🎙️Host: Jen Brown, COO of Babylon Dental Care
🎙️Guest: Dr. Robert Rydstrom
Jen Brown: Welcome to Be the Category of One. I’m Jen Brown. Each week, we explore growth, mindset, and leadership because standing apart starts from the inside out. Dr. Rydstrom, welcome! It’s so good to have you here today.
Dr. Rydstrom: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Jen Brown: I was remembering back to when you applied for the position at Babylon Dental Care. You interviewed with my husband, Dr. Cliff Brown, and Jacqueline Cooper, our Clinical Director. They called me afterward and Cliff said, “Jen, this was the best interview ever.” He’s done a lot of interviews, and we all get “interview fatigue,” but they were blown away by how naturally your enthusiasm and value system matched ours. Cliff felt like he was seeing himself 40 years ago.
Dr. Rydstrom: I’m ecstatic to be here. You guys made the decision easy for me. To give you some background: after residency, I worked in Manhattan for two years. I commuted from Long Island, working Monday through Thursday in the city and then doing cosmetic work and full-mouth rehabs in East Islip on Fridays and Saturdays.
When my wife and I got married and bought a house in Melville, I looked for opportunities on Long Island. When I interviewed with you, the ethics and values aligned immediately. Treating patients like family is number one for me because I have a massive family—three sisters, six nieces and nephews, and about 40 cousins!
Jen Brown: Where did you grow up?
Dr. Rydstrom: I grew up in Islip, then went to the University of Delaware, Temple Dental School, and did my residency at NYU. I loved living in the city as a young guy; it felt like college again with all your friends just a few blocks away. But I love Long Island now. I brought that same city energy to building our house, and now I’m getting into pickleball. We’re happy to be near both our families.
Jen Brown: My own fear of the dentist actually came from a family friend who was our local dentist. He ran an office out of his house. I don’t remember having a hygienist, but I remember having ten cavities at a time and a lot of drilling.
One time, I got an abscess while on spring break in Puerto Rico. I came home and he pulled my wisdom tooth on a Sunday night. It was so infected that Novocaine barely worked. There were cigarettes on the counter—it was a totally different world back then! That experience gave me a massive fear of dentistry. Ironically, when I met Cliff and found out he was a dentist, I thought the universe was playing a joke on me.
Dr. Rydstrom: And now he’s your husband!
Jen Brown: Exactly! When our daughter was five, Cliff asked me to help in the office. He told me, “You understand the consumer and people who are anxious about dentistry.” I started learning dental marketing, and it became a passion. For us, marketing isn’t just mailers; it’s about creating an experience. I helped build the practice with warm colors and a welcoming environment so people with dental phobia can decompress. We have the “comfort menu” and music selection to help patients feel at ease.
Jen Brown: You’re a bright guy—why did you choose dentistry?
Dr. Rydstrom: My grandfather was a dentist who retired at 90 years old. Going to him was my favorite thing because he made it fun. He’d clean my teeth and then tell me to grab a soda and peanut M&Ms on the way out! Looking back, that was probably great marketing to ensure I’d eventually have a cavity to fix. He made the office feel safe.
My mom always whispered in my ear to be a dentist, while my dad was in construction. The joke in our family is that I do “construction of the mouth.”
Jen Brown: Was your grandfather alive to see you go to dental school?
Dr. Rydstrom: He passed away in 1999, but he was there when I got my dental admission test results. He had dementia toward the end, but having him there for that full-circle moment was amazing. He taught me to treat people like family. He had nine kids and counted heads every night at dinner. He always said, “When a patient is in the chair, that’s your mom, your dad, or your favorite uncle.”
Jen Brown: Cliff always adds, “The favorite uncle you actually like!”
Dr. Rydstrom: [Laughs] I love that. My grandfather was so old-school. He didn’t have digital X-rays; we had to dip them in fluid in a dark room and hang them up to see the teeth. That whole experience stuck with me.
Jen Brown: How has the transition to BDC been?
Dr. Rydstrom: I love it. You’ve built something amazing that made it easy to transition in.
Jen Brown: I appreciate that. I’m always thinking about the “next thing” and I often forget to celebrate the wins. Because I work mostly remotely to stay productive, I don’t always hear the granular success stories.
Dr. Rydstrom: You have a lot of wins. Coming from smaller offices to a larger one with multiple hygienists and doctors was a shift for me, but the “Ambassador Program” helped tremendously. I had guidance and weekly meetings to make sure my experience was good.
I did have to get used to wearing a headset while doing dentistry, though!
Jen Brown: The headset can be polarizing, but it’s vital for seamless care in an office this size.
Dr. Rydstrom: The biggest advantage is the direct communication. In other offices, a hygienist would have to walk into your operatory and signal they were done. Now, I can stay present with the patient in my chair while hearing that another room is ready. I can give my current patient a two-minute break, do a hygiene check, and come back without them feeling like I abandoned them.
Jen Brown: It makes the production smooth. With 15 operatories in West Babylon, there is a lot of “choreography” happening in the background to make sure every visit is timely and focused.
Jen Brown: I’ve focused my messaging this year on three pillars: Relational, Clinical, and Transactional. I don’t think every dentist is a fit for us because some don’t want to engage in the non-clinical side.
Dr. Rydstrom: I love the order of those pillars, starting with “Relational.”
Jen Brown: If someone sits in your chair, they are choosing you. You have to connect with them. Then there is the “Transactional” piece—financial transparency. Dentistry is a huge financial commitment and a contract. We deliver the service, and the patient stays compliant and pays for the care. Years ago, no one wanted to talk about money, but we are in a consumer business.
Dr. Rydstrom: You never know what a patient is going through. They might need a crown, but they might also be worried about feeding their family or dealing with a health crisis. We can’t just be salesmen. We have to be transparent about fees while understanding the person.
I like to sit down and say, “Let’s not talk about teeth yet. Tell me about yourself.” Once we establish that, we look at the tooth. If they can’t drop $12,000 at once, we stage the treatment. Maybe we do a buildup today to stabilize the tooth and do the crown when they are ready.
Jen Brown: Cliff actually had a malpractice claim once because he was too relational. He had a patient who couldn’t afford treatment, so he kept “putting out fires” rather than doing the root-cause work the tooth needed. The tooth eventually failed, and she filed a claim. He learned that being relational means you must also be firm about the clinical necessity. You can’t let a patient’s finances guide your clinical standards without informing them of the risks.
Dr. Rydstrom: Exactly. I give patients the “gold standard” option, then the risks, benefits, and alternatives. If they choose a less ideal alternative, they need to know the risks beforehand.
Jen Brown: Are you using wellness scans?
Dr. Rydstrom: All the time. I love pulling the scan up on the screen. X-rays show what’s inside the tooth, but the wellness scan shows the patient their exact bite and tooth structure in 3D. It removes the “subjectivity” of dentistry. I can show them exactly why I’m recommending a treatment.
Jen Brown: I’m actually having bondings done on my front teeth soon. Dr. Sue showed me my image and spun it around. Years ago, Cliff did a physical “wax-up,” but the digital version is so much more realistic.
Dr. Rydstrom: The technology is incredible. We can take a photo of your face and overlay the new smile. It’s the future of dentistry. Procedurally, I’m leaning more into cosmetics now. I was a chief resident at NYU and almost went into endodontics (root canals), but I love the life-changing emotional connection of a cosmetic before-and-after.
Jen Brown: We have to talk about your “side hustle.” Before you even started, several of our team members were giggling because they followed you on social media—you were like a celebrity joining the office!
Dr. Rydstrom: [Laughs] It’s been a journey. In college, I worked construction sweeping floors in Manhattan. To have some fun, I joined an app called Musically (which became TikTok). I made a funny video of me and my dad playing guitar in our boxers and it blew up! I had 250,000 followers in three months.
My dad, who is a serious construction guy who built skyscrapers, came home and said, “Rob, you have to delete that. My office knows me!” He was worried it would look unprofessional for a future doctor. I stopped for a while to focus on dental school.
But I’ve always loved music. I played saxophone, guitar, and piano, and I taught myself to DJ on a small board in my bathroom during dental school. I’d go to bars in Philadelphia and ask the owners to let me DJ. One place, the Blind Barber, gave me a shot on a Wednesday night. I invited the whole dental school and it was a hit.
Jen Brown: Was it a paid gig?
Dr. Rydstrom: It was! It became my side hustle. When I moved back to New York for residency, I got connected to the hospitality industry and started opening for major artists like Sam Feldt and Disco Lines.
Jen Brown: How do you balance being a “DJ Dentist”?
Dr. Rydstrom: At first, I was worried about the reputation. Dentistry is very “white coat” and serious; DJing is associated with late nights and partying. But I don’t drink or party—I just love the creative outlet of the music.
Now, I’m using my Wednesdays off to go into Manhattan and interview people in parks. I ask them why they hate the dentist and what music they’d want to hear in the chair to decrease their anxiety. I’m building a massive “DJ Dentist” playlist on Spotify based on thousands of interviews with real people.
Dr. Rydstrom: My next goal is to implement Augmented Reality (AR) into the patient experience. Imagine wearing goggles that transport you to a safari or a beach while I’m working. You wouldn’t even feel like you were at the dentist.
Jen Brown: We’ve done something similar with screens and “inspiration quotes” in the operatories, but true AR would be a “Category of One” move.
Dr. Rydstrom: If I can win back a patient’s trust and calm their anxiety through technology so they don’t need general anesthesia, that’s a win.
Jen Brown: I love that. In a world full of “red apples,” we want to be the “green apple” that stands out. Our team has really embraced that movement. They even have green apple shout-outs in our emails now.
Dr. Rydstrom: One last thing that inspired my love for music: my dad was actually in a famous band called Ichabod Crane. They opened for Billy Joel and played for 17,000 people! Eventually, they all went into construction, but they still play together today. They changed the name to Came Out Cane because they’re older now and have canes!
Jen Brown: We have to get the whole office to go see them!
Dr. Ry, I truly believe things happen for a reason. I feel like my leadership journey manifested someone like you to join our practice. You are a perfect match, and I’m excited to watch you grow and help other doctors bridge that gap between the clinical and the relational.
Dr. Rydstrom: I feel the same way. Every day is about progress. I want to make patients dance on and off the dance floor—and out of the dental chair—with a smile on their face.
Jen Brown: I love it. Thanks for coming, Dr. Ry!
