Episode #244: Tom Passalacqua –  Overcome Self Doubt and Imposter Syndrome

Dr. Eric Block: Welcome to the Stress-Free Dentist Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Eric Block. As always, I want to inspire, entertain, and educate you on the best tools and technologies out there. My goal is to help make your practice and career more profitable, efficient, and most importantly, more enjoyable. And check out all of my nonfiction and children’s books on Amazon, and check out thestressfreedentist.com for any upcoming events. And if you’re feeling you’re a dental professional that’s burnt out, or you just feel stuck or want to get to that next level, visit the International Academy of Dental Life Coaches or www.iadlc.com , and we’ll get you matched up with a life coach that understands dentistry. All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode. And today I am joined by Tom Passalacqua. How you doing, Tom?

Tom Passalacqua: Good, Eric. Doing well, doing well. Braving this cold winter we have in the Northeast.

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah. Um, Tom, welcome to the show. And I, I think on Monday we’re gonna get slammed, so I gotta figure out if I, I’m gonna be closing my office or not. So that’s always a fun decision to make, like to close or not to close. It’s always a tricky one.

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah. Wait until last minute, right? And then, and then trouble really happens, so—

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah, I do. I usually wait until the—’cause you never know. It’s weather. It could change, mm-hmm. And we’ve closed the office before and it was a mistake. And so I, I usually do wait until, like, the day before and then, uh, make a, make the call. So, um, Tom, um, thanks for joining us. Um, Tom is a, an executive coach, um, certified executive coach, and helps a lot of dental professionals. And I want to get into all that. Uh, but first, Tom, how did you even get involved with helping dentists?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah, no, I appreciate this. I appreciate being here. Um, I’ve been in dental about 10 years now. Uh, I’ve done quite a few things, but, uh, my, my journey started when I was young, being passionate about helping people, and that led me to start a career in education. So I, I started out of high school pursuing being a teacher and got a master’s in education and taught for many years throughout New York City, and found that I, I loved the education process and the learning process, but realized I couldn’t do that in a general setting for my entire career. So I had all that background, and I, I designed curriculums. I’ve, I’ve built programs. I was even a founding teacher in, in a couple of New York City charter schools, but wanted to expand myself, uh, and kind of change directions. So I figured, oh, sales is a, a fun area to try to, you know, learn.

Tom Passalacqua: Uh, and a dental position came up for a dental manufacturing company. So I, I was one day a teacher, the next day a sales rep in Manhattan for a dental company, and figured out, okay, how, what do I do now? Um, but I, I relied on my skills and abilities that I honed as a teacher to the sales space. And I built really great relationships, communicated very well, uh, came, came into sales with the lens of an educator, and did fairly well. Uh, I was one of the top-performing reps in, in the, in the company and started to train and mentor other sales reps. Over a couple of years, I presented at sales meetings and, and started to do web training for the company. And I really liked that aspect. And an opportunity to work at a DSO came up a couple years back.

Tom Passalacqua: Uh, so I went onto the group practice side to help with business development and mergers and acquisitions, and did the sales and marketing, uh, for that group. And we were successful and scaled the, you know, the company quite a bit. And then where I am today kind of is a, a merger of all of those aspects of my life: my passion for helping people, my experience in sales, my experience as an educator, my knowledge of dentistry, to where my executive coaching and business coaching really focuses on helping people navigate their own boundaries and their own, you know, emotions to get to the level they want to achieve. So it’s been, it’s been a fun, fun journey of the last number of years.

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah. That’s awesome. And you’ve seen, um, you’ve seen a lot of dentistry. So you, you initially were in sales and you said, did you say in Manhattan?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah, yeah. I was New York City rep.

Dr. Eric Block: And so were you going from office to office and just pounding the pavement?

Tom Passalacqua: Yes, yes. It was, uh, you know, boots on the ground, you know, uh, frontline, you know, rep. Uh, we worked with a couple distributors, but, uh, you know, I did a lot of direct selling. And, you know, the city is a, a, a fun territory because there were some buildings that, they’re all healthcare buildings, so you could, you can go floor to floor, door to door. And, uh, you know, you, you build up your resiliency really well because, you know, sales, um, you know, it, it, it could be a tough, a tough landscape to navigate, especially if you’re not used to or familiar or comfortable with rejection. And, uh, you know, you have to identify the aspects you can control. But for me, it was building a great relationship, again, coming at it with an educational aspect, not a sales aspect. So, yeah, no, I got quite a bit of exposure, you know, in, in, during those times in the city. Yeah.

Dr. Eric Block: And what were you selling? What, what kind of, uh, product? Or was it a software?

Tom Passalacqua: No, it was restorative materials. So composites, bonding agents, you know, cements. So all, all restorative. Great company, great, great materials. Um, you know, it helped to believe in, in the brand and in the product. It was effective. So that, that definitely helped along the way.

Dr. Eric Block: So you just said a few things there that can even relate to a leader of a dental office or the owner of a dental office. So you said it’s all about building relationships. Mm-hmm. Same thing with being a dentist and their patients. It’s, especially for me, we’ve gone fully out-of-network. So it’s all about the relationships that I’ve built with these patients, mm-hmm, that continue to stay in my office and refer their friends and family. Uh, and then getting the team to believe in what you’re doing and getting everyone on the same page and, and, you know, and spreading the message and, uh, having a great culture. So a lot of what you just said is similar, um, to owning or, or being a dentist or being a leader. Um, and then what was it like going to the DSO side?

Tom Passalacqua: So, yeah, it, it, it was pretty wild because, you know, at the time, it was like about five years ago, so DSOs were just kind of coming to mainstream. And, you know, at first a lot of the professionals in dentistry were like, you know, I, I hear about these DSOs. And, you know, fast forward to today, I mean, it’s, everyone knows what a group practice is, right? And there’s a lot of different models and a lot of different philosophies for consolidation or building practices or, or, or building groups. But it was wild to see the management side of it, of how a company can become so robust in supporting, you know, dozens and then hundreds of dental practices. And especially when you’re acquiring practices, all of the nuances that come with acquiring the culture, the emotions, the personalities, it’s, you know, completely different than just selling product.

Tom Passalacqua: So it was a lot of the, the transition aspect. Uh, I got a chance to learn about the finance side of things, about the operational side of things, the administrative side. So I really saw quite a bit of the industry from a couple of different lenses, and it just really gave me a lot of healthy perspective of where dental is today. And even on the clinical side, just the clinical advancements over the last couple of years, you know, scanning to printing to now AI and all of the, the software innovations, too, between, you know, phone systems, patient communications, revenue cycle, insurances. There’s, there’s so much innovation and change, both on private and group practice side. So it’s, it’s pretty wild to just be part of this ecosystem, and it allows me to connect with so many different levels of, of professionals in the industry. So I feel like it really, really helped me just broaden my perspective and hone my skills.

Dr. Eric Block: It’s funny you said, you know, the— and being in Manhattan, it must be such a different animal, ’cause I’m in the suburbs of Boston, and there’s maybe nine dental offices in my town, right? Where in New York City or some other large metropolitan cities, there could be nine dental offices on your floor, you know?

Tom Passalacqua: Absolutely.

Dr. Eric Block: And, you know, hundred, you know, dozens or, uh, or more in the, in the building, mm-hmm. Um, but there’s just so much population. Yep. Um, and now did you find that, that DSOs were ahead of the game, um, versus the private practice regarding business management and kind of the back end of things?

Tom Passalacqua: I would say the groups who prioritized management are doing great, right? If you, if you’re understanding how to manage the culture and manage the emotional side of the transition, that’s where, uh, groups did well, especially if you’re acquiring. Uh, the group I worked for didn’t do many de novos, so it was hard to kind of build that culture from the ground up. Once you acquire that culture, you’re, you’re, you’re managing the dynamic between the lead doctor, the associates, the staff, and ultimately the patient base. So if you prioritize that, yes, you could stay ahead of the game. Um, as far as the support systems, we were very robust. And I see a lot of group practices who are scaling well, uh, you know, really focus on what are the tangible support systems that they’re bringing to that acquired practice, the resources that that lead doctor and team were not yet able to source on their own. So really, the, the, the value add and the resources and the systems and the operational support, that’s where groups really, you know, were able to stay ahead of that curve.

Dr. Eric Block: Awesome. Now let’s get into, uh, all about executive coaching. How is that different from other modes of support?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah, I appreciate that question because it’s, it’s, I get asked that quite a bit, and it’s probably what attracted me to coaching in the first place, where my style of coaching and my philosophy of coaching is not that of a consultant or an advisor or a therapist. I’m not working with a client or a team as the expert. My role is helping them refine their goals and strategies to accomplish their goals. So it’s a communication style and a, a perspective shift that I bring as a coach. And if you have a specific goal, uh, a long-term or short-term goal that you and your team or, or someone is, is working to strive to, to achieve, my role is to bolster them, enable them, empower them to best achieve that goal. And I’ll ask very specific, challenging questions, getting them to shift their perspective, thinking a little bit differently, holding up a mirror, being that sounding board. Uh, because my experiences and, and my skillset doesn’t apply to everybody, and I don’t want to come at it with my opinions, my perspective, because that might not be applicable for that type of client. My job is to help them see clearly, get them grounded, get, get the emotional component out of their way, and best strategize to, you know, make the accomplishments that they want to make.

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah. And as an executive coach, uh, dentists are, you know, we’re, we’re executives, we’re leaders, um, whether we’re an associate, uh, a specialist, or the owner of a practice. Make no mistake, the dentist is, is a leader. And that’s a lot of stress and pressure, um, to have on your shoulders. What do you, what are you seeing? What are the common challenges you see when working with clients in the dental field?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah, some, some of the, the commonalities, you know, we, we talk about imposter syndrome and the doubts and the uncertainties that, that I think is, is pretty common, where you have someone kind of spinning in their own head. And, and that’s a number of clients I’m working with now. I mean, that’s a commonality, is just, I feel like I’m getting too far in my head, or I’m second-guessing myself. And, and when you are that leader, you know, not only are you, you know, performing clinical dentistry and, and the administrative, you know, side of things, you, you have to inspire and lead teams and manage people. I mean, that there’s, there is a, you know, quite a bit of, of undertaking on the people side of things. So, so a commonality is helping someone get grounded from their emotional overwhelm, um, overcoming the doubt or the uncertainty of being that leader, kind of pushing your comfort zone, um, leading the practice to grow. You know, if that’s new territory for yourself as a professional, you know, the uncertainties can kind of, you know, creep in because you, you’ve never been in that, in that, you know, region before.

Tom Passalacqua: You’ve never experienced leading a practice or a team at that level. So, you know, sometimes you do second-guess yourself, or you do, you know, feel uncertain, or you feel inadequate or insecure about your decisions you’re making. My role is, again, to help ground you, think clearly, remove that emotional component, getting you to think logically, because that’s what can help you to be the best leader and the best clinician and the best manager if you can. So yeah, common themes are the emotional side of things.

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah. And, and I felt, well, when I first got out of school, I was, I was a hot mess, and I had major imposter syndrome. I was working in the suburbs of Boston, and a lot of my patients were doctors and engineers and lawyers and scientists, and I looked like I was 15, and I’m like, I, why are these people gonna even listen to me? And, um, I had to really just get out of my own head, mm-hmm, um, and get more secure and comfortable in my own skin. That was a major, um, uh, turning point for me. But also when I went from an associate to the owner of a practice, it was like the next day, all of a sudden I felt like I had to be this leader. And there was so much uncertainty with that because I never learned how to be a leader in school. I didn’t really take many CE classes on it. It was just all of a sudden I was the leader of a business.

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah, yeah. You could be the best dentist, and, and that’s where your passion and focus is. But now you, you have to step into that role, and it’s like, oh, what do I even do? And, and, and again, I, I would say that’s probably one of the more common, you know, experiences. I mean, I can imagine you have many colleagues that had the same journey and perspective as you did.

Dr. Eric Block: Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, some people are just naturally gifted at being a leader, and, you know, from day one, they’re, they’re good at it. But I think that’s rare. And I think in dentistry, you know, we go to school and all we’ve known is, is, uh, doing well and success. And if we didn’t succeed or pass that test, we’d just work harder and study harder and take it again, and mm-hmm. And then you get in the real world and you’re dealing with real staff and real paying customers, and, you know, you get your first taste of mistakes and failures. And sometimes that’s a lot for, for a dentist to handle. You know, they get their first bad review, or they get their first uncomfortable situation with a patient, you know, because they’re, they’re feeling broke, and mm-hmm. A lot of times, uh, dentists, that’s all they’ve known is success and being the best in their class. All of a sudden, they can’t handle the mistakes and failures.

Tom Passalacqua: Interesting, interesting. Yeah, it’s, um, it’s, it’s, it could be a tough transition. Yeah. And that’s, and that’s what I love being able to provide, is that space to navigate all of that. And I don’t just work with, with dentists, but it’s just, you know, that’s my, my network, and that’s where I have the most relatable, you know, experience and connections. So, but, uh, but yeah, I’m glad, I’m glad, you know, you got through it.

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah. I also noticed that it’ll, it’ll creep back in, and I wanted to ask you about that, mm-hmm. If you’re, if you’re doing well, I, I compare imposter syndrome like, you know, you’re on a bus and you’re making a lot of bus stops. And if you’re not careful, that imposter syndrome will, will get on that bus with you, and you know, it, it, it can creep back in if you’re not careful. Um, for me, it had a lot to do with removing negativity in my life and just keeping positive people around me. Um, what are your thoughts on these distracting emotions creeping back in?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah. Uh, you make a really good point. Um, the awareness piece, I think, is, is kind of the first step. How would you rate yourself on how aware or self-reflective you are, right? Like, how often do you take time to just pause and reflect and, and feel the emotions you might be experiencing? So anytime I, I work with someone who, who is, you know, in this space and, and kind of having these challenges, I say, well, when they, when those emotions come up, pause, reflect, think about, okay, where is this emotion coming from? Why am I experiencing this? Why am I feeling like this? And the goal is to get grounded in logic, in the objective lens, and try to remove the emotional reaction. Because, you know, as people, especially in the modern age, we’re so emotional and we react so much. And, and before you know it, we’re not making intentional choices. We’re just responding emotionally.

Tom Passalacqua: So it’s, it’s trying to mitigate that. So asking yourself a couple of grounding questions of, okay, why am I feeling like this? What is this? What is this? Where is this coming from? And then trying to identify, okay, what are the obstacles in my way? What are the actions, behaviors, mindsets that are going to help me here? What’s not going to help me? So it’s, it’s really flexing that self-reflective muscle and, and trying to get grounded in almost fact and logic and objective reasoning versus just feeling like you’re reacting. And that would be your starting point. So, so anytime you feel those, those, you know, negative emotions creeping up and you have that tightness, you have that anxiety, or you just feel off, ask yourself a couple of questions. And then, you know, we could work on strategies to, you know, be more resilient to that. But, but awareness is step number one.

Dr. Eric Block: And is that a good way to just kind of stay on track and, and focus, is just kind of being aware of what’s going on, why you’re having these emotions? Um, personally, I, I went through different phases of imposter syndrome. I had, you know, a major issue with it in dentistry, and I’m, I’m pretty much, mm-hmm, over that. But then I started writing books, I started speaking, and each time I did one of those, the imposter syndrome just crept back in, and I kept right looking at myself in the mirror and saying, who are you to, to do this? But I would just stay on course and end up getting past that, mm-hmm. What, what are your recommendations there for, for even just a dentist that’s, you know, to stay on track of, of being positive?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah, Eric, you bring up a really interesting point, is, you know, you, you said you kind of, you know, I got over it as a dentist, but then I started writing a book, and then there it was again. And then I, I started doing a podcast, and there it was again. It’s oftentimes when someone is pushing the boundary of their comfort level or their experience level. So if you think of your, you know, your comfort zone, you have your experience zone, you know, you’re an expert in this realm. You are familiar with these activities or this, you know, environment you’re in. When you do something new, something ambitious, leading a practice, graduating school, writing a book, you know, uh, and it doesn’t have to be professional. It can be personal, too. Once you start crossing that boundary of the familiar to the unfamiliar, that’s when the emotions take up the most space because you don’t have the perspective of being in that, in that area yet.

Tom Passalacqua: You’ve, you’ve never written a book, so how do I know if I’m successful or not? And then all of a sudden, those uncertainties start to, to, to grow. So some strategies there, again, being reflective, but asking, okay, what’s working? What am I doing well at so far? Am I on track? Also identifying the specific goal. You know, if you have a goal like, oh, I want to write a book, great. Try to get as nuanced and specific as possible. What type of book? What are the messages I want to put in there? When do I want it to go out? When am I writing it? Like, what, what small actions are supporting the long-term goals? So trying to get, trying to break down the goal into as much tangible aspects as possible will allow you to focus on actions and ground you in, in behaviors and mindsets to keep you on track instead of just more broad ideas of, oh, I want to write a book. Well, there’s so many variables there. But if you break it down to really, really specific, uh, specific plan, that keeps you grounded and involved in activity to where you don’t almost have time for the emotions to take over. So—

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah, I, I think dentists are often, uh, and I was like this, too, um, we suffer from not having any documented goals, you know? It’s, hmm, I don’t think that, you know, working in, you know, in my practice and then when it’s time to retire, sell it. There’s so many things that you can add to goals, you know, whether it’s personal goals, professional goals, something you want to do in the next year or two. I write them down, document them, and, and look at them often, mm-hmm, ’cause if you don’t, then they will get forgotten or you won’t follow through with them. So I love that point about, about goals. Um, is that, um, part of the clarity process? Uh, or can you explain what the clarity process is?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah, yeah. It’s a great segue. So the clarity process that I, I promote is really a result of my own personal experience. So, you know, throughout my, my professional journey, I’ve, I’ve had my own, you know, personal experiences with, you know, imposter syndrome and, and debilitating doubt. You know, up until a couple years ago, you know, I’ve, I’ve done well in my career, but the missing piece for me was the, the passion to help other people. And even though, you know, with sales and, and business development, like I was helping, but I, I, I felt like it wasn’t truly aligned to my own core values of wanting to enable the success of somebody else. And, you know, I wanted to bring that more into my professional life, but I felt like I had to force myself into a career that almost served others, and it wasn’t serving them in the way that resonated with me.

Tom Passalacqua: So I, I continued to force myself down that, you know, those roads and those, in those paths. And, and even though I had opportunities, it just didn’t sit right with me. And I had this breaking point where I was like, you know what? This is not helping. If I want to feel that I am pursuing something meaningful and purposeful, I have to build that into my life intentionally. So in hindsight, what allowed me to break through that moment and to build the business that I’m, I’m working on now in my, my executive coaching was identifying, okay, really, what do I want out of my life? And I wanted to manifest a career where my main goal is working with others and, and enabling the success of others. So that was like the big goal. And then that goal had to get broken down into dozens and dozens of smaller milestones.

Tom Passalacqua: Okay, what are the actions that I need to tackle those milestones? What are the resources I need to acquire? What’s the knowledge? You know, what do I have to learn? What are, what are the mindsets I have to, uh, you know, shed and shift in all of this? So I, I literally made myself a game plan of if I wanted to get where I am today to where I want to be, what are the steps in between? Because having just, oh, I want this in my life, well, it doesn’t give me anything to work on. So it’s trying to break down the goal as much as you can. So that’s step one. Step two, pairing actions in between for where you are, where you want to go. What are the behaviors? What are the, like, how are you scheduling your activity? Three is reflecting on what’s working because you need that reflection piece, because you have to know if you’re on track or not. Where am I successful? What’s getting me closer? What’s distracting me? What’s hindering me? Amplify what’s working, refine what’s not. And that’s, it’s that current, uh, constant cycle of looking at your goal, breaking it down, tackling it with action, reflecting on what’s working. And that’s that clarity process that allowed me to get forward momentum without the negative influence of the emotion and uncertainties and second-guessing myself.

Dr. Eric Block: Now, can you set that an example of how that’s helped others in dentistry?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah. So I have, um, you know, a colleague who is a consultant on, on their own and has, was preparing to propose a contract for a client. Um, think of a, like a, a practice management-type consultant. And it was a high-ticket client, and they were preparing the proposal, and they had everything written down. They had their pricing, had, you know, the scope of work and kind of the, the, um, the relationship of, of their work to the client’s work, and was completely second-guessing themselves. Just, I feel like I’m underselling myself. I don’t know if this pricing is right. I don’t know if they want me to work more, work less. So we said, let’s pause. What’s your ultimate goal? Ultimate goal was to try to build their consulting career in a way that complemented a healthy work-life balance. So that was the ultimate, um, kind of aspiration that they wanted to achieve.

Tom Passalacqua: Well, how are you feeling about that and your current proposal? Well, I feel like I would be overworking for the amount of money that I am, you know, proposing. So we got that aligned. Okay. What are the steps that you need to, to restructure this proposal? Okay. The scope of work had to change a little bit. The value of the, the pricing had to adjust a little bit. So we got really grounded in, like, fact and logic, you know, calmed down the emotional side. And it actually turned out in their favor, where the, um, the practice not only accepted their offer but proposed to increase the value because they wanted, they wanted more services within the scope of, of the work that they proposed. So it was just like a great success story of having someone get out of their own, like, kind of spiraling in their head about second-guessing everything and really focusing on tangible, you know, specific data and, and actions and behaviors.

Dr. Eric Block: Yeah. And second-guessing, it’s, it, is it exhausting when you’re constantly second-guessing yourself or, uh, not, you know, believing in yourself? I know a lot of dentists will end up just talking themselves out of things. Mm. They’ll talk patients out of treatment, you know, they get, ’cause they just, wow, keep second-guessing themselves, and they’re not, uh, confident in the way they’re, they’re presenting treatment to patients. Um, great stuff, man. Um, Tom, uh, let’s end up with two final questions. Yeah. Uh, number one is how do we find out more about what you’re up to? And then the last question is, what advice would you give to the young dental professionals out there?

Tom Passalacqua: Sure, sure. I’d love to talk about this stuff. As you can, as you can tell, I can, I can go on all day about, you know, um, getting out of your own way, setting goals, you know, being really grounded. Um, again, it’s my own personal experience, but it, it really empowers me to give every fiber of my being to enable the success of others. Um, so reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’m fairly active on LinkedIn. You can send me a message. Uh, I’m starting to get more active on Facebook, so you can, you can find me on Facebook as well. Um, my website is ascendpropathways.com.  Um, and I can tell you where Ascend Professional Pathways, you know, kind of came from and everything, but I have a lot of free resources on the website, a lot of information about my coaching and, and training platform. Um, you can send a message through my website, uh, but best is probably LinkedIn. Awesome. And yeah, advice, advice for the—

Dr. Eric Block: Can you tell us what, uh, what the Ascend, uh, platform, what, where that, what that stands for and how you came with that name?

Tom Passalacqua: Yeah. So Ascend Professional Pathways, um, the imagery I, I, you know, kind of, um, that inspired me to, to build this platform, uh, was, you know, climbing a mountain or, you know, finding a way up to the, the summit of, uh, a, a large aspiration. And I’m an avid outdoors, you know, person. I, I love to rock climb, hike, and, and go camping and everything. And I always had that imagery of the natural world of wanting to elevate myself. However, there’s many different ways to get to the top. And my philosophy of coaching is not one specific way. My philosophy is walking side by side with my clients to find the right path for them and helping them along their own pathway. So the pathways is, uh, you know, supportive of what’s unique and what resonates well with those I’m working with. Ascend, you know, going to, going to the top. So, um, you know, that’s, and that’s kind of where my logo came from and everything, but, uh, but that’s, that’s the imagery that, that comes out when I think of that.

Dr. Eric Block: Awesome. Yeah, I had to ask you. And, uh, yeah, let’s, let’s go with the final question. Advice for the young dentists out there.

Tom Passalacqua: There are resources out there. There are colleagues and people you can talk to that have experienced what you are experiencing. So just like your story, Eric, you know, and everyone else that I, that I work with, there are a lot of commonalities from generation to generation. And even though it might feel that you are alone or isolated in your experiences, positive or challenging, know that there are others who have walked that path before and would be willing to, to talk and to help and offer advice and support. So if you are feeling any of that tension in your life, professional or personal, there are people out there. And I just think the modern person has gotten too reserved. We have to build that community aspect again and, and help one another. It has to be a little more intentional, but they’re there.

Dr. Eric Block: Love it. Great advice. Tom, thank you so much for a great episode.

Tom Passalacqua: Thanks. It was great being here, Eric. Thank you so much.

Dr. Eric Block: Thanks again for listening to the Stress-Free Dentist podcast. And don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at  thestressfreedentist.com. And if you haven’t already, please subscribe on your favorite platform and leave us a review. Until the next episode, I’m Dr. Eric Block, the Stress-Free Dentist.