Smile Business Diaries Conversation with Drs Kritika Mehra and Jimmi Patel

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Maria Cabanellas:
[Music] This is Smile Business Diary, a DSD...
[Music]

All right, welcome Dr. Kritika and Jimmi Patel! How are you guys today?

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, good. How are you, Maria?

Maria Cabanellas:
Good, thank you. I see you guys are chiming in all the way from Australia. It's such a wonderful thing, technology, right? That we can have this session and get to know each other a little bit more.

You know, it's really interesting for me to have this podcast session with you guys because I met you in Australia at the Residency with DSD, and you became DSD Clinics right away from there. And at the time, you were building your office—it wasn't even complete yet. So I'm really excited to hear more about where you are today. If you would share with the listeners, you know, what your office is like right now, and what dentistry is like for you every day, and who you are as people.

Jimmi Patel:
Okay. Um, so I think obviously we both are like a husband and wife team of dentists and the owners. We run this business and, um, uh, when we first got in contact with DSD, the idea was to just explore the opportunity of where to from here. Because we'd been the dentist and the business owner for 10 plus years and we were kind of enjoying, but still after COVID and the reflection that came with COVID for all of us, it was just the time for us to just look into the next phase of our personal and professional growth.

And that's when we were looking at all different places, and DSD was one of the concepts that we wanted to explore further. And when we started reading more and started listening to Christian and everybody from the DSD team, it became very clear to us that, you know, we have all the sort of fundamental technology in our business already and DSD would be the best way to bring it all together.

And then immediately we fell in love with the idea of exploring it further. And I immediately—I think I signed up for the online version of The Residency, and then Kritika signed up for the in-person in Sydney, which was in...

Kritika Mehra:
2020.

Jimmi Patel:
2020, I think—no, not 2020, 2022.

Kritika Mehra:
Yes.

Jimmi Patel:
Yeah, I think it was 2022. And um, yeah, we did The Residency and during that residency we conceived the idea that, okay, if we're going to do this, we're going to go all the way.

And, um, so fortunately or unfortunately, just two years ago we built a massive new clinic, and it was good enough for DSD structure, but it still wasn't the DSD Clinic. So we just again sort of buckled up and decided that, okay, we're going to build another new clinic.

And it strategically made sense for us as well. So that's when we committed and we built a new clinic—which actually we are sitting in our new clinic right now as we speak.

And yeah, we started the journey of that. So this clinic is, Maria, like if I was to take you through a walk in this clinic—my words, I’ll try.

The front square, rather, of the building is very non-clinical. Just like, like very Christian Coachman style. The first—

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, so the reception and the waiting lounge, the presentation room—they are the first half of the building—

Jimmi Patel:
Yes.

Kritika Mehra:
Which is completely non-clinical. So—and the most, um, the comment that we get is that they don't even know they are at a clinic. It’s very, very flush and very luxurious feel. So they come and sit there and—and then the clinical part is at the back.

And it's quite well soundproofed, so you don't actually hear the second part at all—the clinical areas’ noises—into the non-clinical area.

Jimmi Patel:
So yeah, as we went detail—because DSD did a great job communicating to the audience that, you know, what are the key features that you need to really focus during the designing phase if you really want to give that experience.

Kritika Mehra:
I mean we all talk about patient experience, but I think Christian and the whole team really helped us break that patient experience down to the level of okay, what should they be seeing and hearing, right? And we took all those pieces on board, passed it on to our architect and the designer, and then they did a great job bringing it all together and made it a reality. And we now have been working in this building for almost 6 months. And even though our other clinic is amazing, this is a completely new level of patient experience and comfort. So I think, yeah, a lot of credit goes to DSD and then the designers who actually understood the concept and the feel we wanted to achieve.

Maria Cabanellas:
Absolutely. And I sneak peeked at your website earlier too, and I saw some of the new office. And you also shared a video with us in the past, and it's just gorgeous. I think the audience should know this is an office that's made by, you know, the concepts of DSD, right? So like you mentioned, just the aesthetic itself, but the flow of looking from start to finish, and the curvatures of, you know, just the psychology of the furniture itself and the lighting and everything involved with it. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. And the name of your practice represents the feeling that you give just from the imagery alone. What went into the name of your office, and if you want to share that?

Kritika Mehra:
Oh, um, that's an interesting story. Yeah, we were actually in Spain, and we were trying to look up brands in Australia who we resonated with, and it was a lot of research. I think it was 6:00 a.m. in the morning too. We didn’t—yeah, to Brandon about this as well.

Jimmi Patel:
Anyways, when we were looking up the brands in Australia, we found a company in Australia whose website, again, same thing, the resonation—they all resonated with us as well, the colors of the brand. So then we ended up contacting them, and they actually told us that they were not taking any clients and were booked out for months. We never gave up on them again, a few times, and yeah, so we actually...yes, so that's how...and then, you know, again, the same thing, we painted the same story, Maria. They got involved into DSD. We told them the whole concept of digital smile design, the storytelling, the photography, the brand that we wanted to create because we are very—I really like the monograms in the branding, like for example, you know, Fendi or Louis Vuitton and all of that. So we wanted to incorporate that in there as well, and that's why we have HOH HTI written throughout our building at different spots and even on the outside.

Maria Cabanellas:
That's incredible. So how did you decide on the name? What does the name represent?

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, so I think, she came back to us, I think, when we went there a second time, they really wanted to just listen to what we were trying to achieve. They were like, "These people won’t go away until..." And when we actually explained to them where we were in our career and then, you know, what we wanted to do for the next part of our career and why this brand was necessary in our professional lives, that's when they started sort of connecting with the idea. And then I guess they said, "Yes, okay, let's work together." And, um, I think from there, I think when we were in Spain, we did a couple of meetings with them, online meetings, and by the time we came back to Australia, we were in full swing of, you know, what we wanted to achieve in terms of the branding name and, uh, I still remember you called me in between passion that, you know, we've got a few suggestions for the name, you know, come and have a look at it. And then, yes, so this—the House of Smile Design just completely stood out. I fell in love with it.

Maria Cabanellas:

Hello, I'm just taking a quick break from this podcast interview to tell you how you can get started with DSD. If there was anything that our guest has mentioned that strikes a chord with you or you're curious about becoming a DSD Clinic, I encourage you to book a call with me. This is a 30-minute, no-obligation information-sharing session in which I can answer your questions about DSD and discuss your options based on your unique circumstances. The link to schedule a call with me can be found in the notes on this episode. Now, back to the interview.

Maria Cabanellas:
I love it, absolutely. You know, of course, I know of your office a little bit, but the first time I saw it, I was just like, this is perfect. This is perfect for the feeling that you get. I believe just... I haven't, unfortunately, been in your office yet. I hope to one day. But, you know, from a visual standpoint, just alone, from your website and the videos that you put out there, I think it really captures the feeling that your patients most likely have. Can you give us an idea of what the patient process is in your office and what kind of responses you maybe have had to your office?

Kritika Mehra:
Oh, look, most of the patients who walk through the door, like, first of all, they are completely blown out because of the front façade. It's a corner building, and it's on a very busy roundabout, so we do get a lot of attention there. But most of our patients, who know us, who have come from other practices, they kind of know us, who we are, and what we do, so they don't get surprised. But they do get surprised because it's completely different, something that they don't expect in Iuka. Most of the people from Iuka, when they walk in, some people have said, this clinic looks like a spaceship. It's a very common comment that they get, like a spaceship. And then they definitely all say that it doesn't feel or smell like a dental clinic at all. Just the... And I think because of the town that we are in, it is a very small center. If you compare it to Melbourne and Sydney-type places in Australia, a general community member does not have that expectation that, okay, we're going to get this type of infrastructure or the facility in Echuca. And as they walk in, they feel like they... This is the comment that we've heard a few times, that they feel like they are not in Echuca and they're somewhere else. So, again, we really wanted to achieve that because we wanted them to be disconnected from everything else, really indulge into what we were offering and the building was offering. And I guess, at least the early feedback that we're getting from our patients is that we have achieved that. So yeah, patients are loving it. And we, in fact, because aesthetics without real workflow or functionality never works out, so we... Yes, it looked amazing when we first walked through the place and when we were building, but then we were just worrying that is it going to work operationally?

Jimmi Patel:
Right. But that's... You know, we were blown away by how well it actually works with the whole idea of what we were trying to achieve.

Maria Cabanellas:
So operation now... Did you plan the functionality in the design, or did that come after it? Was that the same?

Jimmi Patel:
No, it was very... Like we spent even more time into functionality because doing dentistry for, you know, 10 plus years, you just know that it has to make sense or it has to work. Otherwise, you go home very exhausted if the functionality is not there. And I think with the general clinic practice, Maria, that practice is very, very... It looked very recently and with functionality in the center because it's a very easy practice and we see a lot of patients in a day. And I think we did use a lot of functionality components with it.

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, we kept the heart. So here, the main focus was patient journey, whereas Deniliquin is a lot around functionality, whether it's from a patient perspective or from a workflow perspective. Whereas here, it's all about the aesthetics and the... I think, in an analogy, we just kept the engine pretty much the same.

Jimmi Patel:
Yeah, we just changed the body of the car housing.

Maria Cabanellas:
Wonderful. So when you were planning this, because I know there's going to be somebody listening that's in the process of maybe building their own practice from scratch, what were the must-haves for you? And, you know, just the thought process in it, what did you see that were the most important aspects of the plan itself?

Kritika Mehra:
I think the first thing... First thing is that your designer, the branding, like that... That is what we have. We can now say with confidence that it's not that you... You have to share the whole concept with the whole team. As in, the marketing people need to know what you are going to do with your business. The architects or the designers need to know what you're going to do with your business. Because at the end of the day, it all comes together. Like, we had our concept drawn, the concept design on a piece of paper, and we were sharing that with the marketing team. It may seem like we brought everyone on the same marketing team, the architects, the builders. We had...

Jimmi Patel:
The light consultants.

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, the light consultants. We had the acoustic consultants, so they were all talking with each other. And it's amazing how what you can create when everybody is on the same page. You didn't think that this information is irrelevant to this person because, yes, 80% of it is irrelevant, but there's always 10-15% which they can really understand. That, okay, this is something that I need to pick from here. And the alignment that has to be there, that okay, if this is what the marketing team is doing, as an architect, I have to make sure that I am keeping this aligned with the brand logo, and the colors, and the choice of color, the finishes, the textures. So that was one. And then we also kept our entire operational team, like our managers, you know, they were also part of the same conversation because it is good to have the aesthetics, as we discussed earlier.

Kritika Mehra:
But we needed to make sure that the dental assistant team and the reception team, they were also happy with the way time was happening because in our Deniliquin building, as Jimmi said, it's a very busy practice and we see a lot of people. One of the downsides of the design we picked was because it has an open corridor between the reception and the surgeries. And on a really busy day, it can get very loud or noisy. And then it's not a problem, but at the end of the day, you feel slightly more exhausted because of the extra noise that your brain is processing. And we definitely broke that. We just completely disconnected the front of the house with the clinical side of the building, and that's made a huge difference here. Because at the end of the day, when you walk away from here, even if you had the same busy day, you still have a little bit more energy left because you didn't go through that noisy workplace.

Maria Cabanellas:
I understand. I have children. I get it.

Kritika Mehra:
Yes, yes.

Maria Cabanellas:
It almost... You know, having everyone involved like that, to me, with what I do every day, it almost sounded like the interdisciplinary planning session. It's like getting everyone involved so that communication piece... I never really thought about that. So that's a really great tip to share. Thank you for that.

Maria Cabanellas:
Now, you guys have been practicing for a very long time. I think I saw somewhere over 35 years together, correct? That's a good amount of years of expertise there. It gets a little interesting though, because you both are together in a marriage, and so normally it goes one or the other way. It's either you can't stand each other, or it's a risky area.

Maria Cabanellas:
Right? This is called the Smile Business Diaries. You tell all your secrets. Can you just... I know there are ups and downs in any relationship, right? It's not just in married couples, but even with your team members, right? There's going to be ups and downs. And so, can you share what's worked for you guys in the past and what keeps it a good relationship between you two when you mix in the business side of everything?

Kritika Mehra:
What works? I think what works between the two of us with working together, at least from my perspective, I think it works. I think it's being like brutally honest. I think that works. Like, it obviously... you rub each other's feathers, right? But being honest and giving the honest feedback and then, obviously, standing on the other side and being the recipient of it as well, I think that has really worked between Jimmi and I. If I believe that if he didn't do something to the plan, it doesn't matter whether it's a kitchen bench, it doesn't matter if it's a business. Like, you know, I'm going to say it one way or the other, and it's the same way from Jimmi's side as well. If I don't do anything to the plan, he will tell me. And I think that honesty, or, you know, if we do good, we also share that, but not as much as the negative. Yeah, but I think that one thing definitely goes a long way about how we feel as well. If you know, I know we both are competitive and the competitiveness can often come between the two of us as well.

Kritika Mehra:
But I think we have spoken about it over the years, and we are getting better at expressing ourselves without taking either offense or without thinking that, "Oh, how can you feel competitive with me?" You know, it's human, right?

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, so I think that, because we studied together as well, we've been together since 2001. And because we studied together, we were friends, and then we got married. Then we have a business, we had kids.

Kritika Mehra:
You know, my mom sometimes says that I don't think you've actually moved on from being students. You're still like that with each other.

Kritika Mehra:
But I think that's one thing that we are constantly working on, getting better, like telling each other how exactly we feel. And I think that's the same with the team.

Jimmi Patel:
Yeah, you know, with the team, it's a different dynamic. With each other, it's a different dynamic because we can be much more honest with each other. And as Kritika highlighted, you know, it's constant work in progress. And over the years, we have learned that, okay, how to still say things with candor and respect.

Jimmi Patel:
Together, like, you know, yes, there is an underlying respect, but at the same time, there will be honesty about what my opinion is. And someone very recently said to me that you can't work if you agree on everything, and you can't work together if you disagree on everything.

Jimmi Patel:
So I guess luckily we both have personalities where we naturally agree on a few things and naturally disagree on other things. So we challenge each other, and this is something that's been told to us by, you know, our other stakeholders, like our business coach, our accountant, and other people that we both have natural tendencies and inclinations toward different aspects of business. Like, Kritika likes a few aspects of business which I don't quite enjoy, and I like the other aspects more. So again, that's naturally fallen into our lap in that regard that, okay, we have our own ways, and we just take care of them in our own ways.

Maria Cabanellas:
Well, this is the perfect time for me to ask then: Who, because both of you do DSD in the office, who does the DSD patient? Then, if there's a new patient coming in, unassigned to either one, how do you work that out?

Kritika Mehra:
It's a very good question, actually. It took us a long time to figure this out—about six months. Because we started implementing DSD last year. We went to the residency too.

Kritika Mehra:
Yes, and at first we were both doing everything, but now every new patient goes to Kritika, and she does the DSD 1 and 2. And she introduces me throughout that journey, naming words that, "Okay, Jimmi will be part of this, I'm not there, but I'm just part of the conversation."

Kritika Mehra:
And then once the treatment plan is approved and signed, then I just come in the process where I do what I have to do, and then I just walk away. So I'm not there, but I'm still there as part of the conversation.

Kritika Mehra:
So we have a clear distinction now that she does DSD 1, 2, and anything orthodontic related, and then I take over the restorative part for the rest of the case.

Jimmi Patel:
Interesting, so sort of share it. Actually, it works really well for us, and even the marketing that we are doing for the brand, it is more in association with Kritika because we want really people to just now, I think, they're walking in with the NA secret sec, because, you know, that's a setting point that you are going to secret sec first, and then she is the first point of contact.

Jimmi Patel:
And then she connects with them and helps them connect with the brand, and then I'm just someone who is there when it's needed.

Maria Cabanellas:
Right, right.

Maria Cabanellas:
So you mentioned earlier, you know, you can't just have the aesthetics of the building, right? You have to have the functionality and everything else. And that marketing video that you put together is beautiful. I've heard from other people compliments for you on that video, and it defines really well, you know, what they're going to expect, and they see Kritika, you know, in the video, and it's almost like you feel like you're there.

Maria Cabanellas:
Can you tell the audience more about how you developed this video and what it's done for you?

Jimmi Patel:
Yes, so that video, I wanted... um, so I wanted to share our why, Maria. I am very big on the ethics; we both are very big on ethics in dentistry and being transparent with our patients as much as we can.

Jimmi Patel:
We like, before we got introduced to DSD, I used to always come home frustrated that there's so much that I can offer this patient. There's so much I could have said, but I didn't because I was worried about the patient, whether they can afford it, or I didn't say that to them in the last six months. A lot of weight on my shoulders.

Jimmi Patel:
And when the DSD approach got through to me, it kind of took that weight off my shoulders, and I was like, ah, I can just tell them everything. I can tell them all the options, and this is my true self. I really sleep better when I tell them all the options I can give them, and I really, really believe in Christian's philosophy that he actually said in one of the videos.

Jimmi Patel:
And I actually felt like he took my words—I don't know who took each other's words—he just said exactly how I believe that every single patient deserves to get an unbiased treatment plan.

Kritika Mehra:
And I think that is—I am very passionate about it, and it comes from my heart because it's like I walk into an Apple Store, and I cannot buy iPhone 16 because it's out of my budget. I cannot buy iPhone 15, it's out of my budget. I can only buy an iPhone SE. It's like that, and that's how most clinicians treat their patients—they just budget the patient on their ability or on their emotional comfort with numbers, right?

Kritika Mehra:
Or they take the decisions they want to, and that was my driver. I wanted to share the story of how we feel about dentistry and how the treatment plan should be offered to them. So that was my gist, and then this gist was shared with the media team. And obviously, we wanted to do a very authentic storytelling, so that was involved.

Kritika Mehra:
And then we already had executed some of the DSD patients in our Deniliquin branch, and we also wanted to bring them into the pictures. And then I think the media team really nailed the brief, I guess. And that's another thing, right? They had to be explained about the whole DSD concept before as well to bring them on board so they can bring a piece of video or a product out that aligns with your brand.

Jimmi Patel:
Yes, yes.

Jimmi Patel:
And matches the aesthetic too. It was, I think, The Branding itself is portrayed very seamlessly throughout everything. Your name is on, you know, and it shows very well.

Jimmi Patel:
I think I was just going to add to what Kritika said. It's the, um, it's that, you know, so many times because this doesn't come naturally to us as dentists or as clinicians, which is the marketing or branding, but as dentists, one thing we know is that when we look at the smile, if something's off, then I can pick that up straight away. It tells us that, okay, something's not right.

Jimmi Patel:
I can't probably say it, but something's not right. Same goes with the branding. And if someone's in the process of building the new clinic or getting a new branding done or even the marketing content, same goes there. If you see what's being proposed to you by the agency or if you look at a post or something, and if it doesn't feel right in your gut or to your eyes, then don't approve it until you get the feel of, "Ah, that's it now." This is... I don't see anything here that bothers me.

Jimmi Patel:
And we stay true to that because in our Deniliquin, we run a different brand as well, and that's more based on functionality. And with that one, it's years of learning where we just thought that, okay, enough is enough, let's just get it done. But with House of Smile Design, we really had to park that mindset away, and it does not go out of the building or doesn't go on social media until it is 100% satisfactory that, okay, we're happy, now it goes to the next level.

Kritika Mehra:
So yeah, we—and same with the video, I guess. We did a few changes, and it did... yeah.

Kritika Mehra:
I think, Maria, like for, we have a very—it's that we're trying to run two brands, and the way we internally explain to our team and the way we explain to the social media is like we are running a Toyota and a Lexus. So, the branding difference has to be there because the Deniliquin local dental is Toyota, and this has to be looked at as a luxury brand.

Kritika Mehra:
So, yeah.

Jimmi Patel:
And the day we made that marketing video, it's funny, I was sitting down with my marketing manager, and I said to him, we cannot make an iPhone video anymore because now we need to up the standard.

Jimmi Patel:
Because we've already set that standard so high that, but I think it just has to live up to that now. I think that started from the day when we accepted the name of the brand, The House of Smile Design, and everything has to be to the best of our ability.

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, yeah, and I mean, it yells luxury, it really does.

Maria Cabanellas:
So, I know that doesn't come easy and it comes with a heavy investment, right? And I want to know more about, I guess, the question I want to ask is now that you've done it, really, and you're in the middle of it now, looking back, are you happy with this decision? Did it all work out? Are you feeling any regrets?

Jimmi Patel:
No, I was very nervous. To be very honest, I was very, very nervous, because especially because, um, I think sometimes we can just accept ourselves or our environment and think that I cannot be, um, like, you know, whoever you see on social media. You know, you have Michael Apa or you have Christian Coachman, and there are so many amazing dentists, even in DSD, that's right.

Jimmi Patel:
Yeah, and you look at them on Instagram and you think, "Oh, I can't be that." And then all of a sudden, you have this brand on your hands, and back when it was being built, I was like, "No, no, I don't think I can run this. No, it's just too much, too much, you know."

Jimmi Patel:
But I think I have no regrets. I think if anything, this brand is very close to my heart, and the way it runs kind of matches my personality because I am not a fast person, and I like to take my time. And I think it's going well with me.

Kritika Mehra:
Yeah, I think it's the... yeah, when we first started, see, I don't know if it'll make sense to the listeners, but we were struggling to get professional dentists to come and work with us because of our location. Because we are not in a big city, right?

Kritika Mehra:
So, there was a strategy piece behind this decision that, okay, we needed to build a clinic in a slightly bigger location where they come and work there for a few days and then come and work in our other branches for other two or three days a week. So, that was the first point of the decision-making process.

Kritika Mehra:
And then we were looking for, "Okay, what do we have to do so that it becomes a self-sustaining business?" Because we did not want to do exactly what we already had in our other two branches. And when you have something that's working for you for so long and successful and profitable, it is so hard to think outside the box and create that, because there's a huge risk. Because you've got this recipe that works, right?

Kritika Mehra:
And then, to achieve something like this, you're even talking a bigger investment in a slightly different territory where you don't know whether the recipe is going to work or not. So, the risk was really high, and we won't lie, we had a lot of B+ nights, lots of tears, and lots of fights between the two of us that, "Okay, are we going in the right direction or not?"

Kritika Mehra:
But then, once we put the pen to the paper and we signed a couple of contracts with the real estates and things like that, there was no turning back. We just thought that, "Hey, we'll live through this and figure it out."

Jimmi Patel:
But the first six months, everything that we hoped for this clinic has achieved it, and we can't thank... I don't know whether it is God or whatever universe or whichever way, but it all comes together if you really dream.

Jimmi Patel:
And the biggest thing is, when you make these decisions, it's the alignment that is extremely important. That one decision has to align with the previous decision, and every decision that you make has to go in with all the past decisions. Because if you somewhere get cold feet and start looking at it like, "I'm going to cut the cost here" or "I'm going to compromise there just to make it work," it's like a perfect recipe.

Jimmi Patel:
A little bit more salt or a little bit more something else can ruin the whole thing. So keeping that alignment, I think that was one of the most impressive pieces when I first met you both, was you had already gone through the residency, you already knew the information.

Maria Cabanellas:
Yeah.

Jimmi Patel:
And then meeting you in Sydney was interesting because normally I'm the person going to you to talk about the clinics, but in this scenario, you guys were chasing me down, saying, "We're ready, we're ready."

Maria Cabanellas:
And you know, it's a little take it back just because it's not normal, right? But it was such a great introduction to you overall because to see that kind of leadership and open-mindedness and just the grunt work type, you know, essence of it all is very refreshing because I think you're completely on track with, you know, don't stop, right? Just keep the momentum going, go forward, and you're the walking, talking, living example now of that. So, it's amazing to see what's come out of that in such a short time because, like I said, I didn't even know the office yet. We didn’t have the office name at that time, and you went for it.

Maria Cabanellas:
So for those that are maybe struggling to take a step in any direction right now, what would be the best advice you could give them? You mean the owners or any DSDs that are looking to grow in any direction and they don't maybe know how to go about it, they're paused in their journey right now and they're not sure what to do next? How would you encourage them to make the move?

Kritika Mehra:
I think the first thing would be accepting the fact that the technology is here to stay and really accepting it and getting on with it. Because if you don't do it, you'll miss the boat. It's changing every single day.

Jimmi Patel:
Yeah, definitely.

Kritika Mehra:
And I think the second most important thing is really getting some good mentors around you, good clinicians around you, good support groups so they can really hold your hand and take you through the journey. If I had found DSD earlier in my life, I feel like I maybe would have saved some of those sleepless nights. Yes, you know, and we, I think as Jim said before, Maria, like we already had all this technology. We just didn't have the absolute connectivity between all the platforms, and I think if anybody did look at DSD, they should definitely do it because it does help you. It opens up your view, your vision about your treatment planning for the patient because you can get very tunnel-minded and only treatment plan, you know, very narrow.

Kritika Mehra:
So, yeah, 100%.

Jimmi Patel:
Yeah, I think the growth for anyone who feels a bit more directionless, to me, staying true to yourself is another big one. As a clinician, we all are different, as we all are different humans from each other. Like even in the DSD group, there are some amazing clinicians who have mastered, you know, a particular style of dentistry, and if I just blindly follow them, even though I would love to be like them, but there's something about their fabric, their personality, their look, their experience, their location, where they are working. They have evolved into who they are, where they are, and you can't copy that path completely. You can pick and choose a few sort of golden nuggets, but then ultimately you have to figure out that, okay, who you are, what your personality is, what your fabric is.

Jimmi Patel:
If you are an introvert trying to copy someone who is extremely confident and extroverted, it's just not going to work. So, be authentic to yourself and then figure out what your strengths are and obviously the weaknesses as well. And then the industry has enough to offer for all different types, and there are patients who like both types of clinicians. You know, patients who love an extroverted clinician, and there are patients who love someone who is just focused on their work and nothing else. So, you know, identify that personal brand, align your clinical work to your personal brand, and then create the business brand that sort of aligns with both of those things, and it will surely be successful.

Kritika Mehra:
And when I first started looking into DSD, I considered myself as an introverted person. I think we both are. When we looked at DSD, we felt that it was just a really glamorous thing, that it's not for us. But then we looked at it and thought, DSD is for everybody. You just have to understand how to apply it, and then you will be fine.

Kritika Mehra:
So yeah, I think just identify who you are and then look for that next thing.

Maria Cabanellas:
That's a very popular misconception, so I'm happy you brought it up because there's—and it's what you said before—that kind of limits people, right, from their potential. It's not believing that they deserve it or not believing that they can do it themselves. And your office is located in a very rural area, correct? Can you tell us about the experience with that? Because that's a hesitation I hear a lot. People say, "I'm not in a big city, and I don't have a big office." And I say the exact same thing to them. I say, "DSD is for everyone. The way you treat your patient has nothing to do with your location or office size."

Maria Cabanellas:
So can you just explain, for anybody that has doubts about it, how the success has been for you in that regard?

Kritika Mehra:
So I think when we were in Madrid—uh, not Madrid, sorry—when we were in Sydney doing the DSD residency too, I remember the two of us were in the middle of getting our building designed, we had signed the lease, and then all of a sudden, the two of us started thinking, "Oh my God, like is DSD going to work in Iuka? It's a small rural town."

Kritika Mehra:
Do you remember walking to JJ and asking him this question?

Jimmi Patel:
Yeah.

Kritika Mehra:
So we actually walked up and we were like, the lectures were still going on, but we didn’t want to know what they were talking about. We wanted to go and talk to JJ, so we got JJ out and we were like, “Do you know we've signed the lease, but it's in Iuka, it's a rural town. Do you think it will work?” And he's like, “Yes, it will work.” Because...

Kritika Mehra:
And I think we just took his word because JJ just said that. So, see, that's it. You know, I think the thing is, DSD, yes, it's digital smile design, but what it is, is a treatment philosophy. It's treatment planning your patient completely and holistically, looking at your blind spots.

Kritika Mehra:
Right, you don’t want to be promising a patient Invisalign and implants without looking at whether they need a sinus lift, whether they need a gingivectomy, or whether, you know, what all they need tads for any intrusion. So I think that's what DSD does. DSD helps you look at your blind spots, gives you the ability to communicate that to the patient, and even communicates to the patient what the end result is going to look like, what they’re going to compromise on.

Kritika Mehra:
And, you know, if they don’t do orthodontics, if they don’t do Invisalign, and they only go with restorative, what are they missing out on and how it’s going to look? So this can be achieved in a town of 5,000 population or in a town of 1,900 population, where we have executed this in Finley, a 1,900 population.

Kritika Mehra:
Okay, and now we are executing this in Iuka. And the most interesting part is our maximum number of DSD patients that we’ve executed in the last two years—they come from Finley, which is our smallest, and we service them there.

Jimmi Patel:
So DSD, it doesn’t... it's not... it’s not, it can be as glamorous. I think it's a framework. You can freestyle in it. That's right, you can take it extreme. You can keep it as simple and present the plan on a laptop and show it to the patient, that this is the research I’ve done, or you can create another House of Smile Design and have a big presentation room with a 90-inch TV and then show them the whole thing, the whole cinema.

Kritika Mehra:
Exactly.

Maria Cabanellas:
Thank you for sharing all that. That's... thank you. I guess that helps me.

Maria Cabanellas:
Now we're coming to the end of our time, and we've started something new where the previous guest is going to ask you a question, and then I'll ask the same from you if you would ask a question to our next guest.

Maria Cabanellas:
So, the question that I received for you is: What does delivering DSD look like in a rural community? How do you introduce these things to patients in a different way?

Kritika Mehra:
One thing that we know, Maria, is that our clients—they're like a farming community, most of them anyways. And they're not someone who gets excited and emotional very easily. They are like hardworking, grounded, sort of very—what’s the way I should say it—simple. Yeah, they're very simple people. They don’t show emotion. They don’t get very excited or very sad. They’re just very neutral in their emotions most of the time.

Kritika Mehra:
So when we looked at DSD, especially the DSD2 appointment, when we first started doing everything that we saw other clinics do, we thought, "Okay, yes, we’ve tried it in the first few patients," but then something was not working for us. And then we basically just slightly de-glamorized it to align with the community that we were working with and then align with our personal brands as well, with the fabric that we have as individuals.

Kritika Mehra:
And then we found a sweet spot that, "Okay, this is something that works for us." We feel more natural about it. Our clients feel more natural about it, and then our case conversion just completely switched after that because it was not looking like we were just following this very hard script from someone or something that we had learned.

Kritika Mehra:
So we were still doing what DSD advised us to do, but in a slightly toned-down version that was more aligned with us—more customized to how we feel and who we are as people.

Maria Cabanellas:
That's wonderful. And I think that's very important to note that DSD is very customizable too. The workflow and the strategies involved can be modified to fit whatever office you have, whatever type of person you are, or even the type of dentistry you really want to focus on. We can modify it to go in the direction that you're looking for.

Maria Cabanellas:
Yeah, just compliments what we've already been talking about. It's for all. So thank you guys so much for your time and meeting with me so early in your day. It's late here, but early in Australia, right? I appreciate it, and I really believe that there’s going to be a lot of people that will find value in everything you've taught, so thank you again.

Kritika Mehra:
Thank you.

Jimmi Patel:
Thanks for having us.