Dr James, 0s:

Welcome everyone to the Dentists Who Invest Podcast. I have never done an episode on this exact topic in the myriad of topics that I've done over the years, and this is the reason for this is we're here today to talk about the modern dental practice and a little bit more about the back end systems that maybe don't really get the uh credit that they deserve because they keep the dental practice running. They don't really get the the spotlight shone on them, but they're actually really, really, really important if we want to do a great job. I'm joined today by two guests. We've got a three-way going on, so to speak, and one of them is Samantha uh Stone, uh, and the other one is Dr. Zahir Kadarby, who is joining us via video uplinks. We're gonna have fun editing this together later, but we're gonna find a way. And like I say, Zahir is a principal in the self. Uh Samantha has worked as a PM in multiple practices over the years, so I'm looking forward to this one. As ever, you can claim your CPD for this episode within the official Dentists who invest Smart Money Members Club. Smart Money Members Club also includes multiple mini courses and webinar series on finance for dentists, including how to become as tax efficient as possible, as well as understanding investing. All of this content counts as verifiable CPD, and you can download your certificates there and then upon completion of each lesson. In addition to this, we also include a whopping 10% discount on your dental indemnity and a 5% discount on lab bills for dental principals, amongst other perks and discounts for members. Please use the link in the description to claim your verifiable CPD for this episode. Do you want to say hello really quick and then we can get into the meat and potatoes, the main part of the podcast, so to speak?

Samantha, 1m 40s:

Um hi, so I'm Samantha, I'm CEO and founder of UPOD Medical. Um and like James said, I have had roles in as a practice manager and multiple practices, but I've also I was still a GDC registered nurse, I've done reception, treatment coordinating, I've done the lot except for being an actual clinician in a practice.

Dr James, 1m 57s:

That is amazing. So you substituted in uh as a you're a team player, in other words, because you've subbed yourself in virtually every role in the dental practice. That is friggin' cool, and that has probably given you a lot of insight that a lot of people don't have. Zahir, a little bit about yourself.

Dr Zahir, 2m 10s:

Hi, so uh I'm a GDP, um, I'm a practice owner based in Leicestershire. Um I have, I guess, done the roles in dental practice that Samantha hasn't done. I feel I fill in the gaps.

Dr James, 2m 22s:

The only one, probably the only one, right?

Dr Zahir, 2m 25s:

Sorry, mate, you were saying the practice owner and and the actual clinician. Um, so I'm principal clinician and my practice. I do a lot of GDP work. I also do a lot of sort of complex implant work, restorative work, um, clear aligners. Um and yeah, I've been part of the UPOD team for the last four months or so. Uh I'm clinical director and trying and helping to keep the software relevant for modern clinical dentistry um and making sure that we maybe edit that by heart. Um trying to keep it modern and relevant for clinical dentistry and the digital world that we're working in.

Dr James, 3m 3s:

Sure, wonderful. And you know what? I am really glad that you started talking about the digital world because I guess something that is hot on everybody's tongues is AI in dental practice. And maybe sometimes we get a little bit enamored with the buzzword of AI, but maybe we don't appreciate that there is just some very basic things that we could be doing better, especially from the point of view of the software in dental practice. Guys, can we elaborate a little bit on that and then we'll go a little bit deeper? What would you think about what I just said, so here?

Dr Zahir, 3m 34s:

Yeah, I mean, look, I think most practices right now, and my practice up until we started using UPOD, we're using multiple separate systems that just don't connect properly or communicate properly with each other. So if I list my practice, for example, we were on SOE for donkeys years. Um, we'd had our patient management system, which everyone has. Um, our x-rays are sometimes integrated, sometimes they're not. Most systems don't allow us to have our CBCTs on there, so you've got another system for that. If you've got a HR tool, like we use RotorCloud, there's another one of those. If you use a compliance tool like iComply, there's another one of those. Um if you're using CRMs for patient tracking, there's there's a whole abundance of those, but there's another system to log into. Um, and I used to find that my team are constantly switching between different softwares, different passwords, different logins, that often having to re-enter or duplicate the same information in multiple places. Um and all of these workflows are fragmented and it just creates unnecessary admin, cost, and ultimately time. Because as much as we'd all love to have 300 hours in a week, we we don't have that. Um, and the fragmentation of workflows means that sometimes we are losing patients or we're not being able to follow up on the leads. Um, because our top teams, whether it's clinical admin or non-clinical admin, is spent in things that a machine should in this day and age be able to do for us. So I'm for anything to add?

Samantha, 4m 57s:

Um well, that I mean, that is pretty much how UPOS started. When I was in practice, I had so many different softwares that we were using that were add-ons onto our PMS, and that I had the exact same problems. I was, you know, having to log in, different logins for every single one, and it was making my job harder. And I think work-life balance is super important, and I was losing that because I spent so much time on admin, and it was everything was just kind of you know, everything you have to log into different things, and I'd have spreadsheets after, you know, spreadsheet after spreadsheet. And all I wanted was something in one place, and that is kind of how UBOD was born because I just wanted an all-in-one software that could do everything from one place. Yeah.

Dr Zahir, 5m 39s:

The goal is one intelligent, connected platform that's built around how dental practices actually operate in this day and age. You know, we live in a world of digital dentistry, and as a clinician, I've seen those changes myself. You know, we've gone, I when I was at university, we were writing paper notes. When I started out as an FD, I was still writing paper notes on the back of those two-sided dark brown cards, which you can't then edit, you have to use TIPX. You know, we've gone from that to writing writing notes digitally. Um, and now we're at a stage where do we still need to be doing that? Are there are there easier ways or smarter ways of running the same thing? Um, dentistry is a lot more digital now with scanners, with the way that we submit for lab work, the way that we plan lab work. But often I find the operating systems that we use in a practice are still relatively archaic compared to the digital world that we live in. And that's what UPOD is here to change.

Dr James, 6m 30s:

I guess traditional software and dental practices it just stores information, doesn't it? It's just like a PMS, or at least that's what I associate with a software in my dental practice, or I did whenever I was working in one for sure. So I guess what I'd like to know is what is the difference between software that simply does that versus offers you analytics and information? Because to me, in my head back in the day, I guess I never would have really fully appreciated the power or use of that. Samantha, maybe you first.

Samantha, 7m 5s:

Um, so effectively that's what PMS systems were. They were a system where you just stored information, like the charting, patient notes, that kind of thing. I think as time's gone on, obviously you've got things now with the reminders and things like that. But with uh software, it's not just about storing that information. It is having that information and then looking at the data to see where things can be improved, what you're missing. So, for example, with automations, automations is a great tool because um and notifications because automations can do the things in the background. So, for example, send out your consent forms and make sure that they are signed. Um and with notifications, the system, because everything is inbuilt into one system, it can notify you to say you haven't done your clinical notes for this patient, or it can notify you to say this patient hasn't signed their consent form. Um and I think having a system like that rather than just having somewhere to store information is super important and is what's needed now in dentistry. Um we, you know, there's other things, you know, that you've got your CRMs now. So, you know, to watch a patient's journey, see you know, new inquiries that are coming in. And I think over the last 10 years, dentistry has changed a lot, PMS systems have changed a lot, but dentistry as a whole has changed. You know, it is commercialising. You know, 10 years ago, there'd be one dental practice on a high street, and now you walk down high street and there's five. There's competition everywhere to get new patients in. And having a CRM system would keep on top of your inquiries and make sure you don't lose any business.

Dr Zahir, 8m 41s:

Yeah, I mean, so what Samantha is saying is that then there needs to be a shift from reactive software to a more proactive software. Most of the traditional dental practice softwares are primarily just a system of record. It stores information and then it waits for someone like us or the practice manager to go in and find it. Yes, they can pull reports, but traditional reporting is it will give, you know, you ask it to pull X report, you then have to either download the report or print it out. And then someone has to sit down and analyze the data. That takes time. It takes time to build patterns and build trends. And after you've spent the time downloading the report, commissioning the report, downloading the report, and then analysing it, you've then got to create your own actions based on the back of it. What we need now is a proactive software that we don't have to interrogate the software to discover what's going wrong. The software should be in flagging it to us straight away and saying, these are the top three things you need to look at today. This is where you're going wrong, this is where you're leaving money on the table. Um, or these are whether there are holes in your system or holes in your bucket, and I'm gonna help it plug it for you. Just say yes and I'll do it. As opposed to you having to find the problems yourself. And that's what that's what needs to change in dentistry with Dental Software.

Dr James, 9m 44s:

Like your co-pilot, so to speak.

Dr Zahir, 9m 47s:

Like almost like an assistant PM. Um, and this is not about removing staff from your practice. You know, we all have, I've got a fantastic team that I work with, my managers are fantastic, but a lot of the time I feel I feel like my my top team are wasting their time just duplicating things or or inputting basic admin. Um, I would much rather them be spending time with patients, looking after them, contacting them, providing that human touch, and not chasing their tails doing endless or mind-bordering stuff that a system in this day and age should be able to do.

Dr James, 10m 22s:

A thousand percent. And I guess whenever someone uses the term co-palot or the things that you were mentioning just a second ago, it implies the use of a second brain or perhaps AI. And I know AI is a massive buzzword these days, but like I say, it's not it's not something that's completely unfounded insofar as it can help us a lot. How do we cut through the noise and understand how we can implement AI into our practice such that it will help us and not maybe have it as a bolt-on or something superfluous? How have modern softwares uh-huh?

Dr Zahir, 11m 0s:

I think a lot of the traditional dental softwares that exist are now utilizing AI to a point where they're adding them onto an existing software. The problem with doing that is that because it's not native within the architecture of how the software was built, the AI can only communicate with a part that it's been built or added onto. It can't communicate across the entire workflow. Um with modern softwares such as ours, AI can sit across different areas of the platform, it can use wider context from the patient, the clinician, the diary, treatment management, CRM, all your business workflows. You know, if a patient calls in the receptionist, especially if they're non-clinical, can only take so much insight from there and add to a note. Yes, there are white systems. The receptionist, especially if they're non-clinical, can only take so much insight from there and add to a note. Yes, there are white systems which can transcribe certain things. What if the system can be possible? If a patient has mentioned implants or whitening or author or anything, if they mention that the daughter's getting married July, it's notifying the TCOP, automatically pulling this data, it's adding that patient onto multiple CRM boards, it's notifying the TCO about certain things to do. If a staff member says a patient is for a price list, for example. If the system knows where the document is and what the patient's email needs, it can send it to the task for automatically during the phone call and the patient receives it straight away. Wouldn't it be better than just creating another task for another human to pick up and do and waste another training time on life? This is what we need from modern software, and this is where a more native AI integration built into the architecture obviously. Is smarter and more intelligent than botting it onto a software that was created in the 80s and the 90s or the two or the 2000s. And I feel that's genuinely different than I think I think the word or the term AI is thrown about and bandied about a lot by a lot of people these days. But there is a difference between AI native software and AI botted-on software.

Dr James, 12m 56s:

And I guess that leads me on to something that I was intending to ask even before this podcast started. I think a lot of the time we don't necessarily realize what we can delegate to AI, Samantha, or what tasks we can outsource that don't have to be done necessarily by humans. And given that you've worked in pretty much every position in a dental practice, you've worked at lots of different stages in the workflow. What can you now delegate to AI that perhaps people couldn't have done two, three years ago? Can you give us some examples of some tasks?

Dr Zahir, 13m 27s:

Um, I mean, I would say lab work for me. I mean, I'd say my my my my view on this or my input here will be probably more clinical than admin related. But for example, if I send lab work off for just say I've got, just say James has booked in with me in three weeks' time for a cramp and it's half an hour long. Now, if the system can recognise that that lab work is back and it's in the practice, and the system can also recognise that I've got a half-hour gap on Tuesday, why can't why does why do we need my staff members to have to go through the diary and try and find these spaces to bring patients forward? The system should be smart enough these days to be able to say, look, this patient is booked in in three weeks' time for a crown fit, the work is back, it will then contact the patient automatically, ask them do you want to move this appointment forwards because we have space for it, and action it. It'll cancel the old appointment, it'll rebook the new appointment, it'll send out the reminders, the text messages, the confirmations, it'll check the payments are taken. And if the lab work's not back for that patient, it won't contact them. So it's it's not just looking for opportunities to fill diary gaps from a random bank. It's trying to actively and smartly proactively manage your diary for you. So it can also track track track lab work in this sense that if you've got a patient due in tomorrow and the lab work's not back, it can tell you. It can contact the lab for you, it can check its status for you. You know, instead of having to have your management team or your nurses look at day lists a day or two in advance and then go and, you know, spend time picking up the phone and trying to contact the lab and trying to get an answer, all of these things can be done in the background for you. You know, sometimes we have busy days and I've sort of thought, I'm not going to complete this course of treatment because I also want to double-check these x-rays at the end of my day or want to do my notes later or whatever it might be. What if you could flag to me that you've forgotten to do these notes or there's missing actions or there's outstanding tasks here? Or if I can automatically create follow-up actions for the appropriate team member, as opposed to me having to then send an email to my TCO or send a task to my TCO to say, can you follow up this and check this? What if what if a system was smart enough to not just, it's almost acting as you as your assistant, whether you're a PM, whether you're a nurse, whether you're a clinician, it is helping you, it's it understands what you're trying to do, uh, understands dentistry inherently, and it's there to be your psychic, as it were, to smooth up your processes, free up your time, um, and allow you to spend the time with the patient so you can provide better patient care.

Dr James, 15m 47s:

See, that's cool. I mean, the lab work example is amazing because I could see how white space in the diary can then be filled with these appointments potentially that are next week that are quite, you know, these these are quite productive appointments as well. These are fitting crowns, all right? This is sometimes where we charge the patient for the crime, and that's one of the most high-ticket items in the dental practice. I love that example. Is can I go slightly off piece now and just ask, is technology now at the point? And is AI now at the point where it can handle your phone calls for you and talk to your patients on the phone? What's your thoughts?

Samantha, 16m 22s:

So, my thoughts on that is I don't think AI is there yet to answer the phone. And that you know, people will disagree with me. I also think that people really love the human touch. Um, they want when they when they call your dental practice, you want to ask a question, or you just want to find out when your next appointment is, or you just want to make a, you know, make a payment. Like people want to speak to a human being and get an answer as soon as they can. They don't want to sit there and listen to uh a robot effectively. That will be, you know, it's I th I don't think AI can give you the correct answers straight away. And I've had it before where I've called up somewhere and I've gone to book an appointment and I'm listening to something that's AI, and I know it's AI, and I say, I want to speak to a human, I would like to speak to a human. And I have to sit there and wait to actually speak to a human being. And I think people are spending a lot of money in dentistry, you know, especially in private practices, and they they want to speak to somebody who knows them. An AI bot can never pick up the tone of, you know, they they don't know the patient. Um, which is why we decided that instead of doing AI reception, we will do something that will analyse your phone calls, you know, when your receptionist is speaking to a patient and help you in that way, but also a patient app, which I think nobody has a patient app. You've got portals, but people don't want to log on to a portal to check their appointments or, you know, book an appointment, you know, all these sorts of simple tasks that they would normally call a practice for. Um, and I think generations now, generations below ours or even our generation, they don't like speaking to people. So they don't want to call up on the phone and sit on hold and then speak to somebody. They don't want to do that. I've got friends who will say, Oh, I'm gonna get my mum to book a my doctor's appointment. I think you're 34. Why? No. Come on, guys. And when I was working in practices, people would text me and say, Can you let me know my next appointment is? I'm like, we could just call the practice, like, you know, just because I work there. Um and I think having an app on your phone, people use apps for everything. You can order a pizza, you can order get a taxi, you can order anything online now, but you can't book a dentist appointment, which I just think is bizarre. Um, so we've kind of gone down the route of let's do an app. Patients can check their appointments, they can make payments, they can, you know, reschedule appointments, they can do most, you know, probably 70% of the things that they would normally call a practice about. Um so I think that will take you know some of the load off of reception as well. I think with AI, yes, it can take some work off of receptionists, you know, it might be able to answer simple things. But if a patient calls up for an emergency, they're still going to have to speak to somebody anyway. And I think a lot of the um AI receptorists now, you know, it will take the notes and it will, you know, speak to the patient, take the notes, and then it will send a message to reception to say, you need to call this patient back. So actually it's causing more work and it's taking more time than if the patient had just sat there on hold. So I think we've kind of gone down that route because I just don't think you know, if someone calls up and says, Oh, you know, I need an emergency appointment, well, AI can't really do anything about that. It can't take a payment over the phone.

Dr Zahir, 19m 26s:

So we did an audit in our practice last year. We were trying to work out what are the majority of phone calls for, who do we need to have on the phones at what times. And 60 to 70% of the phone calls are from patients are when is my appointment? When am I due? Can I move my appointment? Can I cancel my appointment? Can I change the time? It's relatively basic admin work. Now, people like Samantha alluded to, a lot of people, our age, my age, even me sometimes, I don't really want to speak to people. If there's an easier way of doing it, if I can send an email off or send a WhatsApp, I'd feel a lot happier, or buy it on an app, or book it on an app. Um, a lot of the online booking systems that exist for most traditional dental softwares right now will allow you to book an exam, it'll allow you to book hygiene, and it'll allow you to book consultations. But it doesn't genuinely link into your patient records. So if you've got a long owl treatment plan and you've got an endo and a crown, and the endo's got to be with an endocontist, and he only works every other Wednesday, and your crown's got to be with some dentist, but he only wants to do crown preps in the morning, and the crown fit's got to be at least two weeks later in the afternoon because it's got to account for time for the lab work to come back. Most apps or most portals don't have these features built in. Whereas we can set all of all those parameters up. We can say that look, our endos are only done every other Wednesday by this particular dentist. And for a pre-molar, it's got to be this long, for a molar, it's got to be that long. We can say that crown preps with dentist X can only be on Tuesday mornings, and the crown prep has to be at least two weeks and one day later, and only and it's only bookable if the if the payment has been paid. Or you know, you can set whatever parameters you want. So for our app, when a patient logs in, they're not just able to book their checkups, their hygiene, and their consultations. It directly links into the record with a unique patient identifier. They can see their entire system, they can see their entire appointment history, then they can see every appointment ever made, every payment ever made, every document ever uploaded, consent forms, before and after photos, anything they'd ever want. They can communicate with us directly through there if they want to via like a live chat option. Um and more importantly, they can book appointments at their convenience. You know, a lot of patients will say these days, when they're leaving, that oh, I need to check for my wife or check my work diary, or I haven't had my rotor released for X period yet. And then they fall off the radar because a few months down the road they forget that they're due for a checkup. They might be on a membership, they might be on a planned basis where they're paying a monthly fee, and they sort of forget to book in or we're having to chase them up with recalls. Why can't an app just like you get a WhatsApp notification? Why can't it just ping up and say your checkup with Dr. Cadabai is due next week? We can see you haven't. Booked it yet, your hygiene is also due. Would you like us to schedule them together? And you just press yes, you tell it the times that you want, and it will sort out for you. Why why why don't these systems exist? And that's what we're here to create. And that's what we're here to solve.

Samantha, 22m 14s:

And to add to uh what Zahe's just said there about booking the appointments, um there's also, you know, we've also set parameters in there as well. So for example, if someone needed to book their crown prep and then they wanted to book their crown fit, it won't allow them to book within the two weeks.

Dr James, 22m 29s:

Of course.

Samantha, 22m 30s:

But if they've already had their crown prep and they think, oh, you know, I'll check my diary and I'll have a look when I can book the CrownFit, because the system has the lab work tracker, it will see when the lab work's going to be back. So it won't allow them to book an appointment before their lab work is due back.

Dr James, 22m 44s:

You really need some sort of AI operative behind the scenes to make those sorts of calls because the patient doesn't know. And that's that's why previously it would have been difficult to have a system like that without it going through a human or through a person to ensure the patient doesn't make those sort of mistakes. But yeah, interesting that we're now enabled to do that.

Samantha, 23m 4s:

I think there's also as well, even if they spoke to, you know, the call of the practice and spoke to somebody, we are human. So we do make mistakes. I've done it before where I have to say, okay, you've had your crown prep. Okay, yeah, I need to book an appointment. Let's book it for two weeks' time. Patient says, Oh, actually, I can't do the Thursday. And I look at Zoe and say, Oh, actually, you can do the Monday before. That's not two weeks. I've done it. And then I'm like, oh no, I have to move it again. We do it, humans do it. And you know, the system, you know, whether they do it on the app or whether they call up and speak to somebody in the practice, the system will not allow them to book that appointment, regardless of who's doing it, won't allow them to book the appointment if their lab works not back.

Dr James, 23m 39s:

Boom. And that's why it's cool. And like I say, I really only think probably the AI got to that level, maybe in the last year and a half, two years, it feels like. Anyway, we we could get it, we could get into that. It's probably a little bit beyond the scope of the podcast today. But what's certainly pertinent or most relevant is the fact that we now know this is possible. And probably Dent has never really thought of that application for AI before. What I want to know is this. Let's switch gears, let's change up what we're talking about slightly. Let's talk about the reporting side of things. Zahir, you're a principal. What reports do you feel should be at your fingertips? And what reporting, what reports that you've now been able to benefit from through the advance of software, do you feel made the most impact to your to your uh ability to make decisions as a clinician and a practice owner?

Dr Zahir, 24m 29s:

I mean, look, the problem is not a lack of data or a lack of reporting availability. All softwares these days have unkeen amounts of data. It's about turning that data into something useful. There's no point in having a report if it's just going to be spewing out lines upon lines of data, which you then have to sit down and analyze yourself. Owners like myself shouldn't need to open multiple reports and then manually analyze them to work out what matters. We have intelligent dashboards which are designed for each team member to prioritize your exceptions, highlight your opportunities, and require things and like highlight two things that require your attention now. So, for example, when I log in in the morning, or if my management was to log in, I don't want her to see a page full of 40 different KPIs and metrics about revenue and income per hour and diary utilization and everything else in between. If she just logs in and it says, here are the five things you need to do today, your diary utilization for the hygiene next Thursday is down by 28%, and this is a trend that's worsening every Thursday afternoon. Or you have 37 in-visline consultations that have not yet proceeded to treatment. Or you've got 12 in-vis line consultations that have signed the consent forms but haven't had their fits booked. Those are the things that it can highlight to you the areas where you are literally leaving money on the table and tells your manager what I need to tackle right now, today, to make the most difference from a revenue perspective, from an ROI perspective for my business. As opposed to, oh, we can see the diary is a bit gappy here, I wonder what's going on. Let's pull a thousand reports and spend the entire day sitting down and going through them and analyzing them. And then we have to go to Zahir and create a meeting in his busy diary to say, this is what we've found, this is what we're thinking, and this is what shall we do this? Shall we try this? And then we try it for a week or two and it doesn't make a bloody difference. And then you go back to square one and you try something else. Why can't the system, if the system inherently understands dentistry, the business of dentistry, what we're trying to do and what we're trying to create, we need systems today that can look at the reports, it pulls the reports for you, it's done it in the background, it's analyzed the data, it's seeing patterns, it's seeing trends, and it's just telling you today, this is what you need to do, this is what you need to tackle, this is what's going to make the biggest difference to your practice today. And it's done it for you. Um, that for me is the difference between data and reporting of old or of current versus what the future holds with the power of using AI properly.

Dr James, 26m 49s:

See, that is actually cool because I've seen financial reporting software from the point of view of, okay, cool, if you give your associate a 50% split versus a 45% split, here's how much more money you're going to make, right? But not from the point of view of following up missed patients who haven't booked in their fit appointments and everything along those lines, which is what you just articulated. I actually never thought about boosting revenue with practice software from that perspective before. So that is definitely novel to me, and that is definitely unique versus standard financial reporting software out there. Samantha, anything to add? Yeah, sorry, back to you.

Dr Zahir, 27m 29s:

There's lots of sort of safety mechanisms and triggers. So this is not a case of this is what the system does, and it's the same for everyone. The system is highly customizable, and everyone can set, obviously, we can provide templates and suggestions as to how to set it up, but each practice owner, every practice is different. I've had two practices before, four or five miles apart with completely different different patient demographics, completely different types of treatments being uptaken, and different rates of uptake. So the system is designed in such a way that everyone can input the parameters that they want to manage their practice in the way that suits their teams, suits their patients. Of course, we can support them, we can guide them, we can advise them as to how to tweak things and how to manage things. We can have quarterly catch-up calls with myself to make sure they're getting the best use out of the system. Um, but the long-term objective for me is not just a system that reports problems, but a system that safely helps us to resolve them. And where automation is appropriate, the software should aim to reduce the amount of human effort needed to move from insight to action.

Dr James, 28m 28s:

Samantha, you talked about something interesting earlier because you were speaking about your personal frustration as a PM and someone who was present in dental practice over the years, insofar as there was a million bits of different software that did a million different things. And I can see how it happened because once upon a time, you know, if we go back into the lore, I guess, of software and dental practice, someone made a PMS and life was simple. All right, but then all of a sudden we needed X-ray software, and then all of a sudden we needed CRMs. A lot of people out there still don't know what a CRM even is to even is to this day. Uh, then all of a sudden software came along that could answer phones, and software came along that could transcribe what we're saying into clinical notes and everything along those lines. And next thing we know, we have the base PMS, we've got all this stuff built on top of it, and we're paying a premium for that because there's duplication of admin across a lot of those companies. Tell me, is it possible to consolidate those nowadays into one piece of software which doesn't have that duplication of bureaucracy, therefore is more cost effective? UK dentists, Dennist Who Invests now has an official platform where you can learn about finance and obtain UK compliant verifiable CBD at the same time. The only platform that exists on which you can do both. The Smart Money Members Club has hundreds of hours of mini courses, webinar series, and live day recordings on all things finance slash tax efficiency for UK dentists. This includes complete courses on how tax works for UK dentists, finance so that you can invest and grow your own money, business so you can improve your profitability as an associate or principal, and for those out there that want it, there's also a mini course and how you can responsibly enter the crypto space using measured amounts of capital. I've gathered this content from the best of the best I could find in each respective area so that you know that this is how people at the forefront of each field advise their clients. The Smart Money Members Club also contains discounts on common things that UK dentists need to pay for on a regular basis. This includes a whopping 10% discount on dental indemnity, the offer to beat your income protection deal no matter what you're paying, and for the principals out there, 5% discount on lab bills and 10% discount on practice insurance. These are designed to offer hundreds, if not thousands, in annual savings. The purpose of this members club is to not only boost your monthly income but also manage your outgoings as much as possible and therefore create more profit. To celebrate the launch of the Smart Money Members Club, and given that the CPD deadline is coming up soon, I've decided to offer the first month for this platform entirely for free. This offer will end in the coming weeks as soon as the current CPD cycle is up. To collect your CPD for this podcast episode using the Smart Money Members Club, feel free to use the link in the description of this podcast.

Samantha, 31m 27s:

So, you know, the the problem is we would, you know, we're talking about the all these add-ons and stuff. And I I think a lot of people don't realize how much they're spending on their software. So I've spoken to people and I say, oh, how much do you spend on your dental software every month? And they automatically think of their PMS. They don't think about the CRM that they're paying for, the AI X-ray reporting, or you know, the actual the financial reporting side or you know, any of these other add-ons, HR, things like that. They don't think consider that as part of their software. So I spoke to somebody and I said, Oh, you know, how much would your do you pay for dental software? He said, Oh, I pay, I think it was £650 a month. I was like, okay, do you do you have a CRM? He was like, Yeah. I said, Oh, so you know, that's an added cost. And he was like, Yeah. And then I said, Oh, do you do you know also have this bolt on? And he was like, Yeah. And then I said to him by the end of the conversation, I said, Oh, do you actually spend about 1300 pounds a month on your software? And he was like, Yeah. Because a lot of people don't realise because it all comes, you know, different invoices and stuff like that. People don't pay attention to what they're paying. They think that everything's in, you know, the one the PMS price. Um so yeah, I mean, that's that's ultimately why we did it. You know, I said about how I was using all these different software as it was, you know, causing more time, but it was costing a lot more money. And that's basically why UPOP Medical was started because it was all in one place. But like Zahir said earlier, it's not just about having everything in one place with one login. It's about because everything is in one place, you can get all these, you know, AI analytics for every all the data because it's in one place. You with reports, with reporting, uh most things will do reports on obviously the system they're working on. So you can do reports on your PMS software, and then you can do a report on your um CRM, and then you can do a report on something else. But you to get a full overview of at you know everything that's going on, you need to have the reports on one thing. So therefore, everything needs to be in one place.

Dr Zahir, 33m 25s:

As Samantha said, the more information that exists in a connected environment, a connected ecosystem that can talk to every other part of the ecosystem, the more useful a platform's automation and intelligence can become. AI or intelligence or reporting is only as useful as the context available to it. If we have fragmented systems, we have fragmented data. If we have fragmented data, we have fragmented intelligence. The whole idea behind what we are creating is to combine everything, whether it's clinical records, patient communications, CRM, lab tracking, reporting. There's a compliance module coming out, hopefully, by the end of 2027, which is going to be essentially replacing all of these other sort of compliance software that people are paying a fortune for. We've got a HR module already on there, so you can do all of your staff pay, your timesheets, your rotors, absence tracking, sickness monitoring, Bradford factor scores, you can export it directly to Sage or via your accountants. Um we've got a stock and inventory module coming. So if everyone has a look at the bottom of their PDQ machines, you know the thing that we take car payments on, if you look, if you flip it upside down and come to the bottom of it, you'll actually see a little scanner, like a like a little barcode scanner or a camera. Now, we utilize the technology within those PDQ systems so that when stock comes into your practice, you scan it into the stock room. Now, for example, I can set a parameter on my system to say when my Venus A2 or when my amalgam capsules fall below three capsules or three boxes, reorders to 12. When my tooth whitening kits fall below 12, reorder to 26. And when my power post kit falls below one, reorders to three. As long as just all your staff have to do then is just scan an item out of the stock, the stock room. And as soon as your stock levels fall below whatever you have set, and this is again completely customizable to each individual practice, whatever, whatever stock you want, gloves, masks, para post systems, whatever it might be, when it falls below the level that you've set, the system will automatically reorder to the level that you've set. And the idea again is the amount of time that my team are often spending on a weekly basis going through the drawers and all the practices, trying to work out what they need to order. Yes, there are some things that are ordered every single week, regardless, but things like para post systems are not ordered particularly often. And we've all had those days where you come in to do a treatment, you think, oh God, it's not here. Like there's not one in stock and you're scrambling, you're trying to find stuff last minute, and it's a nightmare. You know, we've also had systems, I've had times before where, for example, I might have booked in a patient for an in-surgery whitening procedure in three weeks' time, another clinician's booked someone else in four weeks' time, we know there's two kits in stock, it's not a problem. Tomorrow, an associate, or not tomorrow, tomorrow's a Sunday, but the next week, an associate has a massive old gap. Someone comes in and says, Yeah, I want to have it today, they look in the stock room, they say, Oh, there's two there, I'll use one up. Now, the appointments that are booked in three or four weeks' time were booked in the knowledge that there's stock there. But when we come to do the treatment, suddenly the stock's gone because it's been used by someone else. Why can't you have a system, and this is what we're creating, which says there may be two in stock, but they're actually reserved for patients. If you use one now, we're automatically going to reorder another one to be here in time for the next patient. So that you don't have these situations where you turn up to do work and you can't because you haven't got the right stock. So we're trying to bring everything in to one place. And like I said, like Samantha was saying, if all the functions are part of one ecosystem, and if if the system is smart and native enough to talk to every other part of the system, the data, the insights, the reporting becomes really useful and intelligent and smart. And that that way it can give you real insights as to what you need to do today, because all of this mundane, basic admin work is being done for you in the background. Um one thing that's always got to me about dental practice software is when you buy an Apple phone or a Samsung phone, I'm not gonna get into the Samsung Apple debate because we could be here for a while. Um when you buy a smartphone these days, when a new so when a new update comes out, it's automatically pushed to you. You know, you don't have to go back, you don't go back to Apple and say, oh, like there's a new iOS out, can I have it? And they're like, oh, it's gonna be an extra 300 pounds to upgrade to it. Whereas with most of our traditional softwares, A, they spend ages, sometimes years to develop a new feature. And then when the new feature comes out, whether it's the dawn of online booking or the dawn of a patient portal or the dawn of an extra reporting module or whatever, or a set and forget clinical campaign for setting up marketing, whatever it may be. When these new modules are developed, guess what? You have to spend an extra 200 pound a month plus that to use it in your practice. What we are creating is a software where, like an Apple phone or Samsung phone or any other smart device, you buy the software once, we are going to keep developing it in the background to make sure it continues to stay relevant for modern dentistry for the way that we want to work or the way that I want to work as a dentist. And when this when these new things come out, they are just pushed to you automatically. There's no additional fees to pay to add on a new module because anything that we are developing is because it's something that we need to stay current. So we shouldn't have to keep paying extra for these new developments. Um, and that's one of the whole principles behind what we're creating.

Dr James, 38m 35s:

Yeah, for sure. And that is what you want to do, what you want to do uh as a business owner, obviously, overheads are the they're the amount that we have to generate just to stay afloat effectively. So we want to manage that as much as possible. Obviously, that is necessary to some degree to actually run a business, but it's these it's these little add-ons here and there that just get tacked on and tacked on and tacked on that are the flipping silent killers for sure. And I'm sure you can attest to that, Zahir, over the years as as a principal. Uh, but uh yeah, interesting one.

Dr Zahir, 39m 8s:

And and because there's all these add-ons, that's often the reason why patients, or not patients, by practice owners start to look at alternative. They look at alternative CRMs, they look at alternative uh companies use for patient communications, because they're thinking if I'm gonna have to pay my practice supplier, my software supplier, an extra 200 pound plus fat, let me see what else is available on the market. And it might be 150 pounds plus fat. So we end up having these fragmented systems because we don't the reason why the reason why a lot of us have five, ten, fifteen different sort of systems work trying to work together in one practice isn't necessarily because the software themselves don't offer it. It's because every time they try to offer something new, they want more money. And they don't always work particularly well. So you try to find the best in in it in each category and then you make your team deal with it. Whereas we don't want that. We don't want your team having to duplicate their efforts to run 10 different things. Um we also don't want you to have to pay 10 times over for 10 different pieces of software. If it's if it's part of running a dental practice, it should be part of the software. Um, I think what we are creating is moving from just being a PMS or a patient management system to almost being a dental operating system. It's a practice system, it's like a it's like an iOS, but for dental practice. Um and I think that's the direction that we're that's the direction that we need to move in uh in dentistry.

Dr James, 40m 29s:

Understood. Zahir, did I catch this right earlier? You've got more than one dental practice.

Dr Zahir, 40m 34s:

I did. I had I had in the past, not anymore.

Dr James, 40m 36s:

Ah, I see. All right. Well, you know what? That still actually is a good lead-in to something I was curious about because obviously, as a multiple, a former multiple site owner, you may have encountered certain frustrations with one site talking to the others. And I want to know how that's mitigated nowadays or how that can be mitigated that much more. So the experience of both running the business, but also from the point of view of the patient is streamlined.

Dr Zahir, 41m 4s:

Yeah, of course. So I mean, I know we're talking about dental practice software in general. Um, but like we said at the start, Samantha and I uh represent a company called UPod. So UPod has been designed to allow multi-site operational efficiency. Sites can be managed together rather than each site operating in its own little platform. You don't have to log out of one system to log back into to log in as your other practice. Processes, workflows, reporting can be standardized consistently across multiple locations. And again, when you're looking at the compliance modules and the inventory modules that are coming in 2027, everything can be seen from one visible space. You can compare performance across sites, not just performance in terms of reporting and revenue, but clinician performance. Um, the VoIP system can have a look at um, the VoIP system is listening to every phone call that comes in, it's scoring your team members, it'll provide them with like a little playbook for helping them what to say next, or if there's certain things that you want them to say, it's scoring them on all those little parameters. It's helping you to make sure that everything you're saying is consistent to your brand, your tone, and what you want to be said over your phone lines so that your patients receive the experience that you want. And multi-site operations like what we've created allow you to compare all of these performance metrics across multiple sites, it could be a hundred sites, without manually collating reports from different systems and then having to put them up side by side and look at them. That same connected patient, for example, could come from one practice, they could be on holiday, they could be in London or Leeds for a stag or a hen or whatever it may be, and they've got a problem. If they go to another one of your connected practices, everything is visible straight away. You just link it to the new practice, all of the history, all of the x-rays, the CBCTs, the STLs, everything is in one place. You know, um, to my knowledge, we're the only software that has not just your 2D imaging, but it's got your 3D imaging, your CBCTs, it's got your STLs because of the lab tracker. Everything is in one place, visible on the cloud straight away. So wherever that patient goes or wherever your staff go, you can monitor performance and metrics across multiple sites from one login on one website, which is connected to the entire system, the entire practice.

Dr James, 43m 17s:

Interesting. And you know what? I just think that this whole conversation serves to highlight just how far software has come in the last few years. And a lot of us are still operating on the mindset of business owners and their relationship with software from the early 2000s when, you know, okay, we had PMSs and okay, we had computers and everything along those lines, but we just don't realize just how much these things can make our life easier nowadays. And I just want to know, and it's a question of both of you, can you think of any examples in your experience of implementing these sorts of things in dental practices? Can you think of any direct examples or case studies where we had Mr. Jones or Mrs. Smith or whatever? And their turnover was X amount. And then through embodying all of the philosophies that you're talking about just a second ago and embracing these things, their turnover went from X to Y or something along those lines. And they did this via this, this, and this. These are the specific things that software helped them with. Can you guys think of any examples in that front? Because I'd be curious to know, just to make this really tangible for the audience.

Dr Zahir, 44m 20s:

There are lots of sort of AI note-taking add-ons that people can subscribe to themselves for £40, £50 a month. It listens to your notes, it transcribes your notes, but then you've got to sort of manually copy it and put it into your PMS. Some software providers offer an AI note-taking companion, as it were. And one of them may limit it to say five minutes, which isn't necessarily enough time because it doesn't really help you in your appointment if it's only five minutes of AI transcribing. You sort of have to add the five minutes on at the end, and it sometimes it can become a little bit more of a pain to do. We are taking the AI side and the transcription side to a different level. So for example, I will wear a mic such as this with my patients when I'm doing my consultations or doing any treatment. My patient's also wearing a mic. The system is listening to everything I say for the full appointment. It could be an hour long. You know, it's listening to everything that I say, it's making my notes for me on the system as I go along. But not only that, when I'm charting, it is doing my base charting for me. If I'm saying, look, we need to.

Dr James, 45m 22s:

So here, sorry to barge in. Question, is the patient comfortable with that with putting the mic on?

Dr Zahir, 45m 28s:

Yeah. I mean, I tell them at the start and I say, look, I used to sort of spend, you know, in your half an hour appointment, I used to spend 15, 20 minutes with you because I've got to spend the next 10 minutes doing your notes. If you're happy to wear these mics, I can spend the full half an hour with you because it's doing the work for me. And I give them the option. If they say, Oh, I'm not, I'm not sure, that's not a problem. I have no issue turning around and doing it. But I make it quite clear that by wearing the microphone and by using the technology available to us these days, I can spend the full time with you so you get better value for your money. And I've had a couple of patients in the past who have said, nah, I'd rather not. That's not a problem. It's not an issue at all. I have happy to do that. But it makes my life easier, it makes my nurse's life easier, and it actually improves all of the workflows in the background by letting the system do what the system can do. And also the patient gets a better experience because they have me, my full time for their full appointment time, as opposed to having to account for time to clean down and do my notes and set up and everything in between and write my tasks and email my TCO and add this to a CRM board and check the lab work. And I don't have to do any of the admin anymore because the system is doing it for me. So when I'm talking into the microphone and I'm base charting, I'm saying, look, you're upright six and seven, we've got to take it out. Now, one option is you keep a space, one option is we considered a denture, another option is why don't you have a CT scan, we can see whether you're suitable for an implant. As I'm doing this, I'm having the conversation with the patient. Not only is it listening to what I'm saying and writing my notes for me, from what I've said, it's done my base charting for me. And from what I've said, the second I turn around, it's created three treatment plans for me. One with, or four treatment plans. One with doing nothing, one with taking out the teeth and leaving spaces, one with taking out the teeth and making indenture, one with taking out the teeth, CBCT, and implant replacements. It understands my fees, it understands my workflows, it understands that I am logged in and I want, I don't know, half an hour for impressions or scans and three weeks later, half an hour for a fit. But if there's another clinician in my practice, they might want 45 minutes. It understands and is fully customizable to each individual clinician. Um, so the second I finish the conversation, I can hand them the iPad, or as I like to call it, the U-Pad.

Dr James, 47m 36s:

Um I see what you did there. Very good, very good.

Dr Zahir, 47m 39s:

I'm not sure someone likes my my my uh my my term U-pad.

Dr James, 47m 44s:

So here, so that makes two out of three. That makes two out of three.

Dr Zahir, 47m 47s:

Um yeah, but but the second my conversation is finished, the second the patient is sat up in the chair, I can hand them the U-Pad with their three or four different treatment plans on there straight away. They can look at them, it's got the fees on there if they're a member patient, it's got the discounts applied, you know. I can speak to the system and say, when can we get them next? When when's the next available appointment? And the system can alert me and say to me, we can get them in as early as Tuesday morning. Because the system knows everything. The system knows what I want, it knows what treatment plan we're talking about, it knows what the first appointment on that treatment plan is, and it knows my diary. I don't have to check, I don't have to say go down to reception, we'll see when the next available appointment is. We can have a conversation through this thing, and it does all of that basic admin for me. So it's not just about AI note-taking, it's about the AI becoming a part of your day-to-day. And like I said, it's almost like your co-pilot or your assistant or your sidekick. It makes my life easier, it makes the patient journey and their experience far better. And it means that my nurse can spend time looking after the patient, walking them downstairs, walking them back to reception, making them a cup of tea or coffee. It frees up my front of house team to book a taxi or walk someone to their car because a lot of these basic admin jobs are just being taken care of in the background by automations if you give if you give the system permission to do it. Now, again, not everyone will want to do that. So some people will want to turn off sorts of certain automations and they can do that. But for people who want to use it to the fullest capacity, and a lot of it is a learning curve because it can be quite daunting and overwhelming initially to go from what we do now to what we are able to do now. But again, we can hold your hand to that process and we can help you to create the workflows in a way that works for you and your team and slowly layer on bit by bit to get you to where your desired end goal is. Because the system can do a huge amount. It's just what permissions you want the system, what permissions you want to give to the system to let it do.

Dr James, 49m 44s:

Sure. No, that makes sense. And I hope you didn't mind me barging in there uh earlier about the microphone question. I just couldn't help but think, I couldn't help but think that that would have been on some of the audience's mind. Like, was the patient okay with that? But you framed it very nicely from the patient's perspective. It you framed it from the point of view of demonstrating to them how it will benefit them, which ultimately allows them to get on board with something.

Dr Zahir, 50m 8s:

Yeah, and look, I I think I think AI clinical notes, it's not new anymore. It was new maybe two or three years ago when AI was very, very early. But AI has gone a lot further than you know, just typing a question for document review into ChatGPT. AI can do a huge amount more, but it's about having the right safeguards in place, the right parameters in place, and retaining the control because not everyone is comfortable doing what everyone else is comfortable doing. Um, and yes, I agree when when the microphone situation first came out a couple of years ago and I started using it, I was nervous, let alone the patient. But once patients have tried it and they've had their checkup or their appointment or whatever it would be with it, you know what? The next time they don't really ban either. If anything, they go, I've had patients come in and say, My so-and-so, my neighbor told me that you use AI in your practice and that you know it listens to us and it does X, Y, Z in the background. People are weirdly impressed by this stuff.

Dr James, 51m 1s:

I was gonna say, how does that conversation go? Because I that could have gone either way there. You know, I I you they could have thought it was cool, or they could have thought, man, the the the aliens are here, the robots are here, I'm not interested anymore. But you say they like it.

Dr Zahir, 51m 14s:

Yeah, I mean, I'll put it this way. It's like when we start to, when when patients, when practitioners started doing their OpenA's for for clear liners, whatever brand they choose to use. Um, we've had our ITRA scanner since 2016, so it's 10 years old. People still come into this day and are blown away by seeing an ITRA scan and an author simulation. People are still like, wow, this is amazing. I've never seen anything like this before. And in my head, I'm like, this is hardly groundbreaking. This was around 10 years ago, like a really long time ago. People have been using it for a lot longer than we we were probably late to the game.

Dr James, 51m 51s:

The scanners came out in the 80s, okay? Think on that. What were the new machines look like? What was they? What were they, right? But they existed in the 80s anyway. Sorry, you were saying.

Dr Zahir, 52m 2s:

Yeah, no, we were late to the game in 2016 getting it. People were using them routinely in their practice, maybe five or eight years before that. Um, and I might be using a 10-year-old scanner on patients, and they're still blown away by what it is because a lot of patients are just a lot of patients are used to what dents are used to, and that is using systems that were built in the 80s or 90s, and they may have had these bolt-ons or these add-ons or these new developments, but ultimately these new developments are bolted onto an old system. So the architecture and the structure behind how the system was developed is ultimately going to be the barrier or the restricting factor as to what the system can do, no matter how much you add on to it at the top end. If the back end is old, the back end is old. What we're trying to create is a system that's created in modern times and has all of the architecture built in modern times to make sure that we keep remaining modern and clinically relevant as times change. I mean, 10, 15 years ago, I never would have thought implant restorations would be the way they are now in terms of scanning and photogrammetry. I don't know what the next 10, 15 years holds, but I know that our system will keep remaining relevant in 15 years' time because everything's been built with the architecture of the system being able to communicate with every other part of the system and AI built into all of those communications and communications, you know, the the features being ever so rich that we can tweak and edit and modify as we need to as the world continues to evolve. We are still really in its, you know, AI is still in its nascency, in my opinion. I think there's a huge amount that AI will be able to do in the future that it can't do now. This is this is just the start.

Samantha, 53m 38s:

Yeah, so obviously Zahir's just gone through about how it you know increases revenue. But I think a key thing to mention is um about protecting the dentists. So, for example, with the AI with consent forms and medical histories, because we've got the automations where it can send those out to the patient, you know, the day before, a couple of days before, you know, you set it up to however you like because it's dynamic. Um they can sign that from home, they get that via text or email. But the system will tell the dentist if the patient hasn't signed their consent form. And previously, when I was in practice, it was patients who come into the practice and then they hadn't signed a consent form. So you give them the consent form on paper, you get them to sign it, then the dentist would come out and have to say, Oh, you know, have you got the consent form? You know, can I just have a look? Then it's a case of it could all be, you know, fine. They go take the patient in, they do the treatment, the surgery, whatever it is. But that piece of paper, because the conception has got busy, it hasn't been scanned onto the system. So if that consent form isn't there and anything were to happen, that ain't good. No. So um, you know, the system will say consent form hasn't been signed, and because it's digital, they can sign straight away. They can sign, you know, on the UPA or on their phones, and it saves straight into the patient's file. So there's none of this uploading, you know, or downloading, uploading. It's all done there and then. So there's it's that added layer of protection, but it's also with medical histories as well, because the AI will pick up any alerts that you need to be aware of on a patient's medical history. So it could be new medications or you know, they've been diagnosed with something since they last came in, because it would tell you the alerts, but it will also tell you the changes from last time and give you a little AI summary of the medical history. Because previously, it would be, you know, you check the, you have to scroll through their whole medical history. If it's on paper, you grab it and you go through every single question, see if they've answered yes or no to each thing, see what medication they're on, that kind of thing. It takes time to do that, or you could say, Oh, you know, is that you weren't taking that last time, were you? And you've got two medical history to compare. The system does it for you, and it tells you the alerts that you need, you know, the things you need to be aware of, and things like that will just save you so much time, but also in the long run because you should be checking medical histories and you know you should be getting these consent forms signed and your treatment plans because a signing a treatment plan is a form of consent, and a lot of people think, oh, you know, if it's just a checkup and then they do a filling, you still need to get a treatment plan signed because the patient needs to consent to the payment as well.

Dr James, 56m 7s:

I think people forget about thousand percent, and these are the important things that in the the the the humdrum, I guess, or run in the dental practice, they sometimes slip through the cracks because we all know what it's like, it's freaking chaos in there, okay? And we're the best will in the world, you have no idea what's going to come up every day, what patient's gonna call you out of the blue, what spontaneous thing is gonna happen that's going to require your attention. So taking of these things off our plate is absolutely a good thing. And you know what, guys? I have just thought of a really cool way to round off everything that we were talking about today. I know you guys have mentioned UCod uh throughout the course of the podcast a few times, uh, which is obviously your uh software which does embody all of the things that we were talking about today. But in addition to that, what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted to ask very briefly from you both was if you could give us a 30 to 60 second synopsis of why you're excited about the future of AI and software in dentistry. I think that would be a really cool thing to round off on. Samantha, should we have you first? And then, oh, and actually, we do actually have one more thing to mention, which is a gift to the audience, of course, before the podcast concludes today, but we'll come to that after this little 30 to 60 second synopsis. Samantha, you first.

Samantha, 57m 18s:

So I think dentistry of like you know, we said dentistry's changed a lot over the years, and I think software industry has changed a lot over the years, but having everything in one place is obviously very new. No one has really kind of done that before, but we've also got so many things in the pipeline, and there's so many things that we can't even talk about yet because we don't want to steal our ideas. But um, no, it's not that, it's it's you know, we've got things like you know, um Zahe mentioned about the inventory system, um, which I think gets people excited because no one has that, and it's about we've got so many things on our roadmap for you know, we've got road to you know, October, we've got road to 2027, then we've got 2027 to 2028, and we're developing all the time. And we're very lucky in that we are a group of people that have kind of uh done every aspect in dentistry, but we also on our team have the most incredible developers, and they at the beginning of this they knew nothing about dentistry, absolutely nothing. It was a whole new thing to them, and they come up with some incredible ideas that we would never have thought of, and it's just really exciting to see like, oh, this is possible. And you know, I say to developers, you know, I've been working with them for a long time now, and I go, Do you think it's possible to do this? And they always say to me, Everything is possible. Anything is possible. We can do anything in the code, but obviously it's about the time, and you know, you've got to uh we've got to come up with the idea, and then we've got to spec it, and then it's got to be redeveloped, then it's got to be tested, and all that kind of stuff. But it's anything is possible, and I think it's super important as well because over the last few years you get, you know, people said, Oh, you know, I'd really like this, I'd really like that, and it's oh yeah, we'll develop that in. And you know, I've done it before where I've spoken to a PMS, I'm like, oh, could we possibly have this? And they're like, Yeah, and it's we're five years later now, and it still hasn't been developed, or it's been developed in a very small way. Um, and I'm really excited because we do everything at UPod. We don't just do, oh, here's the little small feature that you asked for. If we do a feature, you know, go big or go home, you do the whole thing, and it's really exciting because sometimes I'll say an idea to developers or to the guys, and I say, Oh, you know, can we do this? And they're like, Yeah, okay. I have to then obviously explain it how I would normally explain it in you know, human speak. And then I've got the most incredible guy who manages the developers and he basically translates translates it into developer speak. Um, and they what they produce is far better than I can ever ever imagine. You know, um Zahi and I were on a call the other day with developers and they showed us one of the new things that's that's coming out, and both of us had, you know, a big part to play in creating it, but our minds were just completely blown by what they could create. And I think things like that get me so excited. And there's just so much to come. There's so much to come. And dentistry is changing. There could be something in a year's time where we say, um, oh you know, we're bringing up this feature, but 10 years ago, we could never have imagined being able to do that with software. It's it's just incredible. I'm just so excited by it.

Dr James, 1h 24s:

Cool. So you're you're excited by the field in general and how much scope there is and potential is, and the fact that we don't know what's going to happen next, like the uncertainty, that's the cool part and the innovation. Zah here, 30 to 60 seconds over to you.

Dr Zahir, 1h 37s:

Right. I mean, I would say, look, we're not trying to just bolt the future onto the past. The advantage of being relatively new to this industry is that we don't have to carry yesterday's architecture and yesterday's problems into tomorrow's product. Dentistry has digitized a lot in the last five to ten years. We've digitized the workflows, we've digitized the paperwork, but we've not necessarily automated the work. Um, saving someone three clicks is useful. But removing the need to perform the task in the first place, for me, is quite transformational. Um, UPod is about rethinking what dental practice software should do, but also what dental practice software could do. At the moment, practices are forced to use multiple disconnected systems for everything. And we are aiming to bring all of that together into one intelligent ecosystem. But like I said during the call, and like Samantha's alluded to, it's more than just putting everything into one place. AI is built natively into the platform so that the software can understand what's happening within a practice, highlight opportunities or trends or problems before they even occur, reduce admin burden, and ultimately help you to make better decisions. For clinicians like myself, that means spending less time fighting with software and more time looking after my patients. For practice owners and managers, it means having genuine real visibility over their business rather than constantly searching for information and trying to draw their own conclusions. And for patients, UPOD will extend beyond the practice through the app, through the portal, through their communications, their treatment information, their payments, and managing their care. So ultimately, I think our ambition is quite simple. It's to build an operating system for the modern dental practice.

Dr James, 1h 2m 17s:

I love that actually, the the dental OS, so to speak. And you know what? Just on that, just on you, Pod, what I wanted to mention, and then I wanted to bring you guys in in just a second, because I know that you've got some announcements by way of how you are getting yourself out there and how people can connect with you. We do actually have this really cool piece of software and tool on the Dennis Invest website, and that allows you to calculate just how much your practice is spending on software. And it's actually mind-blowing whenever you tally up all the figures. It's quite cool, it's quite interesting. I'm going to pop that in the description for the podcast. Anyone's interested in that, go ahead and hit that link, it'll be able to detail everything that I've just said uh once you just fill in a little bit of information about yourself. And like I said, that's the sort of thing that can literally save you thousands every single month. It is important to mention that you can actually connect with UPOT at the end of that tool as well. So that can be a convenient way to get in touch if anything today was something that you felt might benefit your dental practice. Guys, in addition to that, I know you've got some you're gonna be part of the shows that are coming up as well. Do you want to tell us a little bit more on that?

Samantha, 1h 3m 20s:

Uh yeah, so we will be at the um London Dentistry Show, which is at the XL on the 9th and 10th of October. Um, we'll be signed E23. Um, and then there's other shows as well. So there's the uh dentist who rests show.

Dr James, 1h 3m 33s:

We can't forget that the business of dentistry. We're gonna shut that out again, aren't we?

Samantha, 1h 3m 37s:

That's on the 7th of November.

Dr James, 1h 3m 39s:

Hell yeah.

Samantha, 1h 3m 39s:

Um, and yeah, so we'll be in all these places, and obviously, you know, if if people want to come and have a look, we will be there, you know, we'll be able to go through the software um briefly. We'll have you know the team there, and we can go through, show you um, you know, a demo on the stand, um things like that. So, but then also if you do want to just book a demo uh off the back of the listeners' podcast, then you can always go to upodmedical.com and there's a little button there that says that you can book a book a demo and you can do that, and then you'll come through to one of us and one of us, or you know, someone will be doing a demo for you.

Dr James, 1h 4m 10s:

Winterbar. And it is important to mention that Dr. Zahir is with us today, despite the fact that his wife is expecting twins any moment. No, it's fact when he's off this podcast, you might want to check his phone. Hey, Zahi here. Uh, so if you don't see Zahi here at the show, that is why. Best of luck to Dr. Zahir in the meantime on that one, and of course, your wife as well. Guys, thank you so much for joining us today on Dental First Podcast. It's been so much fun. Looking forward to the next episode already. I can't wait, and I'll see you both at the dental show.

Dr Zahir, 1h 4m 37s:

Thank you. Yes, thank you very much, guys.