The Kelly Mentorship Method: Cosmetic dentistry, learned in your own office

Four dentists a year

A private mentorship in cosmetic dentistry that accelerates a dentist's path to predictable execution.

You don't just end up knowing more. You finish having done more.

Most cosmetic dentistry is taught to an audience, online or in a lecture hall. This is taught in your office.

I come to your practice, and together we plan, do, and finish a full cosmetic case on your own patient, with your own team. You do the dentistry. I am there to sharpen the judgment behind it.

Private. Practical. Four dentists each year.

Why only four

Because this isn't another course.

I could record videos, build a membership, sell a course. Everyone does. But that is not the thing I want to make. The place cosmetic dentistry is actually learned is the operatory, next to a real patient, while the hard calls are being made, and that is where I want to spend my time.

Explaining cosmetic dentistry is easy. Helping another dentist actually do it well is a different job, and it takes time. So I take four dentists a year, which is as many as I can prepare for and stand beside without cutting a corner. I go to them, and I help them finish the one case that changes how they see themselves.

Monday came

You've already taken the courses.

You watched beautiful cases and took careful notes, saved the photos, and left motivated. Then Monday came. The schedule filled, the emergencies came back, and the phone kept ringing. The veneer case you meant to start got squeezed into a day of general dentistry, or it quietly turned into a referral.

There was no experienced second set of eyes, no feedback in the moment, no one to help you think through the calls that only get clear once the patient is actually in the chair. That is where most cosmetic education quietly ends.

This isn't a failure of effort. It is a failure of passive education. Clinical judgment is built while treating patients, not while watching presentations.

Why this is different

Cosmetic dentistry isn't learned by watching. It's learned by doing.

There has never been more cosmetic education than there is right now. Courses, videos, study clubs, webinars, big conventions, it is all a search away. Finding the information is easy. Applying it, case after case, is the part nobody hands you.

It is knowing when to change the plan, when to trust your prep, and when to leave a tooth alone. It is spotting the case you should turn down instead of taking it on to impress someone. Those calls are rarely learned online or in a seminar. This experience is built to shorten that curve, not by skipping the work, but by sparing you years of trial and error. You still do the dentistry. You just don't have to work it out alone.

Your patient.
Not a typodont or an over-the-shoulder demo.
Your hands.
Not mine.
Right now.
Not someday.

What actually happens

Before I arrive, we've already done the important work.

We go through potential patients, study the photographs, work out the smile design, line up your lab, and set the sequence and the dates with your team. By the time I land, we are not deciding what to do. We are confirming a plan we already built.

Over the visits you do the dentistry yourself. I do not take the handpiece. You finish the case, and you walk away knowing you can do the next one without me. While we work, I talk through the decisions as they come up, give you another set of eyes when you want it, show a technique when it helps, and leave you with a process you can run long after I am gone.

Dr. Kelly guiding a cosmetic case chairside

The patient stays yours. The dentistry stays yours. The outcome becomes yours.

Why I built this

The education was valuable. Applying it was the hard part.

I have practiced cosmetic dentistry for more than thirty years. Like a lot of dentists, I poured years and real money into continuing education, always chasing a better technique or a cleaner system. And every time, there was a gap between learning it in a lecture hall or on a model and actually doing it well on a Tuesday in my own office.

So I started asking a different question. How do I get another dentist there faster, not by skipping the experience, but by shortening the curve and sparing them the avoidable mistakes? Most dentists never end up using what they learned, simply because they never got to do it once in their own office with someone standing beside them. That is the whole reason this exists.

My own biggest jumps never came from sitting in an audience. They came from treating the patient, sweating the hard call, thinking it over that night, and going again.

Dr. John Kelly
Dr. John Kelly
Cosmetic dentist, Chicago

About Dr. Kelly

Dr. John Kelly

For more than three decades I've practiced cosmetic dentistry on the northwest side of Chicago. In that time I've kept studying, and I've lectured at NYU, the University of Chicago, and across the US and Europe. I've done research with Northwestern University and been published online and in graduate textbooks. I developed the +Veneers technique and refined the systems I use every day.

What matters most is that I still love the work. I still enjoy planning a case, and I still get something out of watching a patient see their smile for the first time. I think cosmetic dentistry is learned best in the one place it actually happens, the operatory.

30+ years in cosmetic dentistry Lectures at NYU University of Chicago Northwestern research Creator of +Veneers Published in textbooks
Dr. John Kelly, cosmetic dentist and mentor, Chicago

The work

Ten cases. Real patients, real dentistry.

Before and after on each one. This is the standard you would be learning to produce.

Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Amy
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Angelica
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Danika
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Jayme
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Lauren
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Malick
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Margaret
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Maria
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Milinda
Before cosmetic treatment
Before
After cosmetic treatment
After
Samantha

Two ways to work together

One main experience. One way to prepare for it.

The in-office experience is the product. It is the two visits where you do a full case with me beside you. The remote mentorship is the lighter way in, three months of case guidance to sharpen your judgment first. Most dentists choose one. Some do both. We find the right starting point on your call.

The way in · Remote

Private Case Mentorship

Three months of private guidance on your own cases, so you are ready when you do the case in person.

$5,000or 4 monthly payments of $1,375
  • +Three one-on-one sessions, 45 minutes each, one every four to six weeks.
  • +Case selection and smile design critique on your own patients.
  • +Treatment sequencing, preps, provisionals, and workflow planning.
  • +Lab direction feedback and photography review.
  • +Patient communication and case presentation strategy.

Best for a dentist building toward that first big case who wants expert eyes on real work first.

Let's talk
The main experience · In your office · Four a year

Private Clinical Experience

I come to your office. One carefully chosen patient, one carefully planned case. You perform the dentistry. We review the outcome together.

$20,000or 5 monthly payments of $4,200
Before the visits · Required

A full case workup together. Patient selection, photo review, smile design, sequencing, and a prep plan. Everything is ready before I arrive.

Visit one · Prep

Day one, we review design, shade, and proportion, then you perform the preparation while I guide and correct every step. Day two, we place the temporaries, check the bite, adjust shape and contours, and take scans and photos.

Visit two · Deliver

Day one, you remove the temporaries, try in the restorations, and place the finals. Day two, we check the bite, refine if needed, and take final scans and photos.

To finish · The debrief

A review of what you did well and what to sharpen, plus documentation of your case and a prep checklist to keep.

The fee covers everything on my side. My travel, food, lodging, the planning, and all four days. Your lab and materials for the case are your own, the same as any patient case you bill for. And the case you finish can bill more than the experience costs.

You don't just leave knowing more. You leave having done more.

Let's talk

Get comfortable doing one more veneer case every two months. That is six cases a year. At an average fee of $18,000, that is $108,000. Get comfortable doing more than one a month, and the return climbs from there.

I am not selling two days. I am selling a compressed learning curve.

Two add-ons

Monthly retainer$1,500-$2,500 / mo

Ongoing case review and coaching. The continuation after we work together.

Veneer case outsourcingPer case

I plan a case with you start to finish: design blueprint, mockup specs, prep guides, lab communication, and a patient communication outline.

We sort out the right fit on your call.

What you leave with

It changes more than a single case.

  • +The next cosmetic patient in your chair feels different.
  • +The consultation is clearer.
  • +The treatment plan is more organized.
  • +Communication with your patient and your lab becomes more intentional.
  • +The preparation feels more controlled.
  • +The delivery becomes more predictable.
  • +You aren't wondering what to do next. You are working from a process you have already done.

That changes how you approach every cosmetic patient going forward.

My commitment

My goal is to make you more capable, not dependent.

Every dentist who works with me gets my full attention, before the visit and all the way through it. And if one more planning session afterward would help you carry what we did into your next case, we book it. Simple as that.

Questions

Straight answers.

I've already taken cosmetic CE. Why is this different?

Because you apply what you've learned right away, on your own patient, in your own practice.

Will you perform the dentistry?

No. I guide, and at most I do very minimal work. The patient stays yours. The dentistry stays yours. I am there to help you think through decisions and build a process you can repeat.

What if I don't have the right patient?

We identify and plan the right case together before we schedule the visit.

What do I need before you arrive?

We prepare a full readiness checklist covering photography, lab coordination, materials, scheduling, and team prep.

Is travel included?

Yes. My travel, lodging, and planning are included. Your normal lab and restorative costs stay part of the patient's treatment.

How many dentists do you work with each year?

Four.

Let's talk

Every practice is different.

Every dentist brings a different level of experience. This conversation is a chance to understand where you are today, where you want to go, and which path gives you the most value. From there we find the best fit and a time that works for both of us.

  1. 1 You tell me where you are and what you want to do more of.
  2. 2 We talk, and we decide together if it is a fit.
  3. 3 If it is right, we plan the case and set your dates.

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