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Dr. Chris Bonebreak Jackson studied mechanical engineering at MIT, after which she parlayed a poker hobby into a five-year career as a High-Yield Bond Trader for Goldman Sachs. She eventually attended the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and completed her orthodontic residency at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Today, she is the head of Clinical Affairs at LightForce Orthodontics and lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, with her husband and three daughters.

1. What advice would you give to your younger self entering this industry?

    

   My advice for young people is that this is your life, you have to make the right decisions for you, and they may affect other people, but they’ll be able to adapt.

    

   I’ve made a lot of pivots in my life and career, and at each one of these pivots, I’ve worried too much about how my decisions would affect other people. You don’t have to own their feelings.

    

   When I was finishing my orthodontic residency, there was pressure to join my father and brother, and I felt this wasn’t the right move. I was scared of how my family would take the news. I delayed the conversation. The more uncomfortable the conversation is, the sooner you need to have it.

    

   Another example was leaving my practice in North Carolina, coming to Massachusetts, and starting with LightForce. I dreaded having this conversation with my potential partner because I worried that I was letting him down- but he managed my departure and is one of my biggest cheerleaders. And along the way, I’ve had three children, and always worried about how that might affect my classmates, co-residents, and practice partner.

    

   You worry so much about how other people take the news for each of these things, but it's your life, and you have to do what’s right for you! I have a beautiful family and career that I wouldn’t have if I had made my decisions for other people. That’s my advice for someone younger. Make the decisions that are right for you.

    

2. You’re one of the few who have made these giant pivots—from bond trader to orthodontist to heading clinical affairs at LightForce. How do you personally handle these?

    

   I’ve always felt that life is long enough to do many different things, but too short to do something you don’t like.

    

   I applied that philosophy to myself when I went back to school after seven years. Seven years were going to pass no matter what. In seven years, I could still be a bond trader or become an orthodontist, and I wanted to be an orthodontist.

    

   The other philosophy I’ve used is asking, “Is this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?” Do I need to take it? I was well established in North Carolina, and Alfred gave me a once-in-a lifetime opportunity – LightForce will only come along once. If I didn’t take the job and someone else did, I’d think I should be doing what that person is doing. It’s all about following your heart.

    

   Sit with your discomfort and figure out what it is

    

3. What books have you given the most as a gift?

    

   The first book is called Organic Chemistry as a Second Language. I talk to a lot of people wanting to go to dental school, and this book is a savior. I recommend it to anyone applying to dental school.

    

   The Confidence Code is my second book. I was part of a small-business women’s retreat, and we had the author speak to us. I was blown away by the science behind confidence. I think everyone struggles with confidence to some degree. But this book is specific to women—the science of our brains and how we help ourselves become more confident—and it’s a great book.

    

   My last book is Untangled, which is about raising daughters. As an orthodontist, the majority of our patients are adolescents. I wanted to know how to connect better with my patients and better understand what they were going through, so this book is a resource, not just as a parent, but as a way to relate to my own patients. And now that my oldest is turning 12, relating to adolescents is even more important!

    

4. What’s the best investment someone in this industry can make for $100 or less?

    

   I think the best investment you can make is in your team.

    

   So, for less than $100, buy their favorite drink at Starbucks. We rely so much on the team members; they manage the appointments. It’s easy for the doctor to decide, ‘I want to do this, ’ but the team really does more than anyone. And if they’re not bought in, it won’t succeed. I’m big on team cultures; it’s not tangible, and it’s so critical. I’d spend $100 (and much more :) on making my team feel appreciated.

    

    

5. You get to put up a billboard that everyone will see on their way to work— what’s on it?

    

   What Do Orthodontists Do on a Roller Coaster? They BRACE Themselves!

    

   I’d do a corny joke that makes people smile, maybe a tooth-related pun, and then tie it back into the idea that we are the people who make you smile. This would be attention-grabbing, and it would make people smile. I like the connection between "I made you smile" and "we are in the business of smiles."

    

6. What is the best investment you made in this industry?

    

   Education.

    

   I know this is a silly answer, but we always have to be learning! There are new techniques, research, and data out there. I love going to meetings. You need to stay up to date if you’re offering your patients the best technology and treatment mechanics. On the flip side, it’s a great privilege to be able to educate doctors on their teams on how to achieve the best patient outcomes with LightForce.

    

   Also, don’t ignore CE for your team's culture management. Managing a practice is a complex operation

    

7. What is a bad recommendation that’s touted as an industry “best practice”?

    

   I think the urge to grow, grow, grow and have the biggest practice you can have is bad advice.

    

   There’s too much focus on more—and no, I don’t think that’s best practice. Be a three day a week practice, have three chairs, pay the bills, put money away and live your freaking life!

    

   Whenever I hear someone bent on growth, I encourage others to listen to alternative advice. For me, it comes down to having priorities outside the office. I have a family, I like to travel, and I do not want my identity to be my work. Everyone is driven by different things. For some, growth is what makes them feel like they’re succeeding. For others, it’s having the flexibility to pursue your passions outside of the office. It’s knowing what you want that’s key.

    

8. What’s so intuitive to you that’s the hardest to convey to others?

    

   I’m the living meme of the person with all their numbers coming into their head. I legitimately see force vectors and the outcomes of engineering moments and forces in my head.

    

   Sometimes, I can get in my way when explaining a concept, and when people hear my recordings, they're like, “you’re making this too complicated.” I realize not everyone sees the world in engineering concepts.

    

   Because I’m such a quantitative person, I sometimes have a communication problem. Teaching orthodontics is easy, but being in non-orthodontic conversations, I don’t feel like I’m articulate at all, and I feel like I need to learn to speak and write better. If I were a better communicator, maybe my daughter would pick up her room when I try to tell her, but that’s a different subject…

    

9. You visit a practice and you can’t leave until they promise to….?

    

   Fill the slot!

    

   Because our doctors purposely don’t fill the slot with stock braces due to the non-custom prescription and extra torque that is sometimes built in. I feel like a lot of what I’m doing is shifting the paradigm and getting them out of the fundamental dogmas, and one of those is filling the slot when you have a custom Rx for each patient. I have doctors using .022 slot; the biggest wire they’re using is 17x25 TMA. For those doctors, please buy one package of a 21x25 NiTi.

    

   Just fill it—Fill the slot!

    

10. What’s your definition of success in this industry?

     

    Asking: Are You Happy?

     

    If you’re happy, then you’ve succeeded. That, to me, is way more than money, patients, or the number of locations. Being happy means that you created a life that supports your lifestyle, your community, and whatever is essential to you. Simply because you are so happy means you’re good to go. If you’re unhappy, that means there's probably some aspect of your team, structure, or size... you gotta figure out what that is, unlock it, and change it, and that’s what I would define as being successful in this industry

     

11. Bonus – What’s your parting advice to the entire industry?

     

    I keep thinking about the same thing repeatedly – it would be to do the right thing.

     

    And I say this because, in our practice, doing the right thing may be an unprofitable thing. That might mean you’re writing off a balance because the patient lost a parent. It might mean you’re making the extra retainer because the family is trying financially. Those are extreme examples, but do the right thing for your team and patient, and everything else will be handled.

     

    I care about this a lot because I’ve been in an environment that did not have a “do the right thing” mentality. I’ve seen practices where people left sticky notes asking why a $25 courtesy was performed! I’ve also seen it the other way – patients need something added mid-treatment, like a TAD, and we add it. No charge. I think it’s a good guiding principle.

     

    Do the right thing and you’ll be successful. And sleep better at night.

     

My Take: Dr. Bones (as many call her) is one of the smartest and successful orthodontists in our industry. What hasn’t she accomplished is a better question. But look at the decisions she’s made. No one could repeat them. This interview had an immediate impact on me— I stole her quote for someone else facing a tough decision and will end on this: “Life is long enough to do different things, but too short to do something you don’t like.”

To connect with Chris, email her at: [email protected]