Podcast
Dental Mentors
Hosted by Dental Mentors · EN
Learn strategies for building wealth in dentistry.
Hosted by Matt Ornstein, Eric Morin, and Neil Zemba.
Whether you’re focused on optimizing your practice, expanding your portfolio, or designing a life of abundance and impact, Dental Mentors is your space to learn, connect, and build alongside the most driven minds in dentistry.
We started Dental Mentors to change the conversation around money in dentistry. For too long, the topic of wealth has been treated as delicate or taboo — yet financial growth is one of the most empowering forms of professional and personal mastery.
We believe that building wealth is a responsibility, allowing you to create freedom for your family, support the causes you believe in, and live life on your own terms. Dental Mentors exists to demystify wealth-building and share the strategies of the wealthy so every member can benefit, grow, and give back with greater purpose.
7episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The 9% Organic Growth Blueprint: Mike Huffaker on Decoding the New Patient Pipeline
1w ago01:04:02Tap to summarizeIn this high-impact episode of Dental Mentors, host Matt Ornstein sits down with a true scale innovator and technology executive: Mike Huffaker, Chief Revenue Officer at Planet DDS.Mike brings a powerful enterprise perspective, having helped lead Planet DDS through an explosive growth arc from $10 million to over $120 million in annual revenue. Today, his platform serves more than 14,500 practices and over half of the top 50 DSOs in the country. In this conversation, Mike pulls back the corporate curtain on why a fragmented technology stack can heavily penalize your valuation by millions of dollars, the danger of falling into the "fixer-upper" DSO trap, and the precise, data-backed operational metrics that separate double-digit growth empires from stagnant clinics.In this episode, you’ll learn:The $4 Million Fragmented Tech Stack Penalty: Why running multiple, disjointed practice management systems across 10 or 20 locations creates a "Wild West" environment that can instantly cost you 1 to 2 turns on your EBITDA multiple during buyer due diligence.The 20-Location Growth Wall: The structural reason emerging group practices hit a sharp operational deceleration at 20 offices, and how to pre-emptively professionalize your technology stack to scale past it.The Case Acceptance Illusion vs. Completion: Why raw case acceptance percentages have a shockingly weak correlation to revenue growth, and why elite operators focus entirely on minimizing the gap between initial acceptance and actual case completion.The 35 vs. 75 New Patient Benchmarks: The concrete industry data showing why practices with fewer than 35 new patients a month shrink, while those exceeding 75 new patients push past 9% organic growth annually.Whether you are an emerging group operator trying to build repeatable standard operating procedures (SOPs) or a single practice owner planning a highly lucrative future exit, this conversation with Mike Huffaker delivers the ultimate technology and data blueprint.🚀 Join the Dental Mentors Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/dentalmentorsOr visit: www.dentalmentors.comConnect with the team: 👉 Mike Huffaker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/huffaker/ 👉 Planet DDS Website: https://www.planetdds.com/👉 Matt Ornstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ornstein-8363a756/👉 Neil Zemba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemba/👉 Eric Morin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjmorin/👉 Dental Mentors Website: https://www.dentalmentors.com/
Transcribe →The Single-Location Empire: Colin Ambler & Dr. Sharon Bleiler on Why a Second Office is a Trap
2w ago00:36:57Tap to summarizeIn this high-impact episode of Dental Mentors, host Neil Zemba sits down with a powerhouse entrepreneurial duo who cracked the code on scaling a single practice through gamification and software: Colin Ambler and Dr. Sharon Bleiler.Dr. Bleiler and Colin pull back the curtain on their journey from sleeping in their staff lounge during the desperate early days of a struggling practice to running a booming, 14-operatory facility with six associates. In this episode, you’ll learn:✅ The 150-Exam Associate Threshold: The exact mathematical baseline showing why you should never prematurely expand your provider staff until a single doctor is consistently hitting 150 exams per month.✅ The Compounding Hygiene Asset: Why the recurring nature of hygiene is accumulative, and how tracking this metric allows elite practices to guarantee that every single month is a record-breaking month.✅ The Single-Location Scaling Secret: Why rushing to open a second physical office 40 minutes away is usually a premature trap that creates structural deficits and fractures your operational focus.✅ The Team Care Leaderboard Method: How exposing individual staff metrics on an open scoreboard motivates true "A-Players," pushes out operational fraud, and makes front-desk workers proud to prove their value.Whether you are looking to maximize the raw capacity of your current floor plan or deploy real-time behavioral mechanics to align your clinical workforce, this conversation with Colin Ambler and Dr. Sharon Bleiler provides the ultimate operational playbook.🚀 Join the Dental Mentors Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/dentalmentors or visit: www.dentalmentors.comConnect with the team: 👉 Colin Ambler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-ambler-5bb4387/ 👉 Dr. Sharon Bleiler on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-bleiler-dmd-1ba747a6/ 👉 Team Care Website: https://teamcaredental.com/ 👉 Neil Zemba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemba/ 👉 Matt Ornstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ornstein-8363a756/ 👉 Eric Morin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjmorin/ 👉 Dental Mentors Website:https://www.dentalmentors.com/
Transcribe →Eric Leaver: How To Best Position Your Practice Or Group For Acquisition
3w ago01:05:06Tap to summarizeIn this high-impact episode of Dental Mentors, host Matt Ornstein sits down with a healthcare and technology titan, private equity operating CEO, and elite board advisor: Eric Leaver.Eric brings the rare perspective of an executive who has participated in more than 100 M&A and finance transactions representing over $5 billion in combined asset value. He pulls back the curtain on how Wall Street institutional investors evaluate companies, what parameters define premium exit valuations, and why your operational narrative doesn't mean a thing if you can't translate it into institutional data.In this episode, you’ll learn:✅ The Head Coach vs. Owner’s Box Analogy: Why founder entrepreneurs naturally think in terms of mud, blood, guts, and people, while the institutional buyers writing the checks think purely in terms of spreadsheets and trends.✅ The Rule of 40 Thermometer: How to run the exact mathematical equation—combining your year-over-year revenue growth rate percentage and your EBITDA margin—that private equity uses to immediately judge the baseline health of your company.✅ The Premium Spec-Build Framework: Why building a dental group to exit requires treating the private equity buyer as your ultimate customer, rather than building the business blindly based on personal preferences.✅ The Five Pillars of Institutional Value: Eric's precise operational taxonomy covering market share, market expansion (TAM), wallet share, operational efficiency, and the integration of artificial intelligence.✅ The Wallet Share Expansion Secret: How to aggressively drive top-line revenue growth and leverage pricing elasticity without adding a single new patient to your clinic's database.✅ The $700,000 AI Payroll Elimination Math: The cold reality of how utilizing modern tech tools to eliminate redundant front-office costs instantly cascades into massive wealth creation through compounding EBITDA sales multiples.Whether you are trying to break through a flatline growth curve, streamline internal processing friction, or position a multi-location DSO to secure a maximum premium valuation, this masterclass conversation with Eric Leaver provides the concrete investment roadmap required for 2026 execution.🚀 Join the Dental Mentors Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/dentalmentorsor visit: www.dentalmentors.comConnect with the team:👉 Eric Leaver on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericcleaver/👉 Matt Ornstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ornstein-8363a756/👉 Neil Zemba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemba/👉 Eric Morin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjmorin/👉 Dental Mentors Website: https://www.dentalmentors.com/
Transcribe →Mark Lakis: What's Your Freedom Number and How Much EBITDA Do You Need to Hit It?
May 2500:44:28Tap to summarizeIn this high-impact episode of Dental Mentors, host Neil Zemba sits down with a veteran dental executive and the master innovator behind modern dental platform structures: Mark Lakis.Mark has over 17 years of experience serving as CEO of some of the largest organizations in dentistry. Having successfully scaled operations from early-stage roll-ups to multi-state platforms and delivered multiple private equity exits, he pulls back the curtain on what it truly takes to transition from a single practice owner to a powerful DSO operator.We dive deep into the mechanics of aligned financial structures, the geographic reality of a central scaling thesis, and why advanced tax planning matters far more than your final exit multiple.In this episode, you’ll learn:✅ The Founder Model Matrix: Why retaining the clinical founder's equity and operational energy is the absolute secret to managing long-term private equity growth.✅ The Upgraded Executive Benchmark: Why stepping away from a $60k office manager to invest in a $100k experienced leader is the first step to buying back your entrepreneurial time.✅ The Span of Control Limitation: The concrete operational limits of regional management and why 6 to 8 locations is the critical threshold for structural growth.✅ The Aggregation Overhang: How the post-COVID rush of thoughtless practice aggregation disrupted dental multiples, and how DSOs with a real central thesis are recovering.✅ The Geographic Thesis Over Deal Price: Why geographic logic and local synergy always defeat the temptation of buying random, out-of-market specialty practices.✅ The Net Cash Reality: Why elite operators focus entirely on net cash in the bank through tax structures and trust-based asset protection rather than chasing hollow top-line numbers.Whether you are looking to define your personal "freedom number" through geographic dominance or hire the executive talent needed to scale your clinical asset, this conversation with Mark Lakis provides the foundational blueprint for modern dental leadership.🚀 Join the Dental Mentors Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/dentalmentors Connect with the team: 👉 Mark Lakis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-lakis-1100087/👉 Neil Zemba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemba/ 👉 Matt Ornstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ornstein-8363a756/ 👉 Eric Morin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjmorin/ 👉 Dental Mentors Website:https://www.dentalmentors.com/
Transcribe →The 27x Return: How One Major DSO Uses AI to Scale (feat. Amol Nirgudkar)
May 1701:29:48Tap to summarizeIn this high-impact episode of Dental Mentors, hosts Matt Ornstein, Neil Zemba, and Eric Morin sit down with the visionary founder and CEO of Patient Prism: Amol Nirgudkar.Amol is a pioneer in the application of artificial intelligence within the dental space, helping over 10,000 offices across the globe optimize patient acquisition and drive massive EBITDA growth. We dive deep into why AI isn't just an "option" but a survival requirement, how to recover millions in "lost" revenue sitting in your phone logs, and why the next five years will be the most transformational in the history of dentistry.In this episode, you’ll learn:✅The "Adapt or Die" Ultimatum: Why your practice is either an AI company or obsolete within the next 24 months.✅The $72 Million Recovery: How one major DSO brought back 60,000 patients using AI-driven alerts.✅The 27x ROI Secret: The real-world mathematics of how every dollar spent on the right tech can yield $27 in revenue.✅The "Champagne" Abundance: How to prepare your practice operations to handle the massive influx of patients AI is about to create.✅The Human-AI Balance: Why the "gateway to health" still requires human trust, even when robots are handling the mundane tasks.✅The "Shaq" Mindset: Understanding the critical difference between being "rich" as a clinician and "wealthy" as a business owner.Whether you are looking to fix a "diagnosis crisis" in your clinic or scale a group for a multi-million dollar exit, this conversation with Amol Nirgudkar provides the technological and financial blueprint for 2026 and beyond.🚀 Join the Dental Mentors Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/dentalmentorsor visit: www.dentalmentors.comConnect with the team:👉 Amol Nirgudkar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amolnirgudkar/👉 Patient Prism Website: https://www.patientprism.com/👉 Matt Ornstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ornstein-8363a756/👉 Eric Morin on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjmorin/👉 Neil Zemba on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemba/👉 Dental Mentors Website: https://www.dentalmentors.com/
Transcribe →The Business of Dentistry: M&A, AI, and Valuation Traps ft. Brian Colao
May 1201:12:41Tap to summarizeIn this powerhouse episode of Dental Mentors, hosts Matt Ornstein, Neil Zemba, and Eric Morin sit down with the "King of Legal Representation" in the dental space: Brian Colao, Director of Dykema’s DSO Industry Group.With over 31 years of experience and having represented hundreds of practices and groups, Brian pulls back the curtain on the current state of the DSO industry. We dive deep into why 8 out of 10 times the highest offer for your practice is actually the worst value, the "Silicon Valley" integration of AI in modern clinics, and why hiring a "country club lawyer" for a dental transition is a recipe for disaster.In this episode, you’ll learn:The "Same Store Growth" Secret: Why technology integration is the biggest trend in a tough M&A market.The Diligence Gap: How to properly vet a buyer so you don't end up "miserable" post-closing.The Non-Compete Reality Check: Why millions of dollars always come with strings attached, even in California.The AI Guardrails: Why you, the dentist, remain 100% liable for clinical outcomes, even with advanced tech.The 33% ROI Rule: Why spending $30k on specialized counsel protects $500k in future value.Whether you are a solo practitioner looking for an exit or an emerging group ready to scale to 100+ locations, this episode provides the legal and business roadmap you need to stay ahead of the curve in 2026.🚀 Join the Dental Mentors Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/dentalmentorsor visit: www.dentalmentors.comConnect with the team:👉 Brian Colao on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-a-colao-303619122/👉 Matt Ornstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ornstein-8363a756/👉 Eric Morin on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjmorin/👉 Neil Zemba on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemba/👉 Dental Mentors Website: https://www.dentalmentors.com/
Transcribe →Pat Bauer | How Heartland Dental Scaled to 1,900+ Practices & Why Data Fixes Everything
May 300:53:12Tap to summarizeIn this powerhouse inaugural episode of Dental Mentors, hosts Matt Ornstein, Neil Zemba, and Eric Morin sit down with one of the most influential figures in dentistry: Pat Bauer, CEO of Heartland Dental.From joining Dr. Rick Workman in 1997 with just eight practices to leading a network of over 1,900 locations today, Pat shares the blueprint for Heartland’s unprecedented growth. We dive deep into the "Four Laws of Leadership," the psychology of doctor alignment, and the controversial truth about why most dentists aren't actually entrepreneurs.In this episode, you’ll learn:•The Heartland Growth Engine: How a 1,900+ practice empire was built on a simple foundation of doctor support.•The Four Laws of Leadership: A breakdown of the Bell Leadership model and why you must build yourself before you can scale your business.•"Data Fixes Everything": How objective metrics eliminate the conflict between clinical autonomy and business production .•The ROI of Training: Why Heartland's communication and sales training leads to a 15% revenue jump.•The Future of AI: Why Pat Bauer believes AI is the single biggest advancement in the history of dentistry.•Preparation for Sale: The exact "box" you need to build if you want a top-tier exit to a DSO.Whether you are a solo practitioner, an emerging group founder, or a clinician looking for the right exit, Pat Bauer’s insights offer a masterclass in the business of dentistry.🚀 Join the Dental Mentors Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/dentalmentorsor visit: www.dentalmentors.comConnect with the team: 👉 Pat Bauer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-bauer-61b832b/ 👉 Matt Ornstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ornstein-8363a756/👉 Eric Morin on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjmorin/👉 Neil Zemba on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zemba/ 👉 Heartland Website: https://heartland.com/ 👉 Dental Mentors Website: https://www.dentalmentors.com/
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