Digital orthodontics is transforming the specialty, and in this episode of the Golden Age of Orthodontics, hosts Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein sit down with Align Technology CEO Joe Hogan to explore what's next for orthodontics. Joe Hogan discusses 3D printed aligners, AI in orthodontics, and how clear aligner technology continues to evolve. He addresses pricing concerns and competitive positioning, and reveals Align's roadmap for direct printing, promising greater design flexibility and efficiency. Learn how AI technology enhances orthodontic treatment planning and discover why Hogan believes technology will expand, not replace, the orthodontic profession.
What you will learn in this episode:
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GAOO Episode 78 Joe Hogan
(00:00:00) Dr. Leon Klempner: From pricing and competition to AI and the future of the specialty itself, orthodontists have questions and we're asking them straight to the source. Stay tuned as we interview the CEO of Align Technology, Joe Hogan.
(00:00:17) Joe Hogan: Our Golden Age of Orthodontics podcast
(00:00:20) Dr. Leon Klempner: sponsors make it possible for us to bring you new episodes.
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(00:01:36) Narrator: The future of orthodontics is evolving and changing every day, but although the way to achieve practice growth has changed, there's never been a better time to be an orthodontist. Let's get into the minds of industry leaders, forward-thinking, orthodontists and technology insiders to learn how they see the future of the orthodontic specialty.
(00:01:56) How will digital orthodontics, artificial intelligence, clear (00:02:00) aligner therapy, remote monitoring, in-house printing, and other innovations change the way you practice? Join your host, Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein each month as they bring you insights, tips, and guest interviews focused on helping you capitalize on the opportunities for practice growth.
(00:02:17) And now welcome to the Golden Age of Orthodontics with the co-founders of People and practice, Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein.
(00:02:28) Dr. Leon Klempner: Welcome to the Golden Age of Orthodontics. If you don't already know me, I'm Leon Klempner. I am the really tall guy you see at the uh, exhibit halls running around, interviewing, looking for new stuff. But I'm a retired board certified orthodontist. I also am the director of orthodontics at Mount Sinai Hospital here in New York, part-time faculty at Harvard and Montefiore Ortho Programs and the CEO of people in practice and the newly president elect.
(00:02:59) This is (00:03:00) news of the New York State Society of Orthodontists. So, um, now I'm stepping into the political realm now. Um, I practiced for about 40 years before co-founding people in practice with my partner, my daughter, and my podcast host, Amy Epstein. Welcome, Amy.
(00:03:19) Amy Epstein: Thank you. Good to be here as always. I am Amy Epstein.
(00:03:23) I have an MBA in marketing and, and lots of years of marketing and public relations experience. My favorite part so far of my career has been, you know, starting people in practice with my dad, almost a. 15 years ago at this point. So it's been a little while. Uh, we're already in our, this podcast has been going on for a while.
(00:03:42) This is like our 75th or 76th episode. So we've been doing this for some time. And my favorite part about what I do is the podcast, but also through people in practice, is. Being able to bring more information and more resources and more insight to (00:04:00) orthodontists about what sorts of technologies and what sorts of relationships and what sorts of understanding are impacting their business.
(00:04:09) And so that's why today I'm very excited that our guest is Joe Hogan, CEO, and President of Align Technologies. And he's going to talk to us a little bit about, um, all of the things I just mentioned and how all those technologies are going to impact the future of the profession. So a little background on Joe, as you probably know, he's the president and CEO of Align, and he's led the company since June, 2015, which is about the time that, or around the time we started people in practice.
(00:04:41) He has 25 years of executive leadership across healthcare, industrial technology, global operations. Um, and he's also a very nice person when you talk to him and is very gracious to join us on the show multiple times. Uh, and so today we're gonna talk about Align's role in serving orthodontic (00:05:00) practices, what the next wave of innovations mean for your practice.
(00:05:04) Listeners specifically, welcome to the show, Joe.
(00:05:08) Joe Hogan: Oh, thanks Sammy. Thanks Leon. Great to see you both again.
(00:05:11) Amy Epstein: So dad, um, we talked a little bit about, um, how to frame up the questions that we're gonna ask Joe today. So we had some of our own, we have some from clients that we, um, you know, feel would be, would be good for Joe to answer directly.
(00:05:29) Yep. But you've also, I've seen, been posting on the Facebook groups. Is that, so what was the, you you got some good? Yeah. Interaction there.
(00:05:38) Dr. Leon Klempner: Yeah, a lot of interaction. So I, you know, I put up a post on, uh, some of the larger Facebook groups, entrepreneurs in particular, and, um, got and let him know that, look, you know, we have Joe as a guest, you know, what topics would be of interest.
(00:05:54) And I got a flood of different topics. So there's a lot. A lot on orthodontist mine. And, (00:06:00) uh, before we, we started, I asked Joe, um, you know, if, is there anything off limits that you don't want me to talk about? And as usual, he said, no, you ask me anything you want. So this guy is, um, uh, a, you know, whether you like a line or you don't like a line, you gotta, like Joe Hogan, he's a straight shooter and he's honest.
(00:06:23) And with that, um, let me. Ask the first question. And the first question had to do with, um, kind of the future plans that Align may have or may not have. You know, Amy and I talk, uh, with our clients, with our marketing clients all the time about one scan for every new patient. That scan will either go to aligner treatment or custom digital appliances.
(00:06:53) That's the way kind of, we see it unfolding as time goes by. So, um, I wanna (00:07:00) know, first of all, do you see it that way? And if so, does Align have any plans at all? To maybe move into the custom digital braces world, maybe acquire some of the leading brands that are out there now. So that's the first question.
(00:07:16) Yeah. What do you say, Joe?
(00:07:18) Joe Hogan: Well, my first answer to that question is I do see a future that when you look at orthodontics, it's gonna be digitally based for sure. And I think when we see it add, you know, the advances in our technology and what we do and how far we've come, even in the last five years, I'm even more sure that the future of orthodontists in general and orthodontics.
(00:07:35) It is digital, and I think digital will expand the marketplace in many ways because of its, its flexibility and capability as far as digital wires and brackets and those systems. I have a lot of respect for the technology. I feel I know it well. I have several people on staff that have worked in those organizations and I've seen the work extensively.
(00:07:53) Um, we're focused on clear aligner therapy. We really believe the clear aligners and particularly, uh, the advent (00:08:00) of 3D printed aligners are really gonna make a, a big difference in the world in the sense of how fast you can treat the specificity, the flexibility you'll have to treat too. So I see a digital future, the digital future for Align, you know, as I'm CEOI see around clear aligners and not, uh, a hybrid of some type.
(00:08:17) Dr. Leon Klempner: And, and just to follow up on that, you know, as as marketers, we follow the trends. That are going on in, in the marketplace, as I'm sure you, you or you probably have a whole team of people that are, that are doing this. Yes. And what, what we're seeing is we're seeing for the first time a shift away from aligners with the, uh, younger patients in particular, and a resurgence of brackets and braces.
(00:08:43) So have you noticed that, and, and do you have, how do you plan on addressing that trend?
(00:08:51) Joe Hogan: You know, first of all, lean, I'd say that, uh, that is, uh, more of a US situation than we've seen globally. Remember about, you know, 60% of our business now is, is (00:09:00) overseas and we haven't seen that trend. Duplicate some, some other place.
(00:09:04) Uh, you know, there are certain demographics in the us. From a cultural standpoint that, uh, moved in that direction. And we've been very aware of that over the years, and I feel it's a trend. Um, I understand. Look, I'm, I'm a big personal preference person. I think a, a patient should ask what and have a kind of therapy and be able to apply that kind of therapy in the way that they want it done.
(00:09:24) So if someone wants to do wires and brackets or a hybrid in some way, I think that's fine. Uh, you know, overall I think it's not a trend. It's not directional. I think like a lot of things that are promoted today through social media and different things, you see trends and they catch on, but they move on.
(00:09:40) 'cause I think when you look at the science, when you look at the comfort, uh, when you look at the hygiene and all those different things, it's, you know, for sure. I think the future is around digital aligners.
(00:09:51) Amy Epstein: Okay. Thank you. Um, let's shift a little bit into same realm answering questions that we're hearing from (00:10:00) orthodontists.
(00:10:00) Talking about behind the scenes they're paying close attention to align's legal actions against Stroman and Angel Align. What's the context now that we have you, that you would like? Orthodontists to understand about these cases, how it relates to align's long-term plan that that protects ip, but also allows for innovation that can help orthodontists Where, what's your perspective that you want them to understand?
(00:10:25) Joe Hogan: Oh, it's a really good question, Amy. We've been at this for 28 years now, and we were the pioneers in this science of digital orthodontics, and so along the way we spent billions of dollars. I'm not exaggerating. I mean, just in the last. Four years, we spent over a billion dollars in r and d. That's, you've never seen that kind of r and d expense from any other dental orthodontic co company in the history of the industry.
(00:10:49) It's just not there. No. To, to do that journey for 28 years to where we are today, we had to spend a lot of money and develop technology that we know promotes orthodontics, the movement of (00:11:00) teeth, uh, the scanning of teeth, how fast you can move these things, what direction, all those algorithms and different things.
(00:11:06) It's cost. Hundreds of millions and billions of dollars we'll defend our ip, like any technology company does is, you know, I think of when you think of a line, and I've been in the industry long enough too, like you mentioned since, you know, June of 2015 is when you look around the world, most of the people in the dental community, in orthodontic community, they're, they're, they're product companies.
(00:11:27) They, they produce certain products. Those products can be good or whatever aligns. We're kind of a unicorn. We're a technology company. We're founded on technology. It's at, you know, there's Silicon Valley, is where, you know, it was born and majority of our engineering team is still there today. And so the, the short and long answer to your question is we'll defend that it's the right of our shareholders, the right of this business.
(00:11:49) Is to do anything we can, and I, I'll take this as, as deeply as you want to go with it, but the broadly, those patents that we filed are against, we feel is egregious areas that have, uh, (00:12:00) offending our patents in both material scientists and, and I'm sorry, in material science and then also in algorithms and how we move teeth.
(00:12:07) And that's predominantly, you know, the basis of, of the lawsuits that we have out there today.
(00:12:13) Narrator: Mm-hmm.
(00:12:14) Joe Hogan: I hope that makes sense because I mean that's Yeah. If you're, if you're in tech, uh, IP and that, that is such a precious asset and commodity. Yeah. And you earn that with money and sweat and people's, and, you know, people's ambitions and what they wanted to do, and it's, it's emotional and it's important to us.
(00:12:31) Amy Epstein: That makes sense. And I think that, you know, the perspective is, you know, uh, is it, is it gonna limit my options and is it what happens if there's supply issues for me, I mean, these are questions that are on the ground, questions that are concerns and um, you know, it's hard to put yourself in both the shoes of.
(00:12:49) The customer and also the supplier at the same time. And understand maybe,
(00:12:53) Joe Hogan: but I feel I do because I've been, you know, I'm a customer
(00:12:56) Amy Epstein: too, know. Oh no, not you. I'm saying as an orthodontist, it's hard to see the, (00:13:00) the perspective of align as well as seeing the, you know, on the ground potential challenges that could, that could come out of it.
(00:13:07) Joe Hogan: I think with orthodontists too, they're such talented individuals in how they've been, you know, educated on moving teeth and how Uhhuh, I think they appreciate technology, they appreciate specificity in earning, uh, that kind of credibility and capability too. And so I know it's on a, on a different level, but it's still the same thing.
(00:13:25) There's just a certain amount of, and this is the way our society works, is that you have to earn where you go. And in these cases we think that's our technology and we brought that to the marketplace.
(00:13:36) Dr. Leon Klempner: But, but here's something that they don't appreciate. They don't appreciate paying high fees and costs and orthos are getting squeezed.
(00:13:49) You know, I, I get to look up. Sure. Some of the, the, the p and ls and, you know, the line items for, for lab costs are high. Uh, it's a digital (00:14:00) world as you stated before, so orthos need to, uh, you know, adapt to some new technology that costs money. Invisalign is priced higher than its competitors. Um, and my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that, um, internationally, um.
(00:14:20) The prices may be lower than what US orthodontists are paying. Is it true? And if it is true, why?
(00:14:29) Joe Hogan: Yeah, I would say that, um, it's true and it's not Leon and not like I'm a politician or something. Okay. Is if you take a, a country like India, uh, we've vet substantial growth in, or Turkey recently too, or different parts of the world.
(00:14:41) They use primarily a modern product with maybe one additional aligner. So in nature you'll see that price and you'll say, oh my goodness, it's so much cheaper in India than it is in New York City. The fact is you could get that same product. It's the same price at a certain volume in the United States too.
(00:14:55) It's just the us We have broadly a comprehensive business around the orthodontic community overall, (00:15:00) and that happens to be our high, most highest price product as it should be. 'cause there's, you know, more aligners and more technology associated with it. Um. Yeah. I'd also say too that we've changed our, our positioning on comprehensive.
(00:15:12) It used to be that we only offered comprehensive in a five year, five additional aligners in that timeframe. We lowered that to three years, three additional aligners, and you'll see us more and more start to move toward you pick the amount additional aligners you wanna buy, or you don't wanna purchase additional aligners.
(00:15:27) We'll give you a price for comprehensive that can be very competitive. If you're confident that, you know, and we'll allow you to, you know, buy aas, uh, additional aligners at a certain period of time. So we're gonna be as flexible as we possibly can to reach out to the orthodontic community to give them choice in that situation.
(00:15:41) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm. And there are, you know, there's, there's choice in the situation. Then there's, we mentioned competitors earlier. There are more competitors, regional competitors. Um, what, what is it that you would, because we're like, we're, we're marketers, so we're always asking. Sure. Okay. Well, you know, if (00:16:00) Orthodont we're positioning this for orthodontists to the community, obviously there's an enormous brand recognition around Invisalign.
(00:16:08) But you know, if we're gonna translate. Invisalign's, uh, higher cost or, you know, more investment in that. How does that translate into a more beneficial technology or service and technology to patients?
(00:16:24) Joe Hogan: Well, you know, I think. I mean, it's a good question. It's a pretty broad question. Okay.
(00:16:28) Amy Epstein: Yeah. I mean, what is the, what is the competitive edge that you would say orthodontists should communicate to patients now?
(00:16:35) Right now,
(00:16:35) Joe Hogan: that's, that's a good que but first of all, I'd say that, um, when you look at our product line, overall, the brand is really important. It's well known. We spend. Literally hundreds of millions of dollars is supporting that brand. So, and that's so that person will walk into that doctor's office and ask for Invisalign in one way or another.
(00:16:53) And I think when someone walks in there as a, almost like a prepaid patient in the sense of wanting something, I feel that's a really (00:17:00) important asset and we continue to invest in that. I don't not see our competition does anything like that at all? Mm-hmm. And I think you can have a few hundred dollars off in a aligner case, but if you start losing patients coming in, it's, it's a big deal.
(00:17:12) And, we'll, we want to make sure that people that are using Invisalign brand, that we keep moving those patients through. Secondly, I'd say, why would you use Invisalign in general? Uh, hey, look, I think we still, when you, we tried to make this as efficient as possible for orthodontists. Our scans with an iTero scan is how fast those scans are today, how much work, if you use our IPP, our personalized plan with claim check live and different things.
(00:17:39) This sheer 20, 25% of our cases will be almost touchless. It's just at the end, it's a 3D control for an orthodontist to make a few movements, and we send it on to production in some way. And you know, I came into this business, I could talk about this all day, is it really bothered me that our, our orthodontist that did a lot of Invisalign were home on the weekends.
(00:17:56) Working constantly to try to do new cases of different things. And (00:18:00) we really moved into their personal time and, and again, we spent hundreds of millions of dollars to be able to make ClinCheck easier. We moved it to the cloud, obviously away from servers several years ago, uh, with ClinCheck live or signature experience that I can go through.
(00:18:14) I'm not in the sales mode today, but I just wanna tell you that we just have all these things that make, make the life of the orthodontist. And they're be able to communicate to a patient Yeah. What this treatment's gonna look like through iTero, scanner visualization systems or whatever. Mm-hmm. All those things we're, have the orthodontist in mind in doing that, and the patient at the same time.
(00:18:33) And so I hope the orthodontic community can see it that way, that it's not us telling them how to practice, but giving 'em tools to allow 'em to practice more efficiently and, and maybe in a better way with their patients too. Mm-hmm.
(00:18:45) Amy Epstein: Yeah, I can see that the ecosystem would be, you know, have benefits both to the orthodontists themselves and, and you know, to be able to share what the benefits are to patients is really important.
(00:18:56) I think that being able to show them and, and use some of the tools you have (00:19:00) as sales tools as well Yeah. To the patient is, would be super important. Um, a question for you that comes up, um. With our clients and because we develop websites and we manage content on websites and we're involved in search engine optimization.
(00:19:14) Sure. And AI is, in terms of SEO, what happens if you are treating with more than one aligner technology and you know, is there a threshold of some sort where you, if you don't meet it, you, they feel like they're afraid maybe to have Invisalign on their website? Is there some sort of guideline, um, where that they could follow that?
(00:19:37) They'd be able to make a decision about
(00:19:38) Joe Hogan: that? No, I think that's a, a good question. Yes, we have guidelines. We've, we've, we've changed those guidelines, uh, over the years. And I would just say the orthodontists, they have a question on that, is they should talk to their salesperson and we can get the information to 'em right away on what it is.
(00:19:52) But I would say it's not draconian in any way. Like if you happen to use other aligners at some point in time where it's gonna, you know, kick you to the (00:20:00) curb, that's not. Our intent here at all.
(00:20:02) Amy Epstein: Yeah.
(00:20:02) Joe Hogan: Uh, but we certainly want to make sure that we're, when we, you know, obviously invest in our brand to such a degree, uh, that the patient ends up getting what they want.
(00:20:10) Dr. Leon Klempner: So what I'm hearing you say is that, uh, our clients that are using Invisalign, but are also using other brands, can safely put Invisalign on their website without any legal ramifications.
(00:20:28) Joe Hogan: I'm saying that there's guidelines around that, Leon, if they talk to their, um, they talk to their their salesperson, then we'll get the information to 'em to support that.
(00:20:36) Uh, but again, I'm telling you, we don't have a draconian kind of a, of a stance on this, but we certainly want our brand represented properly too. Mm-hmm. And, and that's part of, you know, what, what, you know, what our agreement is. Does that, does that make, you know, just I. Obviously there's a lot of questions about that in the marketplace.
(00:20:57) Uh, our salespeople wrestle with it all the (00:21:00) time. When I say it's not draconian, I mean dock lock in the end is the facilitator of that kind of interest, right? The more cases you do in Invisalign, the higher you're gonna be on the dock lock profile, and that's important and it's, it's one of the things that work out.
(00:21:14) Uh, you know, for us in that sense, but there have been some egregious examples where people have used our brand like Invisalign in coordination with another brand that you couldn't even tell the difference in an advertisement in some way, which, you know, obviously would violate the integrity of the agreement that we have.
(00:21:29) And so I think just for the doctors to have concerns about this, really contact your salesperson, we're very, you can be very descriptive in the sense of what's allowed and what's not allowed.
(00:21:37) Amy Epstein: Right. Yep. And then as a marketing firm, we're, we're very interested in making sure that, that we don't take any missteps too.
(00:21:44) Sure. Yeah. And so being in con, you know, close con communication about what the guidelines are will be important. So we'll have our, our, uh, clients reach out to reps and have those conversations.
(00:21:55) Joe Hogan: Sure. No thanks.
(00:21:57) Dr. Leon Klempner: Okay. Let's talk about my favorite subject, (00:22:00) ai.
(00:22:00) Joe Hogan: Uh, sure.
(00:22:01) Dr. Leon Klempner: So, um, couple of things come up for me. Uh, one of them is, um, I know that, uh, align purchased a direct printing company in Europe Yes.
(00:22:13) A year or two ago, if I'm not mistaken.
(00:22:15) Joe Hogan: That's right.
(00:22:15) Dr. Leon Klempner: So, uh, and, and the number of, you know, waste of processing and expense, et cetera, of, of the conventional modalities of. Manufacturing aligners Sure doesn't seem to make sense on a lot of different levels. So what's the plan? When could we see direct printed, uh, aligners coming from Align?
(00:22:40) And if there are, uh, uh, efficiencies using ai, which it seems that they will clearly be, um, can orthodontists expect to maybe, you know, get a little bit of break on costs again? Mm-hmm.
(00:22:55) Joe Hogan: Yeah, uh, Leon, first of all, so the company referred to as, uh, the name is (00:23:00) Cubi Cure, and we purchased them, I think it was back in 2023.
(00:23:03) And we can, we can verify that. Um, we, the resin, we've had to develop the resin, uh, simultaneously with a process too. And so we had a. Uh, an agreement with the University of Vienna, uh, real experts in certain types of 3D printing, um, that we move forward with. Over a period of years, we identified a resin and qualified a resin that, uh, that we know works today that we 3D print aligners with today also.
(00:23:27) But it, um, it's, it's more founded on, uh, bio source material, which. It wasn't our purpose to try to make it, um, more environmentally sensitive, but it's what's great is the technology kind of led in that direction, which is terrific. Uh, but secondly is the, uh, viscosity of this product, which is pretty high, uh, led to a different type of 3D printing process.
(00:23:46) And that's where Cubi Court came in because they were founded, uh, through the University of of Vienna originally to be able to print high viscosity resins. And so as it stands today, we have a formulation and we're not at scale, but we know how to print those on the cubicle machines. And (00:24:00) now. We have to do something that really no other company in the world's ever done, like we've done before, is learn how to print, you know, a million of these a day is, you know, basically what, what what we do.
(00:24:09) Um, when you think of 3D printing, and I could go on all day, I'd, I'd first, you know, say that, um, this mimics wires and brackets better than anything. And it goes back to your questions about, you know, the hybrid, you know, kind of opportunities that are out there today is from a wall thickness standpoint.
(00:24:24) It's al it's bothered me from the time I've been here that we haven't been able to vary wall thickness because, uh, in a, in a vacuum form process. So, look, I, let me back up. So, so that the audience understands this directly. So we're the biggest 3D printing company in the world. It's ever existed, but we don't 3D print anything.
(00:24:43) We 3D print molds, meaning we don't 3D print anything that would be an end use product. We 3D print molds and just like you did in your offices as an orthodontist or whatever, you vacuum form over top of that mold and then we laser cut it or CNC cut it depending on the material, uh, to make what we make.
(00:24:59) Uh, the waste (00:25:00) in that process is 95%, meaning you end up with the molds mm-hmm. That are basically scrapped, that you can thermally recycle some way, or we found some other tech things you could do. But it's a, it's a brutal kind of recycling. Uh, and, and so that 95% of that waste is, is kind of crazy. So you're, you're one, you're sacrificing a lot of productivity that you're losing from that waste.
(00:25:20) And secondly, in which most importantly is you're saac sacrificing design flexibility and capability. And so we know that that wall thickness, it starts off at 30 mil for a traditional liner, and you draw it down over, you know, an incisor, a different area. It could be 10 mils at the top. It's hard to move teeth with 10 mils of plastic.
(00:25:38) But if you could put 40 mils on molars or different things, you can change the whole scope of how fast you can move teeth and the accuracy, you can move those teeth. And I'll bring AI into that equation too and how we'll use that overall. And then plus we're using it with a material base that's gonna be a lot less scrap.
(00:25:54) And it too, so at scale, at some point in time there are cost efficiencies there that'll be realized (00:26:00) there and, and felt by orthodontists too, so. Mm-hmm. I'll stop there just for a second and you can just quiz me on any aspect of it that, that you want to.
(00:26:07) Dr. Leon Klempner: Well, did I hear you say that there'd be some cost benefit to the end user?
(00:26:12) Amy Epstein: You had him at cost benefit?
(00:26:16) Joe Hogan: No. There has to. At some point in time, this will be a more efficient product in the sense of how we manufacture it, but this is gonna be much more efficient for orthodontists too, uh, in the fact, in the way the material behaves. And I don't want to go into too much detail. I bother you all day.
(00:26:29) Uh, you know, hopefully the extent of the aligners and the, and how fast you can move teeth, uh, in different situations should improve also. Mm-hmm. And we're currently in the process of proving that also. So there should be multiple levels of efficiency you can go through for both patients and doctors as this technology starts to solidify and move into the marketplace.
(00:26:48) The other question you had is, what, what will we see first? Our first product will be an Invisalign first retainer. So, you know, how do you retain the dentition, uh, and the morphology is when you, you know, obviously (00:27:00) you do a palate expansion of some type. Um. In, in some ways splitting the suture or not, like with IPE or not, or using Invisalign first.
(00:27:07) How do you hold that palate? And, uh, we are, you know, designing this. Now we're making them, we're testing 'em in patients or whatever. And what's so great about that is they're oddly designed products. You need variable wall thickness in order to reinforce this product to certain areas that take the forces that are there too.
(00:27:24) And they're singular units. It's not like trying to, you know, print a hundred aligners. Or
(00:27:28) Amy Epstein: mm-hmm.
(00:27:28) Joe Hogan: Uh, you know, a, a case, you're gonna do these singularly and it'll allow us to be able to ramp up in those applications as we, we have to scale resin, which has never been scaled, uh, to thousands of metric tons like this.
(00:27:40) And secondly, we have to scale the cubicle process to be able to do, you know, thousands of these parts a day. So. Mm-hmm. Does that help?
(00:27:47) Dr. Leon Klempner: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So I'm
(00:27:49) Joe Hogan: looking
(00:27:49) Dr. Leon Klempner: at the clock.
(00:27:50) Joe Hogan: Yeah, go ahead Leon. Just the last thing I'd say, you're, you know, you being an orthodontist, you're also a physicist. I mean, it's just by nature, that's what it is.
(00:27:57) And hopefully that translates well, that if you can (00:28:00) vary, you remember. We can also add attachments. Uh, we can do cut lines. Uh, when you think about occlusal box like man, advance with occlusal box, we can vary, uh, the size of those occlusal box throughout the case. It's just the design flexibility is so exciting for everybody involved in the, in the, in the project overall, and we hope to trans be able to translate that excitement to the marketplace here soon too.
(00:28:21) Can
(00:28:22) Dr. Leon Klempner: I get it?
(00:28:22) Joe Hogan: Oh,
(00:28:23) Dr. Leon Klempner: so I'm looking at the clock and. I wish we had you for much longer period of time, and, and we'll certainly always be inviting you back, but I just wanna get this last question into you and, and it relates to something you said earlier about, uh, making it easier for orthodontists. So they have to spend less time and, and, um.
(00:28:46) Facilitating, you know, uh, the treatment planning process. And I have to tell you for the first time I've been around for a while. As you know, you look at my hair, you can tell that me too, Lee. But for the first, (00:29:00) for the first time in my career, I have ortho residents asking me if they made a mistake, a mistake going into our specialty.
(00:29:10) Joe Hogan: Hmm.
(00:29:10) Dr. Leon Klempner: They're concerned that AI may replace much of what they do. Um, this concern is understandable, especially given companies like Align, uh, who've amassed a gold mind of AI data over the past 20 something years. So I'm gonna give you the forum here to speak to our residents. I know our listeners and, and.
(00:29:37) I want to hear what you have to say about this particular topic.
(00:29:42) Joe Hogan: Yeah. And believe, and you, you, you and Amy know me well. This comes from bottom of my heart. Uh, the, the professional will be enhanced. With ai. I think if you're in, if you've educated yourself, you're an orthodontist in some way, uh, it's a great profession.
(00:29:56) It'll continue to be a great profession. I feel this technology grows (00:30:00) your marketplace. I think with, if you go back to the complete analog data set and you look at wires and brackets by nature, that process is constraining. You just don't have a number of people that want to go through that process with wires and brackets.
(00:30:12) If you look at Invisalign and you say, what did Invisalign really bring to the market? It brought an adult population to the marketplace broadly that never existed there before. You know, some adults would do it, but they really wouldn't have it. And many orthodontists today, like our top line orthodontists, they're 50% adults in, in 50%, um, uh, teens, that, that just didn't exist back in the wires and bracket days.
(00:30:34) And I see this technology in so many dimensions enhancing the marketplace. I don't see it as a direct to consumer market. That market blew itself apart through Smile Drug Club obviously, and other pro other companies all around the world to try that. It's not, you need a doctor in this process. Moving teeth through bone is critical.
(00:30:52) We really respect that. You need a doctor on the other end, and orthodontists are critical in that process, so. Technology will get better. (00:31:00) I think it'll scale more. You'll be able to do more patience and you'll be, have more freedom to use your time the way you want to. You spend more time with your patients or however you want to use it.
(00:31:09) And the way that we'll set this up will really add productivity to the profession. I hope. I hope that makes sense.
(00:31:15) Dr. Leon Klempner: Yeah, well, you know, you're speaking to, uh, true believers. I mean, you know,
(00:31:20) Amy Epstein: also the name of the podcast is The Golden Age of Orthodontic.
(00:31:24) Dr. Leon Klempner: Exactly.
(00:31:25) Joe Hogan: No, I think it's, it's such an exciting time to be an orthodontic, so please tell 'em that they went into the right profession and it's gonna be great.
(00:31:31) So.
(00:31:33) Amy Epstein: Well, that's how we feel. That's why the podcast has its title. And that's why when we talk to technology providers and systems providers, we, um, you know, we, we do believe that this will enhance the, both the patient experience. Also the doctor's experience in delivering the care. So, um, thank you for, uh, providing us with an excellent end to this (00:32:00) episode of the Golden Page of Orthodontic Podcast.
(00:32:02) Dr. Leon Klempner: Right on brand,
(00:32:04) Amy Epstein: right on brand. We appreciate you being here. As always, happy Thanksgiving to you and your family if we don't talk to you beforehand, and we hope to have you. Back on the show again next year.
(00:32:15) Joe Hogan: Thanks. Thanks. No, thanks for having me and Leon, every time I see you, I still remember it was my first year, you know, when I met you in New York City and we were together and you were planning this too, and just, it's great to see that it's, it's gone so well for you too.
(00:32:26) And Amy, it's, uh, pat, really pleasure to see you again too. So
(00:32:29) Amy Epstein: likewise. Yeah. If you liked this episode, you are welcome to listen to our other episodes on Apple Podcast, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you enjoyed it, we'd appreciate you telling a colleague for more information about people and practice, which is the marketing agency that my dad and I founded.
(00:32:51) Uh, we have a team across the uni, the US and Canada, and we, uh, would be happy to talk to you about any of the challenges that you might be facing. Thing (00:33:00) you can visit our [email protected] to, uh, reach out. It. There's a little thing that will pop up that says, you know, talk to Leon. It's, I'm really here.
(00:33:10) That actually goes to Leon. Like, he will get back to you if you do that. It's not just a bot, I promise you. Um, yes. For more information about our partners as well, visit our website at ppl practice.com/partners.
(00:33:25) Dr. Leon Klempner: Thank you Joe. We really appreciate Thanks you coming on and taking all these questions and um, you know, to your credit, um, you know, uh, you've always given us car blanche to ask you anything and, uh, we sincerely on behalf of the profession, we appreciate it.
(00:33:43) So thanks again.
(00:33:44) Joe Hogan: Thanks Dion.
(00:33:45) Dr. Leon Klempner: Thanks. Um. Yep. So thanks for watching and listening. If you wanna contact me directly, Leon, at ppl practice.com. Um, we are a digital marketing company. If you need a website, if you need any kind of digital marketing, if you need to (00:34:00) increase your patient flow, if you wanna bring new aligner patients into your practice,
(00:34:04) if
(00:34:04) Dr. Leon Klempner: you're
(00:34:04) Amy Epstein: wondering how AI search is going to impact your SEO or your website or your visibility, all of these things.
(00:34:11) Dr. Leon Klempner: Big area that, uh, people in practice has taken the, uh, lead on AI search. So, uh, and reach out to us and never forget this for forward-thinking orthodontists. There has never. I mean, never ever been a better time to be an orthodontist, so see you next time. Bye-bye.
(00:34:37) Narrator: Thank you for tuning in to the Golden Age of Orthodontics. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or visit our website at the golden age of orthodontics.com for direct links to both the audio and video versions of this episode.
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