Building a Practice That Lasts | Jared Hepworth on Dentistry, Growth & Grit

Welcome to the Roots podcast presented
by Elite Anesthesia where we dive deep
with dental professionals about the
challenges, breakthroughs, and stories
behind their successful practices. Today
we have Dr. Jared Hepworth with us from
White Ridge Aesthetic Dentistry.
Welcome, Jared. Excited to be here.
Absolutely. Jared owns Whit Dental,
which is just right down the street from
us. uh a man and a practice that we've
been involved with for honestly since
the inception of Elite 5 years ago. Yep.
You've been around uh since the
beginning. Pretty exciting. It is. It's
been fun. Well, to not only work with
you guys, but to see you guys grow.
Yeah. And see that development. It's
been awesome. We both been through a
lot, I would say, over these last few
years. Yeah. It's crazy to think of
where we started and where we are now.
Um all good things. All good things.
Yeah. It's uh I think seeing you guys is
always so fun. Uh cuz for two reasons.
Number one, I immediately think about
where we were at the beginning of all
this. And number two, it's fun to, you
know, reflect on the whole journey of
where we're both at right now. It's like
seeing family. It's like seeing family.
That's exactly what it is. With, you
know, a fair amount of time in between,
which is like seeing family is kind of
good, too. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. Not
too much. Yeah. Not too much. Uh so tell
me uh I mean obviously you own White
Ridge right now. Tell me about
dentistry. Tell me about getting into
dental. Um kind of where the initial
interest was, where you went to dental
school, if your wife was on board with
that kind of thing. Yeah. Working with a
bunch of women. Yeah. Yeah. That's
always a hot topic. Um I had already
committed to a dental school by the time
uh we were married. So she didn't have
much decision. I don't think too many
people argue with having dentist as a
husband. So um but the initial initial
interest started um back in high school.
It was you know I always always was
drawn towards just the medical field in
general. Um wanting better understanding
you know just the human body and how
things work and you know why things
break down you know the opportunity to
help people figure things out illness or
otherwise. And so I was always drawn
towards that field in general. had no
idea what I specifically wanted to go
to, but that was an interest in going
into kind of science and that field. Um,
but then when you know you're an awkward
high schooler and then you get braces on
and uh that was the first time getting
them off was the first time I really
looked at the smile, you know, it's
like, "Oh, that's cool." The results.
Yeah. What they did, you know, and and
so then I started noticing other
people's smiles. I started looking at
teeth in a different light. And so that
was when I started to think about look
into the dental field and realize art
was always something I was into as well.
And so to think okay this is a
profession where you help um you know it
is in the healthc care field but then
also I get to use my hands to do things
as well. So the combination of those
things piqued my interest with
dentistry. And so then it was one of
those, you know, situations where in
high school I was like, you know what, I
think I want to be a dentist. Made the
decision made and and then just picked
something, some major that would get me
there and uh followed that path. And so
um yeah, kept going that way. Went to um
Roseman University of Health Sciences um
here in Utah in Salt Lake. Yeah. first
first dental school here and uh part of
the guinea pig class, the inaugural
class, the initial one with Rosa. Yep.
How was that? Um it was good. It's um
had a good experience there. It's like
anytime I think Son's a part of the
first class, you know, they're trying to
figure things out, too. So, some
interesting things, but we had a really
cool a unique class. You know, there was
a second career for a number of people.
So, we had like an older class that had
some life experience. um you know one of
one of my classmates had um had seven
kids and this was a second career for
him. Phenomenal guy um and then amongst
others who were CEO of maybe a company
and now wanting to go a completely
different direction. So that was fun
because there was some um a business
mindset amongst some colleagues and
things and it created really cool
camaraderie of um you know that just
relationship and and it's been fun to
see what other you know colleagues have
done. Yeah, that's something I wanted to
ask you. Uh, you know, you go to school
to become a dentist. You're the owner of
a practice. Now, when you're in dental
school, is that something that they talk
to you about or do they feel like does
it feel like they trick you into
dentistry and then at the end of it
they're like, "By the way, like you have
to own a business, too." Oh, and here's
half a million dollars of debt. Yeah.
Yeah. If you're lucky. Yeah. I don't
know if trick is the right word, right?
Not that it's by intention, but gosh, do
they prepare you for business? No, not
at all. Like, and and I'm sure every
school is a little bit different, but I
think we had a twoe class as if that's
sufficient to cover some MBA. Yeah,
exactly. And so, seems like enough. So,
for sure, I think they they feel like
their responsibility is is we're going
to teach you to be a good dentist and
doctor. Um, and then you figure it out.
What you do with it is up to you
afterwards. But that makes it so
difficult because they're not setting
you up in my opinion the right way. But
that's to get into a whole another topic
of academia and and what from a my own
personal opinion. Well, I just think
it's interesting. I mean, you and I are
both business owners at this point. Both
of us medically dental trained uh with
very little that was my experience as
well. Mhm. Um, you know, not that I had
intentions of being in this kind of
phase, but you know, owning a business
is difficult. And it just feels like it
would have been nice to have somebody
present that early on in training to
give a little bit more, I don't know,
real life experience, uh, or at least
plant the seed of like these are the
things that you should be thinking about
as you move through your education
because this is really what being a
dentist is. We're teaching you a skill,
but your life is really going to revolve
around building a business, managing a
business, managing people. That's a
totally different skill set that uh we
weren't trained to do at all. I
completely agree. And it's something
that, you know, because you can um you
can know how to diagnose and maybe treat
something, but you're absolutely right.
If you don't know how to communicate
with a team, lead a team, if you don't
know how what a P&L is, right? like just
some basic principles, but if you don't
know how to run this stuff, then then
it's not going to work. Yeah. And I
think you mean you made a point about
your debt. Um you and I both got into
debt to be able to do or acquire the
skill that we got. Obviously,
maximizing the potential of our degree
or the skill set that we obtained is
important. I think and that's not
exclusive to us. I think anyone that
graduates with any type of advanced, I
guess, degree in general, specifically
medical or dental at this, you know, for
this podcast,
uh, you want to make the most amount of
money that you can, you know, within a
certain type of practice or
lifestyle. And I just think it's an
overlooked piece. Like, it's important.
You need to pay that debt off. uh you
need to move forward and provide a a
certain type of lifestyle for your
family that everyone has expectations
for that they're sacrificing to get to
at the end of it. Yeah. I I don't know
how they uh I don't know how we make
that change, but it seems like something
some it would be nice if something did.
I agree completely. Yeah. I want to ask
you a quick question about your uh the
dental school training. Was there ever a
mention of anesthesia in that training
at all? Oh, that's a great question. Uh,
now you're really testing my memory.
That's over 10 years back. But to be to
be perfectly honest, I don't think so
really. Like I don't
um even as it related to oral sedation
like there was that I can remember there
wasn't an introduction. I mean maybe
some small thing in passing but clearly
no course nobody came in and said this
is a big part of practice that you
should think about. That's interesting.
I've I've thought about that and
wondered now that we interact with so
many dentists. Yeah, I have my
suspicions, but I and and not that you
could speak for every program, but I it
seems universal that anesthesia is
somewhat of an afterthought in your
practice. I think you're right. And I
think especially now this isn't always
the case but I think about a lot of the
um the faculty um in dental school and
thinking about their experience because
I had opportunity to talk with a lot of
them and the type of cases that we do
that um many times are so beneficial
with anesthesia.
I don't think a lot of them were doing
those kind of cases and so I don't know
how it's at the forefront at a lot of
what they did. Interesting. Very
practice specific. Right. Not to say, of
course, it doesn't have a place in even
dayto-day dentistry, though, for sure.
Yeah. Yeah. And I I want to get into
that because I think that's definitely
been one of the most interesting parts
of this whole deal for me personally.
Like when we first started doing I guess
surgery, anesthesia together 5 years
ago, it was obviously all surgery
focused. Um, you know, we did a lot in
force together um amongst some other
cases, but all surgical.
And what I've really learned over the
last 5 years
is I think the demand for anesthesia
from our patients is quite a bit higher
than we are uh I guess willing to see.
Um and I think that that's kind of
changing and I've seen that change in in
my time over the last 5 years. I mean I
see it in our practice for sure and I do
it's kind of a combination because to
your point I mean even dating back to
dental school the fact that that's not
taught at an early time first the
education just on anesthesia needs to be
understood and and accepted on the
doctor's part because then once you
understand and see that and see it in
practice then it makes it easy to
present that option to our patients
right on a more regular basis and create
that option and and then so of Of
course, it's readily accepted once we
understand and see that. So, I believe
it is becoming um more readily like
understood that that option is
available. Uh part of that though is the
doctor better understanding
understanding and how that plays into
their practice. Yeah. I I'll ask you
know we'll go in and do like a dental
anxiety specific case maybe even for a a
cleaning and I'll ask like how do you
make the decision? Is it the patient
that comes to you? Are they are they
shaking and sweating in their chair? And
so you like what's the trigger for you
to say, I think we should offer
anesthesia to this patient? That's a
good question. Um, for the most part,
they'll come out and tell you. They'll
say, "I hate the dentist." Yeah. Thank
you. That is me, right? And I hear that
almost every day. You're a bird. And
that's right. You just can't take it
personally, otherwise it becomes hard.
But not um but they they mention that
and and so one of my things though I
love it when they say that because cuz
sometimes they are fidgety or nervous or
but they'll usually tell me when they
say you know I hate needles or I hate
the dentist or whatever it may be and
then I always follow that up. I don't
just brush it off. will tell me what it
is about the experience that you don't
like specifically. Cuz for some people,
they're like everything, right? And uh
but for others, it's like it's just the
shot or it's the sound of the drill or
whatever it may be. It's specific to
that person. Then I do gauge. It's like
this might be something that's just some
nitrous is going to calm them down.
They're going to be fine. Um maybe this
is an oral sedation. Maybe they need to
be put out completely because some of
those patients who are terrified to get
anything done have that experience with
you guys and then they come back and go
that was the best dental experience of
my life. Yeah. Well, thank
you. No, I I think it's I just think
it's interesting. Uh we've developed
this vision at Elite. You have your
mission and vision statements. We've
developed this vision at Elite that is
every patient has the opportunity to be
put to sleep for any procedure or any
case. The philosophy behind that is that
we feel like patients should have the
the choice. Um you know obviously I
think that's an evolution being able to
do that. Obviously if you are going to
offer that to your patients you have to
have some confidence that you have
somebody to deliver on that. um whether
it be you doing oral sedation or having
somebody else come in. I just I think
it's I think it would be interesting to
see if you offered anesthesia to all
patients that walk through. Not that
you're trying to tell anybody that they
should or shouldn't. Um, I guess the
question is how many patients walk out
that would have done a case, uh, you
know, that didn't do a case that would
have done if they had some type of
option for their dental anxiety that,
um, maybe they didn't express. Uh, we
have this doctor that works for us. Um,
when we hired her,
she I had her here in the office and I I
just said, "Why did you take this job?
Why is this interesting to you?" and she
said, "Um, I I have severe dental
anxiety. Had some things, you know,
cases done as a kid and it just caused a
lot of trauma for me." And she's a a
young, very put together physician,
somebody who, you know, walks into your
office and you wouldn't like immediately
think like we're going to have to offer
something to this person. and she has
told uh you know when I asked her like
does she do does she get anesthesia with
her dentist um she told me that for
years 10 or 15 years she put off any
type of dental work um because didn't
feel like anesthesia was an actual
option for her and you know that was why
this job was interesting to her to be
able to provide an option for patients
like her that uh you know wouldn't even
get a cleaning done without being
actually totally put to sleep. It's kind
of interesting and it can restore their
faith in the field. Yeah. Through
anesthesia, right? And it is uh I think
you're right. I think there's a lot of
cases those dayto-day, you know, the
people that come in every 6 months,
that's a different story. But um when
new patients especially, that's
something I like to kind of bring up and
ask about, especially if there's any
bigger treatment. Like we'll focus on
the treatment, but we always finish with
okay, let's talk about sedation. Yeah.
So we do, to your point, offer that to
every single person because they'll let
us know, oh no, I'm totally fine or
Yeah, that sounds great. Yeah. And I
think that's exactly the point is uh we
talked to a lot of dentists who I
shouldn't say gatekeep, but kind of it's
like unless this patient's, you know,
visibly sweating in the chair, like it's
just not really not really interested in
it. And I think ultimately as a dentist
trying to do the best for your patients,
also as a business owner trying to do
the best for your patients,
um, offering a service to the to your
patients that they want is important.
Yep. So, in dental school, uh, we'll
just move to graduation unless there's
anything you want to get into at that
point. No, no, that's good. Did you you
mentioned that you got married in dental
school or before? Right when it started.
Right when it started. And then did you
guys have kids while you're in dental
school? Yeah, we had one one little
girl, my oldest. Um, we have four now.
And um, which that's what my my life
revolves around is is my kids. And
that's what for me, that's what life's
all about, spending time with them,
creating experiences, memories with
them. So, that's that's what I love
doing. It's awesome. We've always been
able to, I think, connect on the family
aspect of this, which is uh, at the end
of the day, the most important part.
Mhm. Um, so you had four Well, you have
four kids. You only had one in dental
school. Yep. Married, graduated, and
then where did you go from there? Um, so
I went out, I did a worked six days a
week, speaking of, uh, just wanted to
get as much experience as possible. So I
worked in private practice and in a DSO.
Okay. Uh, for some time. And then Did
you do that here in Salt Lake? Yeah.
Yeah. Okay. And, uh, and then and then
went exclusively to the DSO for a time.
um and then had the opportunity to to
buy my own practice. Um and then that's
where where I'm now and where I've been
for the last few years. And so which was
really good to see some private
practice, some DSO, which honestly did
give me some of that exposure into um
the business side a little bit because I
was able to pick, you know, the CFO's
brain and CEO and talk some about about
some of those things and how things were
set up and then and then of course
starting my own. What do you feel like
working with the DSO as you look at your
practice now? How many years have you
owned your practice? Um, so you're
coming up on eight eight years. Yeah.
Uh, what do you feel like you took away
specifically from working at the DSO?
Um, pros and cons because I think from,
you know, that dental support
organization, it had they have a lot of
good things set up, you know, especially
from a business mindset because that's
those are the things they're looking at.
They're looking at numbers and looking
at metrics like that to make sure things
are running well. But then of course I'm
the one in the office, you know, working
with the team and working with the
patients. And so that way you get kind
of that dichotomy between yeah, you need
to focus on numbers because if you
don't, you don't have a business, but at
the same time, this is very much a
peopleoriented business. And so that
relationship is super important. So
taking the best of both, right? because
there's things I think I mean any
organization is going to have pros and
cons with it and so there's some things
I really liked from it and there's some
things I didn't like. So to be able to
take that and then piece together what I
felt like was a good combination of my
own practice was valuable. Uh I think
yeah I think that's really interesting.
I in my own you know business and career
I've been able to interact with um
better business minds than mine and I
think you know through osmosis it's been
uh it's been helpful to me helpful to
our company. Yeah. I think overall just
appreciative of like getting to interact
with those type of people that you know
they put that first that the businesses
that that is their training. Um and I
think been a being able to understand a
little bit more from their mindset. So,
um, got into your own practice. You
worked with the DSO, got into private
practice, bought your own. Um, we know
your partner really well. Uh, Rick as
well. Tell me about choosing a partner.
That's that's a pretty big decision. It
is. And that was Gosh, I wish I could
say that I had, you know, an algorithm
that perfectly picked him out because I
think anybody would love to work um uh
with with Rick because he's an
incredible guy in in every way. He it
but ironically he was the first guy that
I like reached out to. So it was
essentially a connection made when I was
just looking you know um for doctors who
were interested in work in the area and
I connected with him. He was the first
doctor I interviewed really and
immediately you could tell he was fresh
out of school wasn't he? He was. Yeah.
And he was just looking for a job and
you guys got connected through a friend
or something. Yeah. It was uh like a
dental recruiter. Okay. and um who was a
a friend of his that made the connection
and and so it worked out for just a
couple days because at that time um I
was focusing more on surgery and so it
made sense he came in for some more
general dentistry and then uh and then
as we were expanding things were going
great. He was one of those that came out
of school and it felt like he had
already worked for a while. Yeah. Um I
think it was a neat experience for him
because within a year he had gone from I
mean school you're doing fillings and
crowns and then by the end of the year
he's doing bone grafts, implants, even
full mouth reconstruction which I think
was a really neat opportunity for him
and within a couple years I mean he
seemed like he had you know lots of time
under his belt. He came out well
prepared. Exactly. Well he came from one
of the better institutions out there
which happened to be where I went to
school as well. Oh, is that right? There
you go. But he he was he was well
prepared and he also is somebody that I
think that picks up on just procedures
so well and and so uh so it kind of made
it easy at that point. We had worked
together for a couple of years. The
practice had grown a lot with him being
there. Everybody loved working with him
and it was a really easy decision to
make that partnership available to him
and things have been going great ever
since then. Yeah, Rick's a great guy. I
mean, you guys are a an awesome tandem.
Tell me about your Tell me about your
practice briefly, like what do you guys
focus on? Um, what's the overall, I
guess, philosophy of of what you guys
are trying to accomplish as dentists in
your own private practice at White
Ridge? What our practice looks like? I
mean, ultimately, our goal is is what
we're striving to create is the ideal
like oral health opportunity that leads
to the best systemic health for our
to the best systemic health for our patients.
um to improve their quality of life to
live the best life they can live and and
that can look you know many different
ways to different patients but you know
the more we learn and the more we do we
just see how I mean the oral health is
so important as it relates to our
systemic health I just had a a patient
who's a neurologist who was just giving
us this article about the connection you
know between our periodonal health and
and the direct correlation to um the the
risk of dementia. Yeah. And and so to
see those kind of studies and of course
the ones we know related to the heart
and whatnot, it's just directly related
in more ways than we realize even airway
with sleep. And so so our goal is to
create the most ideal way to educate our
patients so they're aware of where they
currently are and and what would be the
best things to do to get them to the
most ideal position so they're living
the most healthy and best life that they
can. And then a lot of times we get
patients coming in for consultations who
aren't in a good place, you know, and
they need to start over completely. Um,
you know, whether that is a fixed arch
option or um or a combination of
implants and some crowns and restoring
things, but but we try to look at
everything as a whole um to put them in
the best place uh that we can. And and
so it's kind of unique where we've we've
been able to set it up. It's a fun
dynamic where um Rick and I are able to
alternate, right? Where we kind of have
more of a general dentistry hygiene day
where we can focus on some of that
day-to-day and that educational side.
And then we alternate where we have more
of a surgery or cosmetic day where we
can do consultations and we can do some
of these bigger cases. Those are the
days when you guys come in so that we
can spend 6 hours, you know, or whatever
it may be in the operatory without
having to step out for a hygiene exam.
And that's worked really well for us
where we're alternating days and it's a
good mix of kind of both of those
fields. Yeah, I think it's really
interesting the effects of dentistry, I
guess oral health on our overall
systemic health. I one thing that I've
come to understand I mean dental is kind
of a I shouldn't say it's a new field
for me now but um it was 5 years ago.
One thing that I've come to appreciate
uh through your practice and others is
the effect of our oral health and
appearance on our overall well-being as
a whole. not just systemic health, but I
think the way that people feel about
themselves and how that translates into
their, you know, everyday life. Do do
you feel like I feel like that's
something that um you guys do
exceptionally well. You guys treat the
patient as a whole. Um and I think being
able to deliver on both aspects of that,
I've just seen in your practice how that
plays out in real life and it um it's
probably the coolest part of this for
me. Obviously taking good good care of
patients on our on our behalf is good.
You know, making sure that patients are
safe and healthy and have good
anesthesia, that's all important. But
overall, facilitating
uh a good outcome for a patient is is
really cool and really impactful. Uh and
you guys just do that so well.
That really is probably the most
rewarding part of what we do because
you're right, when we say systemic
health, we tend to think of our physical
health. But you nailed it, our mental,
emotional, um, you know, that social
health, like that overall well-being,
that's such a critical part of our
overall health and the longevity, right?
That interaction and the relationships
that we have in our life. And so
speaking of that, like there's one I'm
just thinking of it because we were just
putting kind of some new pictures up of
some before and afters and there's this
one patient that um we just finished up
with and to that point he came in and
one of the things I feel like we take
the time to do is to to understand where
the patient's coming from and not to
look at them as okay here's a pano.
Where's the infection? What do we need
to do to treat it? Awesome. Get on your
way. It's yeah, that's a part of
treating the individual, but but what's
their story? Where are they coming from?
And where do they want to be? And and so
this gentleman, for example, talked
about how his family had mentioned that
something changed and he's not really
the person he used to be. And for him,
he felt that he was so embarrassed
because his teeth had he had lost some
teeth and they had ground down over
time. and you know and so he found
himself being reserved in social
settings and so his personality changed
because of that and and so when I mean
it's emotional experience for him to
share that with us but then that gives
me the motivation to say okay this is
what this is the outcome we're looking
for for you and I would love to be able
to get this back in your life now you
have to always be careful to promise
certain things but we want to be a part
of this transformation and and I can't
tell you how many times he's teared up
even since then throughout this process
and giving us the biggest hugs and
talking about how you gave me my life
back. Yeah. and how his his family has
commented on it. And even from that
consultation, his just outgoing,
gregarious self that it's like this has
always been him, but has been hid away
for years. And to for him to get that
back in what he feels like is, you know,
a prime time of his life um with older
kids and grandkids, it's it's
life-changing. And so to your point
initially of talking about just that
emotional and mental health and
well-being, oh, it's critical and it and
it's awesome to see that kind of
transformation. Yeah, it's been an
amazing um thing to be a part of.
Like I view our role in this as a
facilitator and get to kind of be in the
sidecar of what it feels like to be able
to transform somebody's life like that.
and it's really turned into kind of a
driving part of what we do. Um, just
envisioning the number of people that
are out there that wish that they could
get to that good place in their life,
uh, but can't for one reason or another.
And if dental anxiety is the reason, uh,
us being able to be here and facilitate,
maybe unlock that door for them to walk
in and for you to actually do the work,
uh, that means everything to me and us
as a company.
Um, I think it's a short life we live,
you know, and to be able to facilitate
that type of thing for somebody,
uh, especially in the way that you guys
do it, like this isn't a this isn't a a
smile factory. This is, um, actually,
you know, getting in and and
understanding a human being and doing
whatever it is that needs to be done to
make it to make them better. That's
absolutely right. No, I couldn't agree
more. And I love that you said that it's
not just a smile factory. Like we are we
are in the business of of changing
people's lives for the better. And it's
a it's a special opportunity. Yeah. And
your patients can tell. People can tell.
I think all of us have that in us. And
it's something that I've always
appreciated about you and Rick. Tell me,
I guess to wrap up, tell me about White
Ridge. You guys um what are the plans
over the next few years for for White
Ridge? Um, good question. I think, um,
Rick might get tired of it, but I'm like
always thinking of new stuff to do or to
change, but part of what I mean, we were
talking at the very beginning with
sedation and just be knowledgeable about
that. It's the same thing with there's
so many aspects of dentistry that that
appeal to me and it's almost frustrating
to realize we don't have enough time for
everything and trying to fine-tune. But
the part that's getting me excited right
now beyond what we're doing is um is the
airway I kind of mentioned before and
and of course the critical role that
sleep is in our lives that I think that
a lot of people don't realize. Yeah,
everyone knows it's important but how
important that really is and how much it
affects us and how many people um are
affected by that. So, one of the things
we're looking at is the the exciting
part of expansion by just moving teeth
around and expanding things to help open
up airways to put people in a a better
place. So, that's kind of a new way
we're going beyond what we're doing as
well because you start to see once you
learn about it, you start to see the
need for it more. So, um, aside from all
the bigger cases we're doing, there's a
lot of people in between that don't have
to start over on things, but at the same
time, their occlusion could be in a much
better place. And so, that's kind of
it's kind of a new route for us that
we're looking into at as well. Some some
small changes that they can make to make
pretty big improvement overall, I think,
impact on their life. That's awesome. I
didn't know that you guys were doing
that. Yeah. Uh, Jared, appreciate you
coming in. It's been a a pleasure to
talk to you. It's uh always a pleasure
to work with you guys. We wish nothing
but continued success with Widge for you
and Rick and and uh hope to keep working
together for a long time. Well, thank
you so much. We hope the same. Yeah. Uh
thanks guys. Thanks for joining us
again, Jared Hepworth. Um we uh look
forward to bringing more incredible
dentists on and and talking more about
themselves, their practices and and
elite anesthesia.