Welcome to Planet GEMS! I’m Dr. Tom Orent… aka, the GEMS guy! This podcast is for General dentists and prosthodontists, in solo or small group practices.

If you are tired of managed care insurance dictating how much you can charge, and meddling in the doctor-patient relationship… if you’d like to become at least a little less dependent… or even Independent of PPOs… if you’d like to measurably improve case acceptance, make much more money while working LESS time, then you’re in the right place.

This podcast is for you if you’d like to do more of your best dentistry and help your patients achieve optimal health… while you have MORE FUN and LESS stress as a result. I’m here to help you achieve your goals… especially if those goals include creating WEALTH and AUTONOMY for you and your family.

The CoalMine to GoldMine podcast is not for you if you are a SPECIALIST. It’s not for you if you are in a large group practice with ½ dozen or more general dentists… and it’s definitely not for you if you are part of a doc in the box CHAIN of DSOs.

If you are an open-minded general dentist willing to try EASY new concepts and strategies, then WELCOME to PLANET GEMS!

Why Do I Call it Coalmine to Goldmine?

Because it describes my journey. Nearly 23 years ago, on a cold rainy Friday afternoon in October, I found myself sitting in the office of a Boston bankruptcy attorney. I was over $1,000,000.00 in debt. My wife had enough and demanded a divorce. The only team member who knew just how bad things were financially was my office manager. She knew how little I had left... so she decided to take the rest. I was being embezzled!

During my first 15 years in dental practice, I focused on clinical dentistry. Practice management, the "business" of dentistry, and especially the "numbers" made my eyes glaze over.

I figured if I needed to grow the practice I'd just learn one more clinical technique. Take another continuum. Buy some cool high-tech dental equipment. And so it went. I completed the entire Dawson continuum. Learned a ton from Pete (he even wrote the foreword to one of my books). Deeper and deeper in debt I sank.

First Dentist in MA Accredited by the
American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry

I devoted two years to prepare for the AACD accreditation examination. Loved esthetic dentistry. I was the first dentist in Massachusetts to be accredited by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Subsequently served as an accreditation examiner for 6 years. I don't say this to brag, simply to point out that I buried my head in the sand when it came to learning how to run a business and spent every minute and dollar chasing my tail.

I could go on about the other continuum, courses, and clinical achievements but I'm sure you've done your share and more. We all do. Fact is you've got to just to keep up. Nonetheless becoming the best clinical dentist I could be didn't put money in the jar or bread on the table.

Turns out it's everything but clinical skills that make a practice thrive financially. Sure, you've got to have the clinical skills. Patients assume (expect) it. But it's everything else that makes the difference between dying with a drill in your hand and creating AUTONOMY...

• • • Building wealth and a legacy for yourself and your family.
    • Autonomy means Doing WHAT you want
    • With WHOM you want
    • WHEN you want and
    • Only IF you want.

Losing bankruptcy as an option turned out to be life-changing in the most positive way for me. Until the divorce, I was happy enough. Getting by. Enjoyed dentistry. Had enough money (or at least enough credit cards) to get the things I wanted. I was getting by. But the debt kept piling up, there was nothing set aside to pay for the kids' college educations, and there was certainly no "plan" for retirement (other than to die drill in hand).

With bankruptcy off the table, I set out on a new mission. I now had two (split) households to feed and FAILURE WAS NO LONGER AN OPTION. My mission was to go out into the business world and learn everything I could about how successful businesses thrive.

I'd pick up a "Gem" here, a "Gem" there... and bring 'em back to my practice. Then it was my job to figure out how to take a concept or strategy from the business world and craft it to work in my dental practice. Neat thing is that once you discover the right ones... "Gems Are Easy!" And they don't take much time. But they can have a MAJOR POSITIVE IMPACT on the health and well-being of your patients... your team, and your INCOME!

In relatively short order I turned my practice around. Then I did the same for my dad's practice when he passed away from cancer. I sat alongside his bed at the Mass General Hospital as told me that his practice was in debt, no life insurance, and nothing put away for my mother. His dying wish was that Elizabeth and I turn his practice around and give my mother a secure financial future. We did exactly that. And we did so by deploying the same simple "Gems" we'd discovered to help us achieve financial freedom just a couple years before.

Not long after that, I was able to retire from clinical practice at age 46, never having to work another day unless I chose to.  My wife, Elizabeth and I have dedicated our lives to helping other dentists.  Since we turned my dad’s practice around we’ve helped several thousand dentists around the world, improve patient health, rapidly build practice revenue and amass personal wealth.

Links in this Episode

www.GemsAreEasy.com/podcast 

Forget about just trying to “survive…” If you want to thrive in the face of insurance PPO bullying, attract more new patients, hire and keep the best team members then Gems Insiders’ Circle is for you. If you want to work less while making (much) more money, enjoy all the benefits of Gems family membership with NO LONG-TERM commitment (Platinum membership is month-to-month).

www.FreeGiftFromTom.com/podcast

Get your FREE copy of my book, “Transform Your Dental Practice from CoalMine to GoldMine” (currently $16.97 on Amazon, but yours free as a Gems Podcast listener).

PLUS, your FREE book order includes a FREE BONUS that could add $50,000 per year to your income.  FREE 30-minute LIVE one-on-one TEAM TRAINING on my Adult Fluoride Verbal Skills. Learn to achieve 80% acceptance PAID OUT OF POCKET with just SEVEN SIMPLE SENTENCES!