In this episode of The Golden Age of Orthodontics, Dr. Leon Klempner and Amy Epstein sit down with board-certified orthodontist, inventor and entrepreneur Dr. Marc Lemchen to explore how robotics can improve efficiency, support orthodontic teams and create a more memorable patient experience. Drawing on more than five decades in orthodontics, Dr. Lemchen shares the thinking behind innovations such as Dolphin Imaging, EasyRx and Zeno Robotics, along with the lessons he has learned about introducing new technology into a practice.
The conversation also examines the role robotics can play in addressing staffing challenges, reducing repetitive work and giving team members more time to focus on patients. Dr. Lemchen discusses Zeno Steril, the robotic sterilization system recognized with the 2026 AAO Ortho Innovator Award, and explains why the most valuable technology is not simply impressive to look at, but meaningfully improves consistency, workflow and the overall patient experience.
Five takeaways
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
What follows is an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain errors and is not a substitute for watching the video.
Golden Age of Orthodontics Episode 86 Dr Marc Lemchen v1
(00:00:00) Dr. Leon Klempner: You know and I know that creating a great patient experience doesn't happen by accident. With staff hiring getting harder, could robotics help your team deliver even a better experience? Stay tuned
(00:00:17) Welcome to the golden age of
(00:00:19) orthodontics
(00:00:34) One thing we know is that the future of orthodontics is digital. For me, the KLOwen custom solution checks off all of the boxes, takes the guesswork out of treatment planning, reduces treatment time and appointments, and lets the team best support the orthodontist. If you haven't already, I suggest you check them out.
(00:00:54) You can get more information as well as a special offer on our website. Just go to (00:01:00)
(00:01:00) Dr. Marc Lemchen: pplpractice.com and click our partner tab.
(00:01:03) Dr. Leon Klempner: Welcome to the golden age of orthodontics. I'm Leon Klempner, retired board-certified orthodontist, director of orthodontics at Mount Sinai Hospital, part-time faculty at both Montefiore and Harvard, current president of the New York State Society of Orthodontists, and of course, the CEO of People in Practice Marketing and Consulting.
(00:01:27) I practiced for about 40 years on Long Island before co-founding People in Practice with my partner, my daughter, and my podcast host, Amy Epstein. Welcome, Amy.
(00:01:39) Amy Epstein: Thank you very much. Always good to be here. Um, I'm Amy Epstein. I have an MBA in marketing, about 20 years of marketing and public relations experience.
(00:01:48) Um, you know, before focusing on orthodontics, which you sort of brought me into, I wasn't, I wasn't doing that, but you, you (00:02:00) rightfully, uh, predicted that there would be a market here for supporting orthodontists as they, um, grow their private practices.
(00:02:09) Dr. Leon Klempner: Well, you wouldn't go- But
(00:02:10) Amy Epstein: where I-
(00:02:10) Dr. Leon Klempner: You wouldn't go to dental school and become an orthodontist- I would not
(00:02:13) which is what I w- really wanted you to do, but-
(00:02:15) Amy Epstein: I know that. W- when you know it's not for you, you know it's not for you.
(00:02:19) Dr. Leon Klempner: Yeah.
(00:02:19) Amy Epstein: But, uh, we met in a different way. We met up professionally in a different way, and it's, it's fun 'cause we both- True ... bring our own expertise and perspectives instead of doing the exact same thing, so I think that's even better.
(00:02:33) Um, also, I don't have to put my hands into other people's mouths, which is also a plus for me. Um, anyway, as I was saying, we, you know, when we got together to start People in Practice, I was in, uh, at a marketing firm But I, I wasn't in consumer-- Well, a little bit in consumer marketing. Mostly I was in the, um, manufacturing and technology sector, and I worked with global brands like Bosch (00:03:00) and 3M and, um, if you're in the US, ITW, in order to translate complex technologies into meaningful business value for the end user, the consumer, so that, that these companies could sell more.
(00:03:14) And there's an analog here for today's conversation, that there's a ton of innovation that happens behind the scenes, and it-- for me, today's conversation is a little bit full circle. I feel very comfortable in this space. I'm so happy today because we're going to explore how technology is transforming orthodontic practices in ways that patients may not even realize, but they absolutely benefit from So today I'm really pleased to welcome Dr.
(00:03:41) Mark Lemkin, who is a- also a board-certified orthodontist. He's an inventor, an entrepreneur, also an educator, and has spent more than five decades helping to shape the future of orthodontics. He is co-founder of Lemkin Salzer Orthodontics in New York City, and has (00:04:00) been long recognized for combining cutting-edge technology with a deeply patient-centered approach to care.
(00:04:06) Along the way, he's co-founded groundbreaking companies that you will have heard of, including Dolphin Imaging, Easy RX, and most recently, Zeno Robotics. Dr. Lemkin has been awarded numerous patents in dentistry, imaging, software, and robotics, and his work has earned the AAO's Award for Excellence in Innovation and Emerging Technologies two times, including in 2026, just at this past show.
(00:04:32) And today we're going to be talking about that latest innovation and how robotics overall can help practices spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time focused on patients. Dr. Lemkin, thank you for joining us today.
(00:04:48) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Thank you, Amy, and thanks, Leon. We've known each other a long time and we both- We-
(00:04:53) have children in, in, in business with us sort of.
(00:04:56) Dr. Leon Klempner: Yep, we do. And, uh, and I've wanted to have you (00:05:00) as a guest on the podcast for a long time as well. So, you know, I've been following your career, not only in orthodontics, but as an inventor, and it, it intrigues me because I love technology. Amy and I share this as well, is, you know, I'm always, you know...
(00:05:16) My favorite part of going to the meetings is to walk on the exhibit floor and just see what's new and what's around, and I'm always attracted to the next shiny thing. And as you know, as orthodontists, we're exposed to a lot of, of technology and, you know, we have to make decisions in terms of what we choose to invest our money in and bring into our practices, and what is just another shiny object would be nice to have.
(00:05:45) So, you know, my criteria for making that decision was a litmus test of, is this going to benefit my patients? That's basically the, the litmus test I used to use. So when I would look at scanners, I was one (00:06:00) of the first on the East Coast to, to get a scanner, says yes, you know. That, that was a clear yes. And, and I know a lot of what you've done, uh, you know, ha- uh, has applications, but I'm curious, you know, as an inventor and innovator, um, like what guides your decision about what to focus your energies on?
(00:06:21) Just high level. What, you know, what, what goes on in your mind when you decide to, "Hey, this would be something that would be, uh, worthy of my time and energy- Well- ... and money"?
(00:06:32) Dr. Marc Lemchen: I've, in thinking about it from the base, um, first of all, I too love technology and it's, uh, it's like I've always liked toys, so I just never outgrew that.
(00:06:44) And I'm always intrigued by new ways of doing things. But the most basic thing is that I think when you're building a practice, um, I've... Many decades ago, we read this book, Raving Fans, and it tells you (00:07:00) that a satisfied patient is not as much of an asset as a thrilled patient. And what we wanna do is give our patients something to always talk about in our office, and that can be on many levels.
(00:07:12) The kind of customer service they get, the, the person at the front desk who al- remembers them and is receptive, and not just somebody there to answer a phone. The relationships that our, our auxiliaries, our hygienists and assistants build with patients, that's, that's a, a basic. But the other thing is I always use this little story about a mother takes her child home and talks to her friend and she says, "What did you do?"
(00:07:37) They say, "What'd you do today?" And she says, "Well, I picked Johnny up from school. I took him for his, um, his orthodontic appointment. I took him to buy sneakers, and now I'm home fighting with him about his homework." As opposed to saying, "Oh, I went to the orthodontist. It's... What an, an amazing place. What an amazing experience.
(00:07:56) What great technology. What great people." (00:08:00) It's the wow factor that you want that makes you more than just another office with the, your name on the door. So in reality, one of the easiest ways of achieving that goal is to give them something special, and technology is, is that special thing. Mm-hmm. Um, people, they've done lots of studies.
(00:08:19) People associate technology with, with ability, um, with dedication, with how much you're willing to invest your time a- in, in your, um, practice and, and what you're learning. So- Mm-hmm ... that's, I think, the key driving factor. Not only do I have fun with it, but I think it, it is a, um, a visual experience, um, of what we are willing to put into our practice to get the kind of results we'd, we'd like to get.
(00:08:49) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So let's talk about the, the suite of technologies that you have invented and developed for orthodontists. Give us a high level overview of the, (00:09:00) um, of, of what's on offer in this category.
(00:09:04) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Well, if you go back to our first venture, which was Dolphin Imaging, it's sort of a lesson in startups and- Sure
(00:09:11) startups are not so new anymore, but they were relatively new when we did it. And, um, the original direction of Dolphin, very interestingly, um, most people probably don't know it, was to do non-radiographic cephalometric imaging, which we, we learned a lot about technology at that venture, that the latest technology is not always the most reliable or best.
(00:09:36) And so Dolphin pivoted into more of a software company. Mm-hmm. And, um, we built a great software, we built a great company, and it doesn't come without bumps in the road, and as my cousin who's involved with venture capital says, "Fire drills." But it ended up that Dolphin is still around after being started in 1988.
(00:09:56) Um, and it provided a level of (00:10:00) technology and customer care that wasn't there yet.
(00:10:03) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm.
(00:10:04) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Um, so that, that's our-- was our first software, uh, company. And then we did the second one years later, which was EasyRX, which was, um An accidental success in some ways because the timing was perfect that people had finally started a- adopting the technology using scanners as opposed to impressions.
(00:10:29) Uh-huh. And suddenly we- just like when we went to, um, paperless charts, we needed a way of knowing where that chart was. It wasn't in somebody's box and going from the front desk box to the, to the accounting box. It was in some ether, and we had to have a way of tracking that, that information around the office, which Dolphin did.
(00:10:50) So now we were gonna do the same thing with the digital data that we acquired from scanners. So initially, scanners required, uh, whoever wanted to use that (00:11:00) data going to the, the website of the company that made the scanner and going through a thousand different ways of downloading a, a set of STL files, where EasyRX enabled you to connect it to your prescription, send it to the lab, and it was pr- correctly connected to the correct patient and tracked and followed.
(00:11:21) And there was actually a lot more we would have liked to have done with EasyRX, but, um, we moved on to the next project. And the next project was robotics.
(00:11:30) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm.
(00:11:30) Dr. Marc Lemchen: And, um, I'd always wanted a robot so I... All the IT guys I knew, I'd say, "I need a robot." And finally, I said, "I'm not gonna get it unless I do it myself."
(00:11:41) And we found the first robot we had was Pepper, and Pepper was done by this fellow in France, uh, who we still know. And it was a great interactive robot. It, it didn't do many practical things, but it was an amazing tool to connect with the patient. And (00:12:00) it was a lot of their f- a lot of our patients' first experience with a robot that you could talk to and it would answer you and, um, tell you about the weather.
(00:12:08) Very simple things, but it was, it was actually the most successful robot ever built to this date. At, at this point, I'm sure soon we'll get beyond that. Um, but then we moved on to more practical robots that we could write the software for, because that's our business. So, um, Xenon was the first interactive robot with software, um, developed for orthodontic use and for dental.
(00:12:35) And it would, um, be able to travel around the office, go out to the reception room and say, "Amy, um, we're ready for you. Press the button when you're ready to follow me back into the back room."
(00:12:48) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm.
(00:12:49) Dr. Marc Lemchen: And so it was the first interactive robot that way that moved around the office and navigated. It could also carry things from one place to another, but its main purpose was interaction with patients.
(00:12:59) And (00:13:00) of course, we've all seen how that's evolved over the years with AI and ChatGPT, that you can talk to the robot and ask it questions. So that was our second, um, project, and we continued to work on that one. Um- And that's the, probably the hardest one to, for some people to understand the return on investment.
(00:13:25) Um, but this is a really almost pure return on investment that it inspires the patient to want to talk about it. So we have some- Mm-hmm ... very interesting patients in our practice who you wouldn't think would be wowed by anything, and they are following the robot around videoing it with their children.
(00:13:43) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm.
(00:13:43) Dr. Marc Lemchen: So, uh, in fact, um-
(00:13:44) Amy Epstein: And I'd love to see the, the review. I mean, from a, from a communication standpoint, I imagine that type of interaction can make its way into a public Google review.
(00:13:55) Dr. Marc Lemchen: It
(00:13:55) Amy Epstein: did. And maybe, in fact, encourage some more reviews than would otherwise be written (00:14:00) because there was something very specific to talk about.
(00:14:02) Dr. Marc Lemchen: We've had, um, patients come in. One woman said, "I- when I came in here and saw the robot, I knew this was the office for me." And the kids request the robot to bring her back. And Kelly Ripa, who's one of our patients, and she, 'cause she talked about it on, on television. Um, unsolicited, she talked about h- her experience with the robot in our office and how much fun it was and how she wanted that robot to come out and say, "Kelly, we're ready for you."
(00:14:30) Um, so it- it's a, it's an amazing interactive device. It has a practical, a more practical application in that it goes and gets the patient. It saves the assistant having to leave the chair. So, um, just as in restaurants, you know, how fast you can get your ready for the next patient is important to us.
(00:14:51) Mm-hmm. And when you talk about seeing, most practices see somewhere between 60 and 120 patients a day, (00:15:00) and if you save four or five minutes at each one of those patients, and you multiply it times 60 is 300, 300 minutes, that's a lot of time you've saved. Mm-hmm. And it means you're on time for your patients.
(00:15:12) It means you're ready for your patient, and you haven't been the, the assistant or the hygienist not been distracted by going out to the reception room, getting involved in a conversation, stopping along the way. Um, much more efficient, and that's where your, your monetary return on investment is. Mm-hmm. So I like to des- uh, describe, um, technology as, as visual technology and an invisible technology.
(00:15:38) In- invisible technologies are, you know, um, custom brackets, uh, automated billing, things that we don't, they don't see, and they really don't relate to. Um, this goes more back to the, you know, the restaurant that has the glass wall in the kitchen. So you want to impress them with what you're doing. And, and (00:16:00) now the last, um, the newest thing we've worked on is, uh, automated sterilization.
(00:16:06) And, and clearly that's something that, um, frees up a person. It takes a repetitive task, um, that is best managed by a, a, an automated robotic process in order to protect the patient that, you know, everything is adequately sterilized and documented. Um, so that's, that's our latest, uh, major investment in time and effort.
(00:16:29) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm. And that one has a little bit of invisible and visible together, right? Am I right?
(00:16:33) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Well, we want to make it as visible as possible, actually. Okay. And so our ultimate plan is probably that it'll be behind a glass wall or a glass cabinet, and people can watch it work because it's fascinating the way it works.
(00:16:46) Um, and, and they'll understand that this is a, a new technology. Um, and it's similar to lots of other things we've seen along the way. The most, um, most similar thing to me is, (00:17:00) Leon and I will remember when we used to take X-rays and we went into the room and we had a tank, three... tank of developer and fixer and, and, uh, we'd end up with a wet X-ray.
(00:17:11) And then suddenly someone invented a- an automated processing machine, and it, it worked most of the time. And you'd put it, the film in one side, it would come out dry on the other. Um, and so this is the same kind of situation where, you know, right now we're taking something from manually taking it from one machine to the next, to the next, to the next, and everything's done by hand, and we're in-- and no one's really documenting those procedures.
(00:17:41) Um, we do have ways of monitoring the sterilization at the end. And so now we've applied those same automation concepts to a much more difficult task than, than developing an X-ray.
(00:17:51) Dr. Leon Klempner: So Mark, um, I know that Xenosteril was the 2026, uh, Ortho Innovator Award. (00:18:00) And, um, I'm curious, I know it's a, a robotic sterilization system, as you said, but how does ex- exactly work?
(00:18:09) Like, what, what is it that it does? Does it just bring the trays to the lab and then, and then the assistant does the sterilization? Give us like the details of the workflow.
(00:18:23) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Well, I think the, the genesis of, of the concept was that, uh, we, we have a lot of visible technology in dental and orthodontic offices at this time.
(00:18:34) You know, when you come in, you're checked into a computer, you know that your chart's on the computer. Um, the imaging, you're looking at it on a screen. Um, you have to remember when the MI started, there was no digital cameras so, and they said, "You'll never replace slides." And the first, the first dolphin images were really video, video camera screen captures.
(00:18:58) So we wanted to (00:19:00) get to the point where the technology didn't stop at the front desk, and we wanted something that was a, a Of low-hanging fruit in, in making the technology better, and certainly sterilization is that. Um, you know, you go back again to when Leon and I started, cold sterilization was the thing.
(00:19:19) You know, you, you dump something into a, a, a bottle like the, in the barbershop, and when you needed it again, you took it out. You didn't time anything. You didn't do anything like that. So now we walk- can walk into the back of the office, and we're gonna have a person standing there going through the steps of sterilization, which involves, um, cleaning the instruments, putting them in a cassette, um, putting them in the ultrasonic, putting them in a rinse and, and lubricating solution, uh, wrapping them or putting them in a bag, which is now required, um, and putting them in a sterilizer and, and then taking them out and cooling them down and documenting the whole process.
(00:19:59) (00:20:00) So this was something that a robot or robotic system can do. Uh, it required, uh, coming up with the best way of ac- of accomplishing it. So that we focused on this, and we've traveled around the world really looking at systems that did similar things in, in other fields. And then we, um, hired two engineers that we, um, got in Israel who were, uh...
(00:20:29) had worked on robotic kitchens. So a very similar thing to a robotic sterilizer. Instead of putting pasta in the pot, you put the instruments in. So we built this machine, and we, um, of course, there's a lot of prerequisites that you have. You know, it can't be too big. It can't be too expensive. Uh, it's gotta be reliable.
(00:20:52) It's gotta have a backup in case it doesn't work, that you're not out of business. You can sterilize things in the old-fashioned way, and it's gotta be (00:21:00) part of a system. Mm-hmm. It's not just a freestanding thing in the middle. So when Leon says, "What, what does it do?" It, it... Th-this part of the mach- the part that won the innovation award is really the middle part of it.
(00:21:13) So the cassettes are put into the, um, Zeno Steril unit, and once they're in the unit, the robotics moves that cassette around into the ultrasonic cleaner, and then it ta-takes it out of the ultrasonic after the proper amount of time, then puts it into a rinse and lubrication, um, cycle. And then one of the most amazing parts of it really, um, which sounds like it shouldn't be, is h- it wraps every cassette.
(00:21:42) So, um, we actually have probably more IP on our wrapping machine than anything else. So it wraps the cassette in the proper kind of paper they use that will work inside an autoclave And it, it wraps it, tapes it closed, and puts a, a (00:22:00) monitor into the set so you can prove that it was sterilized. Um, and then it puts it into a, a steam autoclave, uh The kind of steam autoclave, there's two basic systems.
(00:22:13) One vents steam through an open door and the other vents it from internally. And the one that it's internally vented is the one that's really, um, required in Europe. In, in the United States we can have either one. And then it takes it out of the, um, out of the sterilizer and puts it in a cooling area, and it comes out the other end sterile.
(00:22:37) Amy Epstein: Hmm.
(00:22:37) Dr. Marc Lemchen: And, and then-
(00:22:38) Amy Epstein: Sounds like the type of thing that I would've seen at some of the, um, packaging trade shows-
(00:22:44) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Yeah ...
(00:22:44) Amy Epstein: in Europe, um- Yeah ... for food packaging and, and that type of thing. So
(00:22:49) Dr. Marc Lemchen: that's interesting. It, it's probably in a way very similar.
(00:22:51) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm.
(00:22:52) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Um, and then we have the, um, the two ends to complete. So once it comes out of the sterilizer, (00:23:00) we have a, a Xeno robot that can take those items from the sterilizer and deposit them in the proper locations.
(00:23:08) So it could be set up to take things first to the, um, instrument storage area or then to chair two if that's where you keep another thing, and chair three. And it'll be able to, um, tell the difference between the cassettes by the color. Um, color's probably the easiest thing. Um, and, and so it will take the delivery.
(00:23:31) On the other side, um, we're gonna have the robot pick up the instruments from the chairs and go to a location where the robotically we will identify the instruments and replace them in the cassette. This is the, uh, still in process process. Mm-hmm. Um, and so at that point you've taken, um, the human totally out of it.
(00:23:55) And right now, um, the ro- Xeno Steril's in FDA (00:24:00) approval.
(00:24:00) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm.
(00:24:01) Dr. Marc Lemchen: And, um, basically every item in within the machine has FDA approval already. It's just we are taking the human out of the, out of the machine. So.
(00:24:11) Amy Epstein: Hmm. Well, you know, my dad in, in preparation for the, um, podcast, we were talking about what happens when, um, the person who's in the lab sterilizing calls out or, um, you know, can't replace them once they maybe move on.
(00:24:29) Uh, getting really responsible and experienced team members is a challenge right now, um, for all practices and s- and especially in the lab. So, um, you know, this is interesting and so there's the, there is the invisible bit, but then the, you know, it teams up with a Xeno- Yes ... robot to kind of-
(00:24:47) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Well, I
(00:24:47) Amy Epstein: think-
(00:24:47) bring it to the front. How, how visible, uh, or how much, I guess, patient interaction does the robot have While doing these tasks? Or is it, you know, (00:25:00) what's that guy doing? Is it a topic and you explain what's happening and that's-
(00:25:03) Dr. Marc Lemchen: It is a very visible machine. It's not small. Yeah. So, and it's gonna be open so they can watch how it works.
(00:25:10) Right. So I think that's gonna be the biggest factor in-
(00:25:14) Amy Epstein: Yep ...
(00:25:14) Dr. Marc Lemchen: in that part of it. But certainly when they s- see the robot, and, and there are a lot of offices in general dental that have like 15 or 20 operatories. So when, to have s- to walk back and forth in an office that size. So I think you're bringing up a very interesting topic, which is staffing and training, and, um, it's really a problem for every office.
(00:25:37) And in a way, AI and robotics can help to train staff because it's- Mm-hmm ... setting the level of, of continuity and reliability and showing up for work that you want everybody to have. But everybody that sort of laughs, anybody that has a message thing on their screen, they always say, "Every morning I look to see who's not coming in."
(00:25:57) So it's just part of the world we (00:26:00) live in, uh-
(00:26:00) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm ...
(00:26:01) Dr. Marc Lemchen: at this point.
(00:26:02) Amy Epstein: Yeah.
(00:26:03) Dr. Marc Lemchen: So I think that's a very, um, big part of this. A- a- and the other thing I'd like to touch on that that brings up as well is that, um, adopting technology is very interesting. Um, we all have seen technologies that have been brought into our office, and we sort of adopted them half-heartedly.
(00:26:26) And scanning was like that for a long time There was only one or two people in the office who knew how to scan and, uh, you know, i- in, in beginning, we did the first aligners that were ever made on, on scanners, and it would take an hour to do that scan. And so it's easy- Wow ... to say, "We don't have time for that technology today."
(00:26:44) Right. Or, "The person who knows how to use it is busy or not here." So, a, a, a real lesson in technology is that if you really want it to be successful, you say you're gonna adopt it, and you're gonna use it for every patient, not selective patients. Mm-hmm.
(00:26:59) Amy Epstein: Yeah, (00:27:00) yeah.
(00:27:00) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Um, and that way the staff becomes comfortable with it.
(00:27:03) You start to, um, become faster with it, and pretty soon you're ready to f- totally forget about the old system, which was inherently slower, but faster if you don't know what you're doing with the technology.
(00:27:16) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
(00:27:16) Dr. Marc Lemchen: So adopting technologies, you don't have two sterile systems, a manual and a automated.
(00:27:22) You have only one. That's right. And that's the way you make it work. And it's
(00:27:25) Amy Epstein: the same with- Yeah, I mean, that's a refrain that, that comes up a lot w- as it relates to any technology, whether it's treatment modalities with custom digital, uh, and indirect bonding, or whether it's, uh, uh, remote monitoring and that type of technology.
(00:27:41) If you're, if you're all in and, and doing it with every patient, you have- Yeah ... much better chance of having success overall and, and seeing the efficiencies and seeing the productivity gains, um, that was probably the pur- the main reason for investing in it in the first place, right?
(00:27:57) Dr. Marc Lemchen: And, and, and I like the saying from (00:28:00) 1860, which is the Civil War days, by a guy named Schoen Pohl, and he said, "Every new technology is first, uh, re- ridiculed, then vehemently denied, and then accepted as conventional wisdom."
(00:28:13) How many things have we seen like that in orthodontics? Lingual braces, clear braces- Mm-hmm ... Invisalign itself. Um- Yeah ... so we see that all the time and, uh, we should learn from it. Um- So it's, it's, it's just a given. So we're at the point with robotics that we can say, "Oh, you know, we have to have a robot in the office."
(00:28:38) Well, the robot becomes an important part when the patient asks for it or the patient responds to it, a- and, and it, it makes their experience more positive and more memorable. Um, and it becomes an important part when they see that their instruments that they're used in their mouth are sterilized by, by technology and not by somebody standing there (00:29:00) who you don't know- Mm-hmm
(00:29:01) you might not know. So it's, uh, usually the person that never builds up a relationship with patients because they're standing there cleaning instruments all day.
(00:29:08) Amy Epstein: That's right.
(00:29:09) Dr. Marc Lemchen: So-
(00:29:09) Amy Epstein: You know, I imagine there's a, a benefit here in freeing up team time as well.
(00:29:16) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Yes. You, you want quality- To
(00:29:18) Amy Epstein: interact with patients- Yes
(00:29:19) right? Like, to, to not have to be bothered with some of these things in order to pay better attention to
(00:29:24) Dr. Marc Lemchen: the patient. An excellent point as well, that people say robotics are impersonal. Well, they aren't necessarily impersonal, but what they definitely do is they give your staff more time to be personal with patients.
(00:29:36) They're not- Mm-hmm ... walking back and forth. Yeah. They are not doing repetitive tasks that a, that a technology can do instead. Mm-hmm. They're not going to get a retainer when a robot can go get the retainer and they can continue to have a relationship with the patient. The patient's not sitting there in the chair by themselves waiting for you to come back.
(00:29:54) Amy Epstein: Exactly. Or interrupting a middle of a conversation in order to go do something because you realize somebody's waiting. Yeah. So (00:30:00) I mean, it, it sounds to me that, you know, going back to the, the thing that I'm always interested in, which is y- the, the patient experience because for- as a marketer, that, that's the thing that I can grab a hold of.
(00:30:12) 'Cause as you said earlier, some of the technologies that are bo- you know, patients don't really have as much of a connection to it until there's a better outcome, or it's faster, or they have a better experience, or they can have a better relationship, um, with the team members. What are those things?
(00:30:27) Because those are the differentiators for a practice, and I can grab a hold of them and help a practice communicate those as something that makes their practice stand out, which it sounds like is what you're after- Yes ... in
(00:30:38) Dr. Marc Lemchen: telling me this analogy. And, and y- so it goes back to the most basic thing. The most basic thing is your, your patients have to feel like y- you're doing as much as humanly possible for them and willing to do whatever it takes.
(00:30:49) Um, it's like when we took Andrew to Disneyland, in some restaurant he said he wanted popcorn, and the waiter said, "We don't have it there, but I'm gonna go out and find some." He left, (00:31:00) came back 20 minutes later with popcorn. Do I remember that experience? Of course. Yep. You remember your great teachers. Yep.
(00:31:06) You remember every little thing that counts.
(00:31:08) Amy Epstein: Yeah.
(00:31:09) Dr. Marc Lemchen: So-
(00:31:09) Amy Epstein: Reminds me of, uh, if you watch The Bear, that's the, that's the philosophy of the restaurant that they-
(00:31:14) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Right ...
(00:31:14) Amy Epstein: they're developing in that, in that show. Um-
(00:31:17) Dr. Marc Lemchen: And we're in the service business. Don't, don't- Yeah ... kid yourself. That's what-
(00:31:20) Amy Epstein: That's right.
(00:31:21) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Yeah ... we spend days with Ritz Carlton.
(00:31:23) They're amazingly good at o- at, um, or- orchestrating service.
(00:31:29) Amy Epstein: Mm-hmm.
(00:31:29) Dr. Marc Lemchen: And- Well, that's- ... that's what we have to do. And if the staff is excited about these things and gets positive feedback, and that's another, that's another mantra is just positive feedback. So they- Yeah ... get-- The robot gets positive feedback.
(00:31:42) Our office gets positive feedback. Some people call us the robot office. So it, it's not a bad moniker, you know. It's better than some others.
(00:31:53) Amy Epstein: Um- It's distinguishing. Yes. And that is a core tenet of our philosophy of People in Practice (00:32:00) is that before you-- we start trying to attract patients, what are we saying that's going to differentiate the practice from the others in the area?
(00:32:10) I mean, I know w- where you're located because we're, we're both in this-- in New York. But, uh, y- there's a quite a bit of competition any which way you look, right? And so to be distinguished y- as the robot practice or the technology practice or... is, uh, a way for patients to remember you and make a decision based on the fact that they're interested in- Tell them that
(00:32:30) Dr. Marc Lemchen: you can make a, a list what distinguishes our practice, and there's lots of things on that list, and technology is one of it.
(00:32:36) Amy Epstein: Is one of them.
(00:32:37) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Yep. And it, it's a, it's, it's a, a wow factor, something they're impressed with, they remember, they talk about. And, and- Yep ... and, and that's the soft The soft r- return on investment that you can't measure. You know- Right ... but in reality, if you say, "I got one or two patients from this technology," that almost- It's really good
(00:32:57) pays for this technology right there. So. (00:33:00)
(00:33:00) Amy Epstein: When, when are you anticipating FDA approval, and, and when can our listeners get their hands on a Zeno SterileUnit if they're interested?
(00:33:09) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Well, we're hoping that we get it relatively soon. We don't see any major issues with it. Um, but I only know what we're legally allowed to say, so I won't say anything.
(00:33:19) That's
(00:33:19) Amy Epstein: always the best play. That's always the best approach. Well, we'll look out for it- Yes ... certainly. Um, and congratulations on the 2026 Ortho Innovator Award- Yes ... for a, a step in that process, and, um, look forward to following all the interesting inventions that I'm sure will come out f- uh, from your shop or your, your brain in the future.
(00:33:42) Yeah. Um, we appreciate you taking the time today to join us. Um, lots of interesting information. If our listeners would like to ask you a question or workshop something with you, how can they get in touch?
(00:33:55) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Well, they can just email me, um, at, um, (00:34:00) uh, I guess the best one to use is [email protected], lsortho.com.
(00:34:03) Um, or [email protected].
(00:34:14) Amy Epstein: Perfect. Well, thanks again for being here. Really appreciate it, and, uh- Thank you ... we hope to see you again on the show sometime soon. Well- And, and looking at that Zeno Sterile coming out in-
(00:34:24) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Yeah,
(00:34:24) Amy Epstein: well- ... short order ... I,
(00:34:25) Dr. Marc Lemchen: it's very, it's very exciting. So.
(00:34:27) Amy Epstein: It is very exciting.
(00:34:28) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Okay.
(00:34:28) Amy Epstein: Well, thanks again.
(00:34:30) Dr. Marc Lemchen: Okay. T- take care.
(00:34:31) Amy Epstein: Thank you for watching or listening. If you would like to contact me directly with any marketing questions, you can shoot me an email at [email protected] or my dad, which is at [email protected]. We will be speaking together at the WOCAN meeting in Monterey this fall. It's in October, the beginning of October.
(00:34:52) Uh, come out and see us if you'll be there. Um, we'd love to meet you. If you're looking for a deal on, um, any new technologies, you can (00:35:00) visit our partner page on our website at pplpractice.com. And remember, for forward-thinking orthodontists, it has never been a better time to be an orthodontist. We are in the golden age.
(00:35:12) Take advantage of it. Bye for now.
(00:35:21) Dr. Leon Klempner: Thank you for listening to the Golden Age of Orthodontics podcast. Subscribe to our podcast on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or visit our website at pplpractice.com
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