Why did you choose dentistry as your career path?
Roca: As a child I can remember playing with the Bunsen burner and melting wax all over my dad’s
dental lab on early Saturday mornings during his emergency patients. At an early age I really enjoyed the
gadgets and gizmos scattered around the dental office. As a teen, I attended college at Virginia Tech with
the intent to become a mechanical engineer. Several courses later I realized that biology and medicine
intrigued me also. With the seed planted early in life I realized it was a no-brainer, dentistry was for me!
What is your practice philosophy? How do you cultivate this philosophy in
your practice?
Roca: Any practice management course will tell you about the marketing triangle; 1. Customer service,
2. Price and 3. Quality. You can have two of them, but you can never have all three. When I joined the
practice, I continually tried to advance the “quality” aspect of dentistry by attending as much CE as possible.
Customer service was a little more difficult for me to learn. In dental school running a business is a three-hour course which grossly under prepares you for day-today
customer interaction. By continually reading practice management
books and evaluating feedback
from patients by the means of surveys I continually
try to improve “customer service.”
What is it like practicing with your
father? What advice can you
give other dentists who are considering
practicing with family?
Roca: Working side by side with my
father is equivalent to the best dental
school one could ever attend. By blending
his 30 years of clinical knowledge and my large technology background
we have created unique ways of doing dentistry. I would
tell dental students to work as much as they can in their parent’s
office prior to graduation. Doing this gave me a better perspective
in day-to-day business operations and
allowed me to appreciate the job positions
of all team members.
What sets your practice apart
from other dental practices in
your area?
Roca: I routinely send out patient surveys
to get a feel for what patients think
about our practice. The biggest compliment
that I hear patients say about us, is
that they feel like they are part of the family and that they are
not just a number. It all starts with the warm friendly reception at the front desk, which is carried through by everyone else on
our team.
How important is continuing education to you?
Roca: Continuing education is extremely important to me.
One professor of mine said it best, “Dental technology is like an
exploding star, ever growing in all radii.” My dental school
friends would make fun of me in dental school for ditching a
class to attend CE. For me sitting for hours learning about zinc
phosphate cement and amalgam wasn’t as appealing as learning
about LVI, or CEREC.
What piece of technology has the biggest
“wow” factor for your patients?
Roca: The CEREC is definitely the biggest wow factor. I
love doing CEREC crowns on new patients and as the crown is
being milled, showing them the “David Letterman clip on” temporary
crowns and how they pop off (YouTube it if you haven’t
seen it!).
A close second is my intraoral camera combined with the 37
inch Plasma TV, when patients see their tooth blown up on the
TV they really “own” their disease.
What is your biggest source of new patients?
How do you market to new patients?
Roca: Half a dozen online marketing books and several marketing
seminars later, I started doing my own online marketing
campaign. After using Ziro Marketing to create my Web site, I
learned how to do my own SEO (search engine optimization)
and Google Adword Campaigns. One month later my new
patients per month had tripled. Online is the way of the future.
We dumped our ad in the yellow pages and now I am concentrating
on my online campaign.
What is your favorite procedure to perform?
Why?
Roca: Endodontics would have to be my most favorite procedure.
One of the things that lured me into dentistry was that
every day was different. In endodontics every time I open a
tooth up it’s like a treasure hunt, due to the different anatomy
of every canal.
What is the most rewarding experience you’ve
had as a dentist?
Roca: Bi-weekly I volunteer at the free dental clinic near my
office. I love seeing the smiles on people’s faces after they receive
their dental work. One patient in particular stands out in my
mind; I did a simple buccal composite on 7-10 and the lady
shook my hand about 20 times because she barely spoke English
and was so overjoyed because she could smile again.
How has Dentaltown affected the way you
practice?
Roca: Dentaltown is amazing! What better way to bounce
ideas off each other than an online community! Many times
both my father and I have been stuck in a corner and have found
the answers on Dentaltown by a simple search. The other neat
aspect of Dentaltown is that the different advertisers are all
grouped in one convenient place for you to browse.
Tell me who your favorite Townies are on
Dentaltown.com, and why?
Roca: “Miguel” (Dr. Michael Melkers) is great. His contribution
with NTI/Bruxism has really helped my practice
and patients in their parafunctional habits. He’s also a great
guy offline.
When you’re not in the office, what do you like
to do in your free time?
Roca: Right now it’s spending time with my one-year-old
daughter. When my wife and daughter let me out of the house,
I love to go sailing. My retirement plan is to sell everything and
buy a 42-foot yacht to travel the Caribbean doing pro bono dental
work on the various islands.
Tell me something that people would be surprised
to know about you.
Roca: When I was 16 years old I traveled Spain for three
months as a clown, we went to poverty stricken areas and entertained
the kids by doing shows and parades.
If you weren’t a dentist, what do you think
you’d be doing right now?
Roca: Living like a bum in Key West on an old sailboat, and
dreaming about being a dentist.
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