🎓 FREE LIVE TRAINING — Denticula: the business side of dentistry, from the people running it. For dentists and practice leaders 👉 https://denticula.com

Robots have been placing dental implants in real patients since Yomi's FDA clearance in 2017. And it has split implant surgeons down the middle. One side says this is accuracy beyond any human hand. The other says we are training a generation of dentists who will not be able to operate when the technology cannot.

Dr Jono Michael is one of the few people who can judge that argument rather than just react to it. He is an implant and reconstructive dentist in Sydney with a Master's in Oral Implantology from Goethe University in Frankfurt. He uses guided surgery every week, and he studied robotic assistance as part of his training.

In this episode:

🦷 Static guides, dynamic navigation and full robotics, explained as if you were the patient
📊 The $200,000 robot, and what he learned about robotic surgery during his Master's
✋ Why more than half his work is still freehand, and why he goes unguided for full arch
⚠️ The 1mm problem: when a small deviation is the difference between success and a damaged nerve
🤔 The deskilling question: if the next generation trains only on guides, who operates when the technology cannot?
✈️ The autopilot parallel: is dentistry repeating aviation's mistake?
🤖 Would he let a robot place an implant in his own mouth? His answer: "Not today."
💬 His advice to young dentists: take it slow, check everything twice, and it is okay to say no

Timestamps:
00:00 Robots are placing implants right now
01:25 Why dentistry, why implants
03:51 Why he left Australia for Goethe, Frankfurt
07:50 Guided surgery explained: static, dynamic, robotic
11:32 What a guide changes on surgery day
16:21 Why he goes freehand for full arch
27:19 The $200,000 robot
36:02 The 2026 meta-analysis: robots win on accuracy. Does that settle it?
42:03 Future of accuracy, or a solution looking for a problem?
45:46 The deskilling question
53:08 Will robots replace implantologists?
56:46 Rapid fire
1:02:21 Should you trust them?

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🎓 Denticula, free live training on the business side of dentistry: https://denticula.com

🎙 Come on the show. If you are a dentist or a practice owner with a story worth telling, apply at https://betweenpatients.online

📲 Dr Jono Michael on Instagram: https://instagram.com/dr.jonmichael
📲 Moiz on Instagram: https://instagram.com/moizkhurram_

📖 My book, The $2 Dentist: https://betweenpatients.online

Patients don't bond with buildings. They bond with the person delivering the treatment.

Dr Dahlia Brinklow is an associate at Harpers Dental, and she's built something most associates never do: patients who come back for her. In this episode she breaks down why loyalty lives with the dentist, not the practice, and what that means for every associate quietly building their name.

We get into:

• Why patients follow the dentist, not the building
• The mistake young dentists make: thinking their work isn't good enough to show
• Why taking photos of your work matters more than any marketing
• Building a name as an associate inside someone else's practice
• Confidence, self-worth, and valuing a decade in dentistry

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Apply to be a guest on Between Patients: https://betweenpatients.online/#apply

Get the book, The $2 Dentist: https://betweenpatients.online/book

Follow Moiz on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moizkhurram_/

Run a dental practice? A 24/7 voice receptionist that answers every call and books patients into your diary. 14 days free, no card: https://selenicai.com/safety-net

Behind the calm and the professional smile, dentistry is quietly breaking its dentists.

Dr Bazgah Siddique has spent 25 years in the profession, across two countries. She trained in Lahore, sat the ORE, and rebuilt her entire career in the UK from scratch. Today she's an implant surgeon working across five practices, and she teaches the next generation coming up behind her.

In this episode she opens up about the stress nobody talks about. The fear of litigation. The isolation of the surgery. Why dentists take every failure personally. And what actually helps.

We get into:

• The numbers on dentist stress, and why they're worse than most people realise
• Why dentistry is such an isolating profession
• The "golden handcuff": earning only while you're hands-on
• Why patients follow the dentist, not the practice
• Perfectionism, and why you can't control the biology of a patient
• What she tells a dentist who's crying in their car between patients
• The advice she'd give any young dentist entering the profession
• Why she now trains fresh graduates, and her December course in Lahore

If you're a dentist carrying this alone, this one's for you.

If you or someone you know is struggling, the Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123. The BDA and your indemnity provider also offer confidential support.

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• Follow Dr Bazgah on Instagram: @dr.bazgahsiddique
• Apply to be a guest on Between Patients: https://betweenpatients.online/#apply
• Get the book, The $2 Dentist: https://betweenpatients.online/book
• Follow Moiz on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moizkhurram_/

Run a dental practice?
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