Robert Crim, DDS, senior vice president and chief dental officer at Smile Brands, joined Becker's Dental + DSO Podcast for a conversation on what led him to the DSO and the company's current clinical priorities.
The former owner of two dental practices, Dr. Crim has 34 years of chairside experience and took on the executive role at Smile Brands.
Three takeaways from the discussion:
1. "I really became a dentist to do dentistry," Dr. Crim said about what attracted him to Smile Brands. Before taking on his leadership role as chief dental officer, Dr. Crim practiced at several of the DSO's affiliate offices. Before Smile Brands, Dr. Crim grew tired of the increasingly burdensome administrative and management tasks he took on at his own practices and retired at 48. Working at the DSO's offices, however, reignited his passion for dentistry. "All I had to do was concern myself with the patient sitting in front of me," Dr. Crim said. "All of a sudden, my enthusiasm and excitement about dentistry was on fire."
2. The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the patients' expectations. "People just don't seem to want to spend a whole lot of time in medical facilities these days," Dr. Crim said, adding that more patients are looking to get as much care done in a single appointment as possible. Additionally, there's been a rise in demand for orthodontics, with Smile Brands now training more of its general doctors in the specialty.
3. "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care," a quote from Theodore Roosevelt, is the advice Dr. Crim would give to those first starting off their career in dentistry. "I did everything to learn every skill and to be the best technical doctor that you could imagine … but the piece that I didn't get trained on was that this is a relationship business," Dr. Crim said, emphasizing the importance of building trust with patients.
To listen to the full episode, click here.