All language subtitles for Tomorrows.World.Today.S08E03.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
On "Tomorrow's World Today,"
we explore the cutting edge

advances that are shaping
four different worlds --

the world of inspiration,
where the wonders of

the natural world amaze
and inspire us.

The world of creation,
where ideas come to life

from traditional arts.

The world of innovation,
where ideas and inventions

move us all forward.

The world of production,
where innovations

are mass produced to
improve our lives.

From Inventionland
World Headquarters,

here's your host,
George Davison.

Dentistry sure has come a long
way from its humble beginnings.

In the early days,
these rudimentary tools

and techniques defined dental
care, and it offered limited

solutions to common
oral health issues.

Today, the landscape for
dentistry is dramatically

different, and it's marked with
these remarkable advancements

and innovative practices

that enhance patient care
and outcomes.

One of the most significant
drivers of innovation is

something called a DSO,
which stands for

a Dental Support Organization.

These organizations are
revolutionizing

how dental practices operate
more innovatively by providing

essential non-clinical support.

Now what that does, is
it allows the dentist to focus

on what they do best,
provide patient care,

not running the office.

These DSOs are integrating
cutting edge technologies like

digitally scanning
the inside of a mouth

and converting
the data into math

that will be necessary to
run a 3D printer

that will print the teeth that
are needed for the patient.

DSOs are figuring out how to
make our dentists better.

So I'm gonna send Greg to
the world of innovation to

explore how these innovations
enhance patient experiences

and make dental care
more accessible

and efficient than ever before.

[inspirational music playing]

In today's rapidly evolving
dental industry, there's a new

trend that's transforming
the way patients receive care

and the way dental practices
are supported.

Dental Support Organizations,
or DSOs, are revolutionizing

dentistry all
across the country.

I'm in Orlando, Florida,
to meet with Dr. Rick Workman,

the founder of
Heartland Dental,

and we're gonna discuss
the benefits of DSOs and how

they are shaping the future of
dentistry in tomorrow's world.

Hey, Dr. Workman.

Hey, good seeing you.
How are you?

Good to see you.
I'm great.

So Doctor, tell me a little bit
about the, uh, the evolution

of dentistry in
the United States.

It wasn't always even
a recognized profession.

It's so true.

Been a lot of advances
over the years.

Dentistry got its first
dental school in Baltimore

in the early 1800s.

Since then, dentists have
worked hard on

studying the science,
understanding the science,

and how to apply that to
oral health.

We now know today, a lot of
connections between oral health

and systemic health, so a lot
of changes over time.

Well, how about
the changes since

you got out of dental school?

Well, believe it or not, when I
graduated from dental school in

1980, out of all the dentists
in America, 98% were male,

and 98% were white.

Today, there's massive
diversity in dentistry.

57% of all people going to
dental school today are women.

And so, as we've had a lot of
technology changes,

there's been a lot of
social changes.

It's very interesting and
exciting times in dentistry.

Excellent.
Well, I'd love to learn more.

Well, come on in.
We'll talk about it.

Look forward to it.

-Welcome to my office.
-Well, thank you very much.

So Doctor, let's talk
a little bit about

what was going on in
the dental industry

that inspired you to start
Heartland?

First of all, I didn't set out
to start Heartland Dental.

When I set up my first practice
in Effingham, Illinois,
I quickly

began to figure out how much
I needed to learn as a dentist,

and all other aspects of
running a dental practice,

including figuring out how to
withhold taxes, et cetera,

and stay solvent.

Through a lot of hard work
and many hours over the course

of the next decade, by the end
of the '80s, I could see that

there were changes coming
to dentistry.

The cost of education had
increased a lot.

We had maybe a dozen dentists
working together, and we were

building a community,
and we were learning together.

And some of the newer dentists
could begin to figure out that

they were learning faster,
advancing in their career

faster because of all of
our interactions

than some of their peers.

And they began to see
the value of that.

And I began to see
the value of that.

And through that,
eventually, what's now known as

Heartland Dental supports
3,000 dentists nationwide,

and that same community,
learning together, has created

tremendous advantage
for all of us.

You mentioned that the cost of
a dental education

and that's changed a lot.

How has a Dental Support
Organization been able to make

that a little less of a strain
on a new dentist?

So my total tuition for
dental school was $5,000.

$32,500 to set up
my first practice.

Today, 20 percent of all new
graduates have over

$500,000
of student debt.

Another 20 percent have
over $400,000 student debt.

This year, Heartland Dental
will open over 100 new

practices at a cost of over
$1 million per practice.

It's almost impossible for new
graduates to do that

or replicate that.

They do get the opportunity,
though, to walk into a practice

like that who has the latest in
technologies, systems are in

place, there's a mentor doctor
they can work directly with.

As a community working together
with our 3,000 supported

doctors, some which may be
their classmates working in

another town, they can learn
together and greatly accelerate

their uptake of
the technologies

and all the new protocols that
modern dentistry has.

Being able to keep up with
that, like you mentioned,

the technologies and the
learning curve that somebody's

up against now, to do that in
isolation would be

extraordinarily difficult.

So what you're really talking
about is dentists helping

dentists and really hoping that
the through line is

that it gets to the patient.
-Absolutely.

When there was a time where
things were slowly changing,

you wouldn't have to do much
different for five years.

Today, technology changes
every six months,

and you've got to
have somebody be an expert

or you're gonna be left behind.
-Right.

Well, I can't wait to see
this all in action,

so I'm gonna head down to
one of the offices.

I can't wait for you to
meet our team.

[Greg]
Dental Support Organizations,
or DSOs, are revolutionizing

the dental industry by
providing essential

administrative and operational
support, allowing dentists to

focus on patient care.

I'm in Orlando, Florida,
where I'm going to talk to

Dr. Michael Badger,
a Heartland Dental
supported doctor,

about how DSOs are
continuing to shape

the dental industry.

Hey, Dr. Badger.

-Hey, Greg, how you doing?
-I'm great, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

-Well, I was talking
with Dr. Workman,
-Yes.

He was really excited for me to
get down here to O-Town West

and see what your team does.

I'm excited too, but we were
talking about new technologies

in modern dentistry.

What's the most exciting thing
to you right now?

Without question,
it's AI Diagnostics

and 3D printing.

AI Diagnostics supports
my diagnosis.

It allows for early detection.

It allows for my patients to
see what I see.

Excellent, well, I'd love to get
a tour of the facility.

Love to show it to you.
Come along.

[inspirational music playing]

[Angeline]
OK, so this one you can see here
is an early decay.

The good thing is that
we were able to --

[Michael]
This is an example of
AI being utilized

in our practice right now.

So we were talking
about -- hey!

-Hi, Doctor, how are you?
-Hi Angeline, hi.

Danielle, how are
you doing today?

-I'm doing great.
-It's so good to see you again.

I have a dear friend,
Greg, here.

And I know you all are
talking about

what's going on in your mouth --
do you mind if I share
a little bit

about what's going on as
far as your AI platform here,

just a little bit?
-Yeah, that's fine.

OK, great.
You and I were talking earlier

about how AI has
enhanced the patient experience

so that they can see
what we see.

We're able to share that
message and gain

patients' acceptance
and their understanding .

We're able to treat
those things early on.

And catching them at an early
break will allow us to be able

to make the patients' experience
that much better.

Would you mind flipping that
over to the way we look at

these x-rays ordinarily,
and we're sitting up trying to

explain these things to
patients on day in, and day out

and you see the difference.

[Greg] So as I'm looking
at these AI x-ray images,

the pinkish red areas
indicate tooth decay

and the yellowish translucent

areas indicate what's actually
starting to decay.

Now the yellow areas aren't
visible with the naked eye,

and these are the trouble spots
that will need to be

watched closely.

[Michael]
Absolutely, and the patient
sees, and they get it,

and they understand the urgency
and importance of treating this

while it's early on.

Because we believe that
the best dentistry is the least

amount of dentistry.
-Right, right.

Now, you'd also mentioned how
important 3D printing is going

to be in the future --
can we take a look at that?
-Yeah, yeah.

-Absolutely, let's go do it.
-All right.

-Thank you both.
-Thank you, Doctor.

Good to see you.
Thank you.

Ok, do you have any questions
about the...

So Greg, this is one of
our 3D printing platforms.

It's actually making
a prosthesis for a patient
right now.

So this is creating new teeth
for a dental patient?

-Absolutely.
-What's it gonna look like
when it's done?

Well, this is a provisional
that we made for a patient.

So imagine someone
coming here with no teeth

or badly damaged teeth,
and they walk out with
a brand-new smile.

This is so realistic looking.

How does this whole
process start?

It starts with
digital scanning.

And I know Dr. Plower is
gonna go over that
with you right now.

Excellent.
Well, we'll catch up in a bit.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

So in talking to Dr. Badger,

he talked a lot about
AI, 3D printing, a lot of

the new technologies that are
being incorporated into

modern dentistry.
-Yeah.

I know you're really excited
about digital scanning.

Oh, absolutely, but before
I show you digital scanning,

I think it's really important
to talk about

traditional dental impressions.

You know, traditional dental
impressions were so delicate,

and the fact that dentists
ever got it right

is actually shocking.

So this new technology
has eliminated

a lot of human error.

Let me show you a little bit
about digital scanning in here.

So if you take a look,
our hygienist is scanning

a patient, and right here in
real time, we see her teeth

coming up on the screen.

-Isn't that cool?
-That's very, very cool.

So this is actually what's
happening inside her mouth

as we speak.
-That's right.

And she's able to see it in
three dimension, and so am I.

So we're using these for
accurate fitting restorations,

everything from dentures,
partials, and crowns.

But I think what's more
important is we're using this

as a patient education tool.
-Well, how does that work?

So you've probably never seen
your mouth outside of your head

in three dimension.
-No, I don't believe I have.

Right, and so there's a lot of
trust between a doctor

and a patient, meaning I usually
look in their mouth,

and I tell them
what's going on.

But now instead of just telling
them, I can show them.

So educating the patient is
clearly very important,

but education seems to be
a really integral part of

the whole organization,
dentist to dentist as well.

So let's go talk to
Dr. Badger about that.

That sounds good.
Let's do that.

Ordinarily, we'd end up
trying to explain --

[Greg]
Technological advancements
like artificial intelligence

and 3D printing,
are transforming
the dental industry.

These innovations are
revolutionizing dental

practices, enhancing
patient care,

and streamlining operations.

I had a chance to sit down with
both Dr. Badger

and Dr. Plower of
Heartland Dental

to further explore
the peer-to-peer network

that is setting new standards
in dentistry.

-Hey, Dr. Badger.
-Hey.

-Good to see you again.
-Good to see you as well.

-Hey, Doc.
-Hey, how are you?

-I'm good.
-Well, Dr. Plower and I were
talking about

digital scanning.
You and I talked about AI,

3D printing, all of
the new technologies
-Right

that are being
involved in modern dentistry.
-Yes.

But one of the things that's
really intriguing me is that

the peer-to-peer network
that you all work in,

tell me more about that.

Honestly, it's
a doctor to doctors.

Doctors helping doctors to
become the best that they can

so they can serve
their patients the best way

that they can.

You know, I practiced for
15 years on my own,

and honestly, when you're
working in that type of

environment, as pretty much
every doctor does in

the country, you're working on
an island by yourself,

and there are things you gotta
deal with on a day-to-day basis

that you're not -- may not be
accustomed to dealing with as

a young doctor
fresh out of school.

So having someone that you can
lean on in a non-threatening

environment, someone who's
willing to share and give

you positive exchange, and give
you positive feedback is one of

the blessings of what Heartland
Dental does and how we do it.

Right, and I guess you came
into this network

as a new dentist,
how was that for you?

Yeah, so my experience was
a little different than

Dr. Badger's, so I joined as
a Heartland supported dentist

right out of dental school.

And I did that because
dental school really taught me

the fundamentals of how to
treat patients, but what I was

really lacking was
communication skills

and leadership skills,

and that's what
Heartland offers.

Education's such a key part
of our culture.

Heartland Dental University
offered me Bell leadership

classes, offered me
communication courses,

and then outside of
the classroom, they offered

me mentorship.
So I spent some time

in Dr. Badger's office,
and I watched him lead a team.

I watched him communicate with
patients, and that's been a key

part of my growth.
-[Greg] Excellent.

Well, I guess we're all about
to learn a little bit more

about that when Pat Bauer meets
up with George back

at Inventionland.
So thank you very much.

Thank you.

-Thank you, mm-hmm.
-Thank you very much.

Hey Pat, welcome
to Inventionland.

Hey George, super nice to
meet you.

Well, it's great that
you're here.

I've been looking forward to
you coming in and talking

a little more about the dental
industry and some of

the technology
and innovation going on.

Well, the lifetime care for
our dentists has not

fundamentally changed, because
it's still about lifetime care,

you know, the dentistry lasting
for a lifetime.

But what's changed is all
the different products

and innovation, like digital
x-rays 20 plus years ago --

now we put AI
in that digital x-ray.

We also have Curodont and Align,
Invisalign to make sure that

the function is there.

And our supported doctors are
constantly looking for the best

products to deliver that kind
of care to their patients in

the communities they serve.
-[George] Isn't that fabulous?

It is.
It's amazing.

You're integrating AI into it
now and just more

and more progress.

That kind of leads me into some
of the pictures that your team

sent in, and I was hoping
you could go over

some of that with me.

I really couldn't figure out
what was going on.

Well, this is
Dr. Plower.

She's one of
my favorite doctors.

She is using an iTero scanner.
So that's an iTero scanner.

And back in the day,
they would use goop.

So when they were doing
a crown or Invisalign,

an orthodontic procedure,
we would then put goop in

the patient's mouth,
which would then make

an impression of that tooth.
And nobody likes goop.

-[George] Mm-hmm, no.
-And it's really awful.

Well, now this is a digital
impression that is

much more accurate.

The digital impression then
gets sent digitally to the lab.

so there's no mail going
back and forth.
-Nice.

And then the final product is
sent so that they can seat it

with the patient,
both Invisalign and the crown.

And that's a massive
innovation.

I mean, now the patient can
actually see on a screen what

their mouth actually
looks like.

And they can see it blown up on
a big screen and say,

"Oh, why does
it look like that?"

-Right.
-And so it helps the patient
understand what they're doing

and why the doctor is doing
what they're doing.

I've been in that position just
like that girl.

And that goop was
down in there.

It did not feel good.

Nobody wants goop
in their mouth.

-That's a great advancement.
-It is.

It's a massive innovation.
And it keeps on getting better.

They're making
the wands smaller.

They're doing it.

They keep on making them better
and better so that

the experience not only for
the patient but for the doctor

is that much better.
-That's a big advance.

-That creates everything.
-That's -- yeah, I really
like that one.

[Greg]
Smart technology in the dental
industry saves time and money

and provides more options for
preventative care for patients.

We're continuing
our conversation with

Pat Bauer,
Heartland Dental's President

and Chief Executive Officer,

about what the future holds for
the intersection of

technology and dental care
and how Dental Support

Organizations, or DSOs,
will continue to lead the way

in innovation.

You know, they sent me
these other pictures, too.

Could you explain
this one, Pat?

Yeah, this is a hygienist that
looks like she's cleaning

a patient's teeth,
and what she also has

the ability to do there is
use Curodont.

Curodont is a product --
do you remember back in the day

when you went to the dentist
and they'd say, "Well,

"if you have -- I see this small
cavity and it's just too small,

so I'm going to watch it?"
-Yeah, I remember that.

So that watching now
no longer has to happen.

As soon as they say "watching
it," they can use Curodont,

which is a peptide type of
liquid that goes on the tooth,

the hygienist puts it in,

and it remineralizes
the enamel.

So now you don't have to have
a drill that is now

very painful to go in there
and take it out.

It goes away.

So it actually
grows the enamel.

It's almost as
innovative, honestly.

It'll change the decay model
from when fluoride did it back

in the day, when they first
started putting fluoride in

the water, was to make
the teeth stronger,
-Right.

so that the decay would be less.

Well, this is also gonna
change the model because now if

you don't have to, you can put
this on it, and you're a child

or an adult, and you don't have
to have a filling --

it's the best lifetime care we
can deliver to a patient because

now I don't have to have
a filling, and you don't have to

have that, you know, that
grinding of the drill

that you can hear.

Right or the pinch of the cheek
and they stick you with

the syringe and then the smell
of the -- what is that smell?

-The hair --
the hair burning smell.
-Right, right.

-It's just terrible, awful.
-Burning teeth.

Yeah, it's just not -- it's not
a good smell, and that's

why it's so innovative for them
to be able to do this,

and the hygienist can place it,
and it's just the best care

that we can deliver
to our patients.

That's wonderful.
What a great advance.

It's amazing.

All right, well talking about
advances, I was hoping while

I have you here, you could tell
me a little more about,

you know, the future of
dentistry in tomorrow's world.

Well, if you think about it,
most dentists graduating today

won't own their own practice.

The amount of debt that
they have, how much it costs to

start a practice is
very prohibitive.

Plus they have all that back
office stuff that they have to

worry about --
insurance, HR, technology,

regulatory issues that
come about.

They don't have time for that,
plus being the best dentist

that they can be.

And so the future is more
people like us supporting

doctors so that they can really
lead their practices

and really do better
patient care,

which is really lifetime care
for the communities they serve.

And me as a patient, I'm liking
what I'm hearing because

the doctor, dentist, is gonna
be a much happier person while

they're working on me, right?
-Yes, exactly.

That's a good innovation.
Thank you for that.

It is.
You're welcome.

So how about a tour
of Inventionland?

I'd love to see it.

All right, come on,
let's do it.

[George]
And remember, tomorrow's world
is where inspiration

and creation drive
innovation and production.

See you next time.