Open Wide Podcast
by Dr. Scott Drucker and Jinesh Patel
Scott Drucker and Jinesh Patel explore the intersection of oral healthcare, technology, business, and startups. The duo discuss the hottest topics driving forward the fields of oral health and broader healthcare. They interview the most interesting entrepreneurs, thought leaders, researchers, operators, and practitioners contributing to the improvement of and access to healthcare.
Episodes
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Episode 81 - Conversation with John Rossman | Rossman Partners
In this episode Scott and Jinesh chat with John Rossman, founder of Rossman Partners and author of Big Bet Leadership and The Amazon Way. John shares some of his experience guiding the launch of Amazon Marketplace, and later guiding T-Mobile through some of their recent evolution. They dive into...
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Episode 80 - Conversation with Jeffrey Perelman | JEP Management
Scott and Jinesh chat with Jeffrey Perelman, Chairman and CEO of JEP management. JEP Management owns DentalEZ Group, which itself consists of several dental manufacturing companies. They chat about Jeffrey's investments throughout his career, focusing on the dental space. They also discuss some…
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Episode 79 - Conversation with Jonathan Norris | Montshire Pediatric Dentistry
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Jonathan Norris, founder of Montshire Pediatric Dentistry. Jonny shares his dental story and what ultimately led him to his treatment philosophy that has manifested in Montshire Pediatric Dentistry's success. Jonny has proven out that a pediatric practice based on...
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Episode 78 - Conversation with Eric Block | Flomo
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr Eric Block about his journey through dental and his entrepreneurial experiences podcasting, writing, launching his software startup Flomo. 1:15 Introducing Dr Eric Block 4:41 Dental burnout 17:16 Efforts out of the dental chair 20:20 Flomo 26:17 Build vs buy 30:50...
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Episode 77 - DSO Restructuring Wipes Equity
Scott and Jinesh chat about recent headlines that reflect on the troubled financial state of several DSOs.
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Episode 76 - Conversation with Heather Trombley | DentalEZ
Scott and Jinesh chat with Heather Trombley, President and COO of DentalEZ. Heather discusses her journey from rocket scientist to DentalEZ. They then take a deep dive into topics like IoT, data, and AI, as they pertain to dental equipment and remote equipment monitoring. 1:28 Introducing Heather...
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Episode 75 - Leveraging AI
Scott and Jinesh chat about how dental tech companies and dental practices may be able to find leverage using AI to code tools bespoke to the needs of the company.
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Episode 74 - Conversation with Brendan Messenheimer | The DSO Reckoning
Scott and Jinesh chat with Brendan Messenheimer, Managing Partner at HealthStream Ventures, about the ongoing 'freeze' in DSO acquisitions and upcoming struggles Brendan expects in the DSO industry. 1:19 Introducing Brendan Messenheimer, background pre HealthStream Ventures 7:34 Historical setup...
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Episode 73 - Conversation with Ralf Tomandl | HR for Health
Scott and Jinesh chat with Ralf Tomandl, Chief Operating Officer at HR for Health. They discuss Ralf's journey to and through dental, and his experience joining HR for Health right before Covid hit. Ralf shares some of his experience and lessons learned from event-based marketing, and highlights...
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Episode 72 - Leadership Labs Conference
Scott and Jinesh recap several highlights of the Leaderships Labs Conference, and share a couple conversations recorded at the conference itself. 1:25 Leadership Labs conference recap 19:02 Conversation with Mike Towle, Motor City Dental Partners 30:39 Conversation with Jason Bodnar, Cataloochee...
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Episode 71 - Conversation with Stephen Thorne | PDS Health
Scott and Jinesh chat with Stephen Thorne, Founder and CEO of PDS Health. They discuss the oral-systemic connection and how PDS Health is paving the way for medical-dental integration. It takes a herculean effort to change how our healthcare and payer ecosystems think about oral health, and Steve...
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Episode 70 - Conversation with Elliot Zibel | ClariFi Health
Scott and Jinesh chat with Elliot Zibel, serial entrepreneur and Founder of ClariFi Health. They take a deep dive into Elliot's background with focus on his DSO Select Dental Management and technology startup ClariFi Health. 1:30 Introducing Elliot Zibel 3:29 Elliot's entrepreneurial experience...
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Episode 69 - Conversation with John Stamper | John Stamper Media
Scott and Jinesh chat with John Stamper, founder and CEO of John Stamper Media. John recaps his journey to and through dental. He shares both his perspective and strategy around content marketing for companies looking to build meaningful relationships with their clients (both current and...
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Episode 68 - ER Visits Rise, Software Gains, MAGNETOM MRI, DSO Woes
Scott and Jinesh discuss the recorded uptick in dental-related ER visits, Planet DDS's data on the impact of dental practice software, Dentsply's MRI venture, and recent negative press concerning DSOs. 2:44 Dental-related ER visits increase 6:42 Software improves practice performance 10:59…
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Episode 67 - Conversation with Kevin Tallman | Mango Voice
Scott and Jinesh chat with Kevin Tallman, CEO of Mango Voice. Kevin takes us through his entrepreneurship journey before dental, and then dives deep into his journey at Mango Voice. He chats about integrations and partnerships, his ideal customer profile, and the massive impact AI is having on…
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Episode 66 - Conversation with Brad Hughes | Vision Dental Partners
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Brad Hughes, Founder and CEO of Vision Dental Partners. They discuss Brad's dental journey, and the process of scaling from a single location to over 10 locations across multiple states. They take a deep dive into the importance and value of content, and Brad shares...
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Episode 65 - Midwinter Recap, TotalOp Launch
0:00 Scott and Jinesh updates 9:21 Chicago Midwinter conference recap 15:41 Launch of TotalOp 26:52 Procurement Press Release
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Episode 64 - Conversation with Sooji Park | Spark Chances
Scott and Jinesh chat with Sooji Park, Founder and Scent Sommelier of Spark Chances. They discuss Sooji's journey to and through dental, and all things scent. Sooji breaks down how scent impacts one's experience and purchasing decisions, and is utilized across various industries including retail,...
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Episode 63 - Conversation with Matt Stout | besmyle
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Matt Stout, orthodontist and founder of besmyle - an orthodontic services company that allows all dental practitioners to deliver on the highest quality ortho aligner care. They chat about Matt's journey through school and private practice, and making the switch to...
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Episode 62 - Crown Dental Club Launch
Scott and Jinesh discuss the launch of Crown Dental Club, Scott's concierge membership-based practice. Scott shares behind the scenes insights and his go-to-market strategy. 2:08 Grand Opening 9:31 The pre-launch journey 18:37 Hiring and team 24:36 Race to market 31:30 Marketing channels 36:17...
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Episode 61 - Predictions for 2026
Scott and Jinesh recap the biggest wins and losses of 2025, and make several predictions for 2026. Prediction categories include: DSOs, medical-dental integration, tech/startups, policy, and macro trends. 4:33 Biggest Wins and Losses of 2025 18:23 DSO predictions 25:02 Medical-Dental integrations...
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Episode 60 - Conversation with Rich Rosato | ADA
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Rich Rosato, Oral Surgeon and current President of the American Dental Association. They discuss Rich's background and his path to both Oral Surgery and organized dentistry. Rich shares details about the impact that ADA makes on a regular basis, and about the…
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Episode 59 - Dental Policy Update, Comparing Size of Largest DSOs
Episode 59 - Dental Policy Update, Comparing Largest DSOs Size 2:26 Park Dental is public, Scott and Jinesh place bets 5:59 Government policy dental updates 23:08 Largest DSOs by locations and by doctor count
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Episode 58 - Conversation with Sarah Ruberg | Our Thrive Tribe
Scott and Jinesh chat with Sarah Ruberg, founder and CEO of Our Thrive Tribe. They discuss Sarah's journey to and through dental, and her entrepreneurship journey with Our Thrive Tribe. Sarah shares her thoughts around personal branding in the dental space, and several insights into optimizing...
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Episode 57 - Conversation with Penny Reed | AADOM
Scott and Jinesh chat with Penny Reed, Executive VP of Membership and Events at the American Association of Dental Office Managers (AADOM). Penny shares details about her career to and through her time in the dental world. She shares insights from her years working within the dental practice...
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Episode 56 - DTA Conference Recap, CMS Medical-Dental Integration, HS One Partners with AWS
Jinesh recaps the DTA conference and shares some of the key takeaways. Scott and Jinesh then discuss the recent CMS announcement about their medical-dental integration initiative, and the recent announcement of Henry Schein One's partnership with AWS on AI. 1:30 Intro and DTA conference feedback...
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Episode 55 - Conversation with Mitch Olan | DSO Landscape Insights
Scott and Jinesh chat with Mitch Olan, a DSO industry veteran. Over the years Mitch was COO, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Dental Care Alliance (DCA). Mitch shares an overview of his many decades in the dental space, notably through the lens of one of the largest multi-location groups in the...
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Episode 54 - Conversation with Tina Saw | Oral Genome
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Tina Saw, founder and CEO of Oral Genome. Oral Genome is biotechnology company focused on saliva-based testing for oral health. Tina discusses the development of the Oral Genome test, the specifics of the test, and its implications for preventative care. Tina shares...
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Episode 53 - Business Updates from Scott and Jinesh
Scott and Jinesh discuss their respective business updates. 2:40 Jinesh Updates: Growth from relationship with National Facilities Direct; Industry partnerships teaser 12:43 Scott's new business
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Episode 52 - Dentalcorp Going Private, 'MAGA Dentist' Backlash
Scott and Jinesh discuss the recent announcement that Chicago-based Private Equity group GTCR is taking Canada's largest DSO Dentalcorp private (and paying a premium for it). They also chat about the backlash to the politically-charged comment / joke from the California-based 'MAGA Dentist', and...
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Episode 51 - Conversation with Samantha Strain | HealthStream Ventures
Scott and Jinesh chat with Samantha Strain, Partner and CDO and HealthStream Ventures and Cofounder of DoubleMint about all things M&A in the dental space. They discuss Sam's journey from distributor regional rep to healthcare lending to facilitating the purchase of dental practices. Sam shares…
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Episode 50 - Conversation with Matt Ingram | Marketing to Dentists
Scott and Jinesh chat with Matt Ingram about his career in dental marketing and media. Matt explains how the space has changed over the last 15 years and comments on some of the high-level marketing strategies he's seen play out. He recounts some of the best and worst he's seen over the years…
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Episode 49 - Epic's AI Transcription Announcement, Vyne vs Henry Schein
Scott and Jinesh chat about Epic's recent announcement that they're releasing their own native AI transcription tool to be bundled into their software, and Henry Schein announces they'll be restricting connectivity that Vyne has used to transfer data for insurance claims submissions. 1. Epic's AI...
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Episode 48 - Conversation with Marv Nelson | A-dec
Scott and Jinesh chat with Marv Nelson, CEO of A-dec. They discuss A-dec's history, culture, and philosophy. Marv discusses the impact of COVID, A-dec's supply chain, and the impact of tariffs (or lack thereof) on A-dec. Marv shares his thoughts around price positioning, equipment servicing, DSO...
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Episode 47 - Dental Medicaid Coverage at Risk, Insurance Company buys a DSO
Scott and Jinesh chat about the recent increased risk to dental coverage via Medicaid nationwide, as well as the recent acquisition of the DSO Cherry Tree Dental by Delta Dental of Wisconsin. 1:59 Dental coverage at risk 8:50 Delta Dental of Wisconsin buys DSO Cherry Tree Dental
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Episode 46 - Conversation with Joe Cavaretta | Cavaretta Consulting Group
Scott and Jinesh chat with Joe Cavaretta, Founder and CEO of Cavaretta Consulting Group. They discuss Joe's journey through dental, and how his career evolved from working at publicly traded dental distributors to venturing into startups, first at Whale Dental and then founding his own consulting...
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Episode 45 - Conversation with Santosh Patel | Complete Specialty Solutions / Subscribili
Scott and Jinesh chat with Santosh Patel, Founder of Complete Specialty Solutions and current Chief Revenue Officer of Subscribili. They discuss Santosh's journey building Complete Specialty Solutions, and his decision to sell the software piece of the business to Subscribili. Santosh shares why...
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Episode 44 - Conversation with Stanley Bergman | Henry Schein
Scott and Jinesh chat with Stanley Bergman, CEO of Henry Schein. They discuss Stan's path to Henry Schein and touch on key elements of culture at the company. Stan shares stories from the transition to the digital era, reflects on crisis management and leadership, and discusses his perspective on...
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Episode 43 - Conversation with Kyle Stanley | Light Side Academy
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Kyle Stanely about his journey in the dental world, from clinical practice to lecturing to podcasting to communicating mental health. They take a deep dive into the importance of mental health in the dental world, and how it's so commonly neglected. They discuss the...
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Episode 42 - Conversation with Landon Hilliard | Dentisafe
Scott and Jinesh chat with Landon Hilliard, COO of Dentisafe. They discuss all things waterline safety including what builds up in dental water lines, proper treatment and testing protocols, and legislation being passed to keep dental waterlines safe. 1:22 Introducing Landon Hilliard 5:38…
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Episode 41 - Sedation Death, States Ranked on Dental, Tariffs Chaos
Scott and Jinesh recap several recent news articles including: dental sedation oversight in North Carolina, states ranked on 25 dental health related factors, and commentary about the potential impact of tariffs on healthcare. 1:34 Best times to post on LinkedIn 3:38 Dental sedation oversight in…
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Episode 40 - Conversation with Jordan Reiss | Dexis (Envista)
Scott and Jinesh chat with Jordan Reiss, Senior Director of Clinical Strategic Development at Dexis, about the evolution of imaging technology in dental. They also discuss some of the latest applications of AI in imaging and case-planning workflow. 1:28 Introducing Jordan Reiss 3:30 Jordan's...
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Episode 39 - Conversation with Christian Coachman | Digital Smile Design
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr Christian Coachman about a wide range of topics, starting out with his personal journey and the unconventional path he took. They dive into the Digital Smile Design business journey, product, and evolution. Christian shares his philosophies around quality vs scale,...
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Episode 38 - Conversation with Lior Tamir | The Dental App
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr Lior Tamir about his journey through dental. Lior shares key insights on running a dental practice through a business lens. He explains why he has taken the time to build out The Dental App practice management software that better suits the needs of practice owners…
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Episode 37 - Midwinter Recap, UptimeHealth Recognition, ADA warns Utah
Scott and Jinesh recap their Chicago Midwinter conference experiences, Scott gives Jinesh his flowers for the UptimeHealth recognition by Fast Company, and the duo recaps the ADA letter to the governor of Utah warning against removing fluoride from drinking water. 1:28 Chicago Midwinter…
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Episode 36 - Conversation with Trey Tepichin | Cloud Dentistry
Scott and Jinesh chat in person with Trey Tepichin, founder of Cloud Dentistry. They discuss Trey's path to dentistry and powering through the early days of the company via 'manual automation'. Trey reflects on the ins and outs of his platform, his go to market strategy, and how marketplaces…
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Episode 35 - Conversation with Khamir Patel and Dmitry Burshteyn | SmartChair.AI
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr Khamir Patel and Dr Dmitry Burshteyn about SmartChair.AI, a company dedicated to measuring dental chair usage time. They discuss the origin and progress of the company, and reflect on chair usage time as possibly the most important driver of optimizing success of a...
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Episode 34 - Conversation with Marko Vujicic | ADA Health Policy Institute
Scott and Jinesh chat with Dr. Marko Vujicic, Chief Economist at the American Dental Association. They discuss Marko's role within the ADA and the work of the Health Policy Institute. The trio dive into oral health and public policy, and the challenges (and potential solutions!) to meaningfully...
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Episode 33 - Conversation with Ophir Tanz | Pearl
Scott and Jinesh chat with Ophir Tanz, founder of Pearl, about all things dental AI. They discuss Ophir's background, why the AI opportunity in dental specifically makes sense, and get in the weeds on Pearl's philosophy and approach to tackling the challenge. Ophir shares his perspective on...
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Episode 32 - Conversation with Ashley Lerman | Firstgrin
Scott and Jinesh chat with pediatric dentist Dr. Ashley Lerman about her journey founding and growing Firstgrin. Ashley shares insights on her go-to-market strategy and partnerships, as well as lots of advice for parents with young children. She breaks down the importance of early dental visits,...
About this show
Scott Drucker and Jinesh Patel explore the intersection of oral healthcare, technology, business, and startups. The duo discuss the hottest topics driving forward the fields of oral health and broader healthcare. They interview the most interesting entrepreneurs, thought leaders, researchers, operators, and practitioners contributing to the improvement of and access to healthcare.
Hosted by
Dr. Scott Drucker and Jinesh Patel
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