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The Special Lists

The Special Lists

By: Referral Lab
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The Special Lists, presented by Referral Lab, is the podcast for dentists and dental specialists. Running a dental practice isn’t easy, and if you’re in private practice, it can sometimes feel like you’re on an island. That’s why finding your people—those who’ve been in your shoes and can share real, lived experiences—changes the game.

Referral Lab is for dental specialists, helping you track, manage, and convert every referral. It’s about improving case acceptance, boosting team performance, and strengthening relationships with referring providers so your whole practice runs smarter. This spirit of connection drives The Special Lists podcast.

Hosted by the team behind Referral Lab, we bring you hard-earned wisdom from practice owners and dental professionals, each guest sharing their own "special list" from the wins, mistakes, and lessons that shape their practices today.

Got a question for us? Send us a message at speciallists.com (with two L's!)

Transform your referral workflow with Referral Lab, the purpose-built platform for dental specialists to track, manage and convert every referral. Request a demo at referrallab.io

Cameron Full
Co-Founder of Referral Lab

Cameron Full, co-founder of Referral Lab, is a strategic problem-solver with expertise in business management and digital solutions. He combines leadership, creativity, and technology to drive success across various industries.


Michael Seda, DMD, MS
Periodontist and Co-Developer of Referral Lab

A clinician and entrepreneur, Dr. Seda brings 19 years of private practice experience to his periodontal and implant surgery practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Seda’s interests are rooted in evaluating and influencing private practice management systems in dentistry. He wants to increase practice efficiency, establish a greater sense of collaboration and trust among practice team members, and enhance quality of care and service delivered—all while maximizing and growing profitability.

Through associateship opportunities early in his career, Dr. Seda was exposed to various private practice leadership and business models. He witnessed first-hand inconsistencies in the degree of success and failure owners experienced in private practices. This ignited his passion for learning what empowers practices to thrive and grow successfully while delivering a highly satisfying patient experience.

He is particularly interested in using cutting-edge analytics platforms to measure advanced practice metrics. He leverages these to design data-driven strategies to enhance referral patterns, scheduling systems, case acceptance rates, and other key performance indicators that lead to practice growth and patient satisfaction.

His education spans several disciplines, including a degree in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Doctorate degree from Harvard University (DMD), and a Master’s degree in Periodontics and Oral Medicine from Columbia University.


Jason Souyias, DDS
Periodontist and Co-Founder of Referral Lab

Dr. Jason Souyias is a periodontist, educator, and co-founder of Referral Lab software. He teaches dentists and hygienists, including as a Pikos Institute faculty member. In his Port Huron private practice, he's known for excellent patient communication and experience. He's passionate about his work and dedicated to helping other dentists.

The Special Lists is a production of The Axis
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Episodes
  • Special List #30: How to Stop Being a Bottleneck with Dr. Michael Edwards

    Special List #30: How to Stop Being a Bottleneck with Dr. Michael Edwards
    Oct 22 2026
    Michael Edwards used to feel like Doc Brown from Back to the Future: running between offices with his hair on end, talking fast, and leaving a trail of people who didn't understand what he meant. His team told him so, and he listened.Dr. Michael Edwards is a periodontist in Indianapolis and Fishers, Indiana, who also runs the business side of his wife's pediatric dental offices and a newer ortho office.He explains why delegation isn't abandoning a task, only a change of ownership, and why written SOPs mean nothing without the discipline to coach back to them every day. He shares the coaching method he uses after a botched exam handoff: picture the ideal, hear what really happened, then work on the gap.The hosts debate holding long-tenured staff and hygienists accountable, why high performers want accountability, and Souyias's booster-rocket theory of team members who get you through one stage but not the next. Dr. Edwards’ hiring filter is emotional intelligence and a growth mindset; he says he can teach the rest.GuestMichael Edwards, DDS, MSD is a periodontist and the founder of Implant Dentistry and Periodontics, with offices in Indianapolis and Fishers, Indiana. A Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology, he earned his DDS, MSD and certificate in periodontics at the Indiana University School of Dentistry. He is a former president of the Indiana Society of Periodontists, co-leads a Seattle Study Club, and is a member of the Academy of Osseointegration. Alongside his own practice, he manages the business side of a multi-specialty group that includes his wife Dr. Michelle Edwards's pediatric dental offices and an orthodontic office.Learn more about Dr. Edwards's practice: Implant Dentistry and Periodontics.Follow Implant Dentistry and Periodontics on Instagram @implantdentistryperioQuestions answered by this episode:How do I stop being the bottleneck in my dental practice?How should a dentist delegate without losing control of the practice?How do you hold dental team members accountable to SOPs?What does it mean to coach back to an SOP?How do you fix a bad handoff between the doctor and the treatment coordinator?How do you run a multi-specialty dental group when every specialty needs different systems?Should a dental practice promote from within or hire from outside?What should a dentist look for when hiring team members?How do you lead team members who don't think like you?Can AI replace staff in a dental practice?The Special Lists, presented by Referral Lab, is the podcast for dentists and dental specialists. Running a dental practice isn't easy, and if you're in private practice, it can sometimes feel like you're on an island. That's why finding your people—those who've been in your shoes and can share real, lived experience—changes the game.Referral Lab was built specifically for dental specialists, helping you track, manage, and convert every referral. It's about improving case acceptance, boosting team performance, and strengthening relationships with referring providers so your whole practice runs smarter.This spirit of connection fuels The Special Lists podcast. Hosted by the team behind Referral Lab, we bring you wisdom from practice owners and dental professionals, sharing the wins, mistakes, and lessons that shape how they run their businesses today.Got a question for us? Send us a message at speciallists.com (with two L's)Transform your referral workflow with Referral Lab, the purpose-built platform for dental specialists to track, manage and convert every referral. Request a demo at referrallab.ioCameron FullCo-Founder of Referral LabCameron Full, co-founder of Referral Lab, is a strategic problem-solver with expertise in business management and digital solutions. He combines leadership, creativity, and technology to drive success across various industries.Connect with Cameron on LinkedInJason Souyias, DDSPeriodontist and Co-Founder of Referral LabDr. Jason Souyias is a periodontist, educator, and co-founder of Referral Lab software. He teaches dentists and hygienists, including as a Pikos Institute faculty member. In his Port Huron private practice, he's known for excellent patient communication and experience. He's passionate about his work and dedicated to helping other dentists.More about Port Huron, Michigan periodontist Dr. Jason SouyiasMichael Seda, DMD, MSPeriodontist and Co-Developer of Referral LabA clinician and entrepreneur, Dr. Seda brings 19 years of private practice experience to his periodontal and implant surgery practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Seda's education spans several disciplines, including a degree in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Doctorate degree from Harvard University (DMD), and a Master's degree in Periodontics and Oral Medicine from Columbia University.More about Bay Area periodontist Dr. Michael SedaFollow Dr. Seda on Instagram @sedaperioCo-hosts: Cameron Full, Jason Souyias, DDS & Michael Seda, ...
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    54 mins
  • Special List #29: Three Career Paths, No Wrong Answer: Which Dentist Are You? with Dr. Tal Morr

    Special List #29: Three Career Paths, No Wrong Answer: Which Dentist Are You? with Dr. Tal Morr
    Oct 8 2026
    Tal Morr spent 15 years earning the reputation he wanted, and he still says the road cost him.Dr. Tal Morr is a prosthodontist in Aventura, Florida, and a speaker known for calling out anything he doesn't buy. Cameron Full, Dr. Jason Souyias and Dr. Michael Seda ask what the University of Washington prosthodontics program taught him and what it left out.Tal lays out three paths early in a career: refuse to compromise on excellence, work for the money, or land somewhere in the middle. He chose excellence, paid for it in slow profitability, and explains why he wouldn't change it, even after turning down a partnership with friends whose group now runs six dentists across three offices.The exit-strategy lesson comes straight from that choice. Tal made everything about himself, wants to retire by 65, and says he should have brought in an associate to mentor years ago.Tal also explains why he handles patient education himself and why he starts with analog impressions and old-school lab technicians before going digital.GuestTal Morr, DMD, MSD is a prosthodontist who runs TM Prosthodontics, a private practice in Aventura, Florida, focused on aesthetic, implant and complex restorative dentistry. He earned his degree in biology at the University of Florida, graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, and completed his prosthodontics training at the University of Washington.He lectures around the world, has authored book chapters and journal articles on aesthetics, porcelain veneers and implants, and has received the Saul Schluger Award from the Seattle Study Club.Learn more about Dr. Morr's practice: TM Prosthodontics.Questions answered by this episode:Should a young dentist choose excellence or a faster path to profit?How long does it take to build a high-end solo dental practice?Does refusing to compromise on quality slow down practice profitability?What do prosthodontics residencies teach and not teach about running a business?Why is a solo practice built around one dentist hard to sell?When should a dentist bring in an associate to plan an exit strategy?How do you know if a group practice fits your personality before you join?Is an analog impression more accurate than a digital scan?Are intraoral scanners and printers as accurate as conventional techniques?How can AI note-taking tools help dentists with records and referral emails?The Special Lists, presented by Referral Lab, is the podcast for dentists and dental specialists. Running a dental practice isn't easy, and if you're in private practice, it can sometimes feel like you're on an island. That's why finding your people—those who've been in your shoes and can share real, lived experience—changes the game.Referral Lab was built specifically for dental specialists, helping you track, manage, and convert every referral. It's about improving case acceptance, boosting team performance, and strengthening relationships with referring providers so your whole practice runs smarter.This spirit of connection fuels The Special Lists podcast. Hosted by the team behind Referral Lab, we bring you wisdom from practice owners and dental professionals, sharing the wins, mistakes, and lessons that shape how they run their businesses today.Got a question for us? Send us a message at speciallists.com (with two L's)Transform your referral workflow with Referral Lab, the purpose-built platform for dental specialists to track, manage and convert every referral. Request a demo at referrallab.ioCameron FullCo-Founder of Referral LabCameron Full, co-founder of Referral Lab, is a strategic problem-solver with expertise in business management and digital solutions. He combines leadership, creativity, and technology to drive success across various industries.Connect with Cameron on LinkedInJason Souyias, DDSPeriodontist and Co-Founder of Referral LabDr. Jason Souyias is a periodontist, educator, and co-founder of Referral Lab software. He teaches dentists and hygienists, including as a Pikos Institute faculty member. In his Port Huron private practice, he's known for excellent patient communication and experience. He's passionate about his work and dedicated to helping other dentists.More about Port Huron, Michigan periodontist Dr. Jason SouyiasMichael Seda, DMD, MSPeriodontist and Co-Developer of Referral LabA clinician and entrepreneur, Dr. Seda brings 19 years of private practice experience to his periodontal and implant surgery practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Seda's education spans several disciplines, including a degree in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Doctorate degree from Harvard University (DMD), and a Master's degree in Periodontics and Oral Medicine from Columbia University.More about Bay Area periodontist Dr. Michael SedaFollow Dr. Seda on Instagram @sedaperioCo-hosts: Cameron Full, Jason Souyias, DDS & Michael Seda, DDSProducer: Eva Sheie @ The AxisAssistant Producer: Mary Ellen ...
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    49 mins
  • Special List #28: Why You Need to Make Yourself Irrelevant Before You Exit with Dr. Bob Margeas

    Special List #28: Why You Need to Make Yourself Irrelevant Before You Exit with Dr. Bob Margeas
    Sep 24 2026
    After Dr. Bob Margeas turned down multiple offers from dental service organizations, he built a five-practice holding company that pays him full value for Iowa Dental Group without forcing him to keep working to earn it.Dr. Margeas has run Iowa Dental Group in Des Moines for nearly four decades, and he's spent the last several years handing it off — first by cutting back his own days, then by selling a piece of the practice to the two associates he trained from their first year out of dental school.He walks through the structure: a holding company called Videnta that buys pieces of practices from dentists who don't want a straight DSO buyout, services the debt out of practice profit, and is contractually obligated to buy back whatever's left when the owner is ready to fully step away.He shares the back-of-envelope math he uses to value a practice: pay everyone in the office 35% of collections, see what profit is left over to service debt, and that's what the practice is worth.He credits the mentor who sold him his own practice for less than it appraised for, built him a custom office with an elevator he wouldn't need for 20 years, and kept a cancer diagnosis quiet rather than ruin a course he'd promised to teach.Plus: getting fired from his first two associate jobs, a Sony Trinitron television that outlasted a decade of retirement contributions, and why he still believes it's time in the market, not timing it, that builds real wealth.GuestDr. Bob Margeas has run a private restorative and implant practice in Des Moines, Iowa, since earning his DDS from the University of Iowa College of Dentistry in 1986. He is Editor in Chief of Inside Dentistry, serves on the Editorial Board of Compendium, and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Operative Dentistry at his alma mater.He holds board certification from the American Board of Operative Dentistry and diplomate status with the American Board of Aesthetic Dentistry, and Incisal Edge Magazine named him one of the "32 Most Influential People in Dentistry" in 2024.In recent years he restructured his ownership of Iowa Dental Group, merging it with several other Iowa practices under a shared holding company while bringing two associates he mentored from dental school into ownership.Learn more about Dr. Margeas and Iowa Dental Group: iowadentalgroup.com.Connect with Bob on LinkedIn.Questions answered by this episode:How do I value my dental practice before selling it?What is a holding company alternative to a straight DSO sale?How do I transition my dental practice to an associate without selling to a DSO?When should I start planning my dental practice exit?Should I take a DSO offer or sell part of my practice to an associate?What does it mean to "make yourself irrelevant" in your own practice?How do I choose the right associate to buy into my practice?Should I set up a cash balance plan as a dentist?How do I find a mentor in dentistry?What's the difference between timing the market and time in the market for retirement savings?The Special Lists, presented by Referral Lab, is the podcast for dentists and dental specialists. Running a dental practice isn't easy, and if you're in private practice, it can sometimes feel like you're on an island. That's why finding your people—those who've been in your shoes and can share real, lived experience—changes the game.Referral Lab was built specifically for dental specialists, helping you track, manage, and convert every referral. It's about improving case acceptance, boosting team performance, and strengthening relationships with referring providers so your whole practice runs smarter.This spirit of connection fuels The Special Lists podcast. Hosted by the team behind Referral Lab, we bring you wisdom from practice owners and dental professionals, sharing the wins, mistakes, and lessons that shape how they run their businesses today.Got a question for us? Send us a message at speciallists.com (with two L's)Transform your referral workflow with Referral Lab, the purpose-built platform for dental specialists to track, manage and convert every referral. Request a demo at referrallab.ioHostsCameron Full — Co-Founder of Referral LabCameron Full, co-founder of Referral Lab, is a strategic problem-solver with expertise in business management and digital solutions. He combines leadership, creativity, and technology to drive success across various industries. Connect with Cameron on LinkedIn.Jason Souyias, DDS — Periodontist and Co-Founder of Referral LabDr. Jason Souyias is a periodontist, educator, and co-founder of Referral Lab software. He teaches dentists and hygienists, including as a Pikos Institute faculty member. In his Port Huron private practice, he's known for excellent patient communication and experience. He's passionate about his work and dedicated to helping other dentists.More about Port Huron, Michigan periodontist Dr. Jason Souyias.Michael Seda, DMD, MS — Periodontist and Co-Developer of ...
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    53 mins
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