#860: Prepping for Uncertainty

The Dental A Team Podcast

Amid the tumult of an election year and rising inflation, Kiera is joined by Brad with Dental Warranty to talk about peace of mind. Together, they discuss why warranty is so critical, what additional revenue looks like, how to sell patients on the investment, and more.

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Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.714)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today I'm super pumped. I've got an amazing guest on the podcast today. We're going to be talking to you guys about a couple different things of how to bring in additional revenue to your practice. I think all of us would love that, especially with uncertain times. I mean, we've got an election year, we've got patients doing a couple of funny things. We've got an inflation year. And so I thought it was very poignant and pertinent to bring on Brad with Dental Warranty today, just talking about different ways that we can kind of, I don't know, I feel like.

insulate our practices against the uncertainty of times that we're headed into. I feel like never be afraid. Let's create a game plan and then you guys can execute and you can capitalize and win because I believe when people are afraid is the greatest opportunity for practices to flourish if they've got a good plan in place. So Brad, welcome to the show today. How are you?

Brad (00:46.478)

Doing well, Kiera, thanks for having me on board.

Kiera Dent (00:49.418)

Yeah, Brad and I usually hang out at in -person events. We haven't seen each other this year, so I feel like I'm really glad we're on the podcast, because I haven't had my chit chat with you, you know, on the bus rides and all the different events we go to. It's been a hot minute, so. Yeah, likewise, agreed. So Brad is with Dental Warranty. You guys have probably heard him on the podcast. I am one of the biggest believers of Dental Warranty, because I feel like watching dentists all the time, dentists just overpay.

Brad (01:00.622)

That's right. Yes, it's great to catch up. It's been too long.

Kiera Dent (01:17.578)

in the way like you don't think you're overpaying by doing free dentistry and the thought of you're losing money constantly on doing free dentistry. We are in a time and an era where you no longer have to do this. You can give the patient peace of mind. You can close more cases with it. You can have it to where your patients are getting the services that they need. And in addition to that, it is actual additional revenue kind of like membership plans at other places, but in a way that's not slimy, it's not greedy, it's nothing. It's truly giving the patients a better service.

that they need. Like I do not think any of us would ever say that AppleCare is greedy on our phones. I think all of us just have peace of mind that my super expensive, I don't know, $1 ,500 phone phone productive. And that's a $1 ,500 freaking phone for two years that we are willing to pay AppleCare on. But our mouths that we use every single day, like we literally eat with them. I just think it's so cool. So Brad, there's my soap box. Welcome everybody. If you can't tell, I think Dental Warranty should be in every practice, but Brad, go ahead.

Let's talk about this additional revenue stream and the uncertainty of an election year and all those different things and how really making sure we insulate and protect our patients could be a beautiful thing this year.

Brad (02:20.654)

Yeah, absolutely. Now it's funny you mentioned that kind of protection on Apple care on your phone. I was actually just talking with a dentist. He's like, you know, people buy a warranty on their big screen TV and they don't touch that thing. Maybe dust it every once in a while, but they don't touch it. It's on the wall. How often are you using your teeth? You're clenching, you're grinding, you're biting, you're chewing. Anything that happens to your mouth, why would someone not want to protect that? So there, yeah, there's a lot of uncertainty, especially because a lot of times when patients are at the practice, it's because maybe something else.

either failed or they broke or tipped or cracked something, if they broke what God gave them, why would you not want to warranty and protect what you're doing, right? And give them that kind of assurance and peace of mind knowing that you do high quality work and that you've got their back no matter really what life sends their way.

Kiera Dent (03:07.242)

And I think Brad, as you were saying that I actually feel like I made a connection that I haven't made. I mean, I've talked to you guys forever. I've been one of the biggest supporters of Dental Warranty since I met you guys. I just was like, this is a no brainer. Why would people not bring this into their practice? But as you just said that, like you're right. We all, I mean, like you go to Best Buy and they're like, Hey, put this warranty on your TV. On freaking Amazon is like doing the two year protection. Like on a dang vacuum at Walmart, like, Hey, you went the two year protection. I'm like, those businesses are smart.

And I mean, people will like, yep, it's five bucks. It's 20 bucks. Of course, like put it on. It's no big deal. But I was thinking about our bodies and I think there might be this misnomer. I don't know. This is just me like literally having an aha moment right here live is our bodies naturally repair, right? It's like you get a scratch on your arm. It will naturally repair. I don't need, I have almost like a human being warranty on my body, but I think what we don't realize is like teeth and bones and aging.

don't have this body warranty. I don't know, I've got to go get surgery. And I'm really anxious because the last time I had surgery, it's same toe, same thing. And just another thing like popped up out of nowhere. And I was like, my gosh, I've got to do it. And like last time I did not heal as well. And I was 10 years younger. My body is getting older. I should probably get it done now versus even in another 10 years, because I'll be older. But I think there could be this like idea.

that our bodies will just naturally heal. And so maybe it's something where it's like this external product, there's no way we can fix a TV. Like we don't know how to do it, but yet like a scratch on my arm, I don't know how my body fixes it, but it just fixes it. And so maybe that's kind of the disconnect that we as business owners might have of like, no, there's no reason to warranty teeth. Like they're just this natural part of our body. But like you said, I think when we can look at it, not as a product per se, but as...

I think teeth are one of the dumbest body parts of our entire body. Like I really do. And I say that I love dentistry. Like how dumb is it that we lose our teeth as babies and then we get these 32 teeth. We lose four of them usually for wisdom teeth. And so we've got 28 teeth and yet there are these like little porcelain plates in our mouth that we hope and pray that we don't chip. I understand that they are not porcelain, but that's what they feel like to me. Like it's this very delicate, dainty, beautiful thing.

Brad (04:52.622)

Mm -hmm.

Kiera Dent (05:16.65)

It's like a, like a China cabinet and I've got to like eat with this. I got to smile with this. I got to talk with this and hope and pray that nothing happens to this beautiful smile. And so I think looking at it as because they're so delicate, like a TV, like a phone, like other delicate things that you would protect, maybe helping people realize that that's why they should protect it. but maybe that's the disconnect we've had over the last couple of years since dental warranty has come into the playground that people maybe aren't seeing. I don't know if that made any sense or if I just confused people more, but that was my.

Brad (05:18.766)

Thank you.

Kiera Dent (05:45.994)

maybe muddled aha moment for myself, whether it benefits anybody else or not, that's to be determined.

Brad (05:52.59)

No, I love it. I think that's, that's huge. And a big part of this is whether the patient, you know, buys the six year protection plan or not. The great thing about this is now you're having these conversations with your patients. So many times patients, they get their treatment done. They think dentistry is going to last forever, no matter what they do to it. They expect a lot of times the dentist will do it free forever because they just paid that one time. So this is educating the patients, letting them know, Hey, you know, this is what we're doing here. We do great work. We pretty much last long time.

but it is a part of your body and things act differently. You could do things outside of our control and set right expectations. So again, whether they buy the protection plan or not, it doesn't matter. If they have it, great, they're covered, the doctor's covered. If not, the patients don't come back in just expecting it to be free later on, because it was talked about. And it's not some surprise that, I thought there was going to be a lifetime guarantee on this thing. It's like, no, how many times have you used that tooth since I've seen you last?

So it's all about, yeah, just taking care of your patients and setting the right expectations to eliminate the frustration, the headaches, the bad reviews, the lawsuits later on.

Kiera Dent (07:01.034)

Right? Well, and it's funny because I mean, I think about like when I'm getting my lashes done or when I'm getting my hair done and like girls chat, right? Like we love to sit there and gab and chat and like people getting their nails done. And when people find out I work in dentistry without fail, I hear like, my gosh, dentistry is so expensive. Like I had this thousand dollar crown that I had to put in or all they want to charge me this much for a night guard. And so people already do assume that dentistry is expensive. And then they're like,

this dentist, they didn't do a good job on my cap. I love when they call it a cap. I'm like, clearly like you are older. It's a crown. It sounds way better to say a crown. but they just, they feel like they're so annoyed that it broke down. And again, I think it's because we expect our teeth to last forever. Like, well, this is all we get. So it should last forever. But I agree with you. I think that there's an education piece that we're lacking. And I also was thinking about like dentistry even 50 years ago, people weren't living as long 50 years ago as they are today. So I,

just like with modern medicine and bodies and different things like our bodies are and the longevity of life is much longer than it has been in the past. And I also think dentists in the past costs weren't as much schooling wasn't as much different things. And so like I talked to dentists who bought practices or they went to school say 25 years ago and they're like, Kiera, I would not be a dentist in today's world. Like schooling's too much.

the cost of running a business is too much. Everything is so much more than it ever was. Like how did these dentists even come outside of it? So I think if we look at the perspective and the timeline of even how dentistry and bodies have evolved over the last couple of years, and I'm saying decades of years, thinking about that, I do think it's important to have warranties. I think it's the same thing for other companies. Like why are they throwing warranties on as well? Like things have just cost more. Things are lasting longer. People are lasting longer than they have been.

And so I think it's just a, it's evolving with the world. And I think practices need to evolve as well and do it in a way that's educating. Like you said, Brad, because the last thing you want is for a patient to come and expecting that crown to be redone for free. Even insurances will cover it usually every five years. Like they plan for that crown to break down, but patients don't realize that. And so we know that internally, but the patient doesn't know that. So I agree with you. I think it's a great way to bring up conversations that should have been had years ago.

Kiera Dent (09:18.666)

but are now just coming to the table. But I'm like, but hey, it's okay because we're also now introducing PRF or PRP into the equation because it's such a better, like the body's neosporin. Like so many things like buildups go with crowns. We don't necessarily do just extractions. We now do implants. So, so many things we've educated the patient based on, I think this is just another layer to educate.

Brad (09:18.734)

Mm -hmm.

Brad (09:32.75)

Yeah.

Brad (09:41.87)

Absolutely. And one of my favorite questions to ask a dentist is, okay, so tell me about the lab you use. You know, why did you choose that lab? And they say, well, they do, you know, they use the best materials, they warranty it, you know, if anything happens, oh they warranty it. So if you value a lab, because they offer a warranty on their lab work, which every dentist does, that's one of the things they like about their lab. When your patients want the same thing, they want to go to the dentist that warranties their treatment.

It's not saying that it's a cheap lab or it's not going to last, but no, it's high quality and they stand behind it and that's why they offer it. And so same thing with this. If patients aren't asking it, they're thinking about it. They want to know how long it's going to last. What happens if it breaks, it fails? What if I move, if I lose my dental benefits? All the what ifs. So again, now by proactively talking about this, we're seeing more patients say yes to treatment. More patients come into the door. So a lot of offices will actually

Kiera Dent (10:17.962)

Yeah.

Brad (10:39.662)

put this on their website. So it's now, again, it's a proactive approach saying, hey, this is how we're different. You've got the best doctors, provide the best treatment, and we go over and beyond the typical kind of standard of care and provide an excellent service along with our excellent treatment. So yeah, it's a great marketing tool as well to help stand out and again, eliminate those pain points that always happen in the future.

Kiera Dent (10:55.37)

Mm -hmm.

Kiera Dent (11:05.866)

for sure. Well, and like you said, without the patient even saying they are thinking those pieces and I feel like the warranty for all of us, like going to buy a $1 ,500 iPhone, I keep looking over there because my phone's literally sitting there and I just bought it in December, you have so much less stress. It's very good peace of mind. And so for your patients, like they are thinking about that like

what happens if I have to replace this because it is $1 ,000 or it is $5 ,000 or whatever it is. It just gives them that peace of mind that makes it easier to move forward because now the questions are answered. What if this happens? What if this happens? Like amazing. I know I have warranty on it. No big deal. Same thing with everything.

Brad (11:41.07)

I mean, I can't tell you how many times I like bid on something or bite on my fork or something just so simple. I'm like, I'm good. You know, like, doesn't matter. I'm good. I've got I've got coverage. In fact, I've actually now I'm proud of I don't know if you knew this, but I'm now a proud user and customer. I've been on warranty myself. So yeah, yeah. So I'm on both sides. So I actually I got some veneers about two years ago or so. I was wrestling with my son. He was about four years old at the time.

Kiera Dent (11:49.418)

huh.

Kiera Dent (11:59.658)

Wow, Brad, good job.

Kiera Dent (12:07.434)

Nice.

Brad (12:10.606)

and had them in one of those good headlocks, he jumped up and head butted me and destroyed my front tooth. It was 28 days after I got veneers. And so I laughed because literally that's what I do. I went back to the practice, I was covered, the doctor was covered and no issue at all. I didn't have to pay anything, doctor got paid all over again like a brand new case. But take dental warranty out of it.

That's kind of a scary moment. You know, as a patient, I'm thinking, okay, I paid a lot of money for this. I know it wasn't your fault really, but you're gonna help me out, right? And he's probably thinking, I did a great job. This was on you. Why should I have to eat it? So if you buy a car and you drive off the lot and you get an accident a mile down the road, you're not gonna just get a new car from the dealership. And so, so again, I just again laughed because I knew I was had that benefit. And so I've seen firsthand that it does work.

Kiera Dent (12:42.122)

Yeah.

Kiera Dent (13:01.926)

That's amazing. Well, and like for you also, because I think dentistry is such a scary thing too. It's our mouths. It's the way we talk. It's the way we eat. Like that's why. And it's like, no, no, no, Dennis, you owe me this because like, this is my freaking front tooth. Like you've got to fix it. You just did this. It should be in here forever. Even though life happened. And so I think.

Dental Warranty really does make it to where the patient and the provider can both be happy in a win -win. Like that doctor's super happy to do it. They're not doing free dentistry. No one is begrudgingly doing something. You're not paying and angry about it. They're not redoing dentistry and feeling like, well, I'm glad we can help brought out again. Like, of course we want to help them, but it's never that fun thing. And so this is just a win -win and nobody's upset about it at the end of the day. No one felt like they had to do free dentistry. No one felt like they had to pay again for something that should have lasted longer. And there's also the expectation there. So.

I think it's amazing and I think we've talked about so many benefits for the patient and what I think right now is it is also an election here and there are things that are coming into play. There's higher inflation. So the world by large right now has a little more trepidation. They're sitting here wondering what's going to happen. I was just on a DSO meeting and they were talking about like penny upon who's put into office that might actually impact the capital gains which is going to impact practices selling like so we're all kind of sitting here waiting to see.

who's coming to the playing field, what's gonna shake and change our world. And so, but patients still need dentistry, they still need to continue moving on, life still needs to continue on. And so I feel like dental warranty right now is really pertinent to give those patients peace of mind, no matter who's elected, no matter what the inflation rates go to, you're covered with your dentistry. And so I feel like for that uncertainty right now in the world, yes, it's a great time to bring it in because I think there is uncertainty. And it's a good time to, I think, in my opinion, to bring this to your practice.

to get it to be a standing piece of your practice. If you've kind of been on the fence wondering like, should I bring it in or not? Great time because uncertainty always leads to wanting to have something of certainty when we're uncertain times. So that's why I love it. I think it's a good time right now. But Brady, you were also talking because like in addition to these uncertain times, I know that this year's been kind of funny for some offices. Revenue's not as high as it normally is. Patients aren't wanting to say yes to treatment as much, which I do believe that if you had a warranty, more patients would say yes. So just like plugging that again.

Kiera Dent (15:14.666)

I do think it could be a cause and effect. And I think having a warranty program on it, you would get a lot more patients saying yes, because they're just holding back on uncertainty of funds. Like they're just wondering what's going to happen. I don't know if I want to do this yet, but if I'm covered for the next six years, that fear is gone. But in addition to that, let's talk about the additional revenue that the warranty program does bring. Again, I think it's just a nice benefit. It's not the motivator for it, but it is a nice benefit, especially when you guys might have a little bit lower. I believe in having multiple revenue streams to your practice.

is never a bad idea.

Brad (15:45.934)

Yeah, absolutely. So, so the big difference there between having to have like your own in -house plan and if, you know, let's say a patient bites on a popcorn kernel or soft bread, whatever they like to say that day. And, I broke my crown. I was actually talking to my friend last week and she said, she knew I, she knew I worked in dentistry. And so she's like, Hey, I was, I was eating soft avocado bread or toast. And I was like, okay, that's what everyone says. So yes, they always say, if that's the case, they come back in and say two or three years later, instead of.

Kiera Dent (15:58.026)

all the time.

Kiera Dent (16:10.634)

I'm sorry.

Brad (16:15.63)

you now having to maybe do it for free for that patient. And it's not just doing it for free, but now you've got the overhead costs, you've got your chair time is being used up. You don't have now a paying patient in that chair. So instead of doing, you know, have that negative, you know, costs involved, now you're getting paid your full fee, like it's a brand new case. But on the front side, so this is something that actually the patient purchases from the practice. So again, it's the fees.

100 % carried over by the patient and a portion of that stays in -house for additional revenue. So our average practice, as long as they just offer this the way we train and are consistent with it, they should see about 30 to 50K a year on additional revenue. That's with patients buying the warranty and then also on claims being paid out on. So that's a huge swing. And then we've got offices that do very well that double, if not triple those numbers.

Kiera Dent (17:01.962)

Wow.

Brad (17:07.438)

And that's a new employee. That's a lot of things that you can do on your website. A lot of great coaching. That's a lot of stuff that they can do, which they've been putting off for a long time with just an additional revenue stream.

Kiera Dent (17:22.09)

Gosh, well, and I think about it because it's something that the patient needs. I'm always looking for things of like, what does the patient need? I mean, AppleCare, think of how much Apple makes on AppleCare. Because we buy it, same thing with our houses, with our cars, like all the insurance companies, like why are the insurance companies the biggest buildings in the world? It's because, or like, I shouldn't say the world, but they're oftentimes the largest ones in cities. It's because people buy it for peace of mind, but then don't often need to use it. And so,

like you want your patients to use it. You want, you want Brad to come in when his kid does that and then you're happy. He's happy. You were able to make him smile. He's leaving you amazing reviews because your customer service at your practice was so incredible and you were able to be paid for it to do it a second time, which is not common in dentistry. And so I think looking at that, it's just this amazing piece of mind for people. But like you just said, there's 30 ,000 to 50 ,000 a year. You're right. That is another employee. That is another.

like scanner that is hiring a consultant, like that is something and it's like, there's just that margin, which everything should have a margin. Do you want to talk to me about margins? Let's talk about fluoride. Like you all know that that costs you like a buck and we're not going to get into the nuances. And I think it's brilliant, but it's the same thing with this. There should be a margin of profit for the practice on everything that you're selling. That is a wise business. and so I think is, I didn't realize it was bringing that much revenue and that's insane.

Brad (18:42.606)

Yeah, and what's great about this is the better your business is and grows and stronger business is, the more patients you can help. And so you have these cases that you wish like, man, your heart hurts for these patients. But if you got that additional revenue, you're not sitting there, you know, bootstrapped and scared to do anything for free because you're so tight. But now if you have that, there are situations now you can maybe help out a little more.

Kiera Dent (19:09.77)

Mm -hmm.

Brad (19:10.478)

But yeah, there's a lot of fun things that the practice can do with that. You have team bonuses, all sorts of things. So yeah.

Kiera Dent (19:15.69)

Yeah. I mean, I love when things are like a little added bonus in my life. I'm always happy about those. So I think it's an amazing product and amazing thing for your patients to help with closing cases, to help with the uncertainty, to be able to make it to where you're getting paid for it. my question is, which I'm sure a lot of offices would ask, like what happens for, I mean, there might be some cosmetic offices or people that are doing big cases or dentistry or even just smaller cases, right? It doesn't have to just be for the big cases, but they haven't implemented dental warranty yet.

What do you do for all those past patients like night guards, ortho, all these things? Is there a way we can retroactively do it or do patients have to just start today? Is there anything that they can do? Because I know that can get weird. Some people get nervous to bring it in because why didn't I tell these people for the last 10 years? And I think it's fine. There's always a solution. But is there anything you can do retroactively for patients that maybe we didn't have this in place when they came in?

Brad (20:08.974)

Well, good question. And first of all, too, I'm going back to the point of, you know, for big cases, it's funny because I'll talk to one dentist and they'll say, yeah, I've been doing a lot of these big full mouth cases, all our next type cases, full mouth of veneers. I want to really kind of build this in as part of the benefit and kind of the case fee. And the very next doctor I talked to him like, yeah, I do a lot of just crown and bridge work. And I just, a lot of fiddling. This is great. Something I wanted to provide for those patients. And you never know what a big case is to which patient.

you know, a ceiling unit crown could be a huge case. You never know who values that peace of mind, who's going to want that protection, who's going to need it. And so again, just giving them the option. But yeah, so when office comes on board, that's a question that comes up a lot. So what about patients that have come in recently? What do we do about those patients? So our rule of thumb is we can go about 30 days back for anyone that had recently received treatment and then go back to offer to those patients. You'll have a success coach that from our team that works with the practice directly. And they're pretty good about getting things approved. So if...

maybe six months prior or maybe in the middle of a huge case and it's been over the last year, we're pretty good about getting those approved to get a warranty there. But the message is when they come back in saying, maybe if they didn't have it on their crown they had two years ago, it's saying, hey, we're excited about this new program because this is something that, if something happens outside of our control, we do great work, we control, we put in your patients in your mouth, but if the...

you know, if you move travel, if you have some sort of accident, now we've got something that protects you on kind of these life events. And so the shift is kind of letting them know that it's something that's new and exciting and that they can offer on the new treatment they've received.

Kiera Dent (21:48.842)

That's awesome. And I do like how you guys said it as life events. And I know eating avocado toast does not feel like a life event. but I think it's also training the patient to realize like we did do good work. Like it was something that we did really well. Patients don't, and they'll never accept the fact that every single freaking day we're chewing and we're putting stress fractures into our teeth without them realizing, which is why the soft bread or the easy chip. And I'm like, yeah, but what have you been chomping on for the last like 10 years? That's why it broke on that soft piece of bread.

But they don't realize that just like we don't realize the damage that we do to our bodies every single day or the damage we do to our cars or whatever else we have insurance on. And so I think it's just a really awesome way to help them see it as a life event. I think that's a brilliant phrasing that you guys gave because it does just kind of frame it for a patient like or when those accidental things happen, right? Like that's why we do this because I want you to have complete and total control and peace of mind that no matter what's going on in your life, you're going to be able to have that beautiful smile and be able to just come right back in or.

Take care of it. What happens when they do move, Brad? Tell the offices what does happen on that because I know that you guys have a thing. They're not going to fly back to see you. So what happens in that regard?

Brad (22:56.238)

Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've seen on different Facebook groups saying, hey, had a patient move to this area, you know, anyone there that could help this patient out or they try to phone a friend to somebody they don't know. And it gets complicated. And then, yeah, patients sometimes have to fly back. It's a nightmare or that even prevents them getting the treatment they actually need and that is best for them because now they have to pay all over again for somebody who's paid for. It's kind of a mess. So, yeah, so it follows the patient's smile. So if the patient were to move across the country,

they can actually go to any doctor anywhere. And we will actually pay that retraining practice to do the work over again. Sometimes a patient might call that initial practice and say, hey, I got my denture at your office, I got a warranty, what do I do? I moved. And then that's something that we just connect with the patient and their new practice and get them taken care of. And a lot of times two patients will call us and say, hey, I moved to this new area. I've got one of your warranties. I want to go to another practice that does this because I'm by it again. Who do you recommend? So we can always give.

Kiera Dent (23:42.57)

Cool.

Brad (23:54.51)

recommendations to people that we work with in that area as well.

Kiera Dent (23:57.802)

Amazing. I think it's like, I don't know. I just, I cannot think and I'm trying to because my job on a podcast is to poke holes and things and to bring things to light. And I'm like, I truly cannot see why an office would not do this. To me, it just feels like it's a no brainer. And I mean, yes, of course I like you guys. That's why I bring you onto the podcast. That's why I literally sponsor and have you guys as a partner with me. And I'm very choosy. There's a lot of companies who want to partner with the NLA team and I don't accept a lot of them due to the fact that I don't believe.

Brad (24:24.91)

Glad we made the cut.

Kiera Dent (24:26.186)

You did make the cut, Brad. But I just think it makes sense and it's such a great piece. So kind of maybe you hear why offices wouldn't do it. And let's see if maybe me from a practice perspective can give some insights because from me sitting where I sit as a treatment coordinator, as a business owners, owning down practices, as seeing how much money I watch in consulting of offices riding off of free dentistry, of the stress of having these patients come back. And it's like, what do we do? Because this is ethical and moral internal conflict.

And then patients also saying like, we're not saying yes to treatment right now. I'm like, why would you not do this? But maybe Brad, give me some of the things you guys hear and let's see if we can maybe work through some of those objections people might have.

Brad (25:04.366)

Yeah, I would say that the two most common things is that it's usually from the dentist and it's the patient what they think the patient will think. It's their own perception. It's like, well, I don't want my work to sound cheap. And I get that. You're an artist. It's your craftsmanship. It's kind of who you are. And you want to make this sound like it's high quality and it's going to last. And you should. And so that's what we recommend is use this.

to tell your patients that you are the best dentist. You do so much CE. You were at the top of your class in dental school. You used the best techniques, best labs that you predict this treatment to last a very long time. But again, there's things that happen outside of our control. So that's now how we can provide a better service and experience and make sure that this is covered even if you fall on your face in the parking lot today as you walk out to your car. And so that's the message. And kind of going back to what you mentioned earlier about...

Kiera Dent (25:57.45)

Mm -hmm.

Brad (26:02.702)

Kind of failure and stuff. It's not in this it's not the practicing, you know, in fact In fact, the practice probably even shouldn't use the word failure, you know if this fails it's you know This doesn't if this is an integrate or if you have kind of like like event or trauma physical accident things that we can't control We've now have you taken care of Which is again, that's huge when patients are making that decision especially if they had maybe that root canal go south and now they need additional treatment or the they did

Kiera Dent (26:09.93)

Agreed.

Kiera Dent (26:21.482)

Mm -hmm.

Brad (26:31.15)

you know, have to replace the filling three times already. They're scared to do it again because they think they're just going to have to pay every year on the year. So yeah, so again, it's kind of setting that expectation and let them know that it's high quality. And again, going back to, you know, why do you use the lab you use? And a lot of times they say it's because the warranty. So on the patient side, they're not looking at the dentist thinking you're using a warranty because you're not high quality. You're using a warranty because you stand behind it. That's all the best brands and companies do that.

Kiera Dent (26:58.602)

Yeah, well, and if you don't, people don't offer a warranty. Like, that's one of the things like, I mean, you look at that, they're going to do it. So I agree. I think it is a shift of mindset. And for doctors, I just want to say like, you do incredible work. But I think what Brad is trying to say and what dental warranty is, is your work is going in someone's mouth that they use every single day. Like,

Brad (27:03.95)

Yeah!

Kiera Dent (27:22.666)

this is something that you can't control. You can't control if they're chewing ice like we all know those ice chewers. We can try and educate them, but you don't know what they're doing at night. Are they wearing a night guard? Are they grinding all night long on that? Like on their teeth? What are they doing? Are they? I mean, gosh, I've seen people like snap open bottles with their teeth. I've seen people rip things with their teeth. I mean, we see it because we're so attuned to it in dentistry, but that's outside of your control. And so you did the great work in the chair, but that doesn't mean that

their life habits and their chewing habits and their day to day eating habits are something that you necessarily need to warranty. And I think that that's also the piece of like, you're actually warranting them as a person, you're not warranting your work and you're just being paid when they choose to make the decisions they make on their teeth. Like that's how I view it. It's them, it's a them problem is really what you're warranting. You're not having to do free work based on how they're chewing. It's nothing to do with you at all. You did the great work in the chair. Now this is just going for them. And sure, sometimes it is you. Sometimes it did fail.

I know that there's times that cement, it was not totally isolated. But guess what? That also happens. You're also human, but that's like a one out of a hundred times. And that's also covered versus there 99 times that it's them causing the problem. So that's my perspective on it too. I don't think it's a dentist and I don't think it sounds cheap whatsoever. And I love how you guys say it. We do the best work. We want to make sure that your investment is taken care of. And that way you have peace of mind, no matter what life event or accident or anything that comes your way.

you know that you'll be taken care of, no questions asked, come back in and we'll take great care of you. Like that's how it views. And I feel like it's more of a customer service pitch as opposed to your work isn't good.

Brad (28:55.63)

Absolutely.

Yeah, we've got practices that say, you know, we're getting to these bigger cases. We want to roll out the red carpet for our patients, kind of provide that concierge type experience, you know, provide the best value, best bang for their buck. And that's why they wanted to include a warranty on that case, on that treatment. Yeah, so that's the biggest thing is kind of shifting is I don't want this to sound cheap, but no, this is so high quality and so great that I want to...

Kiera Dent (29:05.834)

Yeah.

Kiera Dent (29:12.33)

Mm -hmm.

Kiera Dent (29:16.938)

Yeah.

Brad (29:26.126)

to provide this extra protection on it because who knows what you're gonna do with it in the future.

Kiera Dent (29:29.866)

Right. And I think also for you realizing whatever you perceive is what your patients are going to perceive. So if you feel like you're doing it because you've got cheap dentistry, they're going to feel that too. But if you just flip that story and paint it as one of we do the concierge work and just say, you know, I think generational shifts are happening. Brad and I, and where we are.

It is not weird for me to ever have something come up as a warranty. I get it every single day. I get it everywhere I go. It's on Amazon. It's at the stores, at every grocery stores with every like, and I mean, we're talking like $25 products that people are buying and it's like, you want a two year warranty on it? No, I don't want a warranty on that. Like, but I think generational shifts are happening too, where for us, I expect warranties to be everywhere. I don't know how you feel, Brad, but I definitely do. I think my parents or my grandparents might feel a little bit different about warranties coming into play.

but I know my in -laws, they're in their 70s, they're much older in life and their money is tighter for them. So I guarantee you, my in -laws would be so appreciative of a warranty being offered because they just spent thousands of dollars on dentistry and they were like, Kiera, this is really expensive. The peace of mind for them to know for the next five, six years they're going to be covered. I know my in -laws would have purchased that because they don't want to have to go shell out another grand, two grand, three grand for that dentistry being done. So even though I think...

The younger generations are used to warranties. The older generation is also coming into financial pieces that they've never had of retiring and looking at their funds differently than they ever have. I think both generations would appreciate a warranty greatly knowing the investment costs coming into play.

Brad (30:59.886)

Yeah. And again, what's great about this is presented to the patient, give them the option. If they buy it, you've got peace of mind, they got peace of mind. It's literally, it's a win -win. Worst case scenario, and this is something that the doctors actually really appreciate is if they say no thanks, no big deal. In fact, some offices what they'll do is they'll put a little check box on the ledger that says, I opt out of six year coverage. Patient will sign off on it. That way five years down the road, they come back in and says, it looks like you had opt out of the coverage. You know, this is what, you know, to expect next.

Kiera Dent (31:22.762)

Correct.

Brad (31:29.454)

They're not, what? I didn't know. They're not surprised because they opt out of it. It's, again, you drop your iPhone, you don't have AppleCare, you don't expect Apple to give you a new phone. But if you do have AppleCare, you're like, yes, I'm good. And so, yeah, that's what it is.

Kiera Dent (31:29.514)

Mm -hmm.

Totally.

Mm -hmm.

Kiera Dent (31:40.394)

No, agreed.

Kiera Dent (31:46.41)

Great. And I think also the education is there. So now when they come in, it's not that awkward conversation of you should cover this. It's you elected out of the warranty program. So and just let them know like perfect, no problem. So just, you know, if anything does happen over the next six years, it will be out of pocket for you. Then they know there's no questions anymore of like, are we doing this for free? Are we not doing it for free? They know what to expect. And doctors, if it is something on you or it was maybe a mistake in your lab or maybe it was a mistake there, by all means, you have that conversation, but they're prepared to pay you in full.

because the conversation already happened.

Brad (32:18.894)

Absolutely. And I've had doctors say, you know, if that is the case, they'd opt out. They can say, well, it looks like you'd opt out of our protection plan. Tell you what, if you get you need to get the six year coverage on the new treatment, because we're not going to do this again, but I'll give you a 20 % off or whatever you know, the practice would decide. But they can still kind of help the patient out, still get paid the vast majority of the full fee. And the patient still has the benefit and thinks they're being super kind and have that coverage for the next six years. So it's a lot easier to have those hard conversations when then you can provide the

Kiera Dent (32:32.938)

Smart.

Kiera Dent (32:44.65)

Yeah.

Brad (32:48.366)

solution the next time around.

Kiera Dent (32:50.602)

Right? And it's you get 20 % off when you buy the six year for the next one, because we're not doing this again. I think it's brilliant. I think that all of those really do give peace of mind for the practice and for the patient. Awesome. So Brad, if offices, not if.

Brad (32:54.446)

Right. Exactly.

Brad (33:02.51)

Mm -hmm.

Kiera Dent (33:07.082)

when offices, because I think everyone should do it. It's like an election year, there's uncertainty out there. You're feeling like patients aren't closing cases. Like put all the pieces into play before you tell me that patients aren't closing cases this year. Like I truly do know that you will close more cases with this because patients are skittish right now. They're scared of the global climate at large. And so giving them that peace of mind, I know will help you close more cases. So Brad, how do they connect with you? Like I said, I think everyone, I mean, between swell,

and dental warranty. I like walk around all the time, like you should have all your patients leaving Google reviews and every patient should get a warranty program. So that's why I love you guys. That's why I recommend you so heavily. But Brad, how do offices work with you? What does that look like?

Brad (33:48.526)

Yeah, so it's pretty simple. So if anyone is interested, they can go to DentalWarrantyCorp .com or they can give us a call at 1 -800 -691 -7234. And make sure to mention Dental A Team and the podcast. We've got a huge promotion to get started where we take 500 off the setup and training fee. So it's just 250 to get started. So there's no ongoing fees or additional support. So it's

Kiera Dent (34:10.57)

Nice.

Brad (34:15.118)

It's just the one time upfront of 250 get started and then the rest is profit for the practice. So again, every time a patient buys this, it's revenue in the practice.

Kiera Dent (34:24.426)

That's amazing. And so again, like, I love sweet rewards. So it's like, it's helping my patients is helping me get covered. Plus, it's also giving us that extra revenue, like he said, to bring on a new employee or to like 30 to 50 ,000. Just think of what you could do with that. And you're protecting the patient and your practice. So Brad, I'm obsessed with you guys. I think everyone should do it. I mean, 250 to get started. I can't think of a better investment that's gonna I don't know anywhere else that you could put 250 in and get 50 grand out of it. Like that's a really

Brad (34:51.246)

Right?

Kiera Dent (34:53.386)

I don't know. I just think it's amazing. But truly, I just think for the patient benefit, which is why I vet companies heavily before I promote them, I think it's such a good patient value add. I know you guys, I'm like, Brad, I've had dentistry done extensively. And the worst thing was knowing it was such a big cost to me. And then what happens? Because I mean, when you have a tragic accident or you've got decay or things like that, you always want to know, what happens if this happens again? Because it's already happened to me one time. And I'm going to have to have this again. Goodness.

It's amazing. So Brad, thanks for being here. You guys go check them out. Everybody should connect out. Dental Warranty Corp, like a corpse. That's what I was thinking when you said, I mean, it's corporation, but now you guys won't forget it. Or we'll put that phone number in the show notes for you so you guys can just call, reach out. Like you said, be sure to mention Dental A Team. And Brad, I mean, I can't wait to see you next time. But thanks for being here today and just truly sharing how practices can see it as such a value add, such a peace of mind. And you're not selling yourself short. You are not cheapening it. I just want to like,

Brad (35:29.518)

Yep.

Kiera Dent (35:51.882)

really, really, really, really push that on doctors. Like he said, the best companies offer the warranties. That's the companies that know that their work's amazing, which is why they're willing to warranty because they know you're not going to come back in. The only way you're coming back in is if a life event happens. Other than that, it's amazing dentistry. So I think it's a win -win all the way around. So Brad, thanks for being here.

Brad (36:09.038)

Thanks, and hopefully see you sooner rather than later. Yep.

Kiera Dent (36:11.818)

all of you listening, Thank you all for listening. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Brad (36:16.366)

All right, take care