The Orthopreneurs Podcast with Dr. Glenn Krieger

What if I told you the reason your practice isn’t growing isn’t your marketing, your team, or your patients—it’s your systems?

In this Five Minute Friday, I’m challenging orthodontists to take an honest look at their operational efficiency. Too many practices assume their systems are working simply because the practice is surviving. But surviving is not the same as scaling, and “good enough” might be exactly what’s keeping you from building a more profitable, less stressful practice.

I break down why bringing in the right technology and expert support early—whether it’s remote monitoring, financial systems, scheduling, or front desk workflows—can save you time, reduce staffing dependency, and make your practice more profitable. This episode is a reminder that being penny-wise and pound-foolish with technology can cost you far more than the investment itself.

💬Quotes

“The biggest mistake you make is thinking you know more than you do.”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

“If you want to work less, if you want to make more money, the key is operational efficiency.”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

🎯 Key Takeaways
Intro: Your systems are not as good as you think they are (00:00)
Why “good” is the enemy of great in orthodontic practices (00:53)
The danger of thinking you know more than the experts (01:42)
Why outsourcing first can help you build better systems long term (02:44)
How inefficient workflows quietly hurt your patients and team (03:03)
Why orthodontists become penny-wise and pound-foolish with technology (05:44)
How technology can help you rely less on staffing and more on systems (06:23)
The future of virtual front desk and concierge systems (06:53)
Final challenge: Be honest about your operational efficiency (07:40)

🟦 Additional Resources
I’ve seen firsthand how the right technology and systems can help orthodontists work less, make more, and reduce the chaos inside their practices.

If you’re using DentalMonitoring, struggling with your dashboard, or wondering whether your systems are actually as efficient as you think, reach out to me. Whether you use Remote Response or not, I’m happy to help you look at your systems and find ways to make your practice run better, faster, and more profitably.

- 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/

In this episode, I'm joined by my good friend Oliver Gelles, Global Head of Communications at DentalMonitoring and one of the most respected minds in orthodontics when it comes to industry trends, technology, and practice growth. We have an honest conversation about why so many orthodontists struggle to implement innovation, how demographic shifts are changing the future of our profession, and why simply "dabbling" in technology is often more expensive than fully committing to it.

Whether you're feeling stuck, dealing with staffing challenges, or wondering how to grow in a changing market, this episode will challenge the way you think about your practice and give you practical strategies to future-proof your business.

💬Quotes

"The more a technology can change your practice, it is correlated almost one-to-one with the amount of change it will likely require."
— Oliver Gelles

"Find one angle this year that you're going to change. If not this, find one thing."
— Oliver Gelles

🎯 Key Takeaways
Intro (00:00)
Meet Oliver Gelles & why his industry perspective matters (02:21)
Why orthodontics is innovating—but treatment efficiency hasn't changed enough (06:35)
The danger of only partially adopting technology (10:13)
Why orthodontists resist change more than they realize (12:40)
The biggest business challenges facing practices today: staffing, demographics & growth (16:57)
How to rethink patient monitoring and create a better clinical experience (24:19)
Building scalable systems through technology and outsourcing (31:38)
Why every practice must reinvent itself to continue growing (39:19)
Practical ways technology can increase production—not just reduce appointments (42:50)
DentalMonitoring Summit & where to continue learning (46:36)

🟦 Additional Resources

DentalMonitoring Summit
🌐 https://dentalmonitoring.com/summit

Contact Oliver Gelles
📧 o.gelles@dental-monitoring.com

If you're interested in learning more about DentalMonitoring or discussing best practices for implementation, Oliver encourages doctors to reach out directly.

If you're ready to stop reacting to the challenges facing orthodontics and start building a practice that's prepared for the future, this episode is for you.
Success today isn't about working harder—it's about creating smarter systems, embracing meaningful technology, and being willing to evolve before your competition does.

- 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 your practice doesn’t need more chairs, more days, or more team members—it needs you to find the bottleneck that’s quietly killing your capacity?

In this episode of Five Minute Friday, I’m talking about something most orthodontists don’t spend nearly enough time thinking about: throughput and capacity. After a recent Orthopreneurs RD Blueprint webinar, I wanted to share a key concept that can completely change the way you look at growth in your practice.

Too many orthodontists assume they need to hire another assistant, add another day, bring in an associate, or change the schedule when the real issue is much simpler: there’s a bottleneck somewhere in the system. Whether it’s scheduling, new patient flow, TC capacity, remote monitoring, or clinical chair time, your job as the leader is to identify the constraint, solve it, and then move to the next one.

💬Quotes

“Never, ever, ever deal with another aspect of that system until the bottleneck itself has been solved.”
 — Dr. Glenn Krieger

“You have a maximum production number you can hit with the resources you currently have, and we know for a fact you are nowhere near that number.”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

🎯 Key Takeaways

Intro (00:00)
The Blueprint series and why business-school concepts matter in orthodontics (00:26)
What throughput and capacity mean for your practice growth (01:15)
Why bottlenecks must be solved before adding more resources (01:40)
The scheduling mistake that makes practices think they’re at capacity (02:04)
Why hiring another assistant or adding another day may not solve the real problem (02:28)
New patient flow, TC capacity, and hidden constraints (03:25)
Remote monitoring as a capacity unlock (04:18)
Why most practices are nowhere near their true production potential (05:29)
How measuring patient flow can reveal major inefficiencies (06:18)
Find the bottleneck, fix it, then move to the next one (07:18)

🟦 Additional Resources

If this podcast has helped you think differently about your practice, your systems, or your leadership, do me a favor: text two or three orthodontist friends right now and tell them to check out The Orthopreneurs Podcast.
That’s how this community grows—and it’s what allows me to keep bringing you conversations that help you build a better practice and a better life.

- 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/

Zach spent over a decade in the corporate world at American Airlines before helping build a multi-location healthcare company from the ground up. Along the way, he discovered that many growing businesses don’t need another employee—they need access to the kind of executive-level expertise that helps organizations scale, solve problems, and avoid costly mistakes.

Whether it’s finance, operations, marketing, HR, or strategy, Zach explains how fractional C-suite leaders can provide the guidance and experience most practices can't afford to hire full-time.

If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to get your practice to the next level, this conversation will help you identify the blind spots that may be holding you back—and show you a practical way to overcome them.

💬Quotes

“I was the CEO, but I was really the chief everything officer. I was the CFO and the CMO and the janitor and the receptionist—I was wearing too many hats.”
 — Zach Nathan

“Businesses reach a point where they need expertise they can’t afford full-time. That’s exactly where fractional leadership creates value.”
 — Zach Nathan

🎯 Key Takeaways

Intro (00:00)
Why most orthodontists have business blind spots they don’t realize exist (00:51)
Zach’s journey from American Airlines executive to healthcare entrepreneur (02:49)
What a fractional CFO is—and how it transformed his business (04:06)
Why growing businesses need expertise before they can afford full-time executives (06:27)
The costly mistake of hiring the wrong leadership role too early (08:50)
How fractional leaders help business owners make better strategic decisions (10:53)
What a fractional COO can do for an overwhelmed practice owner (18:16)
When it makes sense to bring in a fractional CMO (22:16)
Why marketing strategy is different from marketing execution (24:10)
The role of fractional HR leadership and hiring better people (30:16)
How Sweet Leap matches businesses with vetted executive talent (13:18)
What orthodontists should expect to invest in fractional leadership (16:44)

🟦 Additional Resources

If you’re feeling stretched too thin, struggling with growth decisions, or simply wondering what’s possible with the right leadership support, Zach offers a complimentary Fractional Fit Meeting to help determine whether fractional leadership is right for your practice.

🌐 Website: https://www.suiteleap.com
🔗 LinkedIn: Zach Nathan

Whether you need help with operations, finance, marketing, HR, or overall business strategy, Sweet Leap can connect you with experienced executive talent without the cost of a full-time hire.

- 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 CEO your practice “needs” might actually be the most expensive mistake you’re about to make?

In this Five Minute Friday, I’m challenging orthodontists to think carefully before hiring a CEO, COO, or high-level executive for their practice. Too many doctors hit $2–3 million in production, feel stretched, and assume the next move is bringing in a $250K–$300K leader. But in most cases, you’re not ready for that—and you probably don’t know how to hire that person yet.

Instead, I break down why a fractional C-suite executive may be the smarter move. Whether you’re dealing with capacity issues, technology decisions, growth opportunities, or confusion about whether to expand into satellites, this episode will help you think like a business owner—not just an orthodontist. You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of when to ask for executive-level help, what kind of help you actually need, and why growing your main practice may be far better than chasing expansion too soon.

💬Quotes

“Think long and hard when you think you’ve reached an inflection point in your practice where you want to bring a CEO in. Chances are you’re not ready for it.”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

“If you’re doing $2 million or $3 million a year, you should not be thinking about bringing somebody into your practice to pay them $200,000 or $300,000 a year.”
— Dr. Glenn Krieger

🎯 Key Takeaways

Intro (00:00)
Why most practices aren’t ready for a full-time CEO (00:07)
What fractional C-suite executives actually do (00:44)
Why orthodontists often make poor business decisions around technology (01:22)
Dental Monitoring as an example of C-suite thinking vs. orthodontist thinking (01:48)
When a CEO-level hire starts to make sense financially (03:18)
Why $2–3 million practices should avoid $250K executive hires (04:00)
Why growing your main practice may beat opening satellites (05:27)
How a fractional C-suite advisor can help you see blind spots (07:34)

🟦 Additional Resources

I’ve seen firsthand how the wrong executive hire can create more stress, more overhead, and less clarity—not more growth.

Before you bring in a CEO, COO, or high-level executive, think carefully about where your practice really is and what kind of help you actually need. If you’re at an inflection point and want help thinking through fractional C-suite support, DM me. I have no financial interest in the company I mentioned, but I’m happy to make a connection or help you think through the decision.

- 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/