Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Why Technology Will Redefine Modern Dentistry with Barry Lyon

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Why Technology Will Redefine Modern Dentistry with Barry Lyon · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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- Oral health is finally being recognized as part
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- of Whole Person Care. And at the same
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- time, digital tools and AI are reshaping how
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- practices prevent disease, engage patients, and grow.
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- DSOs are expanding. Independent practices are practices are
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- proving their staying power, and investment is accelerating
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- across the sector.
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- Dental leadership has never been more complicated
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- or more consequential.
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- Becker's fifth annual future of dentistry roundtable brings
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- together more than 250
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- executive level attendees
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- and 90 plus speakers
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- for two days of sessions in Chicago, all
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- built to help leaders benchmark their priorities,
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- stress test their strategies, and walk away with
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- a clearer picture of where this industry is
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- heading and how to position for it. It.
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- Join us September fourteenth and fifteenth in Chicago.
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- Register on our events page at wwwbeckersdental.com
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- by clicking on the events tab in the
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- upper right.
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- Hello. This is Arianna Portolatin with the Becker's
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- Dental and DSO Ruby podcast. I'm thrilled to
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- be joined today by doctor Barry Lyon, the
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- director of provider recruiting and onboarding at Dental
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- Care Alliance. Doctor Lyon, thank you so much
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- for being here today. It's a pleasure to
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- have you. Oh, hi, Arianna. It's, nice to
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- meet with you again, and thanks for inviting
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- me to your podcast.
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- Yes. Of course. It's great to have you
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- on again. To start us off, can you
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- introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us
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- a little bit about your background?
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- Sure. I'm happy to. Well, I am a
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- pediatric dentist.
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- I received my DDS degree and my certificate
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- in pediatric dentistry from the University of Maryland.
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- I practiced in a suburb of Baltimore.
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- I taught for nine years at the University
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- of Maryland in post grad pediatric dentistry.
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- I also served two terms on the Maryland
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- State Board of Dental Examiners.
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- I was elected secretary
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- treasurer twice and served one year as president
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- of the board.
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- In 2017,
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- I was a registered lobbyist
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- for the Association of Dental Support Organizations.
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- But in 2010,
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- I affiliated my practice with Dental Care Alliance.
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- I've had a number of different roles with
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- DCA. I've been dental director, chief dental officer,
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- chief clinical auditor,
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- and currently, I'm a director of provider recruiting
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- and onboarding, as you said.
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- And as you know, I'm a weekly contributor
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- to Becker's. So, again, I'm happy to be
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- here.
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- Yes. Of course. Alright. Well, looking forward to
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- getting into this conversation. So first question for
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- you, what are the biggest issues that you're
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- following in dentistry today?
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- Well, you know, it's often said, Arianna, that
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- we live in interesting times, and I think
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- that's very true for dentistry today.
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- I believe there's no shortage of issues.
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- First, it is my concern over the rising
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- operating costs of dental practices,
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- whether you're an independent owner or the COO
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- of a DSO.
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- You know, we currently have an annual inflation
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- rate in The US of 4.2
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- for the twelve months ending in May. According
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- to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there's that's
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- a point five increase from the previous month.
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- Tariffs have raised operating costs since a great
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- deal of dental equipment and supplies
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- come from outside The United States.
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- On top of that, there are increased costs
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- for construction materials affecting building new dental offices
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- and expanding existing locations.
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- Inflation is compressing margins because reimbursement rates
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- don't rise as quickly as expenses.
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- Another issue facing dentistry today is access to
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- care and its effect on public health.
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- You know, millions of Americans still lack dental
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- care, and rural and underserved
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- urban communities are facing provider shortages.
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- Making matters worse is the fact that Medicaid
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- reimbursement doesn't cover practice costs,
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- which means fewer there are fewer providers for
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- those in in most of need most of
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- care. You know, for DSOs,
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- recruiting, retaining new dentists continues to be a
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- challenge.
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- There's so much competition for hiring dentists today,
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- and it's clearly a seller's market. You know,
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- according to the ADA,
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- there are about 2,000 DSOs today
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- versus about a 100
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- when I first became dental director for Dental
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- Care Alliance in 2010.
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- You know, at that time, recruiting was relatively
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- easy.
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- Today, recruiting teams have to employ increasingly sophisticated
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- methods
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- to hire candidates and fill openings.
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- And finally, the big beautiful bill signed by
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- Trump almost exactly a year ago is going
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- to affect the ability of DSOs to sponsor
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- foreign dentists.
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- Work work for shortages should occur
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- because of the new tighter immigration policies.
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- It will also affect the ability to obtain
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- student loans, and it's going to increase the
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- final financial burden
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- young dentists have.
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- As a result, DSOs are gonna need to
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- be creative when offering compensation.
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- They're gonna need to offer higher salaries. They're
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- gonna need to provide
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- loan repayment assistance,
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- and they're gonna need to include signing bonus
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- signing bonuses.
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- Also,
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- making ownership opportunities more attractive if they wanna
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- attract and retain candidates.
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- K. Interesting thoughts from you there. What are
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- you most excited about, when it comes to
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- dentistry right now, and what makes you nervous?
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- Well, let's talk about what makes me excited
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- first. You know?
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- I'm I'm very excited about how technology
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- is gonna be impacting dentistry. You know, there
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- was a time
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- not that long ago when dentists were trained
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- for four years to repair damage
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- that they received very little education on preventing
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- damage.
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- You know, there was in dental school, there
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- was a lot a lot of this is
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- how you repair a problem and very little
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- of this is how you prevent a problem.
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- So it was no wonder that dentists were
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- called molar mechanics.
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- Diagnosing dental caries at the time was based
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- on looking at a one and a quarter
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- inch by one to five eighths inch piece
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- of polyethylene
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- while holding up to a light. Today, we
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- have artificial intelligence to do that and much
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- more.
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- In my mind, AI has been absolutely revolutionary.
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- It's increased diagnostic accuracy.
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- It's provided more appropriate care.
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- It streamlined dental workflow,
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- and it's made case presentation much, much more
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- effective.
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- But AI is not the only advancement waiting
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- for dentists. We're soon gonna see robotics
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- make their way into the hands of dentists.
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- And not only will robotics aid in implant
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- placement, but in endo procedures,
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- automated tooth preparation,
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- orthodontic wire bending,
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- and surgical guidance, all benefit for robotics.
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- As printable ceramics and stronger resins become are
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- developed,
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- same day restorations are gonna be the rule
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- and not the exception.
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- We will also see regenerative dentistry moving
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- dental practice more into the realm of medical
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- practice.
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- Rather than replacing diseased tissues, dentists are gonna
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- be able to regenerate it using stem stem
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- shells
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- excuse me, stem cells,
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- growth factors,
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- tissue engineering, bioprinting,
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- and gene based therapies.
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- With dentists using salivary diagnostics,
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- dentists are gonna be able to test for
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- diabetes,
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- cardiovascular
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- disease, certain cancers,
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- and changes in the oral microbiome.
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- This is just a a small sampling how
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- technology is gonna actually transform,
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- the practice of dentistry and and take it
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- clearly to another level than where it is
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- today.
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- But let's talk about what makes me nervous,
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- and I don't want this to be overly
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- political, Arianna.
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- But the current administration of Washington
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- has negatively impacted dentistry and oral health care
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- more than any other administration.
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- Now let's begin with a double whammy of
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- removing fluoride from community water supplies
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- while also cutting Medicaid funding.
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- And the potential impact of this on public
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- health is gonna be measurable.
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- Well, it's not surprising that a Republican administration
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- is gonna cut welfare spending.
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- The removal of an effective and safe means
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- to control tooth decay justifies logic
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- when according to the CDC, tooth decay affects
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- nearly everyone in The United States.
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- Over ninety million ninety percent of adults
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- aged 24 to 64 have had tooth decay.
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- About twenty six percent of adults live with
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- untreated decay.
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- This equals fifty million Americans.
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- By age 17,
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- about seventy eight percent of teens have had
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- at least one cavity. And and to me,
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- as a pediatric dentist, what's even more appalling
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- is approximately forty six percent of all American
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- children
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- aged two to 19 have tooth decay, and
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- that makes it the most common
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- chronic childhood disease in The United States.
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- It's distressing to think that children today, especially
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- those in underserved areas,
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- are going to have a lifetime of oral
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- health problems,
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- especially those in underserved underserved areas.
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- On top of that,
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- they're gonna struggle to obtain care if funding
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- is cut and fluoride is removed. So I
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- see this as a public health nightmare, quite
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- honestly, in the making. You know, as dentists,
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- we're participants in public health,
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- and we've been tasked for making life better
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- for people.
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- But what we're facing is losing the ability
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- to do that
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- based on specious decisions made by those without
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- any health care experiments.
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- So clearly,
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- that is what makes me nervous today.
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- Okay. And what will the most effective,
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- dental leaders need to be successful in the
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- next two to three years?
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- Well, I think in the next two to
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- three years, we'll likely reward dental health care
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- leaders who can balance clinical excellence
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- with technology adoption,
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- workforce stability, financial discipline, and organizational culture. I
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- think it's also critical
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- that leaders adapt to the generational changes
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- that are occurring within their patient base. You
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- know, as generation
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- eight I'm sorry. It's generation x
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- is re currently replacing baby boomers and millennials
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- are replacing them.
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- Health care has got to adapt to their
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- ways of thinking and their standards in order
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- to attract and retain them as patients. You
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- know, their consumer experience has to align
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- with what their expectations are. You know, offering
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- digital scheduling, online payments,
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- transparent pricing, and personal communication will go a
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- long way to meeting those expectations.
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- Recruiting
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- and retaining dentists will be crucial to their
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- success in the next two to three years.
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- You know, just as adapting to the general
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- neigh generational needs of patients,
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- DSOs need to adapt to the general generational
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- needs of their candidates. You know, providing mentorship,
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- offering support, and allowing for our work life
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- balance are critical. You know, once hired, successful
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- leaders are gonna have to create career pathways.
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- We're gonna have to reduce burnout and then
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- and achieve having doctors working
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- with you and not just for you.
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- One thing that I do think is critical
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- is understanding and appreciating
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- the unique dynamics of a dental office. You
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- know,
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- DSO leaders are very bright. They're very well
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- educated, and they have that charisma
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- that's made them leaders and move them to
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- the top. But most of them have never
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- worked an hour in a dental office. And
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- I think it would be who the successful
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- leader can really get in there and know
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- firsthand
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- how a dental office thinks, eats, and breathes.
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- Alright.
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- And what dental specialty today is getting, the
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- most attention right now? Well, this is an
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- easy one for me.
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- I think that I think it's pediatric dentistry,
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- clearly,
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- for a lot of different reasons. You know,
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- from the DSO perspective,
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- pediatric dental practices are attractive.
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- You know, the operating cost of a rep
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- of operating a a pediatric practice is less
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- than a general practice
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- with much lower lab costs,
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- less expensive technology, and a less expensive selection
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- of various
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- restorative materials.
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- If there's an orthodontist in the office, which
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- there there really should be, then lab costs
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- are gonna increase, but they're gonna be offset
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- by ortho production.
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- A strong hygiene program
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- is the heartbeat of a pediatric practice, and
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- it's a consistent and predictable source of revenue.
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- A busy and a culturally sound pediatric practice
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- builds the foundation of multigenerational
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- patient relationships,
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- which
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- eventually eventually finds its way into DSO's general
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- practice.
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- Combining
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- pediatric dentistry, orthodontics,
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- and oral surgery
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- creates a firm foundation for continuing for a
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- continuing revenue stream. And one of the biggest
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- reasons
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- new dental graduates are gravitating towards pediatric dentistry
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- is that it offers personal fulfillment,
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- a unique combination of purpose,
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- opportunity,
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- and career stability.
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- And many dental students discovered during dental school
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- that they generally enjoy working with children. The
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- sectors I did. I mean, that's what why
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- I went into pediatric dentistry. That and hating
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- working on dentures, but that's another story.
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- But building long term relationships with families is
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- really a hallmark of being a pediatric dentist.
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- Pediatric dentists dentistry is also highly preventive,
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- allows dentists to make lasting impact,
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- a lasting impact on a child's oral health
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- from an early age. This specialty continues to
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- expand experience strong demand. You know, there are
13:12
- many communities facing shortages of pediatric dentists. You
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- know, that translates into excellent job security,
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- competitive compensation, and a wide range of pure
13:22
- career options, whether it's in private practice, you
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- know, in a hospital,
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- academic settings, or or with a dental support
13:29
- organization.
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- Today's graduates
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- also place a greater value on mentorship,
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- work life balance, and practicing in environments where
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- they can focus on patient care
13:40
- rather than running a business. And pediatric dentistry
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- and pediatric dentistry in a DSO
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- checks many of those boxes.
13:48
- Residences
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- provide
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- advanced training and behavior management, sedation,
13:53
- trauma care, and treating children with special health
13:56
- care needs.
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- This gives new specialists a high level of
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- confidence
14:00
- when they're in a practice.
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- At the same time, pediatric focused DSOs and
14:05
- multispecialty
14:06
- organizations
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- have expanded significantly,
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- offering structured mentorship,
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- modern technology, reduced administrative responsibilities for pediatric dentists.
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- You know, for new dentists, pediatric dentistry represent
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- your chance to really build a meaningful,
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- financially
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- rewarding career
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- while making a positive difference in children's lives.
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- You know, there aren't that many careers out
14:29
- there where you really have the opportunity
14:32
- to make an impact on the life of
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- a child and and, like,
14:36
- medicine, teaching,
14:37
- that sort of thing. You have to include
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- pediatric dentistry in that.
14:41
- A great point. And speaking of dental grads,
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- what are some of the challenges facing,
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- new graduates today?
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- Well, you know, Arianna, dental school is a
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- a long four year journey and it requires
14:54
- hard work,
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- learning totally new concepts,
14:58
- and being especially skilled at time management.
15:01
- No wonder finally attending that degree is so
15:04
- satisfying.
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- However,
15:06
- the learning isn't over. They're totally new challenges
15:09
- to face, and the expectations of what practicing
15:12
- dentistry must be like
15:14
- must be like are not often met.
15:17
- There's a saying recent grads don't know what
15:19
- they don't know.
15:21
- Practicing dentistry is not easy for seasoned practitioners.
15:23
- And for new dentists,
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- it can be daunting.
15:27
- Perhaps the most important decision a new grad
15:30
- makes is selecting the first job, and that
15:32
- can be a make it or break a
15:34
- decision. Being beginning a career in the wrong
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- office
15:37
- is at the very least discouraging
15:39
- while landing in the right place
15:41
- That's really a tremendous advantage.
15:43
- I think the greatest benefit to the newly
15:46
- hired dentist is being mentored by a successful
15:48
- and seasoned practitioner
15:50
- who can take what the new dentist learned
15:53
- in that artificial environment of dental school and
15:56
- show how to make it work in real
15:57
- life. You know, there's more to practicing dentistry
16:01
- than repairing or replacing
16:03
- teeth. Learning to work with an assistant, understanding
16:06
- the needs of the patient,
16:08
- developing
16:09
- the correct treatment plan,
16:10
- and avoiding cases beyond their experience level is
16:13
- really what practicing dentistry really is.
16:17
- Success, both professional and financial, is readily achievable
16:20
- by just simply providing the patient with what
16:23
- they need
16:24
- without the specter of education loans,
16:27
- education loans
16:29
- repayments influencing
16:30
- their decisions.
16:32
- Mhmm.
16:33
- And I wanna touch on leadership a little
16:35
- bit more since you mentioned that earlier. How
16:37
- do you define leadership in dentistry and why
16:40
- is it so important?
16:42
- Well, you know, there's there's
16:44
- gotta be a dozen different definitions of what
16:46
- leadership is.
16:48
- You know, some are very vague and some
16:50
- are right to the point. So
16:52
- for the sake of for our discussion, let's
16:54
- define
16:55
- leadership as the ability to positively influence those
16:59
- around you
17:00
- to align for establishing common goals,
17:03
- furthering the purpose of an organization, and achieving
17:06
- the respect
17:07
- of those you're managing. In a dental office,
17:11
- that definition narrows a bit. You know, we
17:13
- automatically think of the dentist as the leader,
17:15
- but it could be anyone
17:16
- in the office.
17:18
- So now let's define a leader in the
17:20
- context of a dental office
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- as anyone in the office with expertise,
17:26
- the ability to motivate,
17:28
- conduct themselves ethically,
17:31
- and has the ability to enhance patient care.
17:34
- The successful
17:35
- dental office likely has multiple leaders. You know,
17:38
- the the front desk manager leads by example
17:41
- and develops a cohesive team.
17:43
- A hygienist
17:44
- exhibits leadership qualities with their patients and motivates
17:48
- them towards better oral health.
17:50
- A dental assistant demonstrates the qualities of leadership
17:54
- to ally the other assistants to properly support
17:57
- the care the other dentists provide. So, clearly,
18:00
- leadership promotes a positive office culture,
18:03
- and it's an an atmosphere
18:04
- of success easily recognized by patients.
18:07
- The absence of leadership in a dental office
18:10
- is costly.
18:11
- Patient dissatisfaction,
18:13
- financial stagnation,
18:15
- lack of accountability,
18:16
- employee turnover, all signs that office is lacking
18:19
- leaders.
18:21
- The more moving parts there are in an
18:23
- organization,
18:23
- the steeper the climb to establish leadership. You
18:26
- know, a DSO
18:27
- leadership is critical, and it's often affected by
18:30
- variables and influence out of anyone's control.
18:34
- Nevertheless, every aspect and every level of a
18:36
- DSO is going to suffer without effective leaders.
18:40
- And although it's on a larger scale than
18:41
- a private dental offices, the qualities of a
18:44
- leader in DSO are the same as those
18:45
- in a private practice. You know, quite simply,
18:48
- I think the strong leaders
18:50
- strong leader
18:51
- is a role model and someone who sets
18:53
- an example for others so that all can
18:55
- enjoy success.
18:57
- Okay.
18:58
- And I'm very interested to know, your answer
19:00
- to this next question. If you were to
19:03
- blow off the candles and make a wish
19:05
- for dentistry, what would it be?
19:08
- I would like to see an end to
19:10
- the politicalization
19:10
- of health care. You know, health care
19:13
- should be professionally managed in a way that
19:15
- promotes better quality of life and well-being for
19:18
- everyone. It's based on science,
19:21
- research, and evidence, and it's not based on
19:24
- unfounded
19:25
- scare tactics,
19:26
- political opposite opposition,
19:29
- or about unproven fears.
19:31
- The politicalization of health care has affected how
19:33
- dentists are able to care for their patients.
19:35
- You know, stop the politicalization
19:37
- and let us do our jobs. Let us
19:39
- do what we were trained to do.
19:42
- Alright.
19:43
- Well, that is all I have for you
19:44
- today, doctor Lyon. This was such a great
19:46
- conversation, so thank you so much for joining
19:48
- us again on our podcast.
19:49
- Been a real pleasure speaking with you. I'm
19:51
- looking forward to connecting with you again in
19:52
- the future as always. You're very welcome. I
19:54
- really enjoy this, so call me anytime.