The Bryan Laskin Podcast

Dentistry is just starting to hit the biggest wave of change the industry has ever seen. Many of the innovations we are only beginning to see in the dental field have already been pioneered by the medical industry, paving the way for dentistry to experience exponential growth. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I interview Cissy Mangrum, the VP of Revenue Cycle for Specialty Dental Bra...

Once a clear-cut path to financial and professional success, dentistry as a career has become a much more murky prospect to the next generation of oral healthcare professionals. Rapid developments in digital technology and the gold rush of the DSO business model have left younger dentists feeling anxious and uncertain about the next steps to take. Should they focus on building their own independen...

Digital technology is transforming many industries including healthcare and finance (popularly known as "fintech" today). In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I interview Chad Widensky, the CRO of Provide and we get to see the magic that happens when technology, finance and oral healthcare collide. Provide is a national fintech company that specializes in helping healthcare providers rea...

All you entrepreneurs out there in the dental space know how hard it is to build an empire in this fast-changing industry. Elijah Desmond, the motivational speaker and Founder of Smiles at Sea who has been innovating dental conferences for more than a decade, knows the struggle all too well. But as Elijah generously explains in this interview, the key to success lies in remaining true to your auth...

In the busy dental practice—or DSO—time is one of the most valuable assets. More time equals more opportunities to provide better care and generate more revenue. It's so easy, however, for time to slip away, wasted on inefficient processes. The secret to regaining control over time? That's cleverly discussed in the book  Buy Back Your Time  by Dan Martell. In this episode of  The Patient First Pod...

Many small DSOs just starting out are struggling to keep their heads above water. What are the successful ones doing right? In this episode of The Patient First Podcast that no DSO leader should miss, I interview Trevor Lines, DDS of Revolutionary Tribes and pick his brain on how DSOs can get it right.  Dr. Lines shares his journey with candor and good humor, and explains in great detail what dent...

It's getting easier than ever for malevolent agents to carry out ransomware attacks, and dental practices are prime targets. With ransomware attacks having increased by 75% during 2023, dental practice owners and the CEOs of DSOs need to be on high alert. Have you thought about what you would do in the event your practice or network is victimized by a ransomware attack? Would you be able to keep t...

What if everything you've heard about the group practice model in dentistry…is wrong? DSOs (dental service organizations) may seem to be taking over the industry, but that could actually be a very good thing for the standard of care. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I describe my experience at the Dental Forum Meeting, the first industry event at which I noticed there were fewer clin...

Enjoy a sneak peek of the new arrival with this reading of Chapter 2 from my new book, Dental Disorder. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I introduce a new series I like to call "Story Time on the Patient First Podcast."  I'll be reading a short story from my latest book with a little added context (and some corny dad jokes thrown in for fun).  You might be surprised to realize how clo...

Words aren't enough to convey how amazing it was to sit on a panel of judges that reviewed exciting potential startups in the dental industry.  This was at "Dental Pitch," a segment of the 2023 Dental Festival held in New Orleans. In this episode of "The Patient First Manifesto," I share what I learned from this incredible experience and how the future of dental technology—and even dentistry itsel...

Things that are simple in theory can often be surprisingly difficult in practice. When we hear the terms "simple" and "easy," it's easy to think that they mean the same thing. But while those words are often used together, there's a massive difference in their meaning, and that difference matters, especially in dentistry. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast , I explain why we can't use th...

In this interview, I enjoyed reconnecting with an old friend who's been working hard in a sector that intersects with my own areas of interest. Patrick Jacobwith is the CEO of and a partner at Sunset Technologies, and he has a wealth of insights to share on some of the biggest issues dental practice owners are facing today. Our exciting conversation touches on cybersecurity, ransomware attacks, HI...

A willingness to change is vital to survival for dental practices. But how does your dental team respond to change? What does their response say about the kind of changes you want to implement? How can you build a growth-minded team or help your current team become more open to change? When it comes to running a successful and truly people-centric business, it can be hard to know the right time an...

It goes without saying that visibility is extremely important in dentistry, and we dentists have so many tools to help us see clearly what's going on in and around teeth while we work. So how could it be possible that dentists are still working in the dark today? As it turns out, working with little or no information about a patient's past medical and dental history is akin to working blindfolded....

This episode of The Patient First Podcast might turn out to be one of those controversial ones, and I'm looking forward to it. We dentists like to believe that we're good at evaluating the quality of clinical care rendered by ourselves and by fellow dentists. But can we really expect patients to critique providers based on our clinical talent, alone? Our patients don't usually get to see what we s...

There's a lingering misconception that dental technology is expensive. That may have been true in the past, but that excuse doesn't hold up in dentistry today. Not only is the cost of technology going down, but we're now at a point where you can't afford NOT to have it in your practice. Dental technology makes treatment more comfortable and convenient for everyone involved, including patients and...

Dentistry is notorious for being expensive, but it's a totally unjustified reputation. So why do patients perceive dentistry as costly, especially when they are quick to shell out even more money on less important things? I've touched on this topic in the past, but it's time to explore in depth the real reasons patients balk at the cost of their dental care. In this episode of The Patient First Po...

Get ready to taste the world's first candy formulated to actively fight against the effects of tooth decay. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I interviewed Dr. Mohamed Harunani, the creator of Dream candy—delicious lollipops and button candies engineered to promote tooth remineralization and neutralize an acidic oral environment. Instead of just "watching" a questionable-looking incipi...

Dentistry has seen phenomenal improvement over the past few decades, but the best is yet to come. In fact, it's almost here. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I explain "Dentistry 3.0," the next big stage of development for dentistry as a profession.  This episode also discusses the new technologies and systems that dental practice owners need to know about in order to keep up with Den...

Some dental professionals believe that giving patients increased access to their own dental health data would be dangerous. But in reality, doing so is an integral part of patient-partnered dentistry. But what exactly does patient-partnered care mean? Why is it so important? How is it different from developing a co-diagnosis with the patient? And why is improving access to data vital to patient-fi...

You've already heard about Intelligence Quotient (IQ). Emotional Quotient (EQ) is also receiving lots of attention these days. But have you ever heard about XQ? "XQ" stands for Experience Quotient and it can be defined as the measure of an individual's collective experiences that gives them a unique perception of or insight into something. I'm Dr. Bryan Laskin, author, entrepreneur, dentist and in...

Very soon, everyone in dentistry will be talking about Connected Dentistry™. What is it? Why was it developed? What problems will it solve? How will it transform the way both dentists and patients experience dentistry? I share the answers to those questions in this landmark episode of The Patient First Podcast. I'm Dr. Bryan Laskin, entrepreneur, author and a dentist in pursuit of better dentistry...

Workplace "culture" isn't a fluffy corporate buzzword that's code for office parties—it's the very lifeblood of productive dental practices. Despite all the talk about "culture," few people understand what it really is. This is unfortunate for dentistry, where culture is the secret to building strong teams and productive practices, especially now that most dentists are dealing with a staffing cris...

You would think that any progress made in the area of medical-dental integration would be a step forward. But why does it seem like the first step is a futile, bottom-up approach? Anything that improves access to care for patients is a very welcome development. If it doesn't promote true medical-dental integration, however, then that very development could lead to even more confusion over where on...

Dentists have enough to worry about as it is with the ever-present fear of a malpractice lawsuit hanging over their heads. One wrong move, and they can say 'goodbye' to their dream of running a profitable practice. The bad news is that, as three dental practices recently experienced, dentists now have to worry about what could happen if they DON'T take a certain action. That action? Releasing comp...