Being able to provide the best service and support to dentists and patients is one of the most important goals for one DSO executive.
Arwinder Judge, DDS, is the chief clinical officer of Chicago-based Aspen Dental, one of the largest dental support organizations in the U.S., with more than 1,000 branded practices.
He recently connected with Becker's on the company's targets for 2024, the rise of 3D printing and AI in dentistry, and his proudest achievements from 2023.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are your DSO's top priorities in 2024?
Dr. Arwinder Judge: Since we started the company 25 years ago, one of our top priorities at all times is providing the best support services for dentists. If we can solve their issues and problems, and if we can develop them the right way, that takes care of pretty much everything else. We want to take off the administrative tasks, business management, IT, all those kinds of things. That's always a priority for us and that's our focus point. We work for the doctors, and we want to make sure we're supporting them in the right way. If we handle those things the right way, the rest of the priorities take care of themselves.
Q: What are two to three key strategies in place to expand and grow your footprint?
AJ: We're actually the largest branded DSO in the world, and for us it's always been about two things. One is a consumer of the services from the dentist, which is the patient, and we want to make sure that we're solving anything and everything that they need. We've always been about breaking down barriers for this patient base that hasn't been to the dentist in a long time, and understanding who that consumer is allows us to open up a practice every three to four days. The second consumer for us is the dentist who is consuming our services, and we want to make sure our value proposition for that dentist is the right thing too. As the owner doctors hire these dentists, they want to make sure that we're competitive on salary compensation, work-life balance and all those types of things that are really important. For me it's always been about helping doctors get to their goals, and I want to see if I can solve anything and everything, from compensation to your professional development, and those are things we really focus on. If we can get those things right, dentists will choose us, and if they choose us we want to get the best and the brightest. That way, we can support the patients in the right way, and that allows us to continue to grow.
Q: What are the top dentistry trends you are currently following?
AJ: One of the big things that we're working on right now is 3D printing. We've printed more digital dentures than anyone in the world, and I'm very blessed to have the best team in dentistry. We're helping shape what the world of dentistry looks like not just for us but for the entire world. Another one of the biggest trends is the disruption with AI. When you think about what the world is going to look like and what AI can do, from an admin tasks standpoint all the way through a Second Opinion technology, there's a variety of different things that it's working on. I think you're going to see some disruption, and it'll probably make the patient experience even better when used properly, and my hope is it makes the doctors' lives a lot easier.
Q: What is your proudest accomplishment from 2023?
AJ: Last year was our 25th anniversary, so that was pretty cool for us, but for me it's really about changing lives, and that's what makes me the proudest. When you think about the numbers behind what you do, it's really not about the number, it's about the smiles up behind those numbers. I'm so proud of the doctors and the teams that deliver this care because if you fix someone's smile, you take them out of pain, they're able to find a job that changes things, perhaps they find a significant other out there. I think for me also the biggest things are changing the lives of the providers and the teams. I've been able to see how people have grown in their careers by watching doctors who come to me and they say, "My goal is to become an owner doctor," I want to blow away their dreams and give them so much more. When we look back at those proud moments, it's pretty much a yearly thing for us, but to hear those doctors call you up and say, "Thank you for changing my life, thank you for being there for us and thank you for the support you provide," it is like we still have this family atmosphere at even more than 1,000 offices, which is really beautiful and is really what drives us every day.