My Yellowstone 1988

Maybe, these days, I just have way too much time on my hands.

So, all I was doing was looking up two of my fave George Carlin standup lines from his “People I can do without” routine. And if you’re a dentist and one of your American Academy of Clear Aligners (AACA) Board member side hustle’s is sharing a quote M-F with colleagues all around North America, Carlin can come in handy. There’s no way to leave out: 1. “A dentist with blood in his hair” or 2. “People with tiny teeth and big gums.” To be clear, dentists AND patients need a sense of humor. Carlin first performed the monologue in 1988

And I’m also a total sucker for Yellowstone, Yellowstone 1888, and Yellowstone 1923 (and I’ll never accept a ride to the train station in Montana.) Please bear with me. If you bond or splint 1923 with 1888 you get 1988, the same year as Carlin’s standup nod to the dentally compromised. Just so you know, the hairs on my arms are standin’ straight up; I’ll explain why.

It turns out, 1988 came straight outta nowhere to be a major deal for me, maybe even a turning point. And in my mind, Carlin, dentists with blood in their hair, the Yellowstone Duttons, and I will forever be linked.

In 1988, I was just about ready for a career change. Really? My parents had sacrificed big-time for my education. My brother and promoter-since-I-was-born had died during the dental school application process. My dad and mentor had died before my eyes 3-months into my new business. In ’88, I had owned my dental practice for 12-years. My attitude could’ve used massive doses of vitamins, some of ‘em even experimental.

From early on, like when I was only three years old, two vivid memories remain. The first is a broken right arm courtesy of an adventurous tricycle thrill ride and a sharp right turn. The second memory comes from my mom who delivered the news Dad had been laid-off and, “Jack, you’re going to need to be a good boy.” Later, during the self-improvement Landmark Forum program (I knew I didn’t need), I learned 3-year-old experiences can become strong suits (behaviors we use to cope). And maybe my dreaded “nice guy” tag was more about me doing a whole lot of coping without much action.

There was no way I could leave dentistry, but I was disillusioned. I was more of an extracting, drilling and filling repairman than the noble career vision I’d developed way back in 10th grade Mark Keppel High School. I’d envisioned working with a team, creating art, and being a player in the community. And I wasn’t feeling it or doing anything about it; it’s like I didn’t know how or was afraid to ask and felt resigned, just like the Clippers, the Angels and, probably now, any dentist not providing Invisalign.

My brother had once suggested counseling (I think slightly in jest) to deal with my being such an introverted, quiet kid; he was super-outgoing and willing to try just about anything. Hey! I broke my arm ridin’ a freaking tricycle; it’s amazing how careful that kind of stuff can make you. Shucks, I can’t believe I’ve zip-lined unassisted without the help of a frosty beverage. But when fear hides vulnerability and looking good dominates taking a chance, it doesn’t leave much space for growth.

What I always loved about dentistry was engaging all kinds of people and occasionally surprising them with a historically well-concealed sense of humor. It seemed like I was good at helping people feel welcome, relaxed, and listened to. If only brother Jay could’ve seen me in action.

And back to 1988! I learned some stuff that helped me to change my attitude. Without reading about what I would learn from books or experiencing the training that was almost 10-years into the future, I started to get it that my attitude was my choice. And there was no power to be found when I was being negative, persistently complaining, or even worse, playing the victim; it also wasn’t fun. And leaders who whine aren’t really leaders.

In 1988, the Dow Jones weighed in at 2198, the average cost of a new house was $91,600, and gas pumped for 91 cents/ gallon. And I started taking some chances…and met my first mentor not of Von Bulow DNA.

It was like a little drive down Highway-10 to Downtown LA and the Westin Bonaventure for a couple of days and time spent with an innovative clinical leader opened my eyes to the world outside of my four walls. And you could tell Dr. Ray Bertolotti DDS, PhD from San Leandro, CA was having a blast teaching; it was like he was sharing a secret that he knew would make an amazing difference (and there were microbrews at the mid-afternoon break too.) I wanted to learn, and I wanted the joy. Dr. Bertolotti was a pioneer in adhesion dentistry. Pioneers take chances. After eight years of following Ray, he influenced me to get on an airplane for the first time since I was 12 years old for a 3-day visit to beautiful Canmore, Alberta Canada. In 1996, team of two and I discovered Dental Boot Kamp and spent the weekend engaged in learning and growing in the Canadian Rockies.

We learned verbal systems from Texans traveling up from the Hill Country and first saw the pathway to developing a culture where co-workers and patients were served like family. And we walked away with a “10” on our forehead. Why be average? Why not copy the genius of independent thinkers like Bertolotti and then Walter Hailey.

Hailey had been a last chosen underdog from his childhood in little Mesquite, Texas. But Walter later read Think and Grow Rich and absorbed the power of the mastermind; he bought an insurance company after having started out at the bottom of its sales totem pole, and later had three companies go public. Walter started up a CEO Boot Camp and through the grace of God, a dentist attended. The rest of the story for we lucky ones, is history.

After our Boot Kamp experience, we traveled all over the country and trained with the best. We’ll be attending the Hailey-inspired Crown Council event at the end of the month; we attended our first Event in 1998. The Crown Council is all about being leading edge clinically and doing good in the community, we’ve never stopped being true believers in a rich culture being everything.

A few other things happened in 1988. I became Mom’s caregiver, and during our journey, had the chance to take in what was missing. It seemed like just when someone needed a little encouragement or support, the personal touch often wasn’t there. The people delivering care were doing their best, but the systems could cause the care to become impersonal. To this day, our purpose is “Making a world-class difference for others and making dentistry fun.” Pronouns remain illegal. Our top written down core value is Family.

And I guess the point of all this is sometimes the act of looking back can reveal the time when you took a chance and didn’t realize the breakthrough was only the first, because we chose our attitude and bravery…with no blood in our hair.