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Dr. David Willey: Clinical Mistake
25 Plays7 days ago
What if turning 60 wasn’t the time to slow down, but the time to build something bigger than ever?
That’s exactly what Dr. David Willey did. After 36 years in Highlands County, he made the bold decision to rebrand, expand, and open a brand-new 13-operatory practice—Lakeside Dental Arts. His story proves that growth has no age limit and that the passion for dentistry only deepens with time.
Throughout this insightful episode, Dr. Willey highlights the importance of building a strong team and developing systems to manage the day-to-day workflow in a high-capacity dental practice. Emphasizing the value of young associates in the field, Dr. Willey reflects on the fulfillment of mentoring fresh dentists, helping them steer clear of common pitfalls, and nurturing their growth. With practical anecdotes, like a memorable clinical error related to expired medicaments, he illustrates the importance of learning from mistakes to enhance patient care, dental excellence, and overall success in the practice.
Key Takeaways:
- Successful dental practices rely on strong leadership and efficient systems to ensure high-quality patient care.
- Mentoring young associate dentists is crucial, as it allows for their growth while introducing fresh perspectives to practice.
- Monitoring medicaments and maintaining systems is essential to avoid clinical errors and ensure effective treatment.
- Building a practice with a personalized patient approach fosters strong patient relationships and enhances care standards.
- Embracing innovation and maintaining a passion for dentistry can propel professional growth and personal fulfillment.
Connect with Elvis Dahl: @lakesidedentalarts
Connect with Ignitedds and Dr. David Rice: @ignitedds Free Intro Call
Connect with Tanya Sue Maestas: @tsmaestas.dds
Learn more about Ignite Coaching : https://ignitedds.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Dental Fuel Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Dental Fuel, the podcast that focuses on what no one else is talking about, mistakes. The dental world is full of before and afters, and no one is talking about the middle.
00:00:11
Speaker
Dental Fuel brings you the unspoken in between. Dental Fuel is brought to you by Ignite DDS Coaching, empowering dentists to build self-determined futures. Together, we're shaping the next generation of leaders in dentistry.
Dr. Willey's Journey into Dentistry
00:00:24
Speaker
We are back with another guest, Dr. David Willey. Dr. Willey originates from a family of dentists in Ohio.
00:00:31
Speaker
In this episode, Dr. Willey shares his remarkable journey and insights into the dental practice transformation. He talks about the intricacies of managing multi-operatory practices and the crucial role of mentoring younger dentists in today's dynamic dental landscape.
00:00:46
Speaker
And of course, it wouldn't be dental fuel if we didn't talk about a mistake. Dr. Willey talks about a clinical mistake. Let's listen in.
Managing Practices and Mentorship
00:00:53
Speaker
Dr. David Willey, welcome to Dental Fuel.
00:00:57
Speaker
How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Thanks so much for being with us today. I'm very excited to hear your story and to share your story with our listeners. But before we get into it, I would love if you would tell myself and our listeners a little bit about yourself.
00:01:13
Speaker
Well, I'm a third generation dentist. I grew up in a family of grandfather and dentists who are dentists in Ohio. I chose to relocate to the great state of Florida and ah had a great mentor, my father, who encouraged me to go to school where I wanted to live in particular because at that time, Florida boards were pretty difficult to pass. But it allowed me to come down to Florida and really enjoy not only the environment of the beautiful climate, but also Some of the great things that the state of Florida has to offer in particular, we have quite a few retirees that need dentistry to have done and be
New Beginnings and Practice Management
00:01:49
Speaker
redone. So, you know I found a passion for really kind of connecting with some of our more mature patients, but still treat a ah number of ah family.
00:01:59
Speaker
But I've been practicing for 38 years. ah for 36 in Highlands County in Florida. I'm at my third office. I was crazy enough at age 60 to open up a brand new practice, but ah just changed my name, real rebranded ourselves and brought in some associates and really enjoying the journey.
00:02:21
Speaker
Very cool. And so are you managing those three practices now? Well, ah the first one was in a small three operatory office for about 12 years. Then I moved to another office that was in the same town ah that had seven ops. And then ah about five years ago, I started embarking on this journey and ah have but now a 13-op office overlooking beautiful Lake Jackson. And it's ah one of the things I've really ah enjoyed is just ah designing it, building it. So I enjoy going to work every day.
00:02:54
Speaker
13 ops can sound pretty daunting. I know that there are handful of associates who are with you, but how do you manage kind of the ins and outs of the workflow of, you know, the day-to-day practice? ah You have to have a really good team and I have some great team members that really have taken some leadership positions. So,
00:03:14
Speaker
ah A lot of the team are the under the under team reports to these team leaders who ended up reporting to me. But we've developed a number of systems that consider ah what we'd like to have done as well as can ensure consistency of treatment and how things flow. But it's a daunting task. and when I opened up 13 Ops, initially had equipped eight and two years later, all 13 are going.
Mentorship and Growth of Young Dentists
00:03:38
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And It's been just kind of a phenomenal growth that we've experienced, but I've tried to manage it in a way where ah we find the patients still feel that they're individuals, that they feel like they're taken care of, but it is kind of fun some days to walk down the hallway and see the hustle and bustle and watch
00:03:57
Speaker
two young dentists starting to thrive and watching ah some of the team members members really enjoy helping these dentists grow. And that's really kind of my passion for my legacy is to make sure that that our practice continues on for years to come where patients really experience a great care and also excellence in dentistry and ideally the best in comfort.
00:04:19
Speaker
I did see that those who you work with, ah the other dentists in your practice, that they are just slightly younger than you are. And I often feel that there are some seasoned dentists out out there who may be a little bit skeptical in bringing on a newer dentist.
00:04:34
Speaker
What are your thoughts on that? My thoughts are they have not... ah encountered all these bad habits and you really can kind of groom them. And ah I take some pride in really taking time to find the right associate. It took me two years. I opened up my office at eight ops and I was swamped and I just did my own thing for a couple years until I found the right mix. And then now I have another one that's joined us. And, but ah it it is, you know, it's a challenge each day, but, um,
00:05:06
Speaker
You have to enjoy teaching, you have to enjoy mentoring. If that's something you enjoy doing, then bringing on young associates are, I feel very rewarding because the milestones they make from zero dollars to just some numbers they're doing now, I i look at them and it's like, wow, you guys are doing it.
00:05:23
Speaker
This is pretty cool. And it's not just about the money, it's the patients who are enjoying them and to watch a young dentist come out that basically has no experience and watch them just start to mature and get some confidence.
00:05:35
Speaker
But you I'm in the room with them, I have to look at all their treatment plans with them and run different ideas by them, they'll come to us and talk to us. But, you know, pretty much they have full range of how they want to work. And, you know, I'm not there to tell them what to do. But I am a sounding board to really kind of give them another perspective that they may not necessarily know or have seen before.
00:05:59
Speaker
Very well said. And I hope that there are more of you out there who can continue to mentor us young dentists because we definitely need that mentorship. And it is very nice to be molded by somebody who knows so much, ah who can, you know, prevent us from making all a lot of those mistakes, or at least when we do make those mistakes, kind of helping us along the way and and correct them as we go.
Learning from Mistakes in Dentistry
00:06:19
Speaker
But speaking of mistakes, Dr. Willie here at Dental Fuel, we are dedicated to learning from each other's mistakes. So I want to hear a few of yours. And I'd like to start off with a clinical mistake that you can remember making in your time in practice and how you managed and grew from that.
00:06:36
Speaker
Well, as our office grew here and I was equipping more and more ops and but with medicaments, I ah put in a beautiful veneer case. and then found out that the silane that I was using was bad. So eventually I re-cemented all 12 veneers on this patient over a couple of years.
00:06:57
Speaker
So one of the things we always have to do is have someone following through to make sure that your medicaments or your processes are being followed. and ah You just realize that sometimes a minor mistake, just a minor oversight can really produce some dramatic results.
00:07:13
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But the patient was nice about it. And, you know, you just have to basically put your tail between your legs and say, hey, this is what I learned. um And this is what we've got to do to fix it. So but I would just say that's probably one of the biggest ones. so You know, and then, you know, also just realizing with some denture patients, you can't make them happy.
00:07:33
Speaker
and you have to have them have realistic expectations both on our implant dentures and conventional dentures. So I would say those are probably the biggest challenge for new dentists as you get out is picking your cases correctly and starting off with something somewhat easier so you can get your feet on the ground. The last thing you want to be doing is prepping 12 veneers in your first week and realizing that while there's some challenges in prep design and then putting them in is even more challenging. So But I would probably say just staying on top, making sure your systems are there so that you don't have medicaments that go bad.
00:08:07
Speaker
And also make sure that your systems ensure success. The practice of dentistry, huh? We continue to practice and learn every day. It's a, and and and you have to to laugh about it. I mean, i my initial course that I took out in California you know, to tell you how important medicaments are, we were putting in, I wasn't putting in the case, but the guy next to me was putting in the case and his assistant had try and paste and she thought that was the cement and by the time they put everything on, and hit it with the light and then went to do the cleanup and everything fell off, you realize, hey, you better know what you're using. So it was kind of a funny time. but
00:08:45
Speaker
Here you are with the hands-on force and someone has made another mistake that, you know, it ended up getting solid, but it just goes to show you that things happen sometimes in dentistry. Oh, that's so funny. I can only imagine that the, ah you know, the course instructor just probably felt terrible that it's so funny though. yeah what ah What a great way to den demonstrate, hey, it happens to even the best of dentists out there. yeah so yeah Thank you for joining this conversation with Dr. Willie. Join us next week where we talk about a financial mistake.
00:09:15
Speaker
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