and and

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pour love and just show them respect and

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the respect of listening to them. I think

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that was passed down

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to me and just seeing my mentor do

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that and kinda really sit down with a

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patient and just, you know, be an ear,

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be a shoulder.

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So that's a huge one.

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And then

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just once again, providing that quality care, like,

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learning how to,

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you know, enhance my clinical skills, going to

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implant training through Aspen, going to surgical trainings

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through Aspen,

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even, like, clear liners, doing my orthodontic,

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training with Motto

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through Aspen. So

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those people who taught those classes, they've also

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been mentors to me,

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and now I'm able to pass that information

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along and also send my associate to those

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trainings.

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So, yeah, Aspen has been amazing as far

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as

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mentorship

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on both the clinical side and just the

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patient care side.

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Got it. Awesome. Yeah. And then just the

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last question, that we have for today is,

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in your view, what will the most effective

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health care leaders need

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in order to be successful over the next

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two to three years?

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I have a couple things. I think

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one thing that we kinda touched on earlier

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is just

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really being an early adopter of the technologies.

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You're gonna have to roll with the punches.

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You're gonna have to

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just constantly go to those CE courses

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and and keep improving and moving with the

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times in order to better ourselves,

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as clinicians and being effective health care leaders.

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And I think the second thing I also

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touched on is mentorship.

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You have to pour into the people coming

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behind you,

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and and sit back and and watch them

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and help guide them, and it and it

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really does protect the the profession long term.

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So I think we're just really gonna have

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to to reach back and continue to reach

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back and and educate each other and educate

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the people coming behind us.

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Awesome. Thank you so much.

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And thank you for joining us today, doctor

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Tucker, and and sharing your valuable expertise and

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insights

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into the dental space and dental industry.

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Been a pleasure speaking with you today, and

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I look forward to connecting with you again

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in the future.

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Yeah. Of course. Thank you for having me.

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I appreciate it.