https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xht1ztyldHc

Dr. Klein Discusses the Importance of Airway Treatment in Your Dental Practice

Below, we’ve compiled the key points discussed in the Jameson Files Episode 149. To enjoy the full episode you can watch on YouTube or listen to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or Spotify.

Carrie:

Hi everyone. Welcome to the Jameson Files. I'm your host, Carrie Weber. Thank you so much for being a part of our Jameson Files community, and for watching or listening wherever you connect to us, right here on our pod podcast. We are recording live once again at the ADA annual meeting, Smile Con 2022 in Houston, Texas. And I am over-the-moon thrilled to have a special guest with us for this episode, Jameson client and friend, Dr. Cassie Klein. Dr. Klein, thank you so much for joining us today.

Dr. Kassi Klein:

Of course. It's my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

Carrie:

I'm excited to talk to you. Dr. Klein is from the Houston area, Spring, Texas, not too far from where we're sitting right now. You are native to the great state of Texas, went to undergrad at Texas Tech, and then got your DDS from the University of Texas School of Dentistry in Houston. Correct? 

Dr. Kassi Klein:

That's right. 

Dr. Klein’s Early Days in Dentistry

Carrie:

Since graduating, you have an amazing practice where you are starting to really expand your services and clarify a vision for the treatment you want to provide and the practice that you have. And that's been a journey for you, so I want to talk about that journey a little bit and share that story, but then also talk specifically about your passion for airway treatment for your patient family. So we'll definitely want to get into that later, but to start, Dr. Kline, I'd love for you to share a little bit about what led you to dentistry and to where you are today.

Dr. Kassi Klein:

It's so funny. People always ask me that and I never feel like I have the perfect answer for that.  Maybe dentistry found me; maybe I found it. Somewhere along the line, I realized I loved looking at people's teeth; I love people's smiles. That's kind of my focal point when I talk to somebody, and literally one day I was sitting there and decided that I should be a dentist. And so I did. That's what I decided to set my focus on. Maybe it was fate because I absolutely love what I do.

Carrie:

Love that. We've known you for a while. You work with our dear teammate, Drew Halverson, and have worked with her over the years. But I know that you started as an associate, and then you started into building your own practice. So tell me a little bit about that. Think back to that time. When did that vision for your own practice start to take root? How did that transpire for you?

Dr. Kassi Klein:

So right out of school, I went into a clinic practice. I saw lots of patients every day, all age groups, all kinds of dental issues, and became very good at working on teeth through that experience. I wanted something a little more slower paced where I could connect with my patients a little bit better, so I sought out a private practice that I could work at. I started a couple days a week. Then I felt like I really liked that atmosphere better and then found a more permanent position in a private practice. 

I think I was with two different private practices and then kind of the same thing–maybe it found me, maybe it was fate–but I decided I need to do this. I need to do this my way. I mean, not that anybody else's way was bad, but as a practice owner and building something for yourself, you get to practice how you want to do things, and you develop your own relationship with the patients. And I wanted to open up something close to my home, close to my community, and really have my patients as my family. So that's what we did.

Carrie:

Yes. When we work with doctors in strategic planning and creating vision,