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How the Damon Ultima System Can Help Startup Practices · Orthodontic Products Podcast

0:03
Alison Werner: Hello, and welcome to the Orthodontic
0:05
Products podcast. I'm your host, Alison Warner. In this episode
0:08
sponsored by Armco. We're going to talk about what it means to
0:11
be a startup practice and making decisions around clinical
0:14
clinical products you use with a focus on the Damon Ultima
0:17
system. And we're going to do this with Dr. Brady Petersen and
0:20
Dr. Kory Grahl, who are in private practice together in Las
0:23
Vegas under the practice name, Orthobar, Dr. Petersen and Dr.
0:26
Grahl. Thank you for joining me.
0:31
Kory Grahl: Yeah, thanks for having us, Alison. Thanks.
0:33
Brady Petersen: Awesome. Excited to be here.
0:34
Alison Werner: Great. Okay, so to get started, can you talk
0:36
about how you two came together to start your practice? I saw
0:39
that you both attended UNLV for dental school and your
0:42
residencies? Were you in classes together?
0:48
Kory Grahl: Yeah, Dr. Petersen and I both graduated dental
0:51
school together, we're both actually in the same team. UNLV
0:54
breaks their dental school up into teams were the same team
0:57
for four years. And we remained close and in contact with each
1:01
other ever since that point in time.
1:06
Brady Petersen: I think we were? Oh, sorry, I was gonna say even
1:11
if I remember being, we were at the same day interview. And I
1:15
remember like seeing Kory over there, Dr. Grahl. And just being
1:19
like, that's someone like very similar to me. Day one, and that
1:23
was both when we hadn't even gotten into dental school
1:26
together. And then we ended up sitting across from each other
1:30
for four years. And our interests are very similar, even
1:34
throughout dental schools,
1:35
Alison Werner: Okay. So how did you to know you are kind of
1:38
compatible to start a practice together?
1:44
Kory Grahl: You know, we kind of overlap during orthodontic
1:47
residency. And, you know, both of us had practiced general
1:52
dentistry as associates for years prior to orthodontic
1:56
residency, which is a little bit uncommon for most orthodontist
2:00
in their journeys. And one day, I think I went up to Dr.
2:05
Petersen, I'm like, Hey, man, let's build something together
2:07
here. It's so drastically needed here in the Las Vegas Valley. I
2:11
don't want to work as an associate for the rest of my
2:13
life. You know, there's definitely pros and cons to
2:16
that. And having known Brady for a long time, you know, knowing
2:23
his values and stuff very much aligned with me, both in kind of
2:27
the same phases of life on growth in development. And so it
2:34
kind of just kind of just a match that just needed to
2:37
happen. To be quite honest.
2:41
Brady Petersen: Yeah, I think I think a lot of that we touched,
2:44
we touched on it all the time, every day in our practice, the
2:47
the years that we got in our general practice, as general
2:50
dentists, the years that we got there. You get a lot of those
2:54
learning experiences out of the way. So you we've done the
2:57
associate chips we've done, you know, are we interested in
3:01
buying this dental practice and things like that, and we both
3:04
had experiences, where we had both known where we'd gone out
3:08
into that world, we realized how much we love orthodontics and
3:12
how we wanted to go back and the importance of that specialty,
3:16
you know, we were both working in practices that did some
3:20
orthodontics as general dentists, but it just piqued my
3:23
interest that I get there's so much more out there and then
3:27
talking with Dr. Grahl in residency. I think that drive to
3:32
both build something of our own be owners of a practice our own
3:36
keep that private practice alive. And it's so needed here
3:40
in Las Vegas that we started that day one I remember Dr.
3:45
Grahl coming over to me and saying, Hey, are we doing this
3:48
together? Are we going to do this against each other? I said
3:52
we're doing it together because I'm not competing against Dr.
3:55
Grahl. By with you. We started and we went from there so okay.
4:03
Alison Werner: Well so what were you trying to strive with
4:06
setting up Orthobar which is the name of your practice? What were
4:10
you looking, or how are you looking to set yourself apart in
4:12
that Las Vegas area?
4:16
Brady Petersen: Yeah, I think you know, I'm born and raised
4:19
here in Las Vegas. I absolutely love Las Vegas. And I feel like
4:24
I have a really good understanding of of, you know,
4:28
the what everyone thinks Las Vegas is and then what it really
4:32
is and what it really is, is it's a community and it's a
4:35
small town. Everyone knows everybody and I know I know
4:40
there's there's great orthodontist here in town I've
4:43
I've grown up with him I was treated by them. But in our goal
4:49
for ortho bar was to we wanted to raise the bar and
4:52
orthodontics and that's kind of how we came up with that. And
4:55
and really there is another level that whether it's just our
5:00
patient experience or the products that we use in our
5:05
orthodontic practice, we want that to be different than anyone
5:08
else here in Las Vegas. And so everything from that private
5:13
practice feel, to a beautiful office to the technology that we
5:18
use, we want everything to be the best and, and I know that
5:22
everyone in Las Vegas, it's just like any restaurant, any casino,
5:27
if you're not the best, I mean, if you're a casino, they blow
5:30
you up, you won't last year forever. So you have to be at
5:34
the top. So having that understanding that that's where
5:38
we want to take Orthobar and and we want to do that right from
5:41
the beginning.
5:43
Kory Grahl: Yeah, and, you know, to piggyback off of that, I
5:45
worked with some incredible dentists and one of the
5:49
differences that I found in most practices is people don't really
5:53
know what you do, to an extent, like there's certain levels and
5:56
degrees that things but it was all how you made them feel. And
6:00
so the way we built Orthobar, the way we structured our
6:04
practice, like when you walk in, it does not give a, I'm in a
6:07
dental office vibe, it's I'm in a spa like environment, you're
6:12
greeted by the front desk, you're, everyone knows your
6:15
name, your hobbies, what you do. And that's the structure of it.
6:19
And then just partnering with really, really positive
6:23
companies in selecting products and that rather than someone
6:27
coming to you about the latest and greatest deal or cost or
6:31
whatever, but no companies I've been around a long time just
6:35
made total sense and not cutting corners in any bit of the
6:38
process. You know, when you come in here, you're getting
6:41
authentic products, authentic people at all stages throughout
6:47
your experience here and hopefully starting here to
6:49
deliver you an incredible Orthobar smile is what we're
6:52
trying to create. So it's a very different feel than seven, your
6:56
insurance will verify that and then here's the fees, and
7:00
whatever, it's very much like no, come in and meet us we would
7:03
love to meet you get to know you as a person, as a human and how
7:06
we can be part of your lifelong bolt of confidence basically. So
7:12
it's very much structured off soft components rather than hard
7:15
components in our practice. It's it's high touch points. It's,
7:20
you know, understanding who were who we're working with, not just
7:24
patients, but partners as well. Yeah.
7:26
Alison Werner: Okay. So you touched on this a little bit. My
7:29
next question a little bit, considering the fact that you
7:31
are, by definition, a startup practice? What are some of those
7:34
considerations in making a product decision for your
7:37
practice? You talked about like, not kind of taking the easy way
7:42
out? Or, you know, putting the investment forward sooner? Can
7:45
you talk about that?
7:49
Kory Grahl: Yeah, I mean, from the start, we've invested in a
7:53
lot of technology. You know, one of the one of the early on
7:57
disagreements between Dr. Petersen is what do we have a
8:00
sink in the lab or not? If we don't have a sink in a lab, then
8:03
you're definitely not using stone. And so we are fully
8:07
digital, we're an Apple based practice, we have digital
8:10
scanning technology, we have 3D cone beam X ray, all those
8:16
things, I think contribute to finding and delivering the best
8:22
possible care we can and, you know, finding good companies
8:26
that have been around a long time, and not necessarily the
8:29
new latest and greatest, even though, you know, we're talking
8:32
about Damon Ultima being the latest and greatest technology
8:35
of self-ligation, Ormco, has been around a long, long time.
8:41
And they've seen multiple iterations of their bracket. And
8:44
so it's one of the things that, you know, maybe there's this new
8:48
sexy other company out that says they can do things better, but
8:52
tried and true. No, Ormco has been around and done it for
8:56
years and years and even more years to come.
8:59
Brady Petersen: I just think too, with both Dr. Grahl and I,
9:02
we were orthodontist, but we also have that entrepreneurship
9:08
mindset. And for us, it's really investing in something that's
9:13
efficient. And then in the long run speed is invaluable. So the
9:19
I love working with the Damon Ultima system because I mean,
9:23
you're seeing these cases just just come together in an initial
9:28
NiTi wires and and it's fun, you know, I I had had more
9:32
experience not with the dam and ultimate system, but with
9:36
previous versions and things like that with self-ligation.
9:39
And, you know, we we went directly to the manufacturing
9:44
site Envista's manufacturing site and, you know, Dr. Frost is
9:48
teaching us these new torques and what to use them with. And
9:53
so it's been a learning process. But it's, it's it's tried and
9:58
true. I have faith in the other docs that have been using it for
10:02
for longer than we have. But it's in no point in the system,
10:07
are we questioning, there's even days where Dr. Grahl is not here
10:11
and I'm here. We don't have to, we don't have to call each
10:15
other. And hey, why are you doing this? You know, it's a
10:18
system that that we've created together that works with
10:21
Orthobar that works with the Damon Ultima system. And and we
10:25
just continue to move these patients along. And the best
10:27
thing for us is, the patients notice it there. I mean, we get
10:32
compliments where the older siblings been treated with a
10:34
different system. And we get the younger sibling that's just
10:38
starting out and the moms already telling us you know,
10:42
Wow, are you know, we're six months in? Are we almost done?
10:45
And we're like, no, like, let us we haven't got to the final
10:48
touches yet. So it's been wonderful.
10:52
Alison Werner: So can you talk to me a little bit more about
10:54
like, what are some of the features of that self-ligating
10:57
system that stand out to you that make you know that it's the
11:00
right thing for you clinically?
11:04
Kory Grahl: Well, for me, it's personal experience. So I was
11:07
actually treated by Dr. Frost and Dr. Nichols, two mentors of
11:11
mine, and I can call now dear friends. And it was in I've been
11:18
treated three times not to get in my case, crazy, but they did
11:22
it. What I started noticing as a general dentist on social media
11:27
is you see like once you start diving into cosmetics or
11:31
whatever, you start to see things pop up on your feed and I
11:34
started to seeing orthodontics come in. And a lot of those
11:37
orthodontics, all I was seeing was a front 6 teeth. Okay, well
11:40
doing veneers at the time. I mean, I'm doing eight to 10
11:43
teeth for arch width arch development. And and then I
11:46
started coming across Frost Orthodontics' page, and I'm
11:49
like, that's different that looks like a veneer like finish,
11:53
I need to go learn how to that. So I don't have to prepare teeth
11:56
and all that. And then that's when my case came forward. And I
11:59
started feeling how this particular system worked, and
12:05
the efficiencies of it, and how I could live in Vegas, but get
12:09
treated potentially there. And we're not taking any extra
12:14
longer of time. And so it's a personal experience that I
12:16
started to go, Okay, this this bracket, this system is
12:20
different. And, you know, there's a lot of other products
12:23
out there that do different movements. But at the end of the
12:28
day, if you talk to the majority of orthodontists, the most
12:30
predictable development side of things is width and this system
12:34
gets width almost every now almost every single time with
12:40
solid predictability where I can go into console and be like,
12:43
very, very confident and say like, No, we're sub-18 months.
12:50
And you're gonna be closer to 14 months first most cases, because
12:55
of other things that we believe in that that's why our
12:57
philosophy works in that way, which we won't go into
13:00
orthodontic philosophy, but it's the predictability that it's
13:03
like, no, it, it works well 100% of time.
13:10
Alison Werner: So, in turn, so you talked a little bit there
13:13
about how it kind of creates efficiencies, or, you know, cuts
13:18
back on the length of treatment. Can you talk about how this
13:22
system kind of plays into kind of the practice management side
13:27
or appointment workflow? Or that side? Because we talked a little
13:30
bit about clinical but in terms of that, how is it helping your
13:34
Brady Petersen: Yeah, I think just with all the learning,
13:34
practice there?
13:41
growing pains of a startup, too, I mean, we're, we're hiring new
13:44
employees. We're growing. There's there's all types of
13:48
things like that. And so we're building our systems from the
13:51
ground up. And a lot of these assistants have never seen even
13:57
self-ligation let alone. You know, we're teaching them the
14:00
Damon Ultima bracket and how it's unique. For me and Dr.
14:05
Grahl, I think it gives us a lot of opportunity to teach. We we
14:10
are not, you know, every minute of our day is not filled with
14:13
orthodontic patients right now. So we have we have that
14:17
opportunity to really nail down our systems, make sure that
14:21
everyone's understanding it. And from what I see, I think our
14:26
systems, I think they love it. I think they you know, once they
14:30
get the opening and closing of the doors, you know, we've
14:32
talked to them, the different dimensions of the wire systems
14:35
are a little different and unique. But but they grasp it
14:39
and I think, you know, once you get your hands on it and you you
14:43
feel it, you know that it's it's a it's a strong bracket, it's
14:48
it's a clean bracket. A lot of our patients, the hygiene is
14:52
better. And so those are those are positives that we see with
14:57
that and not a lot of I don't see a lot of negatives as far as
15:02
like the learning process. It's been very streamlined. And
15:06
they're able to pick up on it fast. It's still orthodontics.
15:10
It's just different, but nothing that can't be learned.
15:16
Kory Grahl: And to piggyback on that, Alison, I think, you know,
15:20
with the two-doctor practice, right? Having similar
15:23
philosophies is really helpful for not just the patient flow,
15:28
like someone comes in on a day, I'm here and Dr Petersen's here,
15:31
it doesn't matter. We're progressing through treatment,
15:33
but also for a treatment coordinator, to walk in there
15:36
and be like, okay, is this okay? I gotta maybe talk about this
15:40
because Dr. Grahl leans this way, or Dr. Petersen leans this
15:43
way? Is he going to use a class 2 appliance first? No, most of
15:47
our patients, it's, it's pretty set, what we're going to do, and
15:51
it's really dialing the fine tuning at the end, but there's
15:54
no real guesswork. When we're speaking with patients about
15:58
length of treatment time and stuff like that. It's not, it
16:02
can get a little out of whack if you have multiple doctors in a
16:05
particular practice using a maybe not so systematic type of
16:11
system, where it's like, okay, what stage of treatment? And are
16:14
we in on this patient and then checking notes. It's like, No, I
16:17
can come in. And I know exactly where we left off and where we
16:21
need to go and vice versa.
16:23
Alison Werner: That's interesting that you say that,
16:24
because I know I've talked to other practices with multiple
16:27
doctors, and they talk about how systems are important. But it's
16:30
rare that they'll talk about how the products play into creating
16:34
that system. So you're kind of what you're saying is like that
16:38
product creates a system that creates the predictability so
16:40
that you can kind of bounce off each other and I'm guessing
16:43
share patients if need be. So that you have that you know what
16:48
you're dealing with?
16:52
Kory Grahl: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a, essentially a four
16:56
wire, NiTi series that we do. And then the determination is
17:02
the art of orthodontics. The finishing orthodontics is when
17:05
you finish, you pick your final wires. And you know, we're
17:08
working on systems and in that time as we're starting to get to
17:11
that stage in our practice, but it's not, there's no guesswork
17:15
involved. We're very systematic on when we take photography for
17:20
certain stages within treatment. So that we know, maybe next time
17:24
it's set up with Dr. Petersen for a Pan reposition. And he
17:28
you'll know and I'll know like this is where we're going next.
17:32
If there's anything off track, or unique to a certain case,
17:36
like we already know, our systematic approach to things go
17:39
up, pick that up and then come right back to where we were. So
17:43
there it allows us to deal not deal but to do other things in
17:49
the business and on the business in the startup rather than
17:52
worrying about, you know, crazy amounts of the orthodontic side
17:57
of things because we know that's going to flow efficiently and
17:59
positive with zero hiccups because it's there's less
18:03
guesswork involved. It's just understanding the final
18:06
treatment goal and objective and smile really.
18:12
Brady Petersen: I like to that allows us to what we tell our
18:14
patients is what they're coming to us for is they want an
18:17
Orthobar smile. And that's what we've that's what we branded our
18:21
smile as butter north of our smile. It touches on all the
18:25
points. It's what a Damon smile is right. And that's that's been
18:29
the great thing about it. It's not that Dr. Grahl you know, he
18:34
comes up with Dr. Grahl smiles coming up with Dr. Petersen
18:37
smiles and this patient like this one a little bit better.
18:40
And we got to do a transition in the middle. They're coming from
18:43
day one. Our treatment coordinators know the
18:47
expectations are front knows the next what the end result is,
18:51
should be and will be. And that's that gives us a lot of
18:55
confidence to just tell the patients from the beginning I'm
18:57
gonna get you an Orthobar smile, you're going to absolutely love
19:00
it and and then you go from there and and I've used other
19:03
systems before, it's not doable it would in the end it would be
19:10
Dr. Petersen likes to do this bend and and he always does this
19:13
trick and and you get those curveballs, which is which is
19:17
great. I mean, that's what orthodontics is. There's always
19:18
going to be that as you get into it, but it really does help.
19:24
Alison Werner: So what would your advice be? I was going to
19:27
ask how long have you guys been in operation at this point?
19:30
Kory Grahl: We just hit our nine months of opening so we opened
19:35
October of 2023. Yeah, we shook hands in January '22. So it was
19:45
a it was a 20-month journey to finally open the door..
19:49
Alison Werner: So since you are so close to your start date,
19:56
you're not yet a year yet. What's your advice to practices
20:01
that are especially I think, multiple doctor practices that
20:04
are really just starting out in terms of making a decision
20:09
around a bracket system
20:17
Kory Grahl: What would be our suggestion?
20:19
Alison Werner: What are your tips? Or what would you tell
20:21
them to consider if someone came to you?
20:24
Kory Grahl: I mean, I would say, I would say do your research. So
20:31
one of the one of the things that I found very interesting
20:34
in, you know, one of this is, is speak with your reps too. But we
20:39
were able to go to Envista Summit. And one thing that I
20:43
noticed, particularly at that summit, is it not to not to
20:48
dummy, orthodontics down or anything, but all the finishes,
20:53
looked the same at the Damon conference, and I sat there, and
21:01
I was like that, that's really interesting. And it's very
21:03
different than other conferences you go to that are using all
21:06
different types of products. Because you all get all
21:10
different types of finishes. And it was very interesting going to
21:13
that conference. And I'm like, you know, they're in all
21:17
different levels of providers. I mean, one year out, five years
21:19
out, 20 years out, 30 year veteran, all their finishes look
21:24
pretty close to one another. And they all looked spectacular. And
21:28
I was like, again, I need to learn how to do that. And then
21:32
looking at, you know, my case, and you know, Dr. Frost's social
21:37
media, who was a mentor, and Dr. Nichols, I was like, it seems to
21:41
me that this system works. And that's one thing that I found
21:49
very safe or rewarding is like, Hey, I'm a newer practicing
21:55
clinician in the orthodontic side of things. I don't want to
21:58
reinvent the wheel, I want to be able to walk into a consult room
22:01
and be very confident in what I tell my patients and seeing that
22:08
and seeing, you know, new grads, and, you know, veteran doctors
22:13
and treating out the same and these finishes are spectacular,
22:16
I'm like, that's, that's the system that I think we go with,
22:20
but for people choosing I mean, there's, there's so many, so
22:24
much information out there, you need to get a feel, and you need
22:28
to get a feel for the trust of your rep in your area. I mean,
22:32
we have a spectacular rep here in Las Vegas, we have a lot of
22:37
excellent support from not just Damon but the Spark rep genie
22:42
has been amazing. Our Ormco rep Ryan has been amazing. Their,
22:47
their VPs have been great window they haven't been able to fill
22:51
in. So I mean, it's just having that confidence in a full
22:55
company, a full scope of products that you have access to
22:59
that I think is critical. Rather than this newest product, they
23:04
do it they've just started it's working out sort of for some
23:08
practices, but you can't beat time. I mean, they've been
23:13
around a long time. And that's why choosing a system, I think
23:19
it comes down to proof like show me the results not not a white
23:24
paper or a case report or whatever, like, show me and if
23:30
you go to one of their, their, their forums, you see it all day
23:35
long. It's all the same.
23:38
Brady Petersen: My advice would be especially, I mean, it's hard
23:42
to do broad statements, but whether you're a newer doc or
23:48
you've been out and been out in the field, what what me and Dr.
23:52
Grahl we, you got to know who you are first and so you make
23:56
your own goals, but I would say anyone that tells you, no, you
24:01
can't do it. Or and you hear that a lot with I mean, we're
24:07
we're in a whole different generation with with huge
24:09
student loans and you're going to start up a practice where I
24:13
know so many of my co residents and colleagues everyone that's
24:17
all our dream right? Like I mean, we want to be the owner of
24:20
your practice you want to use the products that you want to
24:23
use you want I I'm I love simplicity I love efficiency.
24:28
And so I'm naturally drawn to I'm I would say I'm just drawn
24:32
to Ormco, I like it. So if if that's something that you're
24:37
fighting from the beginning, then then maybe that's not it,
24:40
but if if you're if you're lined up and you know that you know
24:46
your goals are set in that those types of things. That's where I
24:49
think it makes it makes the choice easy, like like Dr. Grahl
24:54
is saying you're going to the forms. And it fits right I know
24:58
that that's what I want. I know That's what my patients want
25:02
need. And it's, it's just a matter of what I need to do then
25:06
to learn the process, learn the system, and then and then do it.
25:10
And anyone that says anything to you, as far as, you know, cost
25:16
or time or how you're going to make that work, anything like
25:19
that. That's, I would say that's going against what ultimately
25:24
you're gonna get to, you're gonna get to that crossroad,
25:26
where you're gonna say, I should have just done it sooner. And so
25:29
do it from the beginning. It all works out you can make you can
25:34
make it work out. So it's, there's bumps no matter what I,
25:38
I have friends that haven't started their own practices.
25:40
We've started our own practice everyone's in, everyone's in the
25:42
same boat, do it. And also, yeah, it's orthodontics is
25:46
awesome. It's a great profession. So we're all going
25:48
to be fine. But you might as well enjoy doing it. Well, while
25:52
you're going through the process.
25:54
Kory Grahl: One other thing I would suggest, yeah, you know,
25:56
people picking a product to you I just thought about is, when
26:00
you do meet with the reps, do they talk majority about the
26:04
efficiencies of their product? Or do they talk about other
26:08
products, downsides. Because you get that a lot is they'll come
26:14
in, and they'll you know, whatever rep comes in, it's
26:16
like, Well, why do you want to do X, Y, or Z? Because they do
26:20
that? Well, in reality, all systems have something you have
26:24
to work around. I mean, so a lot of systems are really good at
26:28
certain things. I'm not very good at other things, whatever,
26:30
whatever. But I found that to where if they start talking
26:33
about another product, that's not theirs, because they think
26:39
theirs is more superior or whatnot. That's a red flag to me
26:42
of like, okay, why is that company in your head to speak
26:47
about that product? Yeah, it's because are you not as good? Are
26:51
you trying to emulate that products? And so I would say
26:55
that too, you know, because there's, I mean, you have, you
26:59
have choices in today's market, what you choose to use. And
27:04
again, like with Dr. Petersen, it's you got to know yourself
27:06
and what you want to do. And I'm very much the same. I like
27:10
simplicity, I like to know exactly. I don't like having
27:13
surprises. And so I would also caution that that of if a
27:18
company starts talking about another company, then I would
27:21
say, Okay, start asking questions.
27:24
Alison Werner: Yeah. Well, to follow up, I was going to ask
27:26
you about kind of how you're using your reps. And so you
27:28
talked about how you using your reps at that early stage, once
27:33
you've got the product? You've talked about how valuable you
27:37
found your reps, but what are some of the things you're
27:39
turning to them for that they've been able to answer for you or
27:42
helped make easier for you, as you've been onboarding and just
27:46
kind of working through the system the last nine months with
27:49
your patients?
27:53
Brady Petersen: Yeah, I think our reps have been fantastic. I
27:56
mean, everything from the first question, hey, we're starting to
27:59
practice. I got patients here in 30 days, what do I need? Not and
28:05
knowing that they, they absolutely, it wasn't trying to
28:09
sell you all this extra stuff. It was this is what you're going
28:12
to need. Here's all the deals we have available for you, you
28:15
know, the buy one, get one frees, the financing, let's make
28:20
this work for you. Yeah. You know, new grad discounts, all
28:25
kinds of stuff like that. We've gotten, and we were just on a
28:30
texting relationship, or we'll text our rep after hours,
28:34
responds immediately. I mean, just fantastic. And these are
28:37
questions that, hey, we got a patient coming in, in the next
28:40
hour. This is this is something we haven't seen. I remember the
28:46
first, with the first purchase that we made. It was we were
28:51
still in that learning process of how to deal with the the
28:56
anterior torques. So the procline, retrocline, and we
28:59
ordered, you know, pretty much the percentage wise was equal
29:02
amounts of both. And as we got into practice, we're like, I'm
29:06
never going to use that one. I think I'm in love with this, you
29:09
know, proclining the threes, like, why do we need a
29:13
retrocline and or rep immediately just replaced those
29:16
out. You know, no questions asked. No, no, well, you gotta
29:19
keep that you bought it already, you know, none of that. And it's
29:22
just absolutely let's, that's, that's what's best for your
29:26
practice. That's what you're using. Let's do that. So, yeah,
29:29
that's
29:29
Kory Grahl: It's one of those things. It's like anyone, you
29:32
know, like, once you become part of the Orthobar family that we
29:36
treat you as such, and to what are you saying, I mean, our
29:39
representative Ryan, you know, he's, you know, two, three years
29:43
into the orthodontic side of things I and, you know, he's
29:47
been amazing, you know, transition, helping one another,
29:50
you know, build this up. And, you know, most people are like
29:54
you crazy doing a start up. I mean, all of them were like,
29:58
Yes, do it. It's awesome. We'll support you throughout the
30:02
process. Um, you know, and in taking our feedback, too. I
30:05
mean, some, some companies might be like, Well, you guys are
30:09
just, you know, fairly new practice. But no, I mean,
30:12
they'll they'll accept our feedback and say, like, Hey,
30:16
this is what we have going. And this is how I think it could
30:19
help future startups on a financial basis, or whatever it
30:23
is. But no, they had been spectacular lunch and learns,
30:26
coming in training our staff about Ormco's direct bonding, or
30:30
Spark Aligner therapy, or, again, ticking anterior torque
30:34
selection, what's kind of generalities and all those sorts
30:37
of things, so it's, it's not anything that's like, oh, man, I
30:41
gotta, I gotta call my representative today. Or, or if
30:45
they don't know the answer, this is the best part. They're humble
30:49
enough to be like, you know, let me talk to Dr. so and so. And we
30:53
will, we'll get you guys in touch or I'll find out the
30:56
answer for you. I mean, how awesome is that? And so
30:59
especially for, you know, new practice owners and stuff that
31:03
you know, there's there's certainly stuff we haven't seen
31:07
in there's stuff we'll future never seen, right, that someone
31:11
has attacked. And so that's where they stand and they're so connected.
31:12
Brady Petersen: They've connected us to multiple other
31:17
Damon practices, other doctors and just welcomed us into that,
31:22
to that community of the field.
31:25
Kory Grahl: And staff, and team members are our treatment
31:30
coordinator came from a Damon practice in Colorado, and she
31:36
moved here to Vegas, and is an amazing, amazing person. And has
31:42
helped us tremendously on on that side of things.
31:47
Alison Werner: Well, we're gonna wrap it up there. I really want
31:51
to say thank you for joining me and kind of talking about your
31:56
experience, just as a startup, getting that going and then also
32:01
with the Damon Ultima system. So thank you so much.
32:07
Brady Petersen: Well, thanks for having us, Alison.