Jack T. Krauser, DMD, was a scholar-athlete in college. He attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, followed by Boston University for advanced training in periodontics. He is a Fellow in the prestigious Academy of Osseointegration and has lectured on six continents. He also is the coauthor of the textbook Dental Implants: The Art and Science. A member of the National Association of Dental Laboratories, he loves to merge the newest surgical concepts with the newest prosthetic materials. He currently runs an exclusive implant practice focusing on full-arch case types in Palm Beach County, Florida.
My personal mantra is that success is “creating smiles and getting hugs.” My goal after each case is to get a photo of my patient smiling and hugging me and with some office staff members also pictured. I know that financial success comes from that and not necessarily in reverse. We have enjoyed pro bono cases as well as treating the mega-rich and professional athletes and celebrities in our practice. We love them all.
My earliest “hugs and smiles” story happened about 15 to 20 years ago. A patient was constantly being asked to consider job advancement at the bank branch where she worked. She reported that she was always nervous in job interviews, resulting in a clicking of her denture. She came to our practice, and we created a fixed upper implant reconstruction.
Today, she is the local manager of four branches. She smiles every day, and—by the way—she has sent us several referrals, including a couple of dentists who are her banking customers. The formula is not complicated. Stay on top of the innovations, master them, and deliver them to patients at a fair price. You will get smiles and hugs.
I have pioneered several methods and have had them trademarked. These include the “True Final Restoration,” “Three Final Restoration,” and “All on More” concepts, where the final material is placed and design choices are done in an accelerated method.
I salute my teammates, lab partners, and implant company colleagues for these successes. I was inspired the very first day of dental school by the late and great clinician and educator Dr. Mort Amsterdam. He gave us a book he coauthored, Periodontal Prosthesis: Twenty-Five Years in Retrospect. I found it mind-boggling what our profession can offer patients. I’m humbled, happy, and proud that I now have many cases that are that age or even older.
The timing was perfect for me. When I moved to Florida to start my practice, modern osseointegration was in its infancy, allowing me time to gobble up as much information on the topic as possible. I’m proud to have been a student of many implant leaders, including Branemark, Hahn, Babbush, Niznick, Balshi, Carl and Craig Misch, Smiler, Clepper, English, Malo, Kirsch, Kramer, Nevins, Ganz, Pikos, Moy, Tarnow, and many others. I appreciate that their material has helped me become the best clinician that I can be.
Today, I offer options from removable to fixed solutions, with several choices of prosthetic materials. It’s a perfect blend of accelerated treatment, new material technology, surgical advances, and practice management knowledge and implementation.
As Dr. Amsterdam taught us, “There is only one correct diagnosis, but there may be several treatment plans.”
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