The Orthopreneurs Podcast with Dr. Glenn Krieger

What if I told you the biggest thing holding your orthodontic practice back isn’t your team, your market, or your overhead—it’s you waiting until you feel “ready”?
In this episode of Five Minute Friday, I’m challenging one of the most common patterns I see in orthodontists: delaying the very tools, technology, mentorship, and support that could make practice easier, more profitable, and less stressful. Whether it’s remote monitoring, aligners, consulting, masterminds, or better systems, too many doctors wait for the practice to improve before investing in the things that could actually create that improvement.
💬Quotes
“You are your own worst enemy. Get out of your own way.”
 — Dr. Glenn Krieger
“The most incredible achievers in our industry are the ones who said, ‘Help me.’” 
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

🎯 Key Takeaways
Intro: Are you waiting until you’re “ready”? (00:00)
Why orthodontists delay tools that could make practice easier (01:13)
Why figuring everything out yourself makes no sense (02:07)
What high-performing orthodontists do differently (02:27)
Why investing in yourself can produce enormous long-term ROI (03:34)
Technology, aligners, and remote monitoring: stop making excuses (04:03)
Why high-performing peer groups accelerate growth (04:59)
The real cost of waiting for “one day” (05:55)
Why spending strategically can improve profitability (08:14)
Final challenge: Are you your own worst enemy? (09:10)

🟦 Additional Resources
I’ve seen firsthand how much faster a practice can grow when you stop trying to figure everything out alone and start using the resources already available to you.
Look honestly at your practice this week. What technology, consultant, system, mastermind, or investment have you been putting off because you keep telling yourself you’re “not ready yet”? Pick one opportunity that could realistically lower your stress, increase your profitability, or shorten your learning curve—and take the next step.
If you’re stuck and want to talk through what that next move should be, reach out to me directly. Sometimes the biggest breakthrough comes from simply getting out of your own way.
- Airway Meeting:
https://web.orthopreneurs.com/arizonasleepandairway2026 
- For more information, visit:
https://orthopreneurs.com/
- Join our FREE Facebook group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/

We explore the latest tip on closing open bites more predictably using dental TADS. 👉 Become an OrthoPreneur today: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OrthoPreneurs
In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Nicole Scheffler. She is one of the amazing speakers lined up for the Orthopreneur Summit in September.
Dr. Nicole Scheffler received her dental and orthodontic training from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. She practices full-time in Boone, North Carolina.  
She lectures a lot on closing anterior open bites all over the country and the world.
Back in the year 2000, when nobody was doing TADS in the US, Dr. Nicole went to Belgium to learn how they were placing TADS and how the patient experience was. She came back and approached ORMCO, and that’s how VectorTAS came about.
Nicole recommends closing open bites with dental TADS in conjunction with an open bite splint to intrude the posterior because it’s just as stable as jaw surgery.
We also talk about creating a vibrant office culture where staff want to come to work. This is important as we all know getting and keeping dental assistants who are the right fit is key to the success of your practice.

💬Quotes
“Back in 2000, nobody was really doing TADs in the U.S., so I went to Belgium to learn how they were placing them and what the patient experience was like.”
— Dr. Nicole Scheffler
“Closing open bites with dental TADs in conjunction with an open bite splint can give us stability comparable to jaw surgery.”
— Dr. Nicole Scheffler

🎯 Key Takeaways

Intro (00:00)
Dr. Nicole Scheffler’s background and journey in orthodontics (01:38)
The importance of the pedo-ortho relationship (06:48)
How Nicole became focused on anterior open bites (10:30)
When orthognathic surgery enters the conversation (14:31)
Understanding the etiologies behind anterior open bite (16:14)
Aligners vs. TADs for closing open bites (20:27)
How to find and retain great assistants (22:53)
Advanced Dental Assisting Academy (24:33)

🟦 Additional Resources
If open bite cases are still among the cases that make you stop and think twice, this conversation is worth your time. Nicole brings years of clinical experience to a problem that can easily become unpredictable when the underlying etiology and mechanics aren’t fully understood.
And if staffing is one of the bigger challenges in your practice right now, pay attention to the second half of this episode too. Better clinical systems matter, but so does building a team of people who actually want to stay, grow, and contribute.
👉 Airway Meeting:
 https://web.orthopreneurs.com/arizonasleepandairway2026 

👉 For more information about Orthopreneurs, visit: 
https://orthopreneurs.com/ 

👉 Become an OrthoPreneur and join the free Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/

What if I told you there’s a guaranteed way to make your orthodontic practice more profitable—and it starts with identifying just ONE number?
Most practice owners know they want more production, better profitability, or higher case acceptance. The problem is that knowing you want growth isn’t the same as knowing exactly where to focus. In this Five Minute Friday, I’m challenging you to stop trying to fix everything and identify the one KPI that could make the biggest difference in your practice right now.
💬Quotes
“What is that one KPI you need to work on, and what are you going to do right now to solve it?”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger
“You’ve got the power. You’re smart enough. You were driven enough. Are you still driven enough to get it done?”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

🎯 Key Takeaways

The challenge: Find the one KPI that matters (00:00)
There’s a way to make your practice more profitable right now (00:49)
Why you can’t simply cut your way to profitability (01:13)
Use AI to identify growth opportunities (01:31)
Case acceptance, overhead, new patients—or something else? (01:56)
Find the one KPI you need to fix (02:02)
Why knowing the answer means nothing without execution (02:17)
Stop waiting and start working on it now (02:31)
The final challenge: Are you still driven enough? (03:04)

🟦 Additional Resources
I’ve seen firsthand how focusing on the right number can change the trajectory of a practice—but only if you actually do something with it.
So here’s your assignment: identify the one KPI that needs your attention most. Then sit down, use AI, talk with your team, and figure out what you can do to move that number. Don’t put it off until next week or when things “slow down.”
You’ve already proven you’re smart enough and driven enough to get where you are.
Now ask yourself: Are you still driven enough to get to the next level?
Go get it.
- Airway Meeting:
https://web.orthopreneurs.com/arizonasleepandairway2026 
- For more information, visit:
https://orthopreneurs.com/
- Join our FREE Facebook group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/

What if I told you the difference between a stressful orthodontic practice and an efficient one could come down to eliminating just a handful of recurring problems? 
The episode is about orthodontic efficiency with Dr. Ron Roncone, exploring decades of strategies to optimize orthodontic practices, reduce appointments, and improve patient care while discussing broader business and treatment philosophies in orthodontics.
💬Quotes
“You can greatly reduce your stress by tackling the two or three issues causing most problems in your practice.”
— Dr. Ron Roncone
“It’s always been about what we need to do to reduce the number of appointments each patient has.”
— Dr. Ron Roncone

🎯 Key Takeaways
Introduction (00:00)
The drive for efficiency in orthodontics (01:28)
Reducing appointments and eliminating emergencies (07:34)
How to reach $600,000 in production per team member (11:08)
Smarter scheduling strategies (21:56)
Occlusion and treatment philosophy (37:28)
The cost of ignoring basic occlusal principles (45:16)
Why continuing education still matters after decades in orthodontics (49:14)

🟦 Additional Resources
If your practice feels busier than it should, don’t automatically assume you need more people, more chairs, or more days in the office. Start by asking where unnecessary appointments, emergencies, scheduling problems, and clinical inefficiencies are stealing your time.
Listen to the full episode and identify the two or three recurring problems creating the most friction in your practice. Fixing those first could dramatically change your stress level, productivity, and patient experience.
- Dr. Ron Roncone Course: The Just Short Of Perfect (JSOP)

- Airway Meeting: https://web.orthopreneurs.com/arizonasleepandairway2026 
- For more information, visit: https://orthopreneurs.com/
- Join our FREE Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/

What if doubling your take-home next year has less to do with working harder—and more to do with removing the limits you’ve placed on your own practice?

Too many orthodontists set goals based on what feels comfortable instead of what might actually be possible. In this episode, I want to challenge you to stop asking, “What do I think I can grow by next year?” and start asking a much bigger question: What would have to change for me to double my take-home, take more time off, and enjoy my practice more?

💬Quotes

“It was a self-imposed limitation that you put on yourself.”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

“I want you to come up with a way that next year you’re going to take off more time, you’re going to double your take-home, and you’re going to be happier.”
 — Dr. Glenn Krieger

🎯 Key Takeaways

Intro: Double your take-home and take more time off (00:00)
The rope maker story: How self-imposed limits hold us back (00:38)
Why a $3M practice may be capable of much more than $3.4M (01:49)
Your inability to imagine growth may be the real constraint (03:13)
Growth vs. scale: Why they’re not the same thing (03:43)
How technology and remote monitoring can create leverage (04:16)
Real orthodontists who dramatically changed their practices (05:11)
The challenge: Envision doubling your take-home (05:36)
Why the goal is more income with less stress and more time off (08:14)
How badly do you actually want the result? (08:42)
Building a practice that gives you the freedom to walk away younger (09:14)
Your homework: Build the plan instead of dismissing the possibility (10:04)

🟦 Additional Resources

I don’t want you working until you’re 85 because you have to. I want you practicing because you love it—or having the financial freedom to walk away when you choose.

So here’s your homework: sit down and figure out what would need to happen for you to double your take-home next year while taking more time off and lowering your stress. Think about your marketing, your technology, your systems, your training, and every assumption you’ve made about what your practice can handle.

Don’t start with why it’s impossible.

Start with: What would have to be true for this to work?

You’ve already proven you’re capable of doing difficult things. Now it’s time to stop measuring against the same nine-foot wall.

- Airway Meeting:
https://web.orthopreneurs.com/arizonasleepandairway2026

- For more information, visit:
https://orthopreneurs.com/

- Join our FREE Facebook group here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/