Is This More Important Than Being a Good Clinician? Interview with Renowned Periodontist and Author Michael Sonick, DMD
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
Release Date: 03/11/2025
Ann-Marie DePalma, CDA, RDH, MEd on the Connection Between Technology, Dentistry, and Women’s Health
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
Few people in oral healthcare have the rich and storied background of Ann-Marie DePalma, CDA, RDH, MEd. Ann-Marie has extensive experience in clinical practice, education, dental software, and volunteering, and her experience lends valuable insight into the interoperability challenges we face in dentistry today. Ann-Marie joined me on The Patient First Podcast to share her story as an oral health speaker and educator, as a clinician, and as a patient herself. In this episode, Ann-Marie and I talk about how dental teams can successfully implement new technology, the need for increased awareness...
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The Easiest Way for Dental Professionals to Get Their CPR Certifications
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
There’s always another aspect of dentistry that can be improved through innovation, and this is perfectly demonstrated by Debora Carrier, RDH of The CPR Sisters. Deb and her sister have developed an innovative and highly personalized CPR training curriculum that helps dental professionals get the maximum benefit from the training without added performance anxiety. In this short and sweet episode of The Patient First Podcast, I interview Deb on-location at the Chicago Midwinter Meeting to learn more about how her team is helping dental teams everywhere experience a higher quality of CPR...
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Aimee Vail, RDH, MHA/Ed Explains What You Might Not Know About the Minimally Invasive Dentistry Movement
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
Just as advances in technology are moving the practice of dentistry forward, so advances in clinical care are making a huge impact in the quality of care patients today receive. And sometimes, more advanced clinical care means going back to deceptively simple basics. The dynamic Aimee Vail, RDH, MHA/Ed and Special Markets Manager for Centrix joined me in the Toothapps® booth at the 2025 Chicago Midwinter Meeting to record this lively interview for The Patient First Podcast. In this episode, we talk about what she has been doing to help make more patients and providers aware of the...
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Kwikly Dental Staffing’s Head of Growth Explains How to Find High-Quality Temp Workers
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
In this current climate of healthcare worker shortages, many dental practice owners struggle to find and retain the talent they need to sustain efficient operations while delivering high-caliber care to their patients. As a result, most dentists understandably feel they can’t afford to be picky when it comes to hiring temp workers. Fortunately, the highly rated Kwikly Dental Staffing takes care of the vetting for you so you can rest easy knowing that you’ll get high-quality workers right when you need them. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, I interview Kwikly’s Head of...
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An Interview with OG Dental Marketing Specialist Nancy Lashley Sullivan
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
I always say that the two greatest charlatans in dentistry (after dental insurance companies, of course) are marketers and consultants. But this one marketing consultant breaks the mold. In fact, she’s the one who set the bar in the first place. Nancy Lashley Sullivan began her rich and storied career 25 years ago when “dental marketing” wasn’t yet a concept. While the landscape of marketing in dentistry has changed over the years, Nancy’s approach has remained solidly grounded in authenticity. Her success has earned her the well-deserved title of “Dental Marketing Specialist.”...
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What Dentists Need to Know About the Broken American Healthcare System—an Interview with Frank Lobb
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
The third-party payer system for healthcare in the United States isn’t as broken as you think…it’s much, much worse. Although virtually every American citizen has had to contend with the needlessly yet deliberately complex circus of healthcare insurance, few have dug down as deep as author Frank Lobb to uncover the truth of how the system works. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, Frank and I discuss the chronic illness afflicting the American Healthcare System and exchange insights from our unique perspectives and experiences. As Frank explains in this interview—and details...
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Is This More Important Than Being a Good Clinician? Interview with Renowned Periodontist and Author Michael Sonick, DMD
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
More important than being a skilled clinician is being a caring one. Dr. Michael Sonick is an internationally renowned periodontist who has learned this through personal experience, as both a patient himself and as a very successful practitioner. And what’s really interesting is how technology like Toothapps® can actually support dentists in experiencing the benefits of being caring, people-centric providers. Instead of de-personalizing care, technology saves time for busy dentists and specialists who can, in turn, spend more time showing personal interest and hospitality to their patients....
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Talking Teledentistry at Yankee Dental Congress with Melissa K. Turner, BASDH, RDHEP, EFD
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
Although the concept of “teledentistry” has taken off in recent years, many dentists are still in the dark about its potential and the surprisingly simple ways they can begin implementing it. At this year’s Yankee Dental Congress, I sat down with the dynamic dental personality Melissa K. Turner to talk about the benefits of teledentistry and what she is doing to help more practices and patients benefit from it. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, you’ll get some insider tips from Melissa herself and learn about the opportunities she is creating for more voices in dentistry to...
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DSO Leader Explains How Toothapps® Is Helping Them Deliver Successful Patient Outcomes
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
Toothapps® is solving problems and bridging gaps in communication and in the continuum of care in dentistry. In fact, it’s developing new ways to do this so rapidly, even current users of the Toothapps software are surprised to learn about what it can do. In this interview with Corey Hastings, DDS, MS, MBA and Owner and Operator of Blue Sage Management Group, you’ll learn how Toothapps is helping his team execute his vision for dental care and deliver successful outcomes to patients. I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—dentist, author, CEO of Toothapps, engineer of Connected Dentistry® and...
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Copper Penny Consulting CEO Amy Wood Exposes the Level of Data Security Risk That Dental Practices Are Facing
The Patient First Podcast with Dr. Bryan Laskin
HIPAA training and talk about data security might not be the most exciting topics in dentistry, but they could lead to more excitement than you want, if you neglect them. In this episode of The Patient First Podcast, Copper Penny Consulting CEO Amy Wood shares her own horrifying true story of what can happen when a dental patient’s personal information makes it out onto the Internet. She explains how this experience drove her to fight for the protection of dental patients and practices everywhere, and led to the founding of Copper Penny Consulting. We debate whether digital records are...
info_outlineMore important than being a skilled clinician is being a caring one. Dr. Michael Sonick is an internationally renowned periodontist who has learned this through personal experience, as both a patient himself and as a very successful practitioner.
And what’s really interesting is how technology like Toothapps® can actually support dentists in experiencing the benefits of being caring, people-centric providers.
Instead of de-personalizing care, technology saves time for busy dentists and specialists who can, in turn, spend more time showing personal interest and hospitality to their patients.
You’re in for a real treat with this episode of The Patient First Podcast in which Dr. Sonick shares one gem after another that can help practices build solid teams and loyal patient bases. We talk culture versus strategy, AI, how to choose team leaders, and much more in this captivating interview.
I’m Dr. Bryan Laskin—a fellow author and dentist who believes in patient-first care, and an engineer of solutions that support it.
Connect with Dr. Sonick: MichaelSonick.com
Read Dr. Sonick’s book: Treating People, Not Patients
Watch more tips from Dr. Sonick on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/+@michaelsonick
Explore how Toothapps® solutions can give you more time to spend with people, aka, your patients: Toothapps.com