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This is Riz Hatton with the Becker's Dental with DSO podcast.
I'm thrilled to be joined today by David Tony,
chief Growth Officer of Independence Dental. David,
thank you so much for being here today.
Well, thank you Rose for having me.
Fantastic. Well,
could you start by introducing yourself and telling us a bit about your
background?
Sure. Again, that's, uh, David Tony.
I'm the Chief Growth Officer of Independence, uh, dental. Um, in that role,
I'm mainly head up all of the business development, uh, efforts. I, uh,
come from the dental implant world for many years. I was with, uh,
noble Biocare and leadership roles in the US and Europe before going over to the
Straumann group where I was heading up their Neo dent division, um,
in global markets outside of Brazil. Uh, from there I went on to,
uh, uh, be the president of Clear Choice and Implant Centers East Division. Um,
and during the pandemic, myself and a few other, uh, partners launched,
uh, a new and differentiated type of dso uh, platform here in the States.
Fantastic. Thank you. So my first question for you is,
what are the biggest issues you're following in dental today?
Wow. Well, the, uh, there's several and, uh,
of course right now the biggest issue is, uh, you know, what's going on with,
uh, credit markets, uh, with the, uh, uh, the economy, uh, in general.
There's just, uh, so much uncertainty and, uh, inflation and,
and rates going up and, uh, we're, we're watching all of that, uh, you know,
very closely.
Interesting. Thank you.
So what are you most excited about and what makes you nervous when you think
about the future of dentistry?
Um, well, that, you know, that's a great question.
We actually founded this platform because of some of our concerns around,
not all DSOs,
but many DSOs and what we would call corporate driven dentistry or quota driven
dentistry, and, and perhaps some of the, uh, you know, the negative impacts of,
uh, you know, focusing, you know, only on, or mainly on cost and,
and just trying to drive cost out of the system, you know, uh, you know,
cheaper, you know, care. Um,
and as the market is consolidating very quickly into corporate dentistry, um,
we wanted to create a,
a platform for those type of dentists that still wanted to practice in a premium
manner and, uh, you know, not be told, you know, what to do. Uh,
so, uh, many concerns going on around, uh, the whole, uh, uh,
you know, space with, uh, with dentistry. But I think that, uh, uh,
there's always gonna be a home for, you know,
the boutique dentist that really wants to focus on, you know, quality dentistry.
Could you talk a bit about what makes, um, a good dso?
What are some of the traits, um, that you've found that good DSOs have?
Well, gosh, there's so many DSOs out there, and they come in many different, uh,
uh, flavors. So I wouldn't wanna label one good, you know, or bad.
Um, there's, uh, uh, there, there's a, a, a place for, you know,
for all of them and, and, you know, different, uh, you know, types of practices.
Uh, some of the, the bigger,
more traditional DSOs provide a transition opportunity for,
um, dentists that are, uh, looking to, to retire and,
and can't find a, uh, another dentist in this market to, uh, to buy them.
Um, so what I like to tell, you know, clients is, you know,
really take a look at the business model and see if it's a good fit for you and
your, both, your short and your long-term, uh, goals. Uh, you know,
you really only get one chance to, to sell your practice. And, uh,
you're gonna be in most of these dental partnership organizations partnered with
them for three to five years. So, um,
you really wanna make sure that how they operate is,
is and how they're gonna ask you to provide dentistry is, uh, uh,
you know, very, very important because there's no looking back after you've,
you've signed on.
Great. Thank you.
So what will the most effective healthcare leaders need to be successful in the
next two to three years?
Um, you know,
one of the things that I think about a lot is culture.
And what's interesting about that is that it seems like every organization now
has read enough books. They know enough about what to say about culture.
Um, but what leaders really need is, is authenticity,
because, uh, culture is more than just the, the, the, the,
the slogans and you talking about, uh, uh, accountability,
uh, which, which you really mean is fear. Um,
and I just think that there's a lot of leaders out there that, uh,
are paying lip service, uh, to culture. Uh, and they really need to be, uh,
authentic and meet their employees and their partners where they're at and have,
you know, more real conversations and to, you know, to listen to them more.
Um, I think that seems to be lacking in, in many, many organizations right now.
Fantastic. Well, David,
thank you so much for joining me today and for all of your fascinating insights.
I look forward to connecting with you again in the future.
Yes, thank you. You have a wonderful day,
and we'll look forward to seeing you soon.
Thank you.