The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry – Episode 233

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Welcome to The Group Dentistry Now Show: The Voice of the DSO Industry!

Brad Pingle, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Bien Air discusses:

• the transition from air-driven to electric handpieces in the U.S. market
• the impact of dental schools
• standardization & streamlining

To learn more visit https://dental.bienair.com/en_us/ or visit https://bienairacademy.com/

You can also reach Brad Pingle at brad.pingle@bienair.com

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DSO Podcast – Empowering the Next Generation of Dentists: The Shift from Air-Driven to Electric Handpieces

Welcome to the Group Dentistry Now Show, the voice of the DSO industry. Join us as we talk with industry leaders about their challenges, successes, and the future of group dentistry. With over 200 episodes and listeners in over 100 countries, we’re proud to be ranked the number one DSO podcast. For the latest DSO news, analysis and events, and to subscribe to our DSO Weekly e-newsletter, visit GroupDentistryNow.com. We hope you enjoyed today’s show.

Bill Neumann: Hey, welcome everyone to the Group Dentistry Now show. I’m Bill Neumann and thanks for joining. It’s always so much fun to do these. After 220 plus podcasts, it’s always, always learn a lot on these shows. And we have Brad Pingel with us. He’s somebody that a lot of people in the industry know. Maybe not everybody, but a lot. We had to post when I was out at B&R’s USHQ and did that. I’ll post it on LinkedIn. And of course, Brad, you People love you. So it was really great to get that awesome feedback when I was out there. He’s the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at B&R. And it’s great to have you on. We’re going to have a conversation about what’s going on at B&R, a little bit about your background, some of the interesting things that you’re doing in the industry.

Brad Pingle: Yeah, no, thank you. I mean, a kind introduction there, Bill. I appreciate it. Yeah, I’ve been in the dental industry for a number of years now, about 15 years. So I held a few leadership positions at Henry Schein Dental on the distribution side and made my way over to BNR. So I’m excited to be here and to be with you. So thank you for the opportunity.

Bill Neumann: Yeah, I was going through your bio and you spend time in San Francisco, first off Northern California with Henry Schein in a regional position. And then you moved down to LA, a regional position there. And then you and I met through Kathleen Titus. And that was when you were handling the emerging dental groups for Henry Schein.

Brad Pingle: Yeah, exactly. So six years in the San Francisco Bay Area as a regional manager, then another four years down in Los Angeles. Gave me a good understanding of the marketplace and what our needs are on the distribution side of the business. And then worked a little bit over the last year and a half or so with the Emerging Markets Group with Henry Schein, three to 20 locations. taking that knowledge and kind of transitioning onto the manufacturing side of the business. It’s been great to understand, you know, how the dentists think and what the dealer market is like, and then now kind of integrate and transition into providing some really, really quality, differentiated and unique options and handpiece operating systems and attachments. It’s really, you know, it’s fun being here. And I think I’ve had a good amount of experience getting into this mode of providing the best care for our customers to provide for their patients. So excited about it.

Bill Neumann: Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about the move that you made. So B&R and maybe for people in the audience, we should back up a little bit of insight from you on the organization, Swiss company, can pieces. And I think maybe talk a little bit about that, because I think you’ve got a unique value proposition, your electric can pieces, where I think in the U.S. anyway, we’ve been a traditionally an air and air handpiece in the air driven handpiece. And you’ve made a lot of headway with electric handpieces in the U.S. and specifically with dental school. So we’ll get into all that. But talk a little bit about the company as a whole and why you made the move.

Brad Pingle: Yeah, absolutely. A couple of reasons. I mean, the reputation and the quality that you hear about B&R, it rings true. I’ve been able to go to the headquarters in Vienna, Switzerland. I’ve been there twice now over the last year that I’ve been with B&R. And just amazing manufacturing. And we hang our hat on the quality of the product itself, right? at the end of the day. But the more that I got into the business of B&R and handpieces in general and the operating systems that go along with it, there’s a lot of differentiation with this company. And that’s why I’m excited to do things like this and kind of get the message out a little bit more than I think we have in the past. I feel like it’s a company that’s kind of a sleeping giant on the handpiece side. Our mission really is to kind of take You know the air driven handpiece users over to electric and, you know, we have a great line of hand, air driven handpieces as well. We do not want to neglect that part of the market or those users but, but the electric, the electric micro motors that we produce are. are fantastic. And the way that we integrate them into existing dental units, it’s really makes BNR kind of a special place to be. So I’m excited to see our market expansion and get the word out and let private practices, but also DSOs know a few of the special things we’ve been working on. and some of the some of the value that I think we can bring that’s far and above just kind of a traditional handpiece company. So it’s a, you know, it’s a privately held company from Switzerland, obviously, Watch Valley, where they make all the, the small little gears for Rolex watches, Omega, Tissot, and also some fantastic Swiss chocolates. So, you know, anything you think of Switzerland is usually quality. And we’d like to pride ourselves on that as well. So

Bill Neumann: And if you ever get a chance to go out to your Orange County facility, you will leave at least with a box of Swiss chocolates. Sometimes there’s some other Swiss goodies there, Swiss army knife potentially. You definitely have a lot of pride in being a Swiss company. And I think it shows in the quality of the hand pieces. So what is the market? I don’t know the answer to this. So what does the market look like in the U.S. from a percentage standpoint, air driven to electric?

Brad Pingle: Yeah, the numbers that I see are almost split down the middle. You see mainly electrics used in Europe and across the world. On the US market, it’s kind of split right there in the middle. And that’s where we see our opportunity. And we feel like the electric attachments and electric micromotors are just better for the patient. They’re better for the clinician for a number of reasons, going from ergonomics to just sustainability in the workflow of a patient. of a dental operatory. So yeah, it’s certainly our mission and we feel like half of that marketplace is open and ready and wants electric handpieces. And we’re trying to break down some of those barriers to entry. And typically the ones we see the most are price, right? And then also the weight of a handpiece. So a few things that we have, you know, certainly put some emphasis on in regards to how do we get through those objections when somebody does want to transition into electric handpieces.

Bill Neumann: So is it just something that in the US sounds like we’re lagging behind when it comes to the switch over to electric? And is it just because it’s something that we’ve always done here? It’s comfortable, it’s maybe a cost issue or at least the perception of a cost issue. But what I hear you saying is, you have more longevity with an electric handpiece. And you talked about the ergonomics, which is something certainly important for groups and their clinicians. So is that what it is? It’s just something that we’re used to here and the transition slower?

Brad Pingle: I think so. I think so. And again, you mentioned early on in the introduction, and thank you for that. The University of Success is really where we’ve put a lot of our efforts, resources, and just attention. And so we are currently in over 55, I think we’re at 56 or 57 as of this year, of the 70 or so dental universities. And so they are all using their D1 through D4 students are using B&R and they’re using electric hand pieces. And so we’re proud of that. We think that that that potentially could could really sway, you know, that transition of the marketplace into electrics. And we hope that B&R being used by each and every dental student, or most of the dental students coming out of their graduating classes, can have that comfortability with our products, comfortability with electrics in general. And we feel like that’s an advantage that we have. And we hope that the quality that they see while using it in dental universities as they’re training and educating just kind of parlays and transitions into how they want to practice and when they get into their into their operatories, whether it be at a private practice, at a at a CHC, at a DSO, emerging market group, wherever they end up, we want them to think, you know, how do I provide the best care to our patients? And so we’re striving to to to provide that that type of service, that type of handpiece so that they come out and they hopefully won’t be an error, but certainly understand the importance of you know, how to mill that tooth with a high-speed handpiece instead of feathering with an air-driven. And there’s a lot of technique that goes along with making that just a more efficient and time-saving kind of procedure when you’re using your high-speed and low-speed handpiece.

Bill Neumann: There’s a couple of points around working with the dental schools and think about groups and DSOs and recruitment challenges. And yeah, I think that’s something that a lot of these, if you’ve got 56 of the 74 dental schools that are using B&R and using electric, And all of a sudden, a graduating clinician comes out and they’re using an air-driven handpiece. First off, they’re going to probably go, what’s going on? And maybe feel like they’re taking a step backwards, potentially. So I think that’s something for groups to keep in mind, that these younger clinicians are going to be looking for these newer solutions, solutions that are going to be better from an ergonomic standpoint. And I wanted to talk to you a little bit about something you said there. So is the technique different when the dentist is using an electric versus an air driven? What are the differences there? Because that’s another potential challenge is if a young clinician that graduates dental school is well-honed on an electric handpiece of B&R and then comes out and goes to air-driven, do they have to kind of relearn this technique? And again, it almost seems like they might be going backwards.

Brad Pingle: Yeah, it is. It’s really a milling versus feathering or painting, they like to say, technique. So with the constant and the very powerful torque of the micromotors, the attachments can really do their job very easily, cutting through enamel and PFMs and It just makes, again, time-saving for the doctor, absolutely, but also hand fatigue. If you’re spending, you know, 30 minutes trying to get a crown off and you could do it in 10, it’s gonna not only save you time, but the fatigue of your hand and a better patient experience. So yeah, absolutely. And how we differentiate ourselves on the BNR side is not only that micromotor and the use of a high-speed handpiece is obviously a benefit, but where ours kind of, our Nova and our MX2 Plus motor, it kind of sets itself apart because we call it an all-speed, and it truly is. The magic is in the motor. And when you have that motor with our Nova Micro Series handpiece, not only is it the smallest motor to end of attachment handpiece on the market, but it also has an extremely thin neck and very ergonomic. And you can actually use that handpiece through your procedure sets, even down into slow speed procedures. So if you’re doing high speed crown removal, And you need to dial down the RPMs to go down and do some carries removal after that, or even down to polishing. You can actually use our one high speed handpiece by just switching out the latch type burrs with friction grip burrs. And you can use that one handpiece instead of buying multiple handpieces per operatory and having to having to have, you know, slow speed and high speed at the ready. You really could if you wanted to just switch the burrs, you really could effectively use that high speed handpiece, limit the number of handpieces you need per operatory. And really what we say is simplify the life of a working dentist and and simplify their their operatory. So, again, kind of kind of you know, not only technique, quality and reliability of the handpiece itself of the products and features, but but also how do we how do we implement workflows, right? And our ROI with a handpiece. And so we feel like that using our all speed red handpiece with our MX2 micromotor just differentiates us in the marketplace and and allows us to do the slow and high speed procedures, which is a special, special feature from our company.

Bill Neumann: So you have this Nova Series electric attachment. It just earned a well-deserved spot. I think it was Dentistry Today’s top 100 product list. Talk a little bit about this because this is a newer solution and it’s pretty high. I mean, Dentistry Today’s top 100 is probably one of the more popular lists that Dennis look at, and they do a pretty good job on reviews. So talk a little bit about that Nova Series electric attachment.

Brad Pingle: Yeah, it’s our flagship. It’s our flagship. It is. is reliable its quality. It also has some features and benefits that are fantastic such as anti retraction valve in the actual handpiece head, or the, the attachment portion of the, of the motor and attachment, and it ceramic push button so that you’re not getting heat over your body temperature so you don’t accidentally burn a patient with the back of the head of the handpiece. When they’re running at 200,000 RPMs, they create a lot of heat. And we make sure that safety is the number one concern of ours. So lots of good features and benefits to the handpiece itself. And like I said, the magic really is you know, in that motor and the attachment together to give us that kind of all speed opportunity. But yeah, it’s our flagship. We are proud of it. And we really wanted to, you know, to get more and more demos so that more customers and more clinicians can feel the power, but also feel the no stall on low kind of differentiation of that handpiece.

Bill Neumann: Maybe talk about a couple of things you’re working on right now. You know, dental workflow seems to be a real focus for clinicians. And a lot of the, I think the DSOs are trying to figure out, you know, how to best, you know, make their dentists efficient. And, but beyond that, you know, just from a patient experience standpoint too, it’s not just about the efficiency. It’s about the, It’s about the patient experience and giving them, you know, just where they’re, you know, not waiting as long, whether, you know, there is that fear factor. So talk a little bit about the workflow solutions you’re working on.

Brad Pingle: Yeah, it’s a great question, Bill. We have a unique offering in regards to integrating our operating systems, our electric operating systems, into any existing dental unit that a private practice or a DSO has. And so in that, I think it’s a special thing to touch on because many of the manufacturers, they have their external boxes that can be either mounted or placed on the top of the unit or on the side. But we actually, we’re different. We are able to integrate into any dental unit. And so not only does that streamline the operatory, right, and allows you to just have a touchpad or even our iPad user interface, but it allows you to have, you know, not the endo box sitting over to the side or on a cart that rolls in or an implant box or an oral surgery box. I mean, When you talk about these DSOs, especially, and even private practices that are bringing in multi-specialty or doing multi-specialty themselves or bringing in associates that do multi-specialty, that’s where I think we really shine is our operating system. It’s called the Optima INT and iOptima INT. The Optima INT does restorative and endo, including wave one. which is a great benefit to many general practitioners and very popular. It’s kind of our flagship operating system. But where we’re really excited is the multi-specialty options and kind of the grow with me system that we have in the iOptima. And the reason I say that is If you’re pulling in an oral surgeon once a week or once a month even, or if you’re pulling in an endodontist or an implantologist, and that’s a part of your DSL or your group practice, and you’re trying to get more specialty involved into your offices, we feel that integrating our iOptima and having one chair-sized system integrated into any existing dental unit um, is really an advantage for us and for, and for the clinicians. Um, so, so, so that I Optima will give the clinician the ability to do high speed and slow speed restorative. They can do endodontics, including wave one. They can do oral surgery and implantology and even piezo scaling all from one integrated system, right there, chair side, um, without the use of any external boxes. Um, and it’s a differentiator. It’s where we believe are, um, along with the Nova. right? And along with the power that the NOVA gives as an all-speed solution, the EyeOptima is right there with it in regards to the operating systems that can really create efficiency within a handpiece workflow. And we’re really excited about that. So I would highlight that for sure as how we think we can go into the future and have a little bit of a game-changing opportunity for clinicians.

Bill Neumann: Being there, obviously, you’re super strong when it comes to the dental schools and have been really able to penetrate and dominate that market. What’s, what’s your approach with DSOs? And what do you think, you know, your value prop is for, you know, those emerging dental groups, as well as the larger, more established DSOs?

Brad Pingle: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So this is probably the most exciting part of why I joined B&R. Along with the integration that we just talked about and the all speed red, those play a part in clinically how we think our customers will take advantage of of the products and the quality of them, but really on the business side. And like I said, I come from Henry Schein. We talked about the business solution side of the game plan and what DSOs are looking for. A lot of times they’re looking for standardization within their group practices. They’re looking for discounts, right? They usually have volume. And so they’re looking for those discounts and they’re looking for stress-free ways to incorporate technology. And so we believe that we have created a program that is really exciting. It’s called the Electric Advantage Program. And it’s really been born out of our success through the university business. And so we’re very excited about transforming that into an opportunity for DSOs to really basically sell it in the same way that we do with the universities. And I’ll run through what it is really quickly, Bill, just kind of high level so you kind of get a feel of what it is. So essentially, we are offering through our dealer networks, our dealer partners, we are offering to integrate an operating system, whether it be the Optima that I mentioned or the iOptima, the multi-specialty system. Either way, we would implement or integrate all of those systems into any dental unit of an emerging markets or a DSO that is three locations or more, we would integrate that operating system in every operatory that that customer would want, right? So essentially, we will get them electric ready in every operatory that they desire. As long as it’s three plus locations and we have some volume to kind of work with, we’re willing to go and kind of give that as a free good, essentially, with the package. So what the customer would get after they integrate those at no charge and they have their operatories set up for electrics, then we would put together a bundle package of handpieces and motors to equip their operatories. And then where the really unique part of this program lies is the way that we can finance these bundle packages per location so that each location has a monthly payment. So it ends up almost being like a lease type option. The end user will own their handpieces at the end of their financing terms, whether that’s four or five years. basically a traditional financing program. But why it seems almost like a lease type option is because for those four or five years, and this is the important part, Bill, for those four or five years of their terms, of those handpiece bundles and attachments of attachments and motors, we will match the warranty. So we will give a full no questions asked warranty for four or five years, the extension of that term for their financing. so that they now are electric ready in every operatory. They have the hand pieces and motors they need for those operatories in an aggressive bundle price. And we are matching, we are financing it to give them a fixed and predictable cost on a monthly basis. And then we’re gonna put a full warranty on those hand pieces. So that if they, even if they drop these hand pieces, we will take them, fix them and send them right back out. No questions asked, making it super easy for these for these customers to transition into electrics. So simplicity and price discount, right, is really a lot of times what these customers are looking for. And we think this program just kind of hits the nail on the head.

Bill Neumann: Yeah, I’m sure some of the finance and the CFOs on the podcast that are listening in like that predictable price every single month that they know what it’s going to cost them for these hand pieces. They know if there’s an issue that it’s going to be replaced and there’s not going to be a cost. Yeah, that predictability, that consistency and the pricing I think is going to be a big, big deal. You said the minimum is three locations. Is that kind of the start for this package, the qualifier?

Brad Pingle: Yes, yes. And three locations. We are open. We’re flexible. If it is a large number of operatories and it happens to be two locations, that would work. There’s no line in the sand here. But essentially, the same way the DSOs are looking to utilize their buying power is the same way that we’re looking to utilize volume that the DSOs have to give them extra discounting and extra advantages. And so to do that, we can’t really do this program with private practices or, you know, two location practices. We really, you know, it’s tailored towards these emerging market group practices, really the three to 20 growing group practice range is where we would probably see the most activity and interest in this. And yeah, that’s our focus. And I think that’s kind of the sweet spot for where we want to start with this program and see where it evolves to go.

Bill Neumann: And this is the Electric Advantage Program. Is that what you call it?

Brad Pingle: That’s correct. Yeah. The EAP, Electric Advantage Program. That’s correct.

Bill Neumann: Okay. And then if somebody is interested in learning more about this or signing up for it, we’ll make sure they have your contact information at the end of the podcast. Is there an onboarding process and an educational component to it as well? Could you go over that? I mean, you touched on it a little bit, but I think it’s important because you might have some that are some clinicians that are using electric, some that are still doing air driven. So there might be a little bit of a learning curve, perhaps.

Brad Pingle: Absolutely. It’s another great question, Bill. We have a very special and unique platform that’s called B&R Academy. It’s another differentiator that makes us, I think, a little bit more than just a traditional handpiece company. And so what B&R Academy is built for, we really originally built it for universities because we had so much business or, you know, success on the university side, we wanted to support them with not only the hand pieces, but also how to use the hand pieces, why the electrics are different than the air driven, maintenance and service resources, all those kinds of things. And so after creating that for the university side, we kind of sat down and said, hey, We have this idea for this group practice DSO market in the traditional marketplace. Why don’t we open this up and create a whole lot of content for dealer partners, for end users, for graduating dentists, or the doctors that have been using AirDriven for 20 years and want to learn more about electric. So yeah, if you go to www.bnair.com, You will see a plethora of resources, everything from PDFs on servicing the handpieces to KOLs discussing why they’ve transitioned to electrics or even why they’ve transitioned to B&R. And then just a lot of product information on our handpieces, on our operating systems, and kind of the why behind B&R and why we exist. So we think this is, again, You know, not only can we provide a great service to the the end user customer with the product, we can give them some very aggressive pricing and then we can support them on the back end with these resources, with not only our our sales reps out in the field and myself doing as much as we can to support this product and these sales. But but this this B&R Academy is really, truly something special. I advise anybody that wants to go learn more about electric handpieces in general, you know, to go check it out. It’s it’s it’s pretty impressive.

Bill Neumann: Yes, as we kind of wrap everything up here, Bradley, I think this is a great opportunity for a lot of the DSOs out there that can leverage your experience in the space, working with dental groups. And I just think that with all these younger clinicians learning on electric handpieces now, that this is something that a DSO should think very hard and consider very deeply, that if this generation that’s graduating now are learning on electric handpieces, that’s what they’re expecting, And it’s something that you should have in your practices. And I think it’s something, again, that is when you talk about the longevity, right? And I love your new program that you put together, The Electric Advantage. And I think that predictability when it comes to pricing and that warranty, it’s really something that’s needed in this space. And I think it’s going to be welcomed by a lot of groups. So if people want to reach out to you directly, Brad, what’s the best way to contact you?

Brad Pingle: Yeah, my, my email would probably be the best way. It is my, my, my name, uh, pretty easy. Brad dot Pingel, uh, P I N G L E no R in there. A lot of times, you know, it’s, oh, everyone gets hungry cause they think Pringles, uh, right away. But, uh, so it’s P I N G L E at bnaird.com. They can email me anytime. I, I, I am kind of working on the DSO side of our business as, as a business development side of, of things. But I also, lead the sales team and we have a fantastic supportive sales team, 17 strong across the nation. We cover all the markets and so we’re at the ready and we are excited about having this opportunity to engage with these emerging markets group practices and and find out their needs. Hand pieces are, there’s a lot of investments that these DSOs need to make, right? So we understand that. And we just think that what’s gonna be used for sure every single day in a clinician’s hand is their hand piece, right? And so if we can give them that assurance that not only that warranty is gonna cover them, but also they’re gonna get a high quality Swiss made product, and then have the resources and the support behind it, You know, I know from my time in the emerging markets, DSO space, it’s, you know, that’s what that’s what these customers are looking for. And that’s what we want to provide. So I’m here to help them out all the way around. And so is our team. We’re like I said, we’re at the ready.

Bill Neumann: Thanks, Brad. What we’ll do is we’ll drop your email address in the show notes. And was it bnairacademy.com? Was that the URL if people want to learn more about electric handpieces and just get to see the educational opportunities? Did I get that right?

Brad Pingle: You got it spot on. Yeah. BN Air Academy. So B-I-E-N-A-I-R and then A-C-A-D-E-M-Y.com. And, um, check it out and check it out. I think, I think you’ll find some, some pretty, pretty fun, cool, exciting, uh, resources. And we kept them short. We know there’s attention span is short. So it’s like two to three minute videos that really get to the point and, and our director of, uh, of education. His name is Adam Baragato. Got to give him a shout out here because he has done a phenomenal job building this site pretty much all on his own and creating the content for it. So it’s really impressive and I’m excited about it as a kind of an outsider that uses it. And so it’s really fun to have this as an additional resource to our great product line.

Bill Neumann: Excellent. I think I’m going to jump over there after we’re done the podcast and check it out myself. So thank you, Brad, so much. Great. This Electric Advantage program sounds spot on for the industry. So great timing. Really incredible. And appreciate your time. I think the audience is going to love to reconnect with you. and leverage your expertise. That’s what I would also say to the audience. Feel free to, when you reach out to Brad, he’s got experience with groups just like yours. So he can tell you what some are doing well and some maybe aren’t. So it’ll be a really great resource for you. And thanks, again, thanks everybody for listening and watching today. Until next time, this is the Group Dentistry Now Show and thank you, Brad.

Brad Pingle: Thank you, I appreciate it. Have a good day, everyone.