A New Community for the Future of Dentistry

People don't want to go to the dentist, but the more we can change that experience where they are coming in and having a wow, a wonderful experience, or one where they wanna go out and share with others and say, "Okay, I had something I had never fathomed in all my years," and being able to provide the exceptional level of care that they can have for the rest of their lives only makes me more excited, and I'm excited to be a part of the network.

Welcome to Masters and Mentors, the podcast, where we talk with leaders shaping the future of dentistry. In this episode, we learn more about the Orahh Care dental community. I'm Dr. Bill Bloink, and today I'm joined by Heartland Dental founder, Dr. Rick Workman, supported Dr. Michael Badger, and Chief Marketing Officer, Sherianne James. I wanna welcome all of you to the podcast. So Sherri Ann, I'm gonna start with you. And why, would you share with everybody, what is the Orahh Care community and why has it even been created?

Sure, great question. The Orahh Care dental community is a community of dentists who share the same values and commitment to advancing dentistry. And that commitment is centered around comprehensive care, around continuing education, so always improving, always getting better, and it is a time for patients to understand there's truly a better choice. And by having the Orahh Care community with a patient-facing name, that's something that they can fully understand.

So, you know, Dr. Workman, I- I'm interested in your perspective, because for as long as Heartland Dental has been in its existence, I know you've had, uh, a very strong opinion about practices being locally branded. So how is the Orahh Care community going to enhance the local practices and not take away from, from their local brands?

We believe that the vast majority of healthcare decisions are made locally. We've always believed that a Heartland supported practice should have its own unique name. And, and we also think that our supported doctors buy into the, to the concept that this is my practice and, and they treat it like that and have an ownership mindset. And we think that's fantastic.

And I know that's always been one of your, uh, driving motivations is to make everything better for patients, for doctors, and their, their teams. Everybody wins with decisions like this. So Dr. Badger, I'm, I am curious of, of, uh, being a supported doctor here in the Orlando area. Wh- what is your perspective on this community?

It affirms it for me. It makes me more excited about what I do. I've been practicing for 35 plus years. No

Way.

So in that area. You mentioned local branded and, and, and the uniqueness of each practice, but being a part of a unique Group, thinking from a lifetime care perspective, thinking of how we're gonna take care of those patients day in and day out, I can see a patient in my practice and, and know they're going to another Orahh Care supported doctor, and that doctor's gonna provide the same level of care, an exceptional level of care and focus on the patient's primary fo - primary concerns. I know that patients don't classically want what we have. That's just a dental accident. People don't want to go to the dentist, but the more we can change that experience where they are coming in and having a wow, a wonderful experience, or one where they wanna go out and share with others and say, "Okay, I had something I never fathomed in all my years." And we talk about in folks who are with AARP and Orahh, Orahh Care, a lot of them have some misperceptions about what dentistry can be and what it should be. And all of them need care. They need care more than anybody else at this point because we're becoming more experienced in our, in our years. And, and being able to provide the exceptional level of care that they can have for the rest of their lives only makes me more excited and I'm excited to be a part of the network.

So why, why now? What, what, what is, what has been the shift in patient expectations that, that we, that you've decided to, to create this community?

So patients always appreciate a brand if that brand stands for something meaningful that means something to them. But we are first and foremost a doctor-led community, and we needed to ensure that our doctors understood that they were local branded first. And that needed to be a long part of our history and our foundation for that to be believed and understood. Now that we are 1900 strong, it's time, it's understood, and now we can take the thing that makes us strong and give us a united advantage in Orahh Care. That's

Wonderful. What are you hoping that this partnership, uh, makes possible for patients and for, uh, practices?

I think over time, as the brand is developed and the Orahh Care, uh, community becomes more well known, and I think Sherianne and the marketing will help make sure that's abundantly clear to the, to the world, so to speak, Orahh Care community can become known as the destination, a place where the best dentists work together as a community, which is kind of vastly different than how historically solo practices tend to work obviously alone.

Well, you know, Sherianne mentioned something, uh, earlier that patients want comprehensive care and our organization is moving towards a super GP m- model. And I know that you certainly deliver comprehensive care to, to your, to your patients, and you certainly have embraced the, the GP model. What would you say to a colleague who might be nervous about embracing the, the super GP

Model? Patients don't want to be inconvenienced. Do I do every service in my practice? No, but 90% of them walk in my door, I can confidently provide that service to that patient and know there's gonna be one that they're gonna love and enjoy for the rest of their lives. That's my intent. Uh, so being able to do that and know there are others out there who can do the exact same thing at the same level, who may just be down the street or across the country, that's, that's, that's a game changer.

You know, I met you, Dr. Workman, the first time was in, uh, the winter of 1988 when I went into your practice and, and watched you and as you were working and your team, when they were working with you and how excited they were to, to work with you. And I was so, uh, impressed with what you guys were doing. I went back to the hotel that night and called my dad and I said, "Dad, I've seen the future of dentistry and it's in Effingham, Illinois." My dad got a little quiet for just a moment after a second, he said, "Where the hell is Effingham, Illinois?" But I saw the future then and, and I, I sense here we are again, the future of dentistry is here

Upon us. Uh, in this era of digital and how markets are shifting and methodologies by which, as you said, like-minded dentists working together could do, uh, I began to quickly, I think, relatively understand the power of what the Orahh Care network or Orahh Care community could create.

And so Dr. Badger, I'm, I'm interested in your perspective as how does, h- h- how does it im- impact you to be a, a part of a community such as the Orahh Care community and, and how is that gonna impact your practice and your ability to serve more patients within your facility? It's, it's

Been more rewarding. I mean, I, I say, I, I've fixed teeth for years and that's all I did, but I didn't have a real connection to what I was doing. It wasn't, I was not as passionate about it. And now that I have a, a, a different mission, a different cause in mind where I am actually changing people's lives day in and day out, I'm professing that message to my team and they get, and they feel that. And so we have a different mission and vision as opposed to just doing what we did. Anyone can fix a tooth, but can you really, really affect it with what I'm gonna teach to you and what I'm gonna make sure you understand fully is that this is a lifetime commitment to making sure that you maintain your dental health, which impacts all the rest of the body as well. There's no reason why you should not have, you know, the, the best dental experiences no matter where you go. It should be one that should be rewarding. It should be one that's gonna be one that's informative. It's gonna be one that's gonna make sure you're healthy for the rest of your lives, and that's what I'm committed to, lifetime care. I didn't always have that. So it's changed me fundamentally how I operate.

That's great. You know, Sheriannee, will you tell us a little more specifically about why it's so exciting and it's to work with an organization like AARP and how that whole process kinda came about?

America is aging and people are living longer and it's a good thing. Um, and so what you also have the serendipity is the older you get, the more you need oral care. And so when you bring those two things together, it's a real opportunity for us to center our community as the place to go if you are over 50 for your needs and care to be met. So having the selected by AARP next to our Orahh Care brand allows that understanding, allows that trust to be built, allows that credibility. And then when you factor in that more and more patients are coming in with Medicare Advantage and that those patients may need significantly more dental care than the under 50 patient, it was just obvious that this was the way to go for us.

Dr. Workman, you and I have talked a lot over the years about the connection between oral health and, and health in general as, as we age. And what are you hoping that this partnership, uh, makes possible for patients and for, uh, practices?

I think it will begin to say to patients who are contemplating choosing a dentist, "Why wouldn't I highly consider choosing somebody as a part of that network?" Because from what I've heard, what I've heard from my friends and what I've heard from marketing, so to speak, there are certain qualifications and expectations and how things work in all those members. And I think it will be a brand that will ultimately become very prestigious in the dental community and, and also in the community at large. There are other companies or brands in America that may only impact a f - some percentage of the population, but people know when I need this product, I choose this brand.

Well, let me follow that up by, by asking you this while, while you're still, you're still, uh, o- on the subject. What do you think will be the, the biggest impact the Orahh Care community will have on supported doctors in terms of their daily work, their confidence, and the, the connection that they are able to make with their patients?

For some of the qualifications, they're gonna have to have, uh, patient satisfaction scores of a certain level. I think, I just think that over time, people will become to figure out that this network, when I go there, everything just works easier for me. It works better for me. Everybody's transparent in all aspects of the dental practice. And, and I just think that in five or 10 years, people are gonna go, "How did they do that before they had the Orahh Care network because this seems like it's so much easier."

You know, and Dr. Badger, that, that really speaks to, to what you were sharing about what patients want is convenience and they want the ability to access care when they're ready to get. How does your team, uh, feel about that way that you do, that you provide your care to your patients and, and how will the Orahh Care community actually help them deliver more care to your community? They're proud to be a

Part of something that, that, that prestigious. Um, you, you talk about branding. When you were talking about that, I though about the Michelin star. There you go. Are we a Michelin star type operation? That's what people recognize. They're exceptional. That's right. I wanna teach them so that they know what they can have and what they can have for the rest of their lives. That's what we advocate and that's what I profess, and that's what they feel. So they're, they, they are, they're kinda self-motivated, but they're truly inspired by the message that we get and we carry from this. So

Sherianne, how do you see and, and how excited are we as, as an organization that Orahh Care dental community was selected by AARP as a dental support organization that helps improve oral health for adults 50 plus and their families. And it's like-minded, that's, that's ready, willing, and able to provide care today, and it really fits within our mission and the vision of our company.

So the doctors we support have always been a community. What's exciting for me as a marketer is when you know that what your company does is something that the consumer wants and doesn't believe is out there, you know you've found the magic. And so it wasn't just what we told them, it was the fact that there is a consistency of behavior due to the tremendous processes that Heartland puts in place. So it excites me to be able to have a brand that has trust and immediately gives that Michelin star, um, to a certain community and population. I know it's gonna go a long way to help Orahh Care get stood up.

So Sherianne, I know you and your team did a lot of research into how, uh, to create this network. Can you, can you talk about the, the development of the community and the thought process that went behind that?

When you are developing a brand, you're looking for a unique selling proposition. So something that you have to say that no one is saying out there. And the branded space in dentistry is very focused on value. And what we found is when we started talking about comprehensive care, there was a real aha for the patient that I didn't realize that I can get all my needs met, um, in one place. But what elevated it beyond convenience is then when we started talking about the reason to believe being the digital dentistry and AI, they started realizing it's not just comprehensive of convenience, it's comprehensive meaning the in-depth care I need. And that was something that made them say, "I will switch from my dentist." And this was after claiming to be loyal to their dentist. That is something magical, and I cannot wait to see where this brand is in five years. That,

That had to be incredibly, uh, surprising to you to hear someone say, "I, I would leave my dentist who I am pleased with to go to a practice that can provide comprehensive care." Were there other things that surprised you in your, in your research?

What I talked about with the aging population is that AARP is like a Michelin Star. We actually found that whether the patient was 18 to 25, 25 to 45 in the different age brackets, the AARP brand still connotes trust and belief in the brand. So that, that was something that was pleasantly surprising. I

Think in the long run for the members of the Orahh Care community, it could change the face of dentistry over the next decade. I believe that.

It's a culture and a covenant. Um, I, I know doctors that I've worked with and met for, like, we've known each other a long time ago. Rick, since, since day one, I, I know how you operate. If I send a patient up to Southern Illinois and they have an issue, I know I'm gonna treat that patient. I know they're gonna become the, the ultimate most important thing to me in that day. If you pick up the phone and say, "Hey, I have someone who's down in Orlando and they have this issue," you have no doubt about how I'm gonna treat that patient. It's a beautiful thing to be able to have that and know that you have that ability to be able to provide that care. And I can give that assurance to that patient who comes to me and they look for me at that level of trust.

And, you know, the, the beauty of the brand is, is even if you don't know the doctor, but if they're a dentist participating in the Orahh Care dental community, you know that they have met certain criteria to be part of that community. And so you can rest assured that your patients will be cared for regardless of where they are, perhaps throughout the country, that they're gonna be cared for by a doctor in the Orahh Care dental community.

That is sacred, and be able to provide that level of care and know that they're gonna be cared for without me having to set eyes on it.

You may love your dentist here and your, and your daughter calls across the country, your grandchild has fallen, broken off a tooth. You know what? Is there anybody in Orahh Care network that's nearby? 'Cause I know the Orahh Care Network prides themself in ensuring you call that office, they will make sure you are seen today and taken care of today so when you go to bed tonight, your issues are handled. And I think that'll be a promise of the brand that'll be ultimately created. And today, that's just really hard across the country when that happens because, again, the vast majority of dentists are solo acting alone, and I think that's gonna be very

Powerful. And the important word you said was today. They'll take, they'll take care of you today. Well, I, I, I just am so excited about the future of this endeavor. I'm excited about the, the future of our, our company and all the partnerships that we'll form because of the Orahh Care community. So I wanna thank you, Dr. Badger. I wanna thank you Sherianne and Dr. Workman. I wanna thank you. And I wanna thank you for listening to the, the Masters and Mentors, the podcast today. If you are interested in learning more about our podcast, follow us at heartland.com/podcast so you never miss another episode.