The Powerful Journey From Dentistry to Surgical Innovation
In this episode of the Medical Sales Podcast, Samuel Adeyinka sits down with Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, to unpack what medical sales professionals need to understand about selling to surgeons in high stakes surgical environments. Dr. Connelly shares his journey from dental school to becoming an MD, surgeon, and PhD, then gives an inside look at the operating room, the role reps play during complex procedures like TMJ replacement, and what separates a valuable rep from a pushy one. He also breaks down how innovation has changed his specialty, from custom plating systems to virtual surgical planning and AI’s growing role in oral surgery. This episode is a must listen for reps who want to better understand surgeon psychology, build stronger clinical relationships, and see how technology is reshaping the future of maxillofacial surgery.
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Transcription:
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Hello, and welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. I’m your host, Samuel, the founder of a revolutionary medical sales training and mentorship program called the Medical Sales Career Builder. And I’m also host of the Medical Sales Podcast.
On this podcast, I interview top medical sales reps and leading medical sales executives across the entire world. It doesn’t matter what medical sales industry, from medical device to pharmaceutical to genetic testing and diagnostic lab. You name it. You will learn how to either break into the industry, be a top 10 percent performer within your role, or climb the corporate ladder.
Welcome to the Medical Sales Podcast. And remember, I am a medical sales expert sharing my own opinion about this amazing industry and how it can change your life.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
So everybody listening right now, they are either in medical sales or they want to be in medical sales, or they’re somehow part of medical. Sometimes physicians too.
But I don’t think people think about the rigor that you go through.
So when a medical sales professional approaches you to talk about their product or service or device, they’re taking similar consideration.
When you went to dental school and then you became an MD, was that an automatic transition for you. Did someone plant that seed. Was that always the goal. How did that happen.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
It’s part of the training program.
The oral surgery program is a six year program.
The first year you’re an intern.
Years two and three, you go to the third and fourth year of medical school.
Then you do a year of general surgery, and then two more years of oral surgery.
So yeah, you go through a lot of training and a lot of different experiences. It’s a whole journey.
And most of the medical sales reps I deal with are plating reps. A lot of them really understand the programs because they’re involved with training institutions.
Particularly reps around universities, they see people at every level. First year, second year, and attending.
If you’re a sales rep, it makes sense to spend time near a training institution so you get a real flavor for what those people you’re selling to go through.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I can only imagine.
Going back, was being an oral surgeon something you wanted from undergrad, or was that a discovery.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
It was a discovery.
I left high school early. I was sick of high school, and being from northern New York, I was sick of being cold.
So I did early decision to the University of Miami.
I had an idea I wanted to be a doctor, or at least be in the medical field. My mom was a nurse, so that was in my head.
Science was interesting to me. And I respected what doctors did. But oral surgery specifically came later.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Then what prompted the PhD. Was that part of the program, or a conscious decision.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
After college, I spent about four years working in a lab at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
That gave me a strong research foundation.
You start understanding how to look at a problem from basic science all the way to a clinical application.
I wanted research to be part of my journey.
I kept doing research through dental school. I spent time at NIH doing research too. It was always there.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Talk to the audience about what it looks like with your reps.
When are they selling to you. And once they’ve sold to you, how do you work with them.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
A lot of the reps we have very long term relationships with.
Some reps I met when I started residency about 20 years ago, and some of those same reps are still around.
We know who they are. We know their family. They know our family. It becomes a tight relationship.
As time goes on, they move up and bring associate reps.
How we work depends on how involved we need them to be.
Some long time reps, we know their product better than they do, so they don’t need to be in the OR with us.
But with things we don’t use as often, they’re in the OR, standing in the corner, ready to answer a question. Johnny on the spot.
They’re a second set of eyes. They help make sure instruments are sterile and everything is set.
We have residents for that, but it’s always good to have someone backing you up, especially when you don’t have residents.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
For everyone listening, clarify what you do as a surgeon, and paint the picture of what the room looks like during a typical surgery.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
As an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, I do full scope oral maxillofacial surgery.
In private practice, it’s wisdom teeth and implants.
There’s a big role for reps there too, especially dental implant reps.
In the hospital environment, it’s bigger cases. Orthognathic surgery where we move faces around, and temporomandibular joint reconstruction.
Most of the time we have the plating company rep in the room for the system we’re using.
A typical case starts with the circulating nurse, scrub nurse or scrub tech, and the anesthesiologist.
The patient goes to sleep, gets intubated, we prep and wrap the head because we’re working at the head and around the airway, and then we go to work.
At a minimum, you have circulating nurse, scrub nurse, anesthesiologist, and often a CRNA.
Then the surgeon, and if it’s a teaching environment, one, two, or three residents as well.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Is there usually a rep and an associate rep, or one or the other.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
Usually it’s either the rep or the associate rep.
Both don’t usually come because they’re covering a wide area.
If the associate rep has been introduced and we know them, that’s great.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
You specialize in TMJ surgery.
What’s the most common surgery and how long does it take.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
A one side TMJ replacement is about three to five hours.
If we do both sides, it can be eight or nine hours.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
What do you expect from the rep during an eight or nine hour case.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
The biggest help is during the critical moments when we’re putting their system in.
Sometimes we use cutting guides. The rep helps point the circulator to the right packages, the right screws, the right screwdriver.
Sometimes the scrub tech isn’t familiar with the system, and they need that guidance.
Instead of us taking attention away from the patient, it’s great to have a rep teach the scrub tech the set.
Most of the time, it’s limited involvement. They’re often just in the corner on their phone until we need them.
But they’re always paying attention. If we need something, imaging, hardware, advice, they’re ready to help.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Do they check in every hour, or are they just there waiting to be called on.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
Sometimes they come in and out.
We’re not going to notice if they step out for coffee. The critical time is when we’re putting their stuff in.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Think about the first time you meet a rep.
Give us two or three things you love seeing when a rep is trying to earn your business and build a relationship.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
I like a lower key approach.
I don’t like to be sold, and I don’t like pushy.
If someone tries to push something on me, it can make me resistant, especially if I’ve been using something for years.
Some surgeons make judgments fast and hold onto them.
So I like a subtle approach. Feel the surgeon out. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Give us an example.
What does subtle look like, and what does pushy look like.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
A good approach is educational.
Our company developed X, Y, Z. Here’s a brochure or a website. If you think it could benefit you, I’d be happy to come back and share more, or buy you lunch.
If you have a current solution, great. If you don’t, here’s an option.
And on the back end, set things up with our assistants instead of putting it all on the surgeon directly, because we have other things to do.
That’s usually the most effective.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Think about your best rep.
What are the top three things they do that you wish every rep did consistently.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
They always know what’s going on.
If they don’t, they make it their mission to find out. Whether it’s the case, the order, whatever, they don’t stop until the question is answered.
They’re friendly.
We’re not going to dinner together, but after you’ve been in the OR with someone a hundred times, you become familiar. They feel like a work colleague.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
Earlier you said you deal with certain reps in the hospital, and other reps outside in private practice.
What two types of reps are you referring to.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
Dental implant reps are mostly private practice.
Over the last five years, I’ve noticed their presence has decreased dramatically. I’m not sure why, but it has.
In the hospital setting, you see plating and screw reps because we do surgeries that require plates and screws.
We also have reps for TMJ replacement, biologic materials, and sometimes instrument reps for saws and cutting tools.
If it’s a new instrument, the rep might show up two or three times until we’re comfortable, then we’ll say you don’t need to come anymore.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
You’ve been doing this a long time.
Take us back to 2007 and fast forward to today.
What’s the most impressive innovation you’ve seen in your space.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
Virtual surgical planning.
When I was an intern doing orthognathic surgery, we used stone models.
We literally cut the models and glued them back together to get the jaws where we wanted them. Then we’d physically make a splint on that model.
Now we take a CT scan and do a Zoom call with a technician.
They have a 3D reconstruction. They do the virtual cuts, move the bones exactly where we want, and we can make custom plates.
Before, we bent plates during surgery. Nothing was custom.
Now we plan exactly where the bones go and exactly where the plates go.
That’s revolutionary.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
When did that really start becoming common.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
Maybe six or seven years ago. Time flies.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
What did that do for accuracy.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
To me, it’s like a 100 percent increase.
Before, there was no real way to know exactly where the jaw would end up. You’d push and hope it landed right and didn’t relapse.
Now we can design it and know where it will end up. That changes patient outcomes.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
What about speed. Are surgeries faster now because of this, or is it mainly accuracy.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
Some surgeries are faster.
There’s still a learning phase and companies keep iterating on plates and systems, so ease of use keeps improving, and speed improves with that.
On the dental implant side, it definitely improves speed and accuracy.
We take an in office CT, send it to a lab, do treatment planning with a technician, they virtually place implants, then they make a guide.
That guide tells you exactly where to drill, so it speeds things up and improves accuracy.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
What type of technician is on the other side doing this.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
Someone who knows how to run the software and planning platform.
Usually it’s through the company selling the hardware.
And most of the time, the rep is on that call too to make sure nothing gets lost and the plan stays aligned.
That’s a newer role for reps, facilitating the virtual planning process.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
How has AI impacted any of this.
Dr. S. Thaddeus Connelly (Guest):
It’s coming.
There’s still a desire to have a human in the loop.
But AI will manipulate imaging, place implants, design custom plates. It will be able to do all of it.
Eventually, you may not need the technician as much. The surgeon might just review and sign off, similar to how we do now with a live technician.
Some people are forcing AI into places where it isn’t necessary because it’s the latest thing.
But there are areas where it will provide real value and patient benefit.
Samuel Adeyinka (Host):
I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. And remember, I have a customized and personalized program that gets you into the medical technology industry as a sales professional, or any type of role for that matter.
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Stay tuned for more awesome content with amazing interviews on the Medical Sales Podcast.