Lorin Berland, DDS, is an internationally acclaimed cosmetic dentist and one of the most published authors on clinical dentistry and dental education. With over 100 articles, best-selling books and instructional videos including the Lorin Library Smile Guide, Dr. Berland has made a lasting impact on dentistry. Over the course of his distinguished career, Dr. Berland was the 1st Fellow of the AACD, was included in the Top 100 CE Leaders for over 19 consecutive years and was even recognized by the AACD for “Outstanding Contributions to the Arts & Science of Cosmetic Dentistry”. Dr. Berland is credited with pioneering the concept of Spa Dentistry and his unique approach has been featured in major national print and TV publications, such as 20/20, Time, Town & Country, Reader’s Digest, GQ. Dr. B began his career as a denture technician, and after more than 35 years of listening to patients and running a multi-specialty practice, he retired to start Dr. B Dental Solutions, a new company with a full line of products specifically designed to treat the common, and serious issues affecting the daily lives of people with oral appliances, like Oral Infections and Dry Mouth, which are not addressed by major brands. His website DrBDentalSolutions.com is also a great source of useful information on oral appliances and hygiene tips for patients.
https://www.drbdentalsolutions.com/
VIDEO - DUwHF #990 - Lorin Berland
AUDIO - DUwHF #990 - Lorin Berland
Howard: It is just a huge honor for me today to be podcast interviewing Lorin Berland DDS, my buddy for thirty years. He's an internationally acclaimed cosmetic dentist and one of the most published authors on clinical dentistry and dental education with over one hundred articles, bestselling books and instructional videos, including the Lorin Library Smile Guide. Dr. Berland has made a lasting impact on dentistry. Over the course of his distinguished career, Lorin was the first fellow of the AACD. Oh, my God, that's so cool. Was included in the top one hundred CE leaders for over nineteen consecutive years and was even recognized by the AACD for outstanding contributions to the art and science of cosmetic dentistry. Dr. Berland is credited with pioneering the concept of spa dentistry and his unique approach has been featured in major national print and TV publications such as 20/20, Time, Town and Country, Readers Digest, GQ, which you know, I've been on the cover several times. I'm also an underwear model. Dr. B began his career as a denture technician and after more than thirty-five years of listening to patients and running a multi-specialty practice, he retired to start Dr. B Dental Solutions, a new company with a full line of products specifically designed to treat the common and serious issues affecting the daily lives of people with oral appliances like oral infections and dry mouth, which are not addressed by major brands. His website drbdentalsolutions.com is also a great source of useful information on oral appliances and hygiene tips for patients. I've been trying to get you on the show for a thousand days and you finally graced everyone with your appearance. Thank you so much for finally coming on the show. How are you doing buddy?
Lorin: I'm doing great. Thanks so much for having me.
Howard: Are you still in Dallas?
Lorin: I'm still in Dallas, but I'm not practicing and I'm running this new company.
Howard: But you're still ...
Lorin: But I'm still [inaudible 00:02:02] dentistry.
Howard: But you're still an Arizona Cardinals football fan. You never have gone to the dark side and supported the Evil cowboys. Am I correct?
Lorin: Of course. I'm going to get in a lot of trouble. A lot of trouble. I'm going to have to move if I said that.
Howard: I want to ask you a question. When we were growing up the Cowboys were America's team, but now would that be the Patriots? Who do you think's America's team now? It was always the Cowboys, but do you think now it's the Patriots?
Lorin: Well, the Patriot sound good. It's an American team, it's patriotic.
Howard: Oh my God, so ...
Lorin: But I'm not a huge sports fan. They kind of come and go, they have different athletes.
Howard: Right. I called you to be on the show because I want to hear about your journey and how is drbdentalsolutions.com doing?
Lorin: Okay, well the Cleanadent Crystals are the only [inaudible 00:02:56] cleanser that instantly kills strep, staph candida and actinomyces and those are the major causes of oral thrush and pneumonia and angular cheilitis and denture stomatitis and nobody's really talking about that especially among denture wearers. This is a big problem. Denture wearers are way more likely to have diabetes. If you have diabetes, you're way more likely to have Candida and if you sleep in your dentures, you're even more prone to having Candida, oral thrush and pneumonia and these are serious problems. So that product has done really well and then we launched two new products a few months ago, a new denture adhesive, Adhesadent to treat dry mouth. It has Aloe Vera and vitamins A, D, and E, and it's more retentive than the competition. It has a new copolymer. And then we have a brand new product that there's nothing else like it, it's Cleanadent paste and it's the first paste that actually cleans the gums and cleans the denture and that's very important to denture wearers. In fact, the ADA sent out an announcement a few months ago saying denture wearers need to take very good care of their gums, cleaning them regularly. And the Cleanadent paste because it has Aloe Vera, tea tree oil and coconut oil and vitamins A, D and E, while it cleans the mouth and cleans the denture it also treats dry mouth. Same as Adhesadent so they are kind of revolutionary products.
Howard: Well, you know you remind me so much of Bob Ibsen. He was a dentist in southern California and when he saw all the toothpaste companies doling his composites, he started Rembrandt and it was really counter-intuitive because he said the less abrasive the toothpaste was the more dulled the luster. So he made Rembrandt, I forgot what the active ingredients, but it was a harder abrasive that actually polished the abrasive, but you'd have to be a dentist to be sitting there watching this and those big corporations they probably are staffed by a lot of MBA's and not a lot of dentists who actually on the front lines. So some of the greatest B to C products ever made were from dentists in the trenches on the front line of dentistry.
Lorin: Well, that's because we're seeing our patients and listening to our patients. The denture adhesive I came up with because patients were always saying denture adhesive is like a necessary evil. They hate denture adhesive. It's yukky, it makes their mouth dry so they said why don't you come up with something that cleans up easy and doesn't taste so bad. So that's why I came up with Adhesadent and then I went a step further and I wanted to make it treat dry mouth because almost every denture wearer out there for various reasons, whether it's medications, age, habits, they all have dry mouth and that also affects the retention of the denture. Dry mouth is not good for denture retention and the Cleanadent paste when you talk about Bob Ipsen and coming up with Rembrandt toothpaste to be non-abrasive, the Cleanadent paste I first came up with it because patients were always telling me they want to get the denture adhesive off their gums and off their denture and they'd say you should come up with a paste that would make that easy to do. So I came up with this very, very, like almost no abrasive toothpaste and I use the term loosely, toothpaste, to clean the gums and clean the denture. And then I wanted to also treat dry mouth and moisturize and while I was developing it about eight years ago we started doing All on 4, fixed implant bridges and they're all dentures. Now they're doing more zirconium, but certainly, the first step is virtually always acrylic and I noticed, and I should've known better because as a denture tech, but we all make mistakes. The first couple I did I had very fussy patients and they'd come back with the follow ups and they'd say my teeth don't look so clean. They're not as shiny as when you put them in and then I realized, well, what have you been brushing your new teeth with and they go, "Oh I've been using Crest or Colgate or something." And all the toothpastes or too abrasive and when they're too abrasive they cause more scratches so I started giving him the paste that I was giving to my denture wearers and sure enough, you know I didn't see the wear in future cases and they all loved it because it's made to clean prosthetics not teeth and it moisturized their mouth. And by the way, I'm really honored that you would even think of comparing me to Dr. Ipson. I mean he was a giant in dentistry. Rest in peace.
Howard: Well, you're a giant in dentistry. You are a giant in dentistry.
Lorin: No.
Howard: I've been listening to you lecture for thirty years I've been a big fan of yours. But the All on 4 I have very mixed feeling because it's so American to just abuse yourself for ten, twenty, thirty years and if you have enough money you just get it fixed, but these people getting All on 4's they're not yoga instructors, they're not vegans, they're not people who are addicted to yogurt. They're people who didn't brush, floss, they probably drank a lot, smoked a lot and I see so much more success when they put four implants in there with a ball and like a zest anchor.
Lorin: An overdent?
Howard: An over-dent, a snap-on because then Grandpa can go snap that out and rinse it with Budweiser beer and brush it and clean up, but they come into my office with All on 4 and there's an entire ham sandwich underneath that thing and at five years 20% have peri-implantitis and between six and nine years or at nine years it's between forty and 60% peri-implantitis so the bottom line is they're hard to clean.
Lorin: Very hard to clean. Cleanadent paste will clean the denture, the fixed implant bridge, but to get underneath it you've got to use super floss, you got to use waterpiks and I agree with you, I mean there's a reason why these people are All on 4's in the first place. I heard a study a couple years or I read a study several years ago now that you bring it up and they were taking a poll of people who had both overdentures and fixed implant bridges, the All on 4 and they're really ... because you got to have both to really know the difference and it was mixed. It was pretty much fifty/fifty who preferred the fixed and who preferred to take it out and clean it. I think that we're going to see a lot of changes in the All on 4 technology. We're seeing a lot of changes right now because right now the whole idea of having to drill out the composite and unscrew them and then clean it and then put them back in, there's got to be problems with that and maybe they are oversell. But as far as being an American concept, you got to remember the All on 4 came from Dr. Marlowe in Portugal.
Howard: That's right Lisbon, Portugal. I podcasted him. He was an amazing man, but you don't change people's behavior. I mean when a fifty-year-old man walks into you and he's been drinking and smoking and that's just the Irish and the Russians, they're not changing their behavior. And I was really excited by Waterpik because listening to my patients, why no one likes their waterpiks because it makes a mess in the bathroom. So you got to get it out, you got to plug it in, you got to add water, then you got your ham sandwich all over your mirror and now they just came out with a portable, which you can take in the shower because what I always use was the shower floss where you just unscrew the shower head, put it in there because then when you're floss in the shower who cares what's flying around? Hell, you're standing there peeing in the drain what difference does it make where all your water floss is going. So I just think that that's a far, if they're going to do it All on 4 they have to have a flossing device, a water flossing device in their shower and I think that's a must. But tell me your biz model. You're in Dallas, where Shark Tank, Mark Cuban there who owns the Dallas Mavericks, is this a B to C. Are you going to distribute it at Walmart and Costco or through dental office? Explain to me your business plan as if you're on Shark Tank, and I'll be Mister Wonderful since I'm bald.
Lorin: Okay, well we're kind of learning as we go. It's a family business. My son, he was working for City Bank in New York, he quit this summer, I asked him to quit to help me launch this, and it's just the two of us and we're really learning as we go. First I wanted to get it to the dentist so our major marketing has been giving a lot of our dental solutions to dentists and we're hoping that they will give them out to their patients with appropriate treatments, samples as well as instructional handouts. And we also include coupons for 30% discounts on different products and stuff like that. We just started marketing online and hopefully, we'll get in stores, you know things will grow.
Howard: Well you just said something ... so let me tell you what Shark Tank would say, Mister Wonderful would say just get the proprietary intellectual property and then go to the majors and have them do it all and you take a royalty. So that's what Mr. Wonderful always does every time he just wants. What can you do to get intellectual proprietary? Can you patent anything you've done? Is there any protective [moat? 00:13:02] with intellectual property or on any of your products today?
Lorin: Well, yeah, we have patents on everything.
Howard: Oh my gosh, so Mr. Wonderful would say, "Stop, stop, stop I'm going to negotiate. I'm going to go to PMG, Colgate, Crest, whatever do that." Mark Cuban would say that if you keep the whole thing online, you'll have 35% margins, but once you start building a bunch of product, like if Walmart took on your product, well they have four thousand locations. You know how much money it would take to stock four thousand Walmart's with your product. So Cuban would tell you to keep it all online that's where the profit is. Mr. Wonderful would say just get the patents and that's where all the money is the patents. You don't need to be making anything or distributing anything. So do you ever watch Shark Tank?
Lorin: Oh sure, of course, I do.
Howard: So what would you tell those two guys?
Lorin: Well ...
Howard: Because you know what they're going to say they say the same damn advice on every show. I can't believe people go on to the show and say some of the things. The dumbest question on Shark Tank he says, "I'd like to sell 5% of my company." Okay, no Shark it's not worth anybody's time for 5% of anything. It's a nickel of every dollar. If you don't give him twenty, 30% they're not even interested. But what would you tell Shark Tank if you were on Shark Tank?
Lorin: Well, we're just going one step at a time. We're trying to build professional credibility, which we are getting. We're just getting rave reviews from the dental professionals who have tried our products.
Howard: And are those reviews online like at Amazon or are they on the website drbdentalsolutions.
Lorin: We just got on Amazon two months ago and we're still ... it's very tricky. My son is the expert I'm more the idea guy and he's the day to day operational guy right now. So as I said we're starting, I've self-funded everything. I've worked on these products, I mean I started thinking about them, gosh, in the seventies when I was working in a dental office as a private denture technician and I really started getting serious about this in the late nineties and I mean I wasn't working full time, but I was playing with it. And about eighteen years of working with different labs and kissing a lot of frogs and trying a lot of different products with my patients, we finally got something that everybody loved and I'm not really into this right now to sell the company or ... this is our dream. This is a family business right now.
Howard: That is so damn cool.
Lorin: But of course if somebody wanted to come in and offer me a gazillion dollars, I'd probably have to think about it for about a second.
Howard: Our family started a family business. We decided that our home is a halfway home and we started a halfway home and we're all the members of this home. I think that is just so cool so...
Lorin: It's a bachelor pad. It's a fraternity.
Howard: So how are you reaching dentist?
Lorin: Well, we've been contacting KOL, some friends of mine. I mean I've been in dentistry for thirty-five years, so I know a lot of people and how are we ...? We placed an ad in Dental Journals and we're getting those press releases, but mostly we're contacting them and sending them products and when they try it as I said, trying it is our best market. Once they try it or their patients try it, they love it. Our crystals have been totally embraced by the sleep community, you know the sleep doctors. We're just doing really well there. To clean their sleep appliances even to keep the [tapins? 00:17:03] the c-pep inserts.
Howard: So on Dentaltown everyone's allowed to start one promotional thread for themselves. Did you start that on Dentaltown?
Lorin: Oh, I probably abused it.
Howard: No, I did a search for drbdentalsolutions and lots of threads come up. So I hope Dentaltown's helping you?
Lorin: I'm sure it is. I love Dentaltown.
Howard: So if you're a lecturer and say you want to keep people up to date with everything you're doing, Hogo lets everybody have one thread for their lecture I mean, you're a dentist. You're not some guy from Colgate you're a dentist and you're a huge town. I mean, gosh, darn how many posts do you have, fifteen hundred posts all the way since 2004? You should start a thread. In fact, Ryan why don't he start a thread on doing that say, "Hey, I just did a podcast with Howard on this." And we'll put the podcasts there or Ryan can start the thread with this podcast and I think ...
Lorin: That would be great.
Howard: Yeah, yeah.
Lorin: Where do you start the thread?
Howard: Where would I start it? I'd put it under, well which category you think? Gosh, would it be under just dental supplies, equipment, and supplies? Would you put under your equipment and supplies or at some [inaudible 00:18:19] equipment, ergonomic handpiece, new products? It could be under new ...
Lorin: I mean, but it's really for the care of oral appliances so I mean ...
Howard: Well, you know Dentaltown as good as anyone email Hogo and ask him. He'll know exactly where to start it or he'll add a new form or something.
Lorin: That sounds good.
Howard: Do you know Hogo?
Lorin: Should I do that or should Ryan do that?
Howard: Well send an email to me, you and Hogo. I'm howard@dentaltown.com. He's Howard [Goldsteen? 00:18:45] so he's holgo@dentaltown.com and yeah, send us the thread because I want to be your biggest fan. I want to do anything I can do to help you.
Lorin: That is great.
Howard: And then if you want to write an article for Dentaltown, that's Tom Jacoby. So he's tom@farranmedia.com and because I think this is an interesting journey because the thing I loved about this story is how many of my homies are listening to you right now that have had an idea for so many years, but they just sit on an idea and they think, well ... I could never compete against Colgate and Procter and Gamble or whatever and you're fearless. That's what I love that you and you've been a pioneer your whole thirty years.
Lorin: [inaudible 00:19:38]
Howard: And so much of the things is changing like sleeping indentures. You can cure that with something else. The reason they sleep in with their dentures is self-esteem. They're not going to take out their dentures and sleep next to their spouse. Well, you can treat that a different way. Sleep apnoea, even though you're wearing your retainer or you got caught or you're treating sleep apnoea, you don't have sleep apnoea, the research is clear to sleep thoroughly you don't want to sleep next to a hundred and fifty-pound Homosapien, a barking dog, having your TV on. That little light clock just that little blue light that's telling the time is freaking out your imigulian, keeping you not going into deep sleep and then your partner in the middle of the night crawls over you to go to the bathroom and she's sleeping with her denture in. And what couples are doing in groves, they just don't like talk about it because it sounds taboo. I mean if you go to work and say, me and my partner sleep in separate rooms, they think you're having marriage problems. But the bottom line is like I had this big master bedroom and all. I don't even use it anymore. I found a little room, put in a bed,there's nothing in there but a bed, blanket. There's no TV, phones, watches, dogs, cats, and God I slept for years with three cats and four monkeys in the bed, Eric, Greg, Ryan and Zack, they were in my bed for a decade. And that's not how you sleep and that's why they have this peri-implantitis and gum disease stuff because when you're laying next to your lover, especially for women, it's hard for them to take out their teeth and put them in something and their self-esteem's not going to do it. So you can start coach those people say, "Well, look, you shouldn't be sleeping in the same room as your husband anyway. You shouldn't have your dentures in your mouth and you shouldn't be ..." And some dentists who have balls that drag on the sidewalk are openly talking about this like Rick Kirstna, I mean he owns three hundred and fifty comfort dental offices and he's the first one to say, "No, me and my wife Cindy, we both came to the conclusion, gosh, we always sleep so much better and feel so much better in the morning whenever the other ones out of town or gone." So now you go into their mansion and they have two adjoining bedrooms and, but it's just a taboo thing in society not to say that, but they shouldn't be sleeping in with their dentures. They're wearing their dentures because they're sleeping next to their husband and they shouldn't be sleeping with their husband or ... and people just say the dumbest things at work. Like you hear them just say, "Oh my, I'm so exhausted." Why? "Oh Sammy, he was barking, I swear to God he was barking all night long standing on my bed. There was some light going ..." And I'm like, "Why are you sleeping with a barking dog? I mean do I have to come over there and eat your dog? Can't you put it in the backyard, a kennel?" You don't want to be sleeping with a barking dog because now you feel like shit. You didn't get your rest. You can get your rhythms. So sleep hygiene is on the ray and All on 4 is going to be a disaster if they're not taking waterpiks into the shower with him. So tell me this …
Lorin: I want to add one thing though about sleeping with the dentures. The reason why it's dangerous to sleep with the dentures is because those dentures are biological sponges and they're just full of pathogens. As I said like Candidis, Strep, staph, actomomisis, I mean every study has proven that almost sixty or 80% of all dentures within a year are infected with those pathogens and just putting them in over the counter Polident and, or Fixodent it's not going to be clean it. Whereas if you drop it in the Cleanadent crystals, it will kill the pathogens and then if they want to sleep in their dentures, fine, but clean those dentures daily.
Howard: Yeah, most of my patients they clean their dentures when the smoke goes over their dentures. The stuff in the Marlborough kills or I think it kills all that Candidis, strep ... you and I you're talking about dentures, removable all that, but it seems like one of the fastest growing appliances in the world is clear aligners.
Lorin: Oh absolutely.
Howard: So I mean, gosh it's not just grandma and Grandpa with dentures it's clear ... everybody's got clear aligners.
Lorin: Right now it seems like there's a removable appliance for everybody. You've got night guards, you've got clear aligners, you've got snoring appliances, sleep apnoea appliances and then you've got the dentures, the partials and the overdentures. So yeah, I think that our Cleanadent crystals is a product for almost everybody.
Howard: Talk about listening to your customers you know what product I wish you'd come out with? First of all, this will blow your mind, but the greatest thing about having a monthly column since 1994 having a podcast, is that if you say anything and it's wrong, oh my God does everybody let you know. So when I say something wrong forty to fifty people will let me know about it, clears as a bell, which I love because I think of all these people that are walking around with thoughts in their head that are wrong and so when you're transparent with your thoughts, you get a really good editing machine. And I used to be jaded, I was on the Arizona Citizens for better dental health. We got fluoride in the water in 1989, but the way they set it up it expired in twenty years so we had to go through it again. And the bottom line is one-fourth of Americans think it's a communist plot. It's evil, it's bad, it's horrible and I listen to these people, they don't want fluoride in their toothpaste either. Well, when you study the research on brushing, dry brushing is just as effective with a denture vice. When you take a soft bristle toothbrush and brush for two minutes, you're removing all the plaque and doing everything that you can. If one-fourth of the patients aren't going to brush with fluoride in there, well everybody needs a dentist. Just because you're not taking my advice and doing a root canal, building a crown and you want an extraction, I still love you. You still need a dentist. My favorite patient is a lady in a wheelchair on an oxygen tank and she always comes to my office and smokes outside my front door for five minutes. She's five minutes late to get it. Sometimes I have to walk out there and say, "Come on, come on, come on." And she's, "Let me have one more sag." And it's like still love her. I mean I'm not a rocket scientist but I don't think you're supposed to smoke if you're on an oxygen take. I mean they didn't cover that in dental school, but the bottom line is I would come out with an all natural toothpaste because uncle Tom's toothpaste violates what they're telling me. They're coming in there and they're saying, well rule number one on anything, all natural should be no more than five ingredients and then you look at uncle Tom's toothpaste and it's all these chemicals that me as a dentist can't even read and explain so they know that it's a marketing gimmick. You could do a real all natural toothpaste because you're a real dentist in the trenches for thirty years and I wouldn't put fluoride in there. I'd rather then brush with anything than not brush all so if they want all natural, you got to come out with a toothpaste, five ingredients or less. They all have to be words, not chemicals and there can be fluoride in there because if they brush with fluoride they'll have a hammer and sickle tattooed on their forehead and be singing the Karl Marx agenda, so just give them what they want. Have you thought about an all natural toothpaste with five ingredients or less?
Lorin: Well, we have quite a few products in the pipeline and that's why we called it Dental Solutions and not Denture Solutions and yes so natural toothpaste is in the pipeline. Actually, ...
Howard: And you'd be a marketing dream because you'd be the pitchman for it. You'd be the guy from Dallas, the real dentist in the real world, in the real trenches that's done it for thirty years. That's a story any marketing guy will want to get behind. That's why they're always trying to get the owners of these companies to go pitch their product because that's the real world stuff. If you say your marketing message and they don't secrete Dopamine, Oxytocin or Serotonin, they already know from the University of Chicago where they have the most Nobel prizes in Economics that you're not going to sell. So when you're talking to them, you're a human, you could get them to secrete Oxytocin and they'll listen and they'll trust you and they'll buy in and I think Dr. Lorin's all natural toothpaste would be a billion-dollar company.
Lorin: Well, funny you should bring that up I would like to hear that, but there is a tremendous amount of competition out there. There's a new toothpaste from CVS called Dr. Sheffield's natural toothpaste. There was the tooth and gum tonic. There's quite a few of them, but the thing is my Cleanadent paste could be used as a toothpaste. When you're talking about the evolution of these products, I started about twenty years ago and I didn't realize that according to the FDA anything that has to do with dentures is automatically classified as a medical device. And I didn't know this while I was working on my products and it's obviously a lot more complicated. It's not like a heart stent or something, but a medical device is more complicated than a cosmetic. But a toothpaste and a mouth rinse, those are considered as cosmetics and it probably would've been a lot easier for me to get an FDA regulation for the Cleanadent paste as a toothpaste than a denture in gum paste. In fact, we're going through getting the ADA seal of approval of it right now. They wouldn't give me the ADA seal of approval for the first time because they said nobody's ever come up with a gum and prosthetic paste. So yes, you could use the Cleanadent paste as a toothpaste, but it has no fluoride and it does moisturize so a lot of people like it. But as a dentist I still like fluoride, so I haven't come up with a non-fluoride toothpaste yet.
Howard: Well, what are they doing in spas right now? So you don't want chlorine in your pool, so let's go to the periodic table and that periodic table. If you go to the periodic table, which every time I look at the periodic table, I just think of how much humans don't know because that table if that even was half right it will be symmetrical. And you can just tell by the shape of the periodic table that we don't know half of what we're talking about. It started off with four elements to Greek's, earth, wind, fire, and water, but you go to that [inaudible 00:30:13] shell fluoride is number nine. While right underneath it in the same row or column is chlorine, right underneath that is bromine then Iodine. So what are all the pool marketers doing? "Oh, it's a chlorine free swimming pool." What do they do? They just use bromine and so the deal is anything in that column is going to do the job. So if you don't want fluorine, could you do chlorine, could you do bromine, could you do iodine? I don't know for all we know they romantically love iodine because their mom used to put it on their wound when they were little. Who knows?
Lorin: I don't know.
Howard: But have you seen those bromine pools now, these bromine systems.
Lorin: No, I haven't yet. I've seen the [inaudible 00:30:55]
Howard: [inaudible 00:30:57]. Well, I'm in Phoenix where if you don't have a swimming pool, you're basically living in hell and there was just a huge market of people that decided they don't like chlorine, they don't one chlorine. So it was fine, we'll just go down a row and it's now bromine and they love it and they say things. And I've had several people tell me it's all natural. I don't understand what all natural means. When they talk about all natural they're talking about HIV or AIDS. Are they're talking about black holes or supernovas. I mean why is natural, whenever someone says it's all natural, I'm like as opposed to what? So it's ninety-three elements on the periodic table and bromine is natural, but chlorine is not. Really?
Lorin: I didn't know that.
Howard: Yeah, yeah. I'm starting to think at fifty-five years old that I might be the only normal person on earth. People just seem to be getting crazier and crazier the older I get. Have you noticed this phenomenon?
Lorin: I remember hearing just the other day, two old [inaudible 00:31:52], I think I was one of them, I said everybody's crazy but us.
Howard: So if some dentist enlists you with an idea, what did you do? Did you hire a chemist? Did you find a lab? How does a guy go from being the top cosmetic dentist in Dallas, I mean I've seen you lecture on so many cosmetic programs, hell, you're the first fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. How'd you do that to making denture paste?
Lorin: Well, first I was the first fellow in the Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry because when I knew they were going to do a fellow, I said I better do it before it gets too hard and I did. And I didn't want to take any chances and it's very hard now to be a fellow and anyway it was just something that was on my mind and I just started working on it. First working on it in my office in the lab playing with different solutions. Then I realized I can't do this at home. Then I started finding labs, local labs, wasted a lot of time, a lot of money. Didn't even realize that I had to have medical grade labs and FDA approved labs for these things and medical grade labs. That's part of what took eighteen years plus we were always trying it with our patients, but yeah, if I knew then what I know now, of course, it would've been a lot easier and a lot cheaper, and a lot faster.
Howard: Right. So what should my homies do? They go to your website drbdentalsolutions.com, what would you recommend that they should get first for their own self-interest of building their patient base or their practice? What do you think they should start buying and dispensing that would make their patients be happier?
Lorin: Well, it all really depends on what they're doing. In my practice, I was big on giveaways. I always thought the secret to my success was what I gave away because people don't really care what you know they just want to know how much you care. And I'm also a person and I'm a patient and I know that the doctors who give me stuff I just tend to like them more because I figure they like me because they're giving me stuff and I use it. So I would suggest that if you're doing a lot of removable appliances whether it's clear aligners or dentures or sleep appliances, you'd probably want to stock up on the Cleanadent crystals and the Sonic cleaners. If you're doing a lot of dentures then I would recommend that you get the whole denture pack, which is the Cleanadent crystal's, the Sonic cleaner, the denture adhesive and Cleanadent paste. And if you're doing basically All on 4's you'd probably want to get the Cleanadent paste and by the way you're totally right that everybody who has an All on 4, they have to have a Waterpik, and I have talked to so many dentists in the last year way more than I ever have. And I can't believe how many dentists are doing All on 4's and they're not giving them Waterpiks. They're just saying go and buy a Waterpik. I mean you're charging fifteen, twenty, twenty-five thousand an arch give them a Waterpik. And if you're going to do a night guard, give them Sonic cleaners, give them ... make them feel special. Wouldn't you agree?
Howard: So what is that Sonic cleaner? It's fifteen ninety-five, it's an ultrasonic agitator. You put the appliance in there and the crystals and then it's going to ...
Lorin: Right. They're battery operated. That wasn't the retail price. On the website, everything you see are retail prices. We have ...
Howard: Well, I can't believe you can make a Sonic cleaner and put it in a box and sell it for fifteen ninety-five. I mean that is a low price.
Lorin: Well, basically we want them to use it and we want them to use the crystals and we want them to feel the difference. But the crystals work perfectly well as far as killing the pathogens without the Sonic Cleaner. The Sonic cleaner is to mechanically [debride? 00:36:01] the appliance.
Howard: But what about you list all the things that kills. You don't mention HPV though.
Lorin: No, we haven't tested it for HPV.
Howard: Because that's the big deal. I mean with the oral cancer and the HPV and all that stuff. Are you thinking about testing it for HPV?
Lorin: Well, boy you're so right on top of things. We are right now working on a new formulation for the crystals. I can't talk too much about it, but yes we'll be checking for HPV on that.
Howard: Yeah, because that's just the big deal. It's really a big deal, HPV and I'm surprised that's growing 30% a year and it's still not making the news.
Lorin: But for all I know the Cleanadent crystals, they may kill the HPV, we just haven't done the testing. There was some complication and like I said, it's just me and my son and sometimes things go over our heads.
Howard: So I work ...
Lorin: But it's definitely on board for our new formulation.
Howard: So how do you like working with your son?
Lorin: It's been a blast.
Howard: No, I know, I only worked for two people.
Lorin: How do you like working with your son?
Howard: Well, you know my first job was with my dad at a sonic drive from ten to twenty and that was my favorite boss, my man. Then the next thirty years I've only worked for me and then each one of my sons worked for me for about two years. Ryan, are you finished two years?
Ryan: Two years, seven months.
Howard: Two ... he said his therapist said two years and seven months and is that your ... but I love it. God dang, you love it. You know we tell all these dentists that the smartest thing they can do when they get out of school is find a mentor. Like I always say, don't get in an airplane and fly across the United States and have some guy teach you implants. I mean, you're in Dallas, you can't find one periodontist or oral surgeon to teach that for free at his office because half of them are going to think in fear and say, "Get out of here. Just send the case to me." And the other half are going to say, "Oh, I'd love to take on a little kid and mentor him on implants." And now you got a buddy, you got a guy that can bail you out. It's all about mentors and there's nothing more exciting than mentoring your own son.
Lorin: Well, I would say he's mentoring me.
Howard: Well, you're mentoring, yeah, it's a two-way street. I don't know any of the stuff that Ryan does on the technology, the video editing. He's my full time IT, he's taught me so much IT, but it's a two-way street. You're teaching him about people and he's teaching you about new stuff, but it's great. You know here I am fifty-five, my dad died in 1999 and now it's 2018 so he's almost been dead nineteen years and I still, I don't think I ever go two days without thinking, you know my old man he would've done this or he would've said this. Or I'll just saying what would dad have done? And I tell Ryan all the time I said twenty years after I'm dead, you'll still be thinking, "Oh, dad would've done this or dad said that." I just think it's so damn cool. I think ...
Lorin: [Then? 00:38:58] you're a lucky guy.
Howard: I think family businesses are the bomb. Did you ever work with your father?
Lorin: Oh sure.
Howard: Did you like it?
Lorin: He he had a paint store and I used to drive a truck and do deliveries and do painting for him. I also sold beer at all the ball games in Chicago. That was a major job of mine. [inaudible 00:39:13]
Howard: Oh so you weren't born and raised in Dallas then? You were born and raised in Chicago?
Lorin: Oh yeah, I got to Texas, when I graduated from dental school. I knew I didn't know anything. I knew enough about dentistry from working in a dental practice and working in a dental lab to know that in 1981 I knew nothing. So I applied to a general practice residency in San Antonio, which was pretty rare then. I wanted to go to New Mexico because I liked the license plate, land of enchantment, but they didn't have any residency programs there. So I applied to the ones in Texas and I got into the one in San Antonio because the director was a big fan of Home Run pizza in Chicago and he says, "If you bring me a Home Run pizza, I'll give you an interview." In those days you didn't ship. I went to Home Run, it was right by Comiskey Park, I wrapped it up in tin foil and I stuck it in the freezer and then I flew to San Antonio with it. So anyway I ended up loving Texas and I stayed in San Antonio after the residency for another six months, but nothing was really going for me career-wise and I thought I'd go back to Chicago and on my way back to Chicago it's like Christmas time. I thought I'd be back in Chicago for Christmas, my car broke down and a friend of mine from high school was living in Dallas and I said, "Can you pick me up? I got to get my car fixed." And one thing led to another, it was seventy degrees in Dallas. It was zero degrees in Chicago and I just ended up staying in Dallas. I was working in all these clinics. You know dentists these days have a lot of safeties. Tuition is crazy for them. You know what they're paying in tuition and what the debt, but they do have a lot of safeties. They can go to work for corporate dentistry. Back in 1982, 83 we didn't have those things. I was just working in a crummy clinic. I would come in at 4:00 and work at night for an hourly wage. I'd worked Saturdays, I'd worked Sundays for like seventeen an hour back then and then after a couple of years I ended up, somehow I met a guy at a party. I fixed his front teeth. He was a banker. He hooked me up with a realtor and I ended up opening up in downtown Dallas and I stayed there for thirty-five years. Same building, I moved twice and I expanded three times.
Howard: So basically I think one of those reasons podcasts are successful because these young kids like to hear people like you and me who been out of the door thirty years. What advice would you give a young kid? Because they're thinking, Lorin do you think you and Howard graduated in the golden years. You guys graduated with fifty thousand in debt, now we're graduating with five hundred thousand in debt. There's all these new dental schools opening up. The class sizes are big. Like when I came to Phoenix there was no fluoride in the water and no dental schools. Now there's fluoridated water and Glendale is graduating two hundred dentists a year and eighty still in Mesa is graduating seventy a year, so every single year you throw another two hundred and fifty dentists into the same town. Do you think the golden years are still here? Do you think they've gone down significantly? And what advice would you give to some kid who just graduated from school and she's twenty-five and she's got $300,000 student loans? What would you tell her?
Lorin: Don't be in a hurry. It's a tortoise race, dentistry, I would say really do your best. You know your job is taking care of your patients and if you take care of your patients and do your best, you'll do fine, but it takes time. It takes time.
Howard: Yeah, so it all comes down to customer service, doesn't it the patient relationships? If you talk to your patients, you connect with them and you really try hard to be your best. So what advice would you give them to be their best? They come out of school I know what they're going to say. I read their emails every day. Thank you for sending me emails to howard@dentaltown.com. Thanks for subscribing to my YouTube channel, which is youtube.com/dental town magazine. But they come out and they say, "Lorin, look man we never did an Invisalign case. We never placed an implant. We never did a sleep apnoea. We never ... and I can't do it all at once." So they come out of school, what would you recommend? Would you recommend they do a residency? Is any of them more lucrative than the other like implants versus Invisalign versus sleep apnoea versus all these plethora of things that they see about?
Lorin: Well, dentists have been successful at all those things. I think you have to find what you like and really focus on that and you always have to be customer service oriented. You can't be everything. I definitely think that you should, a solo practitioner though, that's kind of on the way out I think. I ran a group practice for at least twenty if not twenty-five years of the thirty-five years as I had my own practice and I should have added another dentist a lot sooner. I think it's very important for dentists to work together. I mean with Dentaltown no dentist practices alone. I really don't think a dentist should practice alone. It's too hard. When you tell them about customer service you've got to be available all the time. I think that weekend appointments are crucial to success in private practice and no dentist can do that. I think a dentist needs vacations. A dentist needs time off for various reasons. I think that a dentist right now should be thinking about joining with another dentist and they can combine their strengths. Somebody likes to do implants, somebody likes to do Endo, somebody likes to do cosmetics, you know share your strengths.
Howard: I'm going to throw you under a bus right now. Are you excited? So you are a legendary cosmetic dentist. I've seen you get ... I mean really you are. A lot of people are saying that they can do all of that with a CEREC machine making veneers. Can you do what you do in Dallas when you're being a cosmetic dentist? Can you, veneers, chairside milling as opposed to lab made?
Lorin: Well, I haven't practiced now in almost two years and the technology has certainly improved. I do know that ...
Howard: You say two years or ten years?
Lorin: Two years.
Howard: Yeah, two years.
Lorin: Actually, I haven't practiced in about a year and a half.
Howard: Okay, well nothings changed in a year and a half. You're good.
Lorin: Oh, okay. Well, a year and a half ago I certainly couldn't do anything with a CEREC. I didn't have a CEREC machine in my practice. I know that there's some people who are really terrific with it and maybe they could, but I couldn't do it.
Howard: Yeah. Did you hear that guys? Did you hear? Can you repeat that because when they're in dental school all the DSO's come in and tell them the sky is falling and they better get a job with the DSO because everyone else is going under and it's just fear and [inaudible 00:46:38]. That's the only message they get. That's why I love this podcast to fight back and they keep hearing all these people who actually sell machines tell them what they need. But the kids are telling me, "Lorin, if I got $300,000 student loans. If I come out and buy a CEREC machine, a millennium laser and a CBCT, shit I just doubled my student loan debt? You know so ...
Lorin: I don't advise you buy any of those things.
Howard: I know so and it's really weird they think marketing is so good in dentistry and dentists are so isolated. They really feel they have to make these big purchase decisions and I say, God Dang. And I also tell them that condoms prevent minivans and it costs about $216,000 to raise a child, so if you've already got $216,000 student loan you've already have your first kid so don't have seven or eight and live in a shoe. I mean each one ... a kid's two hundred and fifty so if you're really worried about your $250,000 student loans, just re-frame it different. Realize it's just a cost of one kid and it's at least one fourth the cost of your up and coming divorce. So ...
Lorin: Well, I tell every young dentist listen to Dentaltown. Read Dentaltown and listen to the podcast because I think that no dentist coming out of dental school should saddle themselves with that kind of debt for technology that they don't know how to use and they have no reason to use. They don't even have the patients.
Howard: Well, I don't get it. My lab man up the street from me is as old as me and how many crowns do you think a lab man has made in thirty years?
Lorin: I have no idea, but a lot.
Howard: Yeah, so now you go buy a $150,000 chairside miller and have your assistant who's never made a crown, start milling out your crowns. What was your next best idea? To have Stevie Wonder do it or Ray Charles? And all that, for all that money. I just ...
Lorin: And it's not even the money. How about the learning curve?
Howard: Right? I tell them it's like buying a grand piano. You buy ...
Lorin: The learning curve, education is expensive.
Howard: And if you buy a Steinway piano, top best piano made, you're still not Beethoven.
Lorin: Exactly.
Howard: You're going to have to put in ten thousand hours to be able to play that damn Steinway.
Lorin: Exactly and you've got to have the patience to do the work on it. So you got to take one step at a time.
Howard: So what I did is I bought that playing piano and so I don't have to play it. I want to read you ...
Lorin: I have to say though, conceptually the CEREC is a great idea and I know dentists who use it and love it and do a fantastic job with it. But by the same token, I see a lot of dentists that felt obligated to buy one and they weren't ready for it.
Howard: So I want to ask you questions on Dentaltown. How would you answer this? Topic, guy writes, Canida of the lip. How to treat, which cream is effective? How would you answer that question?
Lorin: Well, we always used in my office Nicolog or Nystatin ointment.
Howard: Do any of your products treat that?
Lorin: Well, they treat ...
Howard: What would you sell her?
Lorin: Well, they treat it in preventing it because a lot of times people, well you can get Candida in the corners of the mouth, angular cheilitis from any kind of irritation from cracked lips, from acidic foods, any antibiotics, anything that will upset the topography and the normal flora of the mouth. The way, or if you will always have an infected denture so our products would help prevent that by reducing the dry mouth and by killing the Candida if you were an oral appliance.
Howard: And I also want to tell the young kids when you're listening to anybody's predictions on anything including mine, when Lorin and I got out of school they told us that dentures would become extinct. They told us removable dentures is a dying art and now I've been out of school thirty years and they do more dentures today than they did in 1987 and if you ever come out to Arizona, if he drove down to the Mexican border, Nogales, Arizona is a denture lab, and then all the cases are driven across the border into this lab. They cast one thousand partial frameworks a day.
Lorin: I don't doubt it at all.
Howard: Removable's going nowhere. I'm want to ask you another ...
Lorin: Removable is exploding. You've got to remember the first cosmetic dentistry was dentures. All of the stars in the thirties and forties they all wore dentures. Frank Sinatra dedicated the continuing education auditorium at NYU to his dentist who always made sure that he had his spare dentures and was always prepared and never embarrassed. So nowadays, dentures ...
Howard: Frank Sinatra had dentures?
Lorin: That's what I heard, that's what I always heard. That's why he dedicated the auditorium to the dentist. I can't remember his name.
Howard: Is that NYU?
Lorin: NYU.
Howard: Where 7% of all the dentists in America graduating from NYU.
Lorin: It's unbelievable.
Howard: But that's true because the only way you can have movie star teeth in the 50's was to pull them all and do dentures,
Lorin: And thirties before then. So nowadays you can't go around with missing teeth or really ugly teeth so I think that there's a big, big explosion of removable prosthetics, whether it's dentures, partials, and don't forget the biggest market for denture wearers are the people who already have dentures. Most denture wearers their dentures are fifteen, twenty years old and they're not going to the dentist they're going to the drug store. I think it's up to the dental profession right now to really educate the public. Everybody knew about porcelain veneers, but nobody knows about fenaras or the new Vida or the [inaudible 00:52:53] denture teeth or the new frames or digital dentures which are stronger and less porous. There is so many reasons to get those denture wearers out of the drug store and into the dental office for new dentures, overdentures, or the All on 4. So I think that the public ... and the thing is, the other thing is denture wearers don't talk about their dentures typical.
Howard: I know.
Lorin: Well, people don't know how many denture wearers there, but no, the denture market I think is exploding.
Howard: And you know how they do talk to about all these denture adhesives and cleaners. You know who they do talk about it the most?
Lorin: No, I don't know.
Howard: When they're all alone at Walgreens or CVS and I have had, Ryan, how many ... I practice around Ahwatukee, how many pharmacists, DO's, physicians have been in my house at my dining room table in the last six months?
Ryan: Fifty, seventy.
Howard: These dentists are introverts they think marketing is all direct mail or a Facebook ad. You know what real marketing is? Inviting the ...
Lorin: [Smoozing? 00:54:08]
Howard: Smoozing, pressing the flesh. My Dad told me, he said, when you get out of school, he says, "Howie, all you got to do for marketing is pretend like you're running for mayor. Just keep getting out there shaking hands, pressing the flesh."
Lorin: It's a popularity contest. I always said in my office it's like running for class president every day.
Howard: Yeah.
Lorin: Because that's what it is.
Howard: And those MD's think they're ...
Lorin: And it never stops.
Howard: The MD's think they walk on water and they treat the pharmacist horribly and then you're over there saying, "Hey buddy, let's go to dinner. Come on we're in Ahwatukee. We only got a couple of restaurants you want to go to Bob Benny's. You want to go to Fleming's or you want to come to my house where we can charcoal hamburgers and get toxically drunk?" And then for the next thirty years when someone says, "What denture adhesive do you recommend?" He said, "Well, I know Howard across the street he likes this." Or when they come to a toothache they say, "Does this is amazole work?" Does amazole work, you need to go across the street you need to see Howard, here's his card. You know he calls it Today's Dental. You know why he calls it Today's Dental because you don't need an appointment when you have an emergency at the hospital. When you're having an emergency you go straight to the emergency room. That's why he named it Today's Dental. Don't ask me, just walk across the street, walk right in there, tell Howard Brad sent you and doing that with chiropractors, natural paths. The MD's are the hardest ones to get to go to dinner. There's so in a different world, but the chiropractors, the natural paths, somewhat the dermatologists and ophthalmologist, but all the opticians will, but the more dinner ... when people say, "What's your best marketing program?" I say eating cheeseburgers, watching football games, and drinking beers with all the other healthcare providers in your damn city.
Lorin: I hope everybody's listening to you because I remember listening to you on a tape, gosh, in the late nineties and you were talking about how accessibility is marketing number one and you are so right. I mean when somebody calls, we try to get them in immediately. They wanted a Saturday appointment. Sure, and we'd even do Sundays. We'd do whatever it took to get them in.
Howard: Okay, I'm going to ask you another question on Dentaltown. This is you're not going to believe me.
Lorin: Oh, I'll tell you another thing that I did regularly when I practiced, besides approaching all the pharmacists and all the different doctors and chiropractors. I went to all the hotels, the local hotels, and I would always meet with the concierge and always made sure that I was on their Rolodex, any emergency send them over
Howard: And you know who the first probably six out of six upper ten veneers I did after, I went to LVI with Dickerson back when it was with Rosenthal and all those guys, you know who my first six were?
Lorin: No.
Howard: The Lutheran ministers, the church ministers. I'd say to them, I'd say, "You know what, you're up there lecturing to a flock of people, that's big." I said, "If you love your teeth, that's great. But if you want movie-star teeth I'll do yours for free." And they said, "Are you serious? You do those free?" And you know who came in ... you know who sat out there and thought, "Oh my God, pastor got new teeth. He's so sexy. I want them." It was all seventy, eighty-year-old women. I thought when I was learning veneers that you would be learning how to do this on Russian supermodels who are twenty years old and then I went and spent a couple of days with Larry Rosenthal in his office and that's when I got re-educated. Twenty-year-olds are already hot and they don't have any money.
Lorin: Well, and they don't need it.
Howard: You know who pays?
Lorin: It's when they're getting ...
Howard: Oh yeah. It's all seventy and eighty-year-old women and when Larry says, I swear to God, if I do veneers to an eighty-year-old woman, he'll grab her by the cheek, he'll kiss her on the forehead and said, "Oh my God, if I do veneers on you, you won't look a day over sixty-five." And I'm just like, "What, what." And they're like, "Sign me up." And there they are writing him a check and I would do those pastors and so many people would say, "Oh my God, who did your teeth? Oh, Howard Farran, right, Today's Dental." Well, how better of an endorsement can you get than from the preacher in your own town?
Lorin: I agree. I remember, oh gosh about twenty-five years ago I did a set of veneers on a very prominent psychiatrist in Dallas. She was one of the first women psychiatrists in the country and I met her through networking, through other healthcare professionals, she was referred.
Howard: You were her patient. Just say it, just admit it. You were on the couch.
Lorin: No, she wouldn't even take me. I was too crazy. But after I fixed her teeth and she loved it, she said to me, she says, "I've got to tell you, I'm seventy years old and there's nothing that a person my age could do to improve their appearance more than fixing their teeth." She says, "Anything else I do I look ridiculous, but good-looking teeth always look good." And it's true the real market for dentistry are the people over fifty.
Howard: Yeah, I mean it was totally, it was Larry Rosenthal I credit for that. I never realized the market for beauty is ... I mean who has all the money? I always say to Americans describe the demographics of an American worth $100,000,000 and they always describe some man who owns a factory with a suit and tie who's sixty years old. And I say, "No guy, he died. His widow got the money, she put it in the bond market. It's been accruing interest and almost every woman, every person in America who's worth a hundred million is an eighty-year-old widow and they have all the flipping money." And so you don't tell a twenty-five-year-old she needs veneers and Invisalign, you tell grandma and grandma, you're right, many of those surgeries look crazy, but teeth are one of them and they ...yeah, it's very, very ...
Lorin: And they not just look good and they make them feel better. They eat better, it's a wonderful thing.
Howard: So this is seriously a real question on Dentaltown. Topic, denture in the dishwasher. I had a patient put me on my heels the other day by asking me if she could put her dentures through the dishwasher. How could I not know the answer to this question? So is it safe to put them in the dishwasher? If not, what will happen? I assume the answer would be the same for Ortho retainers and OCC guards. Thanks. How would you answer that question?
Lorin: Well, the heat isn't good for them it could cause distortion and the dishwasher soap is a little too abrasive and could chemically damage the appliance.
Howard: You want to know the best dishwasher advice I can give you.
Lorin: Yes.
Howard: Seriously, I did this. I had a guy come in this friend of mine taught me this. You know how a dishwasher you either got to load it or unload it, right? And then, so what you do is you have two dishwashers so when one's done, you just get your shit out that dishwasher and when stuff's dirty, you put it in the dirty ones. So it's just going from this one's clean to this one's dirty, but really from an operations and time deal, I mean, don't you love the second dishwasher?
Ryan: Oh yeah.
Howard: I mean, my God ...
Lorin: I love my second dishwashers.
Howard: So you use two dishwashers too?
Lorin: Oh yes.
Howard: Yeah, it took me fifty-five years to learn that trick, but my God, two dishwashers, talk about ...
Lorin: Yeah, I grew up without it. I didn't get my first dishwasher until I think 1990.
Howard: You didn't get your first dishwasher of 1990's.
Lorin: I was the dishwasher.
Howard: Yeah, but seriously, Lorin, my Gosh we lecture on so many deals. I remember always thinking all the Evaclaire meetings, the AACD lectures you've been an amazing mentor of mine for thirty years.
Lorin: You've been my hero. I remember the first time I met you was at an Evaclaire retreat in 1998 in Orlando and I had already seen you lecture like three times and I heard your various interviews and tapes and I have to say that you've made a monster impact on my dentistry. I don't think I could have retired at sixty without your influence.
Howard: Well, maybe we should start a mutual admiration club and we'll be the only two members and we'll just meet and I'll admire you and you admire me. It will just be ...
Lorin: I also remember when I met you at a meeting in 2004 and you said, "Why aren't you on Dentaltown?" And I didn't even know just how great it was. He says, "Get on Dentaltown, you'll find your best friends on Dentaltown." I've been on Dentaltown ever since.
Howard: Yeah and thank you for your fifteen hundred amazing answers I mean you've been edumacating all of us since 2004, you're a sharer. I love our profession. I love the fact there's so many people that are so willing to help their other homies and so don't let it ...
Lorin: Well, you made it all possible.
Howard: Well, thank you for that and thanks for coming on the show. Let me know anything I can do to help you. Ryan, send an email to Hogo, me and Ryan. We'll put this podcast up, we'll start a thread. If you need an article on Dentaltown, whatever I can do to help my buddy, let me know.
Lorin: Whatever you could do, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Howard: Yeah, well I'm here. I want to be your ...
Lorin: You have the ears and eyes of more dentists than anyone in the world I think.
Howard: Well ...
Lorin: [inaudible 01:03:48] you have to.
Howard: Well, yeah, if you own a dental media company you should. It shouldn't be the guy across the street you know I mean.
Lorin: I think people pay more attention to you than they do to the Dental Journals, well except Dentaltown.
Howard: Except Dentaltown, there you go. Well, again, thank you so much for coming on. What's your son's name?
Lorin: Jean Paul.
Howard: Jean Paul.
Lorin: But everybody calls him JP.
Howard: JP, well, I can't wait to meet him. I hope you guys enjoy each other and mentor him well. and I hope you have a rocking hot day.
Howard: You too. Thank you so much. Thanks, Howard. Thanks. Ryan.
Speaker 1: Do you have a denture and suffer from dry mouth? Well, you're not alone. In fact, millions of people across the US suffer from dry mouth and it is a serious problem for people with dentures and implant dentures. Dry mouth also known as Xerostomia can be caused by a range of factors including age, habits, medication, and illness. Dentures and implant dentures make it worse because the foreign object in your mouth can disrupt normal saliva production and typical denture adhesives will further dry out the mouth. But why is spit so important anyway. Aside from the immediate discomfort caused by dry mouth, saliva plays an essential role in your overall health. Saliva is crucial for ingesting food. It reduces irritation and sore spots and is important in the prevention of diseases like oral thrush from Candida, stomatitis and angular cheilitis. As one of the most published authors in clinical dentistry, Dr. Berland has seen this firsthand. After more than thirty-five years of treating and listening to patients, Dr. Berland has developed a line of unique products that address the specific needs of people with oral appliances. Cleanadent paste is the only cleansing paste specifically formulated with time-tested remedies combined with a powerful cleanser to moisturize the mouth and reduce gum irritation. Cleanadent paste is also the only cleanser that is gentle enough to be used on both the gums and oral appliances, making it ideal for fixed implant dentures, which can be damaged by normal toothpaste, making them lose their shine and color. And if you have a removable denture or a partial, try Adhesadent the only denture adhesive that moisturizes the mouth with vitamins and Aloe Vera while providing a strong, long-lasting hold. The Adhesadent is easier to clean than other adhesives, brush it off with the Cleanadent paste in seconds and enjoy how good your mouth feels. For more tips and resources on your oral health, please visit us online and benefit from special offers. We look forward to seeing you there.
Speaker 1: Did you know that using a toothbrush and toothpaste on oral appliances actually makes them less clean? In fact, millions of people across the US have infected appliances and many don't even know it. Dentures, mouthguards, retainers, and sleep apnoea devices are softer than regular teeth so using a toothbrush with toothpaste to clean them is actually too abrasive and will scratch the appliance. These microscopic scratches can result in a visible difference in shine and color, and create an environment where bacteria thrive. The most common infections are Candida Albicans and streptococcus. Candida is a fungal yeast infection of the mouth that is responsible for a range of nasty conditions like oral thrush, stomatitis, and loss of taste. Gross! Clinical research has found that almost all appliances will develop Candida with usage over time if they're not cleaned properly. Older populations and denture wearers are especially at risk. This is a big problem because none of the major cleansing brands kill pathogens like Candida and Strep, they only claim to kill odor-causing bacteria and take all night to soak. And nobody got time for that. Fortunately, now there's a solution. Cleanadent Crystals is the only over the counter cleanser that can remove tough stains and kill pathogens like Candida and Strep on any oral appliance. The powerful cleansing agents in the Cleanadent crystals work in just twenty minutes and never include abrasive materials like bleach and chlorine that damage oral appliances. The Cleanadent crystals are most effective when used in a Sonic Cleaner. A unique denture bath that uses high-frequency sonic waves to provide a deep clean on a microscopic level. Together these products can totally eliminate any stains, odors or infections from your appliances. I would not want to put those things in my mouth. Dr B Dental Solutions is a brand you can trust because it was created by a dentist after over thirty five years of training and listening to patients. Dr Berland is one of the most published authors on clinical dentistry and has been featured as a thought leader for the dental field in major national TV and publications like Time, GQ and 20/20. He was even recognized for lifetime achievement by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. When you use an oral appliance, the only way to maintain a healthy mouth and avoid infection is by developing a strong oral hygiene system, which includes the right products. Clinical research has proven that the best way to clean an oral appliance is by soaking it with a packet of Cleanadent crystals and a Sonic cleaner for at least twenty minutes. Never use a toothbrush or a toothpaste on your oral appliance. I started my career as a denture technician forty years ago and I've seen the long-term risk people face when they use oral appliances. The right hygiene routine from day one can help everyone avoid a lot of problems later on and everyone likes a bright, healthy smile.
Speaker 1: The Cleanadent crystals and Sonic cleaner are available online at drbdentalsolutions.com. Please enter promo code DRB for special discounts and offers. Our website is a great source of knowledge on a range of oral health topics including Candida, dry mouth, and many more. Thanks. We look forward to seeing you there.