Clarity Creates Movement: Aligning Beliefs With Bold Execution with Dr. Marshall Wade Hanson

0:01Boom!

0:02John Lee Dumas:Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, brought to you by HighLevel, the all-in-one sales and marketing platform. Today we'll be breaking down how clarity creates movement, aligning beliefs with bold execution. To drop these value bombs, I brought to Dr. Marshall Wade Hanson and the EO Fire Studios. Dr. Marshall is the developer and international educator of the Marshall Hanson Method for Non-Invasive Smile Enhancement, a revolutionary technique that is changing the standards for cosmetic dentistry. And today we talk about the two big problems in dentistry. We talk about belief, method, movement, a mission to go non-invasive and oh, so much more.

0:35John Lee Dumas:And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Dr. Marshall and our sponsors. If you are building a real business, you need real infrastructure. High Level gives you website hosting, funnels, email marketing, automation, calendar booking, payments, and course hosting all on one platform, plus award-winning 24-7 support. Get a 30-day free trial and my full bonus stack that includes a 15-minute private call with me and much more at highlevelfire.com, highlevelfire.com. Fire Nation, 50 days will fly right on by. The only question is, will you have something to show for it? I created a free YouTube series called 50 Days to Something, a step-by-step path to build a real product, service, or offer in just 50 focused days.

1:19John Lee Dumas:Start today for free at eofire.com slash YouTube. Dr. Marshall, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Hey, what's up, Fire Nation? So glad to be here. Yeah, the one thing that I've learned by my experience in entrepreneurship that has surprised me is the starting point. I once believed that I just needed to find a product or a service that people wanted in order to begin a successful business. But as hard as I tried and worked at that, that never happened to me until I got clarity on what I believed in. Once I had clarity, it gave me momentum to solve problems that I never would have solved otherwise.

2:12and then that developed a service and a product that is now changing my industry. My experience taught me that getting clarity with what we believe and then aligning that belief with what we do is the starting point and the first real work that we do on the successful path of entrepreneurship.

2:32John Lee Dumas:And Fire Nation, that's why we're talking about how clarity creates movements. We are aligning beliefs with bold execution, literally. And Dr. Marston, I want to start off by talking about two big problems in your profession in dentistry, because you said that the two major issues in dentistry is that number one, you know, the traditional model and the over-treatment of elective cosmetic procedures seems to be, you know, just there on a day-to-day basis. And I will say I've experienced that. So what exactly is broken and why should entrepreneurs in any industry pay attention to this? Well, the first problem in traditional dental business models is that dentistry today is largely structured around speed and volume.

3:18Seeing more patients, performing more procedures, working faster. But the reality is, John, that quality work takes time, especially in cosmetic dentistry. And when the system rewards speed, there's an inevitable tipping point where efficiency begins to erode quality. The second problem is that in cosmetic dentistry, the most profitable procedures are most often the most invasive. Crowns and porcelain veneers, implants frequently require grinding down healthy tooth structure or removing teeth. And because those procedures are reimbursed at such a higher rate than conservative treatments, dentists can be unintentionally incentivized to recommend more aggressive options.

4:07So the system unintentionally rewards doing things faster and doing things more invasively. And entrepreneurs in any industry should pay attention to this because business models shape behavior. If your incentives reward speed or volume, people are going to naturally chase speed and volume. But if your incentives reward quality, craftsmanship, and long-term value, the entire culture of the profession changes.

4:38John Lee Dumas:So Fire Nation, I want to just kind of go over what Dr. Marshall said, especially at the end there, which I loved when he said, business models shape behavior. I mean, think about that for yourself in your industry and what you're doing. And that's why, yes, maybe we're talking about dentistry today, but how can you take the lessons learned by Dr. Marshall, apply them to your business, to your life? And that's why I want to talk next about belief, about method, about movement, because your story, Dr. Marshall, it centers on getting radically clear about what you believe in and aligning that with what you actually do.

5:12John Lee Dumas:I mean, you know, what a crazy thought, right? So how did that clarity allow you to create not just a method, but a mission and ultimately a movement? Yeah. So years ago, John, I was in a business seminar and the presenter asked a question that completely stopped me. He said, what is it about the dentistry that you do every day that truly aligns with who you are and what you believe in? And at first I didn't even understand the question. I just thought, well, my job was simply to just do dentistry as efficiently as possible. But that question stuck with me. And over the next several weeks, I kept thinking about it.

5:52And eventually I realized that there were two things in dentistry that I believed deeply about. One of those was enhancing people's smiles and what that could do for someone's confidence and in their life. And two, preserving tooth structure, especially when the treatment was elective. And so then once I became clear on those two beliefs, I realized that there was only one procedure that aligned with both of them. Smile enhancement with direct composite. And at that point, I made a decision to go to leave behind all of my regular general dentistry that I was doing and go extremely deep with this one belief, this one procedure.

6:34And because it aligned with what I believed in, I had the energy and the motivation to keep solving problems. And sometimes I tuck my kids in at bed at night and then go back to the office from like 9 p.m. to midnight to continue to experiment or research and refine the technique. And over about 15 years, this pursuit of alignment turned into this systematic method. And once that method began helping patients and other doctors, it naturally evolved into a mission. And I'm seeing it now evolving into a movement, like a global movement. that's not just doing dentistry differently, but we're reimagining what cosmetic dentistry could or maybe even should be.

7:23So for entrepreneurs, the lesson is simple here. When your work aligns with your beliefs, you develop a level of energy and persistence that allows you to solve problems that others never will.

7:38John Lee Dumas:I mean, Fire Nation, I hope this is getting you excited for something in your business where you can become so aligned with that you put your kids to bed and then from nine to midnight. I mean, when I do that, by the way, I have a two-year-old, I'm sleeping by 9.15. My kid's in bed at nine, I'm in bed at 9.15. But listen, I'll get to where you are, Dr. Marshall. That's my goal. I am trying to get to better earlier nowadays, but back then, that was my - That's the dream though. That's so special that you're excited about, that you know you're making a difference, you're making a change, just aligned with your belief, your beliefs and you just know it's what's right for your clients, for your customers, for humans in general.

8:16John Lee Dumas:And that's why I want to talk about the mission to go non-invasive because your mission, let's be honest, it's bold. To prove that enhancing smiles non-invasively, it's not just possible, it's actually better. I mean, you know, that's a great combination. So what resistance did you face when challenging conventional cosmetic dentistry norms? Yeah, no, I still get resistance. One of the biggest misconceptions in dentistry is that composite is only a temporary material, that it stains, it chips, breaks down after a few years. And most dentists have had that experience because the composites that they use are filling composites and they're designed specifically for cavities.

9:00And those materials work well for fillings, but they do perform poorly when used as veneers. What most dentists don't realize is that there is an entirely different category called veneering composites with a different chemistry designed specifically for aesthetic veneers. And these materials have existed for decades, but are largely unknown or misunderstood. So the first resistance I encountered was simply education, helping dentists understand that these materials behave very differently from traditional filling composites. The second resistance was more psychological. Dentists, most of them, have spent many years building practices and business models around procedures like crowns and porcelain veneers.

9:49And if someone suggests that a less invasive approach may actually be better, it can force people to question the decisions that they've made for years. And that's uncomfortable. So naturally, there's a resistance. Interestingly, the dentists most open to these ideas are young dentists who are not yet locked into a particular business model and are eager to learn a better way.

10:17John Lee Dumas:You know what this reminds me of when you're talking about like what this actually unfolded once you brought it to the light of day is not too long ago, by the way, you know, it was very common for doctors to not wash their hands before delivering a baby. They would literally come from like a surgery or, you know, fill in the blank with like, this is going to be gross, but it's just the sad truth of what was happening for so long that I think brings us to light. and they would just go right ahead and deliver the baby. And then, you know, these mothers were dying at a very abnormal high rate as a result, getting infections, et cetera, et cetera.

10:51John Lee Dumas:And then one doctor came along and said, hey, we can actually do this so much better by just washing our hands. Literally, just wash your hands before you deliver a baby. Like how hard is that? And it was so reviled. Yeah, there was a lot of resistance to that. I mean, the resistance was unbelievable. I mean, I've read studies and studies on this. because I went to law school and we really dove into this stuff. I mean, it was unbelievable how this person was really trying to put into a psych ward, this doctor. They said, you're a crazy human being. You must be locked up for telling us to wash our hands.

11:26John Lee Dumas:Something that to us is so criminally obvious now. So it's like, to me, Dr. Marshall, when you're getting this kind of resistance, that's a good thing. That means you're really doing something meaningful and special. It's like that whole quote that I - Change is uncomfortable. Change is really uncomfortable. And that quote that I love was just like, first they ignore you, then they fight you. Well, first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win. Because that's literally how, and when you say the younger generation is doing a better job adopting this, it's sad, but it's true.

12:04John Lee Dumas:But it's like sometimes they say change happens one death at a time. A lot of times too, it's like the old crusty, let's just be honest, the old crusty white men at the top of the totem pole, you know, they're just there and they're just stuck in their ways. And then they're just like, well, if I adopt to washing my hands, that means that 30 years of me not doing this, seeing young mothers die, I actually have to accept that that was my fault. That's the thing. Isn't that the thing? That's powerful, right? That's the thing. That's the psychological challenge of, have I been doing the wrong thing for all these years?

12:38And can, can I come to, uh, can I come to a resolve psychologically with that?

12:44John Lee Dumas:I mean, the guilt, you know, I, you kind of understand it, but it's still, it's like, man, you've got to do what's better for humans. So anyways, we're going to talk about the method, the movement, the business model. When we get back, fire nation from thinking our sponsors. If you've ever tried to secure a traditional bank loan for your business, then you know, the process is slow, complicated, and it rarely moves at the speed you need. In between increasingly strict lending requirements and a growing number of obstacles, you're often stuck waiting right when you need capital now. That's why I want to tell you about Revenued.

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14:28John Lee Dumas:When you sign up at highlevelfire.com, you also get my exclusive bonus stack, a 30-day free trial, a private 15-minute call with me, JLD, access to my weekly live office hours, a digital copy of my book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, my 50 Days to Something Execution Roadmap, and more. Visit highlevelfire.com and start building your something today. Dr. Marshall, we're back and let's talk about the method because you've developed a systematic protocol that can be applied to nearly any case while remaining beautiful, natural looking, and of course, non-invasive. So what makes this method fundamentally different from traditional cosmetic approaches?

15:11The biggest difference is that this method is non-invasive. Traditional cosmetic dentistry often requires grinding down healthy teeth to place porcelain veneers or crowns My approach enhances smiles without removing healthy tooth structure The second major difference is aesthetic quality In my view, restorations done with this method produce the most beautiful, natural-looking restorations available in dentistry today Sometimes even I have difficulty not thinking that they're real teeth when they're finished. The third difference is efficiency and predictability. The entire treatment can typically be completed in less than 48 hours, and instead of replacing restorations every decade or so, they can simply be just maintained over time.

16:04So this method is non-invasive, extremely natural looking, completed within a relatively short window of time and maintainable rather than replaceable. And what it does, John, is it allows us to enhance smiles while preserving biology. And this is something that dentistry has struggled to achieve historically.

16:27John Lee Dumas:So this is when we get to like the movement, because now that it's proven and you have other individuals adopting this. And you just at your core, obviously know that it's the best move in a lot of scenarios. Now it's through education. It's through courses, like documentaries, textbooks, podcasts, publications, hundreds of doctors worldwide. They're learning this philosophy. So how is this educational push actively reshaping how cosmetic dentistry is delivered? It's really exciting to see how things are changing and how dentists are actually learning this philosophy and going back and restructuring their business models to adopt this.

17:09It's really cool. And it is happening globally. I have doctors in Australia and Europe and Canada, the UK that are learning this. They're excited about it. But because this work started as a personal mission, I spent years studying the chemistry, the material science and the techniques behind it. And eventually I realized that if this method could help patients and dentists, that it needed to be shared and taught. So that led to the writing of a textbook, which was coming out probably in the next few months, developing courses, documentaries, as you mentioned, creating educational programs where dentists can train directly in this method.

17:55And what's interesting is that this movement isn't being driven only by dentists, but by patients. As patients learn that they can have a beautiful smile without grinding down their teeth, they think, well, why would I choose anything else? And they begin asking their dentists about it. And at that point, the dentist faces a choice. And he's like, okay, well, I either have to learn this method or I'm going to have to refer my patient to someone. And as more dentists learn this philosophy, like I said, they're restructuring their practices around the approach and education is creating awareness of what's possible.

18:36Now the awareness is creating a demand and then the demand is changing how our industry is operating.

18:44John Lee Dumas:Man, have you developed any kind of like an app or a website that's like a, a finder of dentists that perform this? So I have a residency program currently where a dentist can come in and spend up to four weeks with me learning and practicing this method. And once they graduate, they have to take a test and once and prove their skill set in a given period of time. But once they graduate from that, then yeah, I am going to be looking to put them on my website as certified doctors in this method so that as patients hear about this, they're directed to the MHM method and they can find a doctor near them.

19:23Currently, I mean, I'm working in Utah, but most all of my patients aren't from Utah. I'd say probably less than 10%. Most of them are flying in, spending that 48 hours with me because they just aren't able to find this yet in their own country or in their own state. But eventually, as more doctors are training in it, more people become aware of it. It should be more accessible for more people.

19:48John Lee Dumas:And I guess that kind of begs the question of, I'm sure one of your first questions to all these individuals is, how'd you hear about me? Like, how'd you hear about this process? And what's a common answer? Yeah, right now it's just Instagram. You know, people are finding things on Instagram. Second would probably be, oh, well, I heard someone or I saw someone on Instagram that had gone through this and I reached out to them. Well, now third is going to be entrepreneurs on fire. There you go, yeah. They're like, oh, I heard this on this amazing podcast. Of course. I wanted to smile. And my grandson told me about it.

20:23John Lee Dumas:My great grandmother was listening to the show. Yeah, I love it. It's going to happen. Yeah. But I think that really this is something that people have been really looking for for a long time. People who have struggled with the confidence in their own smiles, but they've been hesitant to do anything about it. Because one, they don't want to shave down their teeth to do it. And two, they're worried that it's going to look fake and that everyone's going to see that they have these fake restorations and that scares them to death. And so they've hesitated for years. They've thought about it for years.

20:54They've never pulled the trigger. And when they hear that they can have something that's extremely natural looking, very believable, and that they don't have to shave down their teeth, they're like, great. Now's my moment. There's no barriers now. Like, let's do this. and it's really exciting to see people that have struggled for a long time find that solution that they feel peace about, feel comfortable about and then can just live more freely, be more present and not have to worry about, oh, are people looking at my teeth? Oh, do I need to hide my smile? Oh, they want to take a picture, maybe I should leave.

21:29They don't have to do that anymore. They can just be there and enjoy the moment and it really changes the quality of their everyday experience.

21:36John Lee Dumas:It truly, truly does. I mean, I wrote a 300-page book that can literally be summed into one sentence, become the number one solution to a real problem in a growing industry. And you, Dr. Marshall, have nailed that. You have nailed that through and through. So my hat's off to you. And if Fire Nation's listening, give them one call to action. If they want to connect with you on Instagram, if they want to learn more about you, What is your one call to action for our listeners today? I think if you are someone who has struggled with confidence with your smile, you feel like it holds you back in some way in your social or your professional world, or even just your own self-confidence, just knowing, like my hope would be is that you just recognize and learn and know that you don't have to shave down your teeth anymore.

22:31and you can have a result that looks extremely natural where most people won't be able to tell that they aren't real teeth and that that's possible today. And if you are interested in learning about that and seeing how that might be a fit for you, you can just look up Marshall Hansen Dentistry and the concept, the method is, we just refer to it now as MHM. It's the Marshall Hansen Method, but people just talk about MHM. and this is a process and a way that most people, if they have teeth, can be candidates for and it just really can be life-changing for people. So I think if that's you, if you identify with that situation, there's hope for you.