In this episode, Dr. Melissa Farrow, of Farrow & Dewbre Orthodontics in Oklahoma, takes us through her journey of adopting Dental Monitoring’s remote monitoring solution. As with other promising new technology that has shown up on the market, Dr. Farrow approached this innovation with skepticism, asking herself questions like: Can I maintain the same quality of treatment with fewer physical appointments? How will that affect my relationship with patients? How much can I rely on the quality of the pictures? What's the ROI?
If you're asking yourself the same questions, tune into this episode for some answers.
Defining Success
Dr. Melissa Farrow’s Journey to Becoming a Thriving Orthodontist
Not every seventh grader begs their parents to take them to the orthodontist, but Melissa Farrow was one of those kids. “I was obsessed with teeth from an early age,” admits Dr. Farrow, a practicing orthodontist with 15 years of experience. Even though she showed an early interest in dentition, her path to owning and running four successful Oklahoma-based orthodontic practices was not straight and narrow. She was a registered dietitian first, with five years of work experience under her belt, before she started a Master’s in exercise science. She changed course, channeling her earlier dreams, went back to school to become an orthodontist, and in her own words, “it was the best decision.”
Dr. Farrow’s approach to orthodontics is progressive; she believes in early, proactive treatment. By treating younger children, she can prevent more complex procedures down the line. Part of that progressive approach requires innovation, and Dr. Farrow welcomes technology that can help provide better care for her patients. Along with her partner Dr. Jermey Dewbre and their team, which includes about 25 people among their four locations, Dr. Farrow embraces tools like CBCT scanning and Dental Monitoring.
Dental Monitoring (DM), integrated into Farrow and Dewbre’s practices since November 2019, has most notably made a difference in terms of communication with patients, and their subsequent compliance. Communication and trust make all the difference when it comes to patient care, according to Farrow, and a tool like DM, that allows for remote monitoring and frequent touchpoints, makes it easier for her to stay on top of patient treatment, and to keep her patients in the loop. “Now I have patients reaching out via DM, referring to particular teeth and using orthodontic terminology,” Dr. Farrow explains, which is a positive sign that the patient is engaged with their treatment. With weekly scans, it’s also much easier to spot and deal with any compliance issues.
Of course, Dr. Farrow’s goal is to help provide her patients with an ideal bite or a smile that makes them feel confident, but she also wants to give them a pleasant, positive experience, a trajectory that engages them. She wants her patients to remember her, not out of pride, but because she wants to have made a difference in their lives. To that end, Dr. Farrow is on the constant lookout for tools and innovations that can help provide these kinds of positive patient experiences.
After fifteen years of practice, what does success look like for Dr. Farrow? Not necessarily the four thriving clinics she runs with Dr. Dewbre, and not even removing patients’ appliances and revealing their new smiles, although that does make her smile. A real mark of success for Dr. Farrow is when her patients, or their parents, reply to her treatment recommendations by saying, “whatever you say, we trust you.” Having achieved that level of trust, that’s success.