If you’re wondering how your dental practice compares nationally, or just want to know what the latest trends are in the sector, today’s show is a must-listen as we welcome Beth Gaddis, Editor in Chief at Planet DDS, to share insights from the company’s 2025 Dental Industry Outlook Report based on data collected from the thousands of practices it serves with software solutions. Headlining the findings is that AI and automation are impacting everything, from the patient journey to insurance verification to claims processing and more, presenting opportunities for improvement of business practices. “Being able to automate the transfer of data so that team members don't have to leave what they're doing and can keep everything within the same ecosystem allows them to be more efficient than ever before,” she tells Filling You In hosts Dr. Anushka Gaglani and Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj. The report is also loaded with valuable benchmarks of key metrics such as average cancellation rates, number of new patients per month, case acceptance rates and much more.

This highly insightful interview with Beth also covers:

• How the “Gig Economy” model is coming to dentistry
• New options for patient financing
• How her background in journalism influences her work

Mentioned in this episode:

Planet DDS

Areo Dental Group

Today on Filling You In with A-Squared, we're delighted to welcome a respected voice in dentistry to the podcast who has played a particularly important role in advancing women as leaders in the industry. Dr. Aman Kaur has done this both through her mentoring relationships and through founding Women in DSO, the fastest growing dental association with over 50 partner organizations across the globe. “It has grown because it is built around the needs and gaps women had experienced in the industry over many, many years,” she explains to hosts Dr. Anushka Gaglani and Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj. Benefits of membership include mentorship programs, wellness programs, legal assistance, and much more, and plans are underway to add elder care, pet care and other benefits that Dr. Kaur describes as “women centric.” Dr. Kaur believes supporting women in these and other ways and boosting their presence in senior roles is not only the right thing to do, but it is good for business. “We just know statistically by having more women in leadership, we will be closer to our consumers because more than 80% of financial decisions of any household are being made by women.” Turning to a broader look at the DSO industry, Dr. Kaur sees growth in joint venture models that align the interests of dentists, DSOs, and financial partners. "You've got to be sitting in the same boat, looking at the same direction, have the same goals."

In this highly informative conversation, Dr. Kaur also addresses:

• How to drive results through clinical excellence and operational discipline;
• Her perspectives on effective DSO structures and business models;
• Her take on private equity firms and their role in supporting DSOs.

Mentioned in this podcast:
Women in DSO

Areo Dental Group

To be a successful entrepreneur you need to be all-in, but that creates the risk of letting your business become your identity. Lifetime entrepreneur Steven Neuner – who has built, scaled, and exited multi-million-dollar companies – joins us on this episode of Filling You In with A-Squared to explain how to prevent that from happening and share other insights about how to be successful in business without sacrificing your life priorities. One key step is determining your purpose first and then building from there. In fact, he thinks Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs should be flipped on its head. “Most of the value creation in our personal and professional lives happens by really being intentional around purpose.” Steven helps entrepreneurs achieve new levels of freedom and growth as a strategic coach and mentor, and through his work with Superpowers, a company which matches entrepreneurs with growth-minded executive assistants, a core theme of a book he co-authored called Superpowered.

In his wisdom-packed conversation with Dr. Anushka Gaglani and Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj, Neuner also talks about:

• Common mindset traps that hold people back;
• Making sure your priorities do not compete with each other;
• Finding your superpowers.
  

Mentioned in this episode:
stevenjneuner.com

Superpowers

Areo Dental Group

You could call Brian Colao a sort of legal midwife for DSOs, because he was in the trenches helping dentists form practice groups even before the term DSO was in use. In fact, Brian’s work has led to legal opinions that helped define the legality of the DSO model and set the standards for compliance and due diligence. As he explains to our hosts Dr. Anushka Gaglani and Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj, what was a relatively small practice area thirty years ago has blossomed as DSOs have grown in acceptance. “Today, we have about 765 dental clients in all 50 states, six Canadian provinces, Europe, Australia, and Japan. I never in my dreams thought it would get that big.” Beyond laying legal groundwork in the space, Brian, as director of the Dental Service Organizations Industry Group at the Dykema Law Firm, has also been involved in developing new business structures including different types of joint ventures. He’s particularly proud of creating what he calls dedicated specialty program agreements that allow GP practices to integrate specialists who perform singular services -- such as wisdom teeth extractions -- so they don’t have to refer patients out to other providers which, he says, is a win for the specialists and the practice owners as well as their regular patients. “The acceptance of the treatment plan is a lot higher than it ever would be because the patients trust their practice.”

In this lively episode of Filling You In with A-Squared, Brian also reveals:

• How new AI technologies can fuel growth;
• How Europe’s regulation of dentistry compares to the U.S.;
• Why he thinks this is the golden age of dentistry.

Mentioned in this episode:
Dykema Law Firm

Areo Dental Group

When discussing consolidation in dentistry, most of the attention centers on profit-driven players such as DSO’s or private equity firms, but there’s not as much focus on what’s driving individual practice owners to seek affiliation or acquisition. Today on Filling You In, we’re going to get a ground level perspective on what’s motivating dentists to join larger groups from one of Areo Dental Group’s newest partners, Michael I. Farr, DMD. By the time Dr. Anushka Gaglani and Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj connected with Dr. Farr last year, he had established a thriving practice in the Chicago suburbs called Smiles by Farr, but he realized continuing to go it alone might end up holding him back. “The landscape of the industry is changing, and if you're going to keep up with changing times and be competitive, you really need to be affiliated,” Farr shares. In this candid conversation, Dr. Farr also acknowledges he needed help managing inefficiencies and other challenges in his practice. “When you're trying to elevate and improve and take it to the next level, the only way to do that is with a team.” Realizing we shared the same values and vision, Areo Dental Group was delighted to form a partnership with Dr. Farr in order to support him in reaching new goals for his practice.

This insightful and fun interview with a special member of the Aero Dental family also covers:

• What it takes to build a successful team;
• The lessons about hard work he learned from his entrepreneurial father;
• Why a guy living in the Chicago area wears a cowboy hat and cowboy boots.

Mentioned in this episode:
Smiles by Farr

Areo Dental Group

Action; Will to Win; Bring the Fire; Close the Gap. You might expect to hear these motivating words coming from a coach during a big game, but you will also hear them in the morning staff meetings at Vision Dental Partners, an emerging practice group with eight locations in Indiana and South Carolina. As you’ll discover on today’s episode of Filling You In with A-Squared, the company’s founder and CEO, Dr. Brad Hughes, has centered his growing business on those concepts. “We focused on those because they tell a story of the people that we want to work with, the people we feel like we are, the way we want the story about our culture and our company to be told,” he tells hosts Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj and Dr. Anushka Gaglani. Of the four, having a bias toward action rises to the top. “I probably say the word action 40,000 times a day. It's like, I can't do it for you. You've just got to do the damn thing. Nobody cares if you screw some things up. I think that’s so important.”

Tune in to learn how these core concepts play out in day-to-day operations at Vision Dental Partners and gain from Dr. Hughes’ insights on other key aspects of business success, including:

• Why he is obsessed with employee loyalty and how to achieve it;
• The importance of having an efficient schedule;
• Why he asks team members evaluate his own work.

Mentioned in this episode:

Vision Dental Partners

Areo Dental Group

Believe it or not, Dr. Anushka Gaglani and Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj are NOT the only married couple in the dental field that hosts a podcast! Today’s guests, Kim Larson and Bill Neumann, are co-hosts of the top-ranked Group Dentistry Now podcast where they and their guests share the latest news, trends and insights in the space.What makes them so effective as hosts is the deep understanding of the industry they’ve gained over the last decade running the multimedia company they co-founded, also called Group Dentistry Now, which provides news, education, product information, consulting, and other services to DSOs and dental group practices. As Kim explains, one reason they launched the company is they realized there was a lack of information about DSOs, and what was available cast them in a very negative light. “But the more I researched it, I thought, there's so much good that they are doing to help with patient access and clinical training that isn't being shared, so it really became our mission to start a company that would help explain DSOs and groups to people,” says Kim. They’re also focused on keeping people up to date in a rapidly changing industry. “There are more options than ever for dentists looking to transition, to sell their practice, to form a partnership with an organization. If we don't pay attention to that, you'll get left behind pretty quickly,” adds Bill.

On this episode of Filling You In, you’ll also hear these trusted voices in the dental industry discuss:

• Their expectations for the pace of practice consolidation;
• The course on DSOs they developed for the largest dental school in the US;
• And what younger generations of dentists are seeking.

Mentioned in this episode:

Group Dentistry Now

Areo Dental Group

Our guest on this episode knows how to put a smile on people’s faces, and not just because he’s a skilled dentist. Dr. Eric J. Roman also believes part of his job is to infuse love into group dentistry and give dental associates the playbook for performance and joy. That’s right up our alley at Areo Dental, where we strive to help our employees uncover their inner greatness and achieve a healthy work-life balance. “The playbook is a six week program where we give associates an accountability coach and a content pathway and some support. I'm giving them the tools, then I'm showing them how to execute on using the tools quarter after quarter because I believe systems create love and systems get results,” says Roman, who has over a decade of experience running high-powered, multi-location dental companies. Based on personal experience, Dr. Roman believes systems can get results in your personal life as well, motivating him to co-found 1LifeSystems a program that helps people create an intentional family life.

Join hosts Dr. Anushka Gaglani and Dr. Abhishek Nagaraj of Areo Dental Group for an uplifting conversation that also provides insights on:

• How to define a great work culture;
• Leveraging what’s unique about yourself;
• Personal performance habits, and much more.

Mentioned in this episode:

1LifeSystem
Areo Dental Group