Welcome to iADS' first Member Spotlight! Meet @John Kwan, DDS! Please leave any comments or questions you may have here for him. If you interested in having your own Member Spotlight, contact admin@theiads.org.
Member Spotlight:
John Y. Kwan, DDS; Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology; Board Member, American Academy of Periodontology Foundation
Area of Specialty: Periodontics; USC BS 1976, USC DDS 1981, LSU Perio 1989
Dental Practice Information: Recently retired, but previously:
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- InVision Perio, 6333 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94549
- invision-perio.com
- New owner Evan R. Santiago, DDS, MSD, Inc., previously our associate for over 3 years; USC, UCSF, LSU; Diplomate ABP
Academic Position:
Clinical Professor, UCSF School of Dentistry, Division of Periodontology
Career Highlights:
- Undergrad at USC 72-76, Varsity Track, Pole Vault, PR 17’, PAC 8 (now PAC 12) outdoor champions 1976, Bachelor of Science, Biology. As a PRE-MED student my biochemistry teacher recommended I apply to medical AND dental. While I had no interest in dentistry I applied. When I got into USC Dental School and got no acceptances to med school I decided to go dental. My MOST successful failure! Having no interest in any specialty I joined the Air Force and in my General Practice Residency I started gravitating to perio. Perio and prosthodontics were my most challenging areas of dentistry. My assignment in Germany cemented my interest in perio and my residency at LSU in the late 80’s was the beginning of my love for implant and regenerative periodontology.
- After 10 years of military service I joined Paul Rhodes in Oakland. Paul had a well-established practice, excellent business systems and pretty much all of the most current technologies, like computers front and back in the late 80’s and digital radiography in the early 90’s. When I purchased the practice I kept the culture of tech with the microscope, Perioscope and digital workflow. Just prior to my retirement we transitioned to cloud based practice management software.
- Teaching became an important part of my life. Teaching at the UCSF perio clinic, teaching ultrasonic techniques for non-surgical debridement, teaching Perioscopy around the world and through micro-surgery videos, teaching surgical and endoscopic techniques online. YouTube Channel: Perieau has over 150 surgical videos and Perioscopy teaching content. During a lot of that time I was coaching high school pole vault (using a lot of video to teach).
- One of the most difficult challenges was the purchase of the DentalView company, makers of the first periodontal endoscope system. With the help of a local dental equipment and materials company, Danville Materials, I was able to keep the technology afloat and develop the current Perioscope that is sold now by Zest Dental Solutions. I say difficult because my wife, Deborah and I sustained the business outsourcing everything while really not knowing what we were doing other than it had to be done. AND at the same time owing a growing private practice.
- When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. I liked to build things. Turns out bioengineering was for me.
Career Advice:
Read Dental Economics cover to cover every issue. A lot of it won’t make sense at first but as you keep reading you become familiar with what about the business the business cares about. Create distinguishing features to your practice. For example: IV sedation, Perioscopy, micro-surgery… Belong to a study club of your specialty peers and/or dental peers. Maintain a balance between family, work and play. Have an outdoor hobby/passion.
What is your favorite way to unplug from work?
Well I have unplugged, but whether at home or away I always strive to do something outside. Even if is a walk. I am a snowboarder and fly fisherman. Now that I’m not using a microscope to do surgery I am using 3.25 mag drugstore cheaters to tie flies. I get to watch videos to learn from the fly tying masters. And now, I’m just getting into split boarding. The split snowboard disconnects down the middle to make 2 fat skis and with skins put on the bottoms you can “skin” up the hill, take the skins off, put telescoping poles in the backpack, put the board back together, reset the bindings and get a nice fresh track powder run!
If you could ask other colleagues in the room one question, what would it be? What is your resistance to using the Perioscope? Endoscopes are everywhere in medicine but there is only one endoscope in dentistry that is used to treat a disease that is epidemic: periodontal disease. There are two, no three ways to visualize diseased roots, open debridement, endoscopic debridement or extraction. We have the tools to be less invasive just like our medical colleagues.