Smile with Heart: Texas Dentist Loves Connecting with People

Being able to watch those transformations, and have people tell me that it has changed their lives, is really special to me. I love being able to have that type of connection with people.” - Jill Wade, D.D.S.

Jill Wade was enrolled in medical technology studies at Texas Tech when it was suggested she pursue a career in dentistry since she loves working on puzzles, paint, and small detailed things. Bells went off, and Wade recognized it would be a perfect fit. A field where she could apply her innate ability to connect with people.

Jill Wade, D.D.S., M.A.G.D., is passionate about the Dallas Cowboys.

“Go boys,” is the first thing she exclaims after informing Dentist’s Money Digest^® that her Stonebriar Smile Design practice is located in the “heart of Frisco, Texas.”

But that’s not all Wade is passionate about. She’s also passionate about her practice’s unique smile with heart program, which has grown the business substantially, and achieved recognition from Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing businesses in 2017.

That passion and drive is something Wade says has been present since her freshman year in high school.

“Some of us just naturally have a skill set that’s inbred or born into us,” she says. “We have the ability to really listen to people and be able to observe them in a way that we not only can tell what’s going on with them verbally, but we can read their body language. It’s just a kind of innate ability to connect with people.”

SMILE WITH HEART

Wade traces the success of her practice’s smile with heart program to her studying of the BaleDoneen Method®, which teaches medical and dental professionals a comprehensive way to treat patients in order to reduce inflammation, which in turn cases cardiovascular disease. The method, Wade explains, specifically identifies the source of inflammation, and much of the time it has proven to come from the oral cavity.

“Having studied with them (Dr. Bradley Bale and Dr. Amy Doneen), and working with medical professionals here in the Metroplex that also studied under Brad and Amy, I’ve been able to design a program where we’re able to determine as fast as possible if a patient is having any trouble with periodontal disease,” Wade says. “We have a cone beam machine in our office to help us identify infections as soon as possible.”

Word of mouth has helped the program grow. Wade believes that some of the best referrals oral practitioners can receive come from their internal patient base. And by working closely with other health professionals—cardiologists, OB/GYNs, chiropractors and nutritionists—in the community to co-manage patients, patients are often referred directly to the practice.

“If your cardiologist looks at you and says, ‘I need you to go to Jill Wade and be in her smile with heart program,’ let me tell you, they’re call on the phone the same day and coming in,” Wade says. “And they’re fantastic patients with a lot of motivation.”

BUILT FOR TOTAL HEALTH

About four years ago, Wade purchased a building some 300 yards from her dental practice. There, she launched Relevance Total Health, where she’s able to host a wide range of medical professionals and independent contractors who believe in the reduction of inflammation concept.

“It’s a wide variety of things that help people reduce inflammation,” Wade says. “We’re talking everything from a true cardiologist all the way down to yoga or meditation or nutrition.”

For example, the facility hosts events aimed at educating people that, depending on their genetic genotypes, they need to be consuming specific types of food. Individuals may be consuming foods they think are healthy, but because of their genetic makeup, it’s turning into cholesterol.

“We’re trying to educate patients,” Wade says. “But at the same time we have to educate professionals, because a lot of them don’t know anything about this, both on the dental and the medical side. Medical people don’t understand how much dentistry can help take care of their patients. So there’s this big gap that we’re trying to fill with Relevance Total Health.”

DENTAL PODCASTS

In late June, Wade and Aurelia Byrne, “my amazing hygienist,” launched a podcast called SymplifiHealth, a medical advice podcast for women who—as the website explains—are sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Wade says the podcast name is spelled starting with an SY because when thinking about simplifying someone’s health, it’s all about starting with their SYmptoms, then working backwards to find the root cause.

“When you really go back, identify the root cause, and are willing to take care of the root cause, it’s amazing how much more effective you can be at moving them forward with preventive health ideas,” Wade says. “We’re trying to share the concepts of how to bridge medicine, dentistry, and genetics together in a way that helps people create their own blueprint, which would then guide them on how to be healthy.”

New podcasts are “recorded in clumps,” and then rolled out usually every other week. They’re fun to do, Wade says, but more importantly, the podcasts provide an avenue for reaching more people.

“On a daily basis, we’re only able to affect or help our patient base,” Wade says. “But, if we’re able to then broadcast our message out to the public or more professionals, then look at the amount of people that we get to help.”

CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE

Wade is also highly involved with the Military Wellness Initiative, a collaborative effort designed to explore, demonstrate, and validate ways to improve the health and wellness of military members and their families.

“They love how we really embrace prevention in general in dentistry,” Wade says. “So they brought me on to try to keep that concept always at the forefront. They’re highly motivated.”

So is Wade. She says she considers everything about a patient’s health in order to optimize their oral health. And, because she was trained at Baylor College of Dentistry in the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program, she received significant training in cosmetic dentistry.

“I get to really experience this whole transformation of someone’s smile,” she says. “Being able to watch those transformations, and have people tell me that it has changed their lives, is really special to me. I love being able to have that type of connection with people.”