“If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs…”
Albino Kangaroos!
I graduated in 1983.
Fresh out of high school, and working PT at Superstore in Winnipeg in 1983 for $11.57 per hour ($30.19 in 2020 money), I thought this would help pay for me to get my business or law degree….
In early 1984 my Dad called and asked if I would come work for him in the Dominion Dental Supply warehouse in Saskatoon. He would give me the same pay, and I could go to the U of S. He had put aside some money as well to help with some education.
I took him up on the offer. However, my ambition to go to school changed quickly! I wanted to learn the business of dentistry, and take over Dominion Supply. My Dad seemed to be on board and put some of the education money into my account….
I bought a new motorcycle with it and used that to deliver small packages of product the same day to our local customers.
Over the next few years, my father taught me EVERYTHING about dentistry. The “old days” of dentistry meant that a sales guy had tools in his hands to fix problems when they went on the road. I had to rip apart dental units and chairs, travel to remote places and fix a dental vacuum that was plugged…..
Back in the early 1980s we used to work without masks and gloves were only starting to become a “thing” because of AIDS. The demand for Latex gloves sky rocketed, as nobody was using them before but the headlines of AIDS/HIV created a HUGE demand. Not for masks, just for gloves!
In the 1980s latex glove prices were about $20 per 100. This wasn’t always a quality brand either! Masks were similar pricing, mostly we sold the 3M molded masks and they would have been at best a level 2.
As time passed, and many opportunity seekers entered the business (including Medicom) the prices dropped. Competition, availability overtook the market pricing. We learned more about HIV and how it was transmitted. Our protocols adapted.
DENTISTRY SURVIVED….THRIVED ACTUALLY!
In the 1980s and early 1990s – it was predicted that practice values would drop and doctors would have to walk away from their businesses as there were not enough graduating dentists to fill their shoes.
We all know Dentistry adapted.
Now we see clinics on every corner, corporations have penetrated the sacred business, values are soaring.
Then Covid hits, and some people believe that practice values will drop as the revenue stream is cut….but most clinics are incredibly busy and the demand for dentistry continues. Practice values remain steady, and are still a sellers market. Why does this keep happening?
Because dentists are entrepreneurs.
Because people still have teeth they want to keep.
Because we all love to smile.
We can adapt our protocols, change how we attract business. Incorporate procedures like invisible aligners, learn to scan and print appliances, use CBCT and 3D xray diagnostically and how about the future! The PREVENTIVE future of dentistry! Our business, worldwide continues to GROW as more people realize that a healthy mouth = a healthy life! We NEED to smile. It helps us all feel better.
When you have been around for going on 4 decades – there are changes that would not have even been imagined! As technology embraces us – the changes come at blazing “5G” speed! A few years ago digital dentures were years away – now I have most denture clinics learning and pricing out the technology to incorporate in the next 12 months! Scanning a mouth and creating a same day crown was in about 5% of offices – now over half of the offices in little old Saskatchewan have incorporated scanning and a majority of the other half say this is priority for the next 12 months.
Invisible aligners, same day crowns, printing appliances on demand……
The future of dentistry looks AMAZING!
Where do you think your office will be in 5 years….are you the entrepreneur who will continue to thrive, or will you consider working for someone else?
DISINFECTANT MACHINE
When you find something amazing – don’t you tell your friends?
The funny thing is – although “COVID” brought this into the light for most dental offices, I had already been researching this product for the last couple years. A friend I play hockey with introduced me to an inventor of this magic product that created NON TOXIC, NATURAL, disinfectant that could eliminate biofilm in dental unit water lines. It sounded too good to be true, and the price of the machine made it almost impossible to create a plan to help dental clinics REDUCE the cost of maintaining their water lines.
You are currently spending A LOT of money per year to keep that water clear of BIOFILM! Here is an estimate PER OPERATORY!
Dentapure water filter $300 per year.
Tablets $350-$400 per year with labour
Shocking $50 per year
Testing $25 per year or more
This is all AFTER you have installed a $300+ water bottle system (if your chair packages don’t already have this). This means you are spending several thousand dollars per year. If you aren’t, are you sure you are following proper protocols for waterline safety? Manufacturers instructions?
The whole point of finding this HOCL machine was to help you get a machine that ELIMINATED the biofilm from a central source. The more I looked into this, the more fascinated I became. HOCL has been around for MANY years and is Very WELL RESEARCHED. All the crazy claims of non toxic, biofilm eliminator were true. The product COULD be used as an excellent cleaner, santizer, disinfectant and even sterilization depending on a little bit of science.
The hard part to get over was the PRICE!! The method used to create HOCL meant a $10,000 machine you buy direct from the manufacturer would need to be installed. We didn’t have studies on DENTAL EQUIPMENT in particular and how this would react. The food industry and many other industries are already employing HOCL successfully in treatment of product with proven excellent results that could be interpreted to dental equipment…..but this is WAY beyond what my goals were. Which was to find a SIMPLE WAY to help you reduce overhead!
I asked Mats if it would be possible to “miniaturize” the process? Couldn’t he take these titanium plates and generate the electrolyzed water with a neutral PH in a machine that would sell for under $3000? He wasn’t interested….and so I kept researching.
Fast forward about a year and I came across this “Egret V1” product that was created by a scientist and engineer that was in the business of creating the large machines that commercial industries had enjoyed for years. THEY HAD INVENTED A MINIATURIZED version of the HOCL generator!
We found the answer!
So I sent the information to my partner who had introduced me to the entire concept and quickly garnered the exclusive rights to the Canadian marketplace on the product.
After researching HOCL – I found the applications were WAY BEYOND just biofilm elimination. These products are proven to not only eliminate or control bacteria and virus on surfaces – the non toxic to humans is legit. Our bodies make HOCL naturally, and we can enhance the healing process of cuts and wounds. HOCL is studies as an oral rinse..
I’m used to skepticism in our business. My career is based on STUDIES, STREET REVIEWS, SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE. The beautiful thing on HOCL is HOW WELL RESEARCHED THE PRODUCT IS and the insane amount of different uses! Skin care, food safe, veterinary industry, surgeons, eye care, dentistry, cleaning, janitorial, deodorizing, fishing, produce, water quality, oral care, fogging.
The evidence of how this kills the bad bugs, yet is such a simple product remain. It blows my mind.
Whenever I show you a new product – my research has already been complete. Yet the best way for you to be convinced is to ask colleagues of their opinion, Read all the scientific evidence for yourself, maybe take a chance and experiment with a device that costs you about $300 and discover ALL THE USES for yourself!
This is not a Henry Schein sold or endorsed product. You can get this yourself from the online store at a major discount (the price is going up $50 October 15 and will go to regular pricing as the product hopefully starts to see demand). This WILL be available on Amazon (once I figure out a couple complicated issues with trademarks!).
The business of Dentistry is my passion, and I will continue to evolve my career and help keep dentistry affordable and viable!