Episode 163: Interview with Dr. Jarod Johnson of Arctic Dental

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Yb_CctyvU My Jameson Journey: Milestones and Metrics with Dr. Jarod Johnson Carrie Weber: Welcome to the Jameson Files. It's so great to have all of you tuning in once again. As part of the Jameson Files community, I'm Carrie Weber as always, and I'm your host. Today I am really happy to be joined by a Jameson client, an amazing pediatric dentist from Iowa, Dr. Jarod Johnson of Arctic Dental. Dr. Johnson, thank you so much for joining me today. Dr. Jarod Johnson: Yeah, Carrie, I'm really excited for this opportunity. I know we've had to push things off a little bit, but we finally got a time we could connect. I'm super excited to be with your listeners today. Carrie Weber: We made it happen. You know, if there's anything about you and I, we're persistent. We're not going to give up. You know, I think it was my husband, Jess, that actually asked if you want to be on the podcast. And I'm so glad that he connected those dots because we connected and had our first conversation a little over a year ago now. That's kind of hard to believe. I think it was spring of last year, am I right? Dr. Jarod Johnson: Yeah, I think it was. I think we started with Jameson in July of last year, and we got started figuring out how to make that happen in the early part of spring. Dr. Johnson’s Beginnings as Pediatric Dentist Carrie Weber: And as I was preparing to meet with you for this recording, I was thinking back on that in our conversation and something that really stuck with me was how refreshing it is when you get to talk to doctors and practice owners that really understand the benefit of continuous development and learning. Something that I recognized about you in the past year and even when we were first talking was that you were so genuinely interested and curious and ready for guidance and mentorship and everything that we do. You just take it and you run with it. It's just amazing. And I think that's kind of a part of your nature, too, because you're also an educator. So I'd love to give you a chance as we start off to just share a little bit about your dental journey and what caused you to fall in love with dentistry. You’re a pediatric dentist, so pediatrics especially. And what is it that really drives you from that educational and continuous learning side of things? Would that be all right? Dr. Jarod Johnson: Yes, so both my parents are dentists and my uncle is a dentist. They're all retired now. But they really got me involved in dentistry early and it was a big part of my growth as a kid. I would go to all the dental conferences with them on trips. It was just an exciting time to learn about.  And then in high school, I always made a point to take one art class, even though I was very strong with my science and my math, I made a point to take that class every semester and I really enjoyed working with my hands. So they kind of fit together.  I ended up applying to dental school and got into that and was interested in pediatrics. And I wasn't sure if I could deal with really little kids because behavior can be one of the most challenging parts of pediatric dentistry. But I had the opportunity to be a coach at the junior high for basketball and football during my time in undergrad. And that kind of got my interest. And when I got into dental school, the rotation didn't seem as bad. And personally, I love pediatric dentistry because it's different every day. You get to tell jokes. You don't have to be as serious. And I think one of the things that is really rewarding is to have that patient that came in and wouldn't even sit in your chair, crying in the corner, and all of a sudden three years later, they're giving you a hug.  Carrie Weber: I love that. So am I right that you were in Nevada for some time before you moved to Iowa? Is that correct? Becoming Involved in Dental Education Dr. Jarod Johnson: Yes, so I had the opportunity to go down to UNLV in Las Vegas and train there. It was a great experience. I loved it. We didn't have any other residency programs, so we just had ortho. So all the kids, whether they came in with an impacted tooth or they came in with a need for a root canal, we had that opportunity if we wanted to take it. And I got a great experience. And one of the things that I learned down there was taught by Dr. Ron Leman. It's something with vital pulp therapy. It's one of my passions, but it wasn't something that was as mainstream as it is today.  And that's really what got me into education ten years ago. I did my first webinar on Dentaltown. Through that, I've had other opportunities. I now own my own CE company. If you want to check out our hands on course, we have one coming up in Minneapolis later this year. And we do some free content for you throughout the year. And it's just been fun because I don't think pediatric dentistry really is as difficult as people make it out to be. It's not like you're doing these huge implant cases, but you have to understand the nuances and diagnosis and just the basics of dentistry to make it work.  I think a lot of general dentists maybe shy away from kids when they don't need to. It would help to have those kids treated in your chair and not take up time for kids that really need to be in my chair. So that's been one of my passions is how do we get GPS and pediatric dentists to be more practical with the approach? I think it's very simple to do, but it's hard to understand if you don't understand the basics that go behind the skill of growth and development and managing decay at the same time. We see periodontal patients every three months. Why don't you see your high-risk caries kids every three months? That's what we do at my office. And we can maybe reevaluate something. The kid has a positive experience with the cleaning and now we can get to the restorative. There's practical ways to do things that we aren't really trained to do because people think of only what insurance is going to cover. Carrie Weber: That's interesting, so it sounds like the education piece is important, creating your own CE platform, lecturing– because you lecture across the country too on all of this, yes? Dr. Jarod Johnson: Yes. So if someone gives me an invitation, I'll be happy to take a look at the proposal and see if it works. I've got young kids, so if it works with the family. I’m speaking at SmileCon this year. I've got an opportunity here in western Nebraska later next month. And one also virtually for Wisconsin, their pediatric dental association. I'll be with them in September. So lots of opportunities. Virtual's great. And then also in person is another opportunity. It's something I'm passionate about and I'm happy to get anyone more information if they want to get in contact. Carrie Weber: And you know, it's interesting, the passion piece has to play a part because, just like you said, there's the dental practice, you have a family, you have a lot of pieces like that. And so how do you make those decisions? How are you balancing that between the passion to educate, but also the passion for your practice and your patients, and obviously keeping that time ready and available for your family? Dr. Jarod Johnson: I think that's one of the things that's been a little bit more difficult. And obviously, if it's going to have to wait, it's going to be the CE. Family is first, and then I have patients to take care of. Usually, I'll work on the CE stuff on Friday, so I'm getting a lot of stuff done today. I probably need to look at hiring someone to assist with this a little bit more so I can be a little more organized than I am right now. But as things come along, we look at the schedule and see if we can make it work. And if we can, we do. And we try not to let it be too much of a disruptor in those other two areas.  Handling Changes with Insurance Relationships Carrie Weber: Of course. So when you and I first spoke, you were about eight years into owning your dental practice. As you're looking at the 10 year mark, because now you're nine years in practice ownership, what do you feel you are looking forward to or working on for your practice right now that perhaps other pediatric dentists would appreciate or would love to hear your insights on? Dr. Jarod Johnson: I didn't think I'd say this, but I think a lot of my colleagues are now getting out of insurance and going PPO, and we've had a lot of challenges recently that we're trying to address at my office. And it's not something, I just want to rip the bandaid off right away. But we're working through things, and that's one thing that's been helpful to work with Jameson is to see how to make the schedule more effective. How do we figure out how to navigate withdrawing from some of these insurance companies without affecting the bottom line? And as an owner, something you worry about is losing an insurance company. Who's going to stay with you and how do you retain those patients?  So some of those things are things I think people right now are very aware of. I see a post on Instagram about dropping Delta almost every day. The world has changed a little bit with Covid and inflation and insurance. And I think a lot of people are finally moving away from it. And I think there's a right way to do it to be successful, but you have to have some help to hold your hand along the way because we didn't go to school to learn how to communicate on dropping insurance. You learn dentistry. Carrie Weber: Exactly. Most dentists aren't going into dentistry thinking, oh, I can't wait to figure out how to balance my business with insurance. And I'm sure it comes, you know, the insurance piece– I remember talking to you about this when we first connected and we first started with you—the insurance piece is difficult for any dentist no matter what your specialty....