An Interview with KöR® Whitening
Rod Kurthy, DMD
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
INSIDE DENTISTRY (ID): What gives KöR® Whitening an edge in today’s marketplace?
Rod Kurthy (RK): To put it very simply, our biggest advantage is how well the KöR Whitening system works. After more than three decades of whitening research, I’ve designed the system from the ground up, based solely on the laws of physics, chemistry, physiology, and microanatomy.
KöR is intended and priced for the average whitening patient, but as so many have already heard, it is so effective that it can also perform miracles on even tetracycline-stained teeth. Another advantage is our lower sensitivity. With such whitening effectiveness, you might expect a lot of sensitivity, but because the entire system—technique and products—is strictly based on the laws of science, we typically have significantly lower sensitivity across the board.
We also offer a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. We’re the only whitening company in the world to do that. I developed KöR, and I know what it can do. So, customers who try KöR and do not agree can get their money back.
ID: If you had to describe the most important elements that have led to your success, what would they be?
RK: 1. I love dentistry—always have. That love creates curiosity, and curiosity is something I have plenty of. For the past 38 years, my hobby has been researching ways to overcome obstacles in dentistry. Fridays were always my research and clinical trial days. And, of course, nights and weekends, too, were often spent involved in this. Whenever a patient presented any sort of obstacle that frustrated me or caused great curiosity, that topic became my next research project.
2. My wife. My wife and I met in the dental industry before I even had a practice, and she loves dentistry just as much as I do. She always ran my practice, and she is the one who started our company. Throughout all my crazy endeavors in dentistry over the years, she’s not only been supportive, but a true partner. It wasn’t work for us; it was passion.
3. Dentists and patients. I love them both. I just think we dentists are about the greatest and nicest people on the planet. I have always loved talking to and spending time with other dentists. And patients, for the most part, they’re wonderful. For me, they’ve provided me with the challenge of improving the field of dentistry for the past 38 years.
ID: It sounds like people are an important part of your corporate model. What defines your approach to business?
RK: Every dental practice and every corporate entity must make a profit. That’s a given. But for dentists, our businesses are about a lot more than “just” profit. We’re proud of the care we provide, and we care about our patients. I often felt that the corporate world could learn a lot from us in that respect.
Regardless of the profit pressures in the corporate world, I simply refuse to let that entirely dictate the direction of our company. My wife and I believe that if we provide products and systems that are the “real deal,” and if our top concerns are helping our customers in any way we can and taking very good care of our employees, the rest will follow.
I also believe in the philosophy “it all flows downhill.” That is certainly the case in our company. Our philosophy seems to have flowed downhill to our entire executive management team and all of our employees. We’re all extremely proud of what we do.
ID: What inspires you to move forward?
RK: We get calls and emails with photos from dentists showing the most incredible, life-changing whitening results you can imagine. Many of these patients never smiled, and were totally embarrassed about their teeth. To see our dentist customers so excited and to hear the emotional stories about their patients is simply exhilarating. Every single time we receive these photos and stories, I print them out and circulate them among all of our employees so they can see how they help change patients’ lives every single day.
ID: Can you share anything that you might have in the pipeline right now?
RK: Whitening sensitivity is always an issue. We believe that we may have done more to lower sensitivity than any other company, but I’m not stopping my research until I’ve found a way to totally eliminate sensitivity. After the last few years of research, I’m enthusiastic about how our clinical testing is going. If the desensitizing results hold true to what we’ve seen so far, I’ll be very excited indeed.
