POS instructor Dr. Sarmad Channo is a general dentist from Michigan. In this interview, Dr. Channo shares why he decided to get into orthodontics, and the steps he took to accomplish that goal.
GABY CASTILLO: Hi, I'm Gaby and this is Dr. Sarmad Channo. We're going to get to know him a little bit today. So Dr. Channo, what made you decide to study orthodontics?
DR. SARMAD CHANNO: It's actually a funny story. I used to work in a practice that had an orthodontist, very nice guy. I used to see him always come into the office with a really nice-looking shirt and tie and I am in my scrubs. I would see him sitting down and reading a newspaper and drinking coffee while I would be working really hard. At the end of the day I'm really tired and he's still sitting down and reading his newspaper, so I was like I want to be like him one day. So that's how I kind of got into learning a little bit more about ortho.
GABY: What made you pick Progressive Ortho over another program?
DR. CHANNO: A friend of mine recommended this program for me. He was telling me that this is a very comprehensive program and he learned a lot. That's how I looked into it and then I got into this program.
GABY: Is there a lot of demand in your area for ortho?
DR. CHANNO: There's always demand for ortho. The way we look at it is those patients are coming into our practice every day so we have to be trained to look for those cases. Parents come into the office and they always ask us “hey is my son or daughter ready for braces yet?” So there's always demand for ortho, but we just need to see where those patients are.
GABY: Do you get to rest now or is it still busy?
DR. CHANNO: Well actually I still do general practice, but now I have someone take care of my ortho patients while I'm doing something else. But I have some ortho days in my practice and those are my best days because I really have to sit down and kind of put my feet up on my desk and someone else is working for me so that's the good thing about that.
GABY: What kind of challenges did you have starting orthodontics, or incorporating orthodontics into your practice?
DR. CHANNO: I don't want to call those challenges. Just like how in the past I used to incorporate other things in my office like implants or other things, it was like a transition. So it took a little while for my staff and for myself, but once I passed that everything was straightforward and easy. I wouldn't really call that challenges, more of a transition, but that was not very, very hard at all.
GABY: How long did it take for you to get into the rhythm of things?
DR. CHANNO: Honestly, not very long. There's a really good program in Progressive that teaches the staff how to put the system together. If you really follow that you shouldn't have any problems and that's how I really started.
GABY: So you had your assistants take the dental assistant class?
DR. CHANNO: Yes, she did.
GABY: So do you remember your first case?
DR. CHANNO: Yes, I remember my first case because she's my dental hygienist. The good thing about that was that I see her all the time in my office and I see the improvement, the progression, all the work that I did, and actually turned out pretty well. She's still very, very happy about that.
GABY: So what would you tell an interested doctor who's thinking about incorporating ortho into their office? What would your advice be to them?
DR. CHANNO: I would advise them to look into this program first because it teaches the basics of ortho, as well as the comprehensive side of ortho plus the other ways to help us incorporate ortho in our practice. So it's like a complete package. It helps doctors to build confidence doing good treatment planning and then helps to create a system in our offices. Also, as I said earlier, there's a program for assistants or staff to learn how to do all that and implement it in the practice and that helps us on a daily basis.
GABY: In 60 seconds or less, what are the keys to orthodontic success?
DR. CHANNO: I would say have a good education. Also have a good staff that is willing to help the doctor to make that happen and then to have good patients. The program helps us to select the patients and know exactly what patients to look for. So all those together actually help to have a really successful ortho program in our offices.
GABY: Thank you, Dr. Sarmad.
