Dr. Rik Sable, Dentalpreneur
By Chary Southmayd
 Growing up south of
Pittsburgh in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, with its
abundance of doctors in the neighborhood, Dr. Richard (Rik)
Sable, DDS took it for granted that he would somehow
wind up in the medical field. As it turned out, he was
right about that, though going mobile with CT technology
for implant dentistry certainly was not part of the
career path he envisioned back then.
A graduate of the University
of Pittsburgh and the Marquette University School of
Dental Medicine, Sable is the owner of PrecisionDX, a
mobile CT scanning service he launched two years ago.
With one van on the road five days a week traveling
throughout Florida helping to take much of the guess
work out of dental implantology, Sable has very
aggressive plans for the future of his CT scanning show
on the road.
With a dental practice in
Largo, Sable is a true believer in the theory that the
more knowledge you get, the better off you will be. He
became keenly interested a few years ago in steering his
clinical expertise to implant dentistry. He enrolled in
a course over 10 months at the Miami Implant Continuum
under the expertise of Dr. Arun K. Garg, one of the
country’s leading implantology educators.
Sable maintains that implant
dentistry, which is now considered the standard of care
by the American Dental Association, provides a higher
standard of care than “old time dentistry.”
“After being in this field
for 17 years and hearing from patients who want us to
duplicate what nature gave them, which is impossible, we
can do the next best thing,” Sable said. “Implant
dentistry brings us into the 21st century. Dentures have
been around since George Washington. Implants have had a
much better success rate for 25 years or longer. There
is less hardware in the mouth and it gives the
practitioner greater confidence.”
That confidence is achieved,
at least in part, though the use of CT scanning
technology to determine if a patient is a suitable
candidate for the implant procedure. The advantages are
many, Sable believes, including subjecting the patient
to lower dose radiation; having the ability to
accurately reveal the quality of bone and any anomalies
present; and allowing for precise measurements to ensure
that the implant is placed correctly. Unlike standard
X-rays, with the CT scan there is minimal image
distortion, if any.
 Sable was motivated to
launch his mobile CT scan endeavor because he realized
that for dentists, the traditional hospital CT process
would be a tough sell. It is far too time-consuming for
their busy patients. With PrecisionDX, convenience for
everyone involved is the name of the game.
The dentist is able to avoid
the high cost of the CT scanning equipment, while still
benefiting from the extremely accurate results of the
procedure. In addition to the cost savings involved,
with the mobile service the dentist is able to observe
the scanning procedure, or immediately check the scan to
see if it’s what he needs. “We come right to them,”
Sable said.
A customized Dodge Sprinter
van arrives at the dental office and the patient simply
steps inside for the 20-second scan taken by the
certified X-ray technician. The entire process requires
about 30 minutes.
“The general dentist is
always the quarterback of the team. We are an extension
of his office,” Sable said. “He makes sure the implant
is placed exactly where he wants it placed. The CT scan
takes failure out of the equation. It allows you as a
practitioner to know your limitations. You can treatment
plan it right on the computer screen, gauging whether
it’s within the range of your expertise, or if the
procedure should be referred to someone with more
expertise.”
According to Sable, 80
percent of dentists in Europe do their own implants,
while that figure is drastically lower in the U.S. Sable
feels that dentists interested in incorporating implant
dentistry into their practice should get the proper
education, as he received at the Miami Implant
Continuum. “It requires more than just a one weekend
course, in my opinion,” said Sable, who has achieved his
fellowship in the International Congress of Oral
Implantologists and is working toward his diplomat
status.
 As fate would have it, when
Sable first became intrigued with the mobile CT scanning
idea, he learned that one of his former classmates at
Marquette, Leo Malin, was already doing mobile CT in
Wisconsin. Malin was an important source of information
on how to get the business started. “Great minds think
alike, though I hadn’t talked to Leo in 14 years,” Sable
said.
Getting banks to finance his
idea proved to be huge challenge for Sable. He devised a
business plan and still they wouldn’t buy it.
Eventually, he got the van financed through Chrysler
Financial and it was time to hit the road. The road
ahead would prove to be a bit bumpy in the early days.
“It was hairy in the beginning for sure,” he said. “If
we did 12-15 scans in a month, I was excited because it
meant I wasn’t taking that big a loss that month. Now we
do 12-15 scans in a week.”
Just how successful have
they become?
“Our business has grown 200
percent since last June,” Sable said with a smile. And,
he is just getting started. “We have pretty aggressive
expansion plans,” he said. Sable and his two partners
plan to have a second van on the road in dentist-rich
Southeast Florida by the end of this year. Within the
next five years they hope to expand to eight or nine
different cities, including parts of Texas, Illinois,
California, D.C. and Seattle - with two or three vans in
each area.
Meantime, when he relaxes
and takes his mind off dentistry, the single New Tampa
resident who shares his home with a dog, enjoys drawing,
sports, traveling, and he wants to get better educated
on the nuances of fine wine.“ I do enjoy a good bottle
of wine with dinner,” he said.
Still, discussing the future
of implant dentistry and the benefits of the mobile CT
scan technology excites this young entrepreneur who is
eager to share his knowledge. “This van has opened up a
lot of doors. There is definitely a need for this
technology,” Sable said with confidence. “It’s taking
off. We’ve been there, and we know how to do it.”
For more information, visit
www.precisionDX.com.
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