Hello. This is Arianna Portallatin with the Becker's
Dental and DSR Review podcast. I'm thrilled to
be joined today by Annie Sawyer, the director
of three d Dentists. Annie, thank you so
much for being here today. It is great
to have you. Thank you so much.
Great. To start us off, can you introduce
yourself for our listeners and tell us a
little bit about your background and your role
at three d Dentists?
You bet.
So I currently work for three d Dentists.
Dentists three d Dentists is a dental education
and practice growth company.
We offer courses,
workshops to help dental professionals improve their practices
by combining clinical techniques with business strategies.
And so
prior to joining three d, I spent the
last fifteen years in the DSO space
with two very large DSOs,
served in various leadership roles. And in the
2024,
I was introduced to doctor Tarun Agarwal, founder
of three d Dentists, and doctor
Sully Sullivan.
He's one of the three d partners.
And, three d Dentists, it's a dentist owned
and operated,
company,
that but both T Bone and Sully have,
successful private practices based on the three d
fundamentals. So, you know, at three d,
the dentists and teams that, you know, join
and collaborate with us,
they have somebody that's still working,
you know,
in their practices. They understand that the
everything that's happening right in the day to
day life, whether it be employees
or, you know, patient demands and also along
with technology. So,
we really reach out to, you know, build
a strong community of dentist professionals that have
a desire to excel.
Great. Thank you so much for sharing a
little bit more background there.
First question for you here. What are some
of the biggest issues that you're following in
the dental industry this year?
So staffing challenges,
mental health, and access to care are, you
know, the biggest issues that I'm currently following
mainly because
they're what I'm, you know, constantly coaching to
and seeking solutions for.
They all combine, you know, and play into
each other in one way or another because
it's putting such a tremendous strain on the
owners, the teams, and even the patients, you
know, for,
you know, being able to actually get the
care.
Right. Yeah.
Can you tell us a little bit more
your role at three d dentist?
How are you working with staffing challenges right
now? How does it affect,
three d dentist also?
Sure. So
in the private practice for both T Bone
and Soli, you know, turnover rate is high,
at times depending on, you know, what the
and that we're seeing kind of across the
board because the the landscape has changed with
employees.
So, you know, it's a time of pivot
for everybody, you know, in a leadership role,
in how they're approaching,
you know, the work life balance.
And so then we're seeing the same thing
with all the dentists, you know, and we
saw this in the d o space DSO
space as well is that,
you know, there's
a the typically, the owner, you know,
has one way they wanna do something or
the DSO, but our employees are, you know
and staff are putting a lot of pressures
into,
you know,
the time that they wanna work,
the days they wanna work. And so
really being adaptable
and helping others find solutions to,
you know, work a schedule differently,
operate in a, you know, a more efficient
way
is,
you know, what we're striving to be better
at
and be more attuned to, you know, for
the sake of
longevity and loyalty.
Yeah. Definitely.
And I know you mentioned,
mental health challenges as well and how's that
how that kind of plays into staffing challenges
a lot of the time. I know during
the pandemic, we saw,
a lot of dental professionals,
particularly hygienists,
leave the field.
A a lot of what people were dealing
had to do with burnout as well.
What are you seeing now as far as
mental health challenges in dentistry?
Well, you know, as we all know, you
know,
dentists have always had a, you know, a
higher,
you know,
listing or percentage of, you know, reporting of
mental health challenges. And, you know, people it
can be to, you know, perfectionism
or
even, you know, the patient expectations.
But along with that are now that we
the hygienist have kind of taken a different
route, it the pressure that is putting on
the dentist
because it might be, you know, the patient's
now urging, you know, and wanting to be
seen, yet we don't have the capacity to
see them in.
Seventy percent of dentists report being burnt out.
And so
that's crazy. You know?
And so the, you know, the the great
and exciting thing is, you know, where AI
and technology are kinda taking us. I think
that's starting we're starting to see how, you
know, if we implement some of these resources
that are out there, that can actually replace
somebody, you know, just dental insurance for one.
Right? That is something where the technology has
gone. So we are, you you know, leveraging
technology
to help with that.
Great.
Next question for you here. What are you
most excited about when it comes to dentistry,
and what makes you nervous about the industry
right now? Okay.
So exciting is AI and technology, and I
I don't think that
is you know, anybody
I don't know how anybody can't be excited,
you know, whether or not they wanna write
an email or see what they've maybe perhaps
missed clinically, you know, in diagnosing,
there's so much out there that,
people can, you know, participate in. And, you
know, specifically, we work with Overjet and CareStack
and VoiceStack,
which, you know, kinda covers the things that
I talk to. But, you know,
with the demands of the daily grind, AI
has been a game changer for us. And
what excites me, you know, even more is
how well the dental profession has embraced the
new technology. So,
you know, I can remember probably twelve to
fifteen years ago working
with dentists, and they just wanted to do
the same thing the same way every day,
and
trying to present something new
was
absolutely not. Right? So
much more rigid, and now we're seeing, you
know, how flexible
the
dental leaders are becoming. It's amazing.
Great. Yeah. Definitely.
And And was there anything that makes you
nervous about the industry?
I think because of how much, you know,
technology
is out there and,
you know, every day, you know, whether you're
scrolling social media,
reading an article in a new,
you know, dental,
you know, magazine or, you know, online,
there's something new that's always being advertised. And
so getting caught in the weeds is something
that us and the dental professional can very
easily do. So it makes me nervous if
dentists
do not have,
you know, a coach,
you know, or a trusted professional to,
you know, really talk through these things to
find out what is worth investing in
and, you know,
what should we wait a little bit longer
to see.
Mhmm. And so, you know, t bone Tarun,
that's t bone for three d dentist. Doctor
Tarun and doctor Sully,
I mean, I'm impressed with how they are
able
to do this, and that's where, like, a
lot of our dentists and why they are
so trusted is because they
they test these things. They work with us.
They they know to not boil the ocean,
right, to in order
to, you know,
change the way they're doing dentistry.
Their
workflows are proven
and consistent and get beautiful results. So, you
know,
this is kinda one of the big reasons
why, you know, I went with them was
their innovation and their desire and passion to
really serve other dentists and their teams.
Last question for you here. What will the
most effective health care leaders need to be
successful in the next two to three years?
People centric.
It is, you know,
so important right now as,
you know, to overcome some of the staffing
and loyalty challenges that we've been facing. Leaders,
you know, will need to be empathetic.
We, you know, have a genuine interest in
the well-being and development
of their employees and then transparency and collaboration
with the teams as well. That'll be a
good starting point. And then
we've gotta be data driven. You know?
And people in general have become
so savvy
in regards to, you know, how they get
answers. And so instead of lying relying on
our intuition or our opinions,
it's important for us leaders to use the
data and analytics to set the goals or
improve, you know,
somebody's performance or process
and really help guide us in the decisions
that we make.
Mhmm. And then I'd say the third would
be if a headwind would be they've gotta
be tech savvy.
Dental has become digital.
And,
where, you know, the last year I was
at, we were not as digital as we
could be,
And
that was my you know, really, the next
thing that I was excited to join three
d about was,
you know, adopting some of the the processes
and procedures
so that I can help, you know, dental
practices grow more as well with their digital
approach to dentistry,
and how they're helping everybody do that. So
they're very unselfish
with what they've learned
and really encourage the embracing of the technology
at it. So I think the leaders will
need to speak to this and invest time
in finding the best solutions
for their specific needs.
Just a quick follow-up question for you there.
I thought what you said was interesting about,
being tech savvy.
What's at risk for companies who don't take
the time to invest in new technology?
There's I love that question because if we
if they don't take the time to do
that, they, one, you know, time
and efficiencies will, you know, go away. But
even
the best solutions, you know, for what
you know, dentistry dentistry isn't slowing down from
a tech standpoint.
And so
the sooner they get into this
now, like, is the better. I mean, I
I look at what, you know, Tarun and
Soli have done, and I felt behind even
though I was in a large DSO space
at the time.
And so, you know, they're they have, you
know, they're overjet. You know? They've they adopted
that. They adopted CareStack. All of these things
that, you know, we
hear about. I mean, these things are like,
you know, the processes and the the procedures
that they have are
so elevated for it to not be a
DSO.
And so,
you know, there's some DSOs that have really
catapulted,
you know, their tech space and the others
that happened, but I think they'll get left
behind.
Mhmm. And I think that, you know, with
how everything's changing, I think that you'll see
different names leading the way
in the DSO space.
And,
you know, as far as private I think
you'll see private practices survive because they've adopted
this.
Okay.
Yeah. Super interesting, thoughts that you shared there.
That's all I have for you today, Annie.
Thank you so much for joining us. Been
a pleasure speaking with you and covering, these
different topics that you're following, and I'm looking
forward to connecting with you again in the
future. Thank you so much for having me.
Thanks.