One-Millionth Post

Friday, January 20 at 9:12 a.m. Ryan Haygood posted the following: “I just made the one millionth post.”

One stroke of sheer simplicity to mark a historic occasion. In six years we have achieved another milestone in our stratospheric growth as the number one interactive community in dentistry. This milestone comes -- just months after we hit the 500,000 post mark. The impact this community has had on dentistry is difficult for some to understand. We have erased geographic borders and the restrictions of time with a community that is alive 24/7/365. Dentistry was a solitary profession for many of our colleagues prior to May of 1999; now we can proudly say: “No dentist will practice solo again.”

Profile of 1,000,000 Poster

Name: Ryan Haygood

Townie name: HAYGOOD

Name of dental school and year of graduation: LSU School of Dentistry, 2000

Office location(s) and position: Owner of two general dentistry offices–Shreveport, LA and Bossier City, LA. I recently sold a practice in Wake Forest, NC and moved back to my hometown in Louisianna.

I started two scratch offices in December. My staff and I divide our time between both, and we are becoming extremely busy. We are in the process of hiring another front office staff, so we have front office staff at both offices full time. We are currently seeing 100 new patients/month, and we are having fairly productive days. I have plans to hire an associate by the end of the summer so that both offices are full time.

Number of hours practicing per week: 36-40 hours/week

Personal interests or hobbies: CE junkie, self-improvement (books/tapes), ran Chicago marathon with Team in Training to raise money for Lymphoma/Leukemia society, travel.

DT: How did you first discover Dentaltown.com?

RH: I first checked out the Web site when the magazine began arriving a couple of years ago. I was hooked. I loved being able to check out what my peers are doing and how to do new procedures. I’ve actually gone to the Web site to get information while patients are in the chair.

DT: What is the most memorable tip from the message boards?

RH: The most memorable clinical tip was Sameer Puri and Tarun Agarwal’s post about the shrink-wrap technique for temporary veneers. What an awesome technique for doing veneer temps. I recently attended their Over the Shoulder course in Charlotte. It was one of the most practical CE courses ever.

The most memorable practice management technique were posts about Heartland Dental Care, specifically the post about the Jan ’05 meeting in Vegas. I went to the meeting and signed up as a client. Heartland has literally helped transform my dental practice. I think most dental offices are inefficient by nature. Heartland knows what works and has proven it 150 times in different dental offices. That success leaves clues.

DT: How has this Web site changed your approach to dentistry?

RH: It has made me a better dentist. It has raised the clinical bar for me. I love being able to see what other dentists are doing. I love learning how others are becoming successful.

DT: What is your favorite feature of the Web site?

RH: It is awesome having access to great clinicians for advice. It is great being able to pick the brains of dental legends. I love being able to access people like John Kanca for advice on bonding.

DT: What would you like to say to the companies that generously donated prizes for this event?

RH: Wow, what a great bunch of prizes. I am very thankful that these companies help support DT in the way that they do. It was fun trying to get the millionth post. (My staff thought I was nuts.) The server became so slow because everyone was trying to get these great prizes.

DT: What would you like to see on our Web site in the future?

RH: OK...It would be great if the community continues to grow. I would like to see more prominent dentists posts cases of their successes and failures. Successes are obvious, but it is also great to see their failures in order to avoid the same mistakes. It is how we all learn together.

Thank You to our Sponsors

Keating Dental Arts: 10 lab cases (approx. value $1,500)

Townie Meeting, LLC: Free registration to the next Townie Meeting in Las Vegas (approx. value $795)

Exacta Dental Products: FRESH Impression Material Starter Kit, EXACTA Temp Kit (choice of shade), Box of EXACTA Trays, EXACTA Core (choice of shade), EXACTA Flow (choice of shade), EXACTA Cement Kit, EXACTA Bite Registration Kit, EXACTA VPS Gel 90 Kit (approx value $400)

Powerprox Six Month Braces: Powerprox Six Month Braces ortho books (value $425)

Dentaltown: Dr. Howard Farran’s “The Virtues Of Profitable Dentistry” DVD set (value $695)

Ultradent: A tooth whitening gift basket including toothbrushes, Opalescence, Smilepix, TrèsWhite, UltraEZ and Flor-Opal (approx. value $400)

Classic Practice Resources: A flip chart and attendance for two at a Baton Rouge meeting in 2006 (approx. value $750)

Dr. Michael J. Melkers: NTI DVD and bur block (value $325)