AI in Dentistry: AI Receptionists & Running a Practice After a Stroke | Dr. Greg Wu

Is an AI receptionist ready for your practice? Dr. Greg Wu installed Mango's AI receptionist three weeks before this show. A third of his patients loved it, a third didn't care, and a third hated it. He shares what he changed, how AI helps private practices compete, and how a stroke at 45 moved him from the chair to mentoring the young dentists who now run his offices. In this episode: - Three weeks with an AI receptionist, and adding a way for patients to skip it - "It's not dentist versus AI. It's dentist plus AI and staff." - Call notes that write themselves into your practice software - Why moving to the cloud made him feel safer from hackers - Opening a scratch startup five months before COVID - His hemorrhagic stroke, and coaching his doctors from the hospital - How to step back from clinical work: disability insurance, margins and a mentor role - Will all these AI and tech subscriptions ever consolidate? 📰 Plus dental news: a dentist and a beautician fight over a bigamist's estate, a $6 million seed round for a dental AI assistant, a dentist runs for Congress in Ohio, a dentist couple jailed for shoplifting in Singapore, and new research on suicide among health care workers. Dr. Greg Wu earned his DMD from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in 2005 and completed an AEGD at UCLA. He owns Emerson Dental, a multispecialty practice in Westford and Bedford, Massachusetts, is clinical director of On-Site Dental Care, which brings mobile dentistry to assisted living communities across New England, and has lectured since 2008. 🙌 Special shout out to Mango Voice, our educational partner, for making this episode possible! Learn more about Mango: https://fanflet.com/dinks/mangodinks Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:35 Rain, rain and more rain 3:06 Patients who forget their appliances 5:20 The patient who searched the dental aisle for pain relief 7:37 Redoing a crown to make it right 10:30 Chad's first Inspire patient 12:32 News 13:10 News: a dentist, a beautician and a bigamist's estate 14:25 News: a $6M seed round for a dental AI assistant 16:19 News: a dentist runs for Congress in Ohio 17:48 News: a dentist couple jailed in Singapore 18:42 News: suicide and burnout among health care workers 23:44 Thanks to Mango, our sponsor 24:01 Introducing Dr. Greg Wu 25:55 Losing power right before the show 28:38 Why he moved his practice to the cloud 29:04 From Tufts to buying his first practice 32:04 Learning the business side of dentistry 32:44 Opening a scratch startup months before COVID 34:29 His stroke at 45 36:55 Coaching his doctors from the hospital 39:07 His biggest fear after the stroke 41:19 How to step back into a mentor role 42:56 Disability insurance and thin margins 44:18 How AI gives private practices a leg up 44:56 Three weeks with an AI receptionist 47:06 Dentist plus AI, not dentist versus AI 47:49 AI for consistent call notes 49:00 Will all these subscriptions ever consolidate? 50:14 Greg loses power (again) 52:29 What Align buying exocad tells us 55:03 Why vendors may start bundling services 57:55 Should subscriptions be regulated? 59:49 Social media and young dentists 1:01:32 Closing 🎧 Listen to the podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dentists-in-the-know/id1543254763 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Elfj6LX0hCUyp0AgdTsij 📺 Make sure you subscribe to catch new episodes live every Wednesday at 8pm ET! https://www.youtube.com/@dentistsintheknow 🌐 Check out our brand new website: https://dentistsintheknow.com 🌟 Stay up to date on all the latest dental trends when you follow the DINKs: https://fanflet.com/dinks/social-2