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You Should Know: OrthoEssentials by Benjamin Lund, Editor, Orthotown Magazine

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You Should Know: OrthoEssentials
by Benjamin Lund, Editor, Orthotown Magazine

OrthoEssentials is a relatively new distributor in the orthodontic profession, but President and Founder Ron Baron has been providing product value for practices for almost 20 years. Orthotown Magazine sat down with Baron to learn more about his company.

Ron, tell me about OrthoEssentials and what you provide to orthodontists.
Baron: OrthoEssentials is now in its fourth year of operation. We opened our doors January 5, 2009, in the teeth of one of the worst economies we have ever known. Yet, we have made it this far and we are experiencing steady growth. We do not manufacture anything; we are an orthodontic product distributor. However, we have invested with partners in tooling for several products so we have some level of control in the marketplace.

Although OrthoEssentials is relatively new, I bring to the table almost 20 years experience from my prior company so I knew where I could purchase the best U.S.-made products and as a small company, sell them for less.

OrthoEssentials is a full-line supplier. More than 95 percent of our items are produced in the U.S., Germany or Italy. Our line is all about choices. If the clinician needs a product to produce a certain result, more often than not we have several choices to offer. Our product line consists of more than 3,000 items, not including special orders or custom-produced products such as band assemblies.

What is your background prior to starting OrthoEssentials? How did you get started in orthodontics?
Baron: I got my start in orthodontics in 1990 simply by answering an ad in the local newspaper, prior to that I was in an unrelated industry for 10 years. I had just moved back to Pennsylvania after living a few years in California and I was looking for a place to hang my hat, so to speak.

I met with Robert Masel and the rest, as they say, is history. I spent the better part of 18 years with Masel, being promoted to general manager in 2002, a position I held until September of 2008. The industry experience and education garnered through the years is what gave me the confidence to launch OrthoEssentials.

What is your philosophy at OrthoEssentials? What is your goal?
Baron: When we tell our story we always say we are “building our company one client at a time.” It might be a bit cliché, but it is true. We do not have the financial wherewithal to mass market so we do it the old-fashioned way… by building relationships. Our philosophy is very simple. Once we have achieved the goal of turning the clinician into a client, we do all we can to keep them as a client for life. We work hard to find ways to say, “Yes.” We never say to a client, “I can’t do that.” With the amount of time and resources invested to build a relationship, we think it is foolish not to bend the norm to satisfy the client.

In terms of our overall goal, we want every “touch point” to be pleasant and every interaction to be painless from our time on the phone, to the quality of our written correspondence, to accuracy of shipments, to invoicing, etc. We also put surprises in the packages. Many times we will send free goods for no other reason than “just because.” Treating people properly and exceeding their expectations will bring them back time and again. That is our goal.

How does someone contact OrthoEssentials if they wish to work with you?
Baron: To contact OrthoEssentials is quite easy. Aside from our general e-mail, info@orthoessentials.net, every staff member has their own e-mail address. Whoever visits our Web site will find our catalog and a contact form, which can be completed and submitted to us. This is great for our international friends. Of course, we provide toll-free service in the U.S. and Canada and by the time this interview goes to press, we will also have a Skype account. Every one of our top 100 clients has my personal contact information as well – e-mail, phone and cell phone. I’m rarely off duty for my clients.

What kind of service can orthodontists expect when they pick up the phone and call you?
Baron: As I said earlier, we want every touch point and interaction to be pleasant. It all starts by how quickly we answer the phone and the quality of our greeting. I truly believe our clients love calling us. Once they get to know us they realize we are fun, easy to work with, respectful of their time, yet will try to educate or offer a helpful hint regarding a product. My partner has been in the business for more than 25 years and she has built quite an extensive library of helpful hints… soon to be published on our Web site.

Most orders ship complete same day/next day. We work on blanket orders with the manufacturers so we are rarely on backorder. Of course, custom products or special orders will take a bit longer.

We try hard never to say no. If a client has an issue and needs to return something, most times we throw away the rulebook and do all we can to make that client happy, even if there is loss involved for us. That loss is temporary, but hopefully the client is for life.

We are knowledgeable about the products we offer and what we don’t know we readily admit but mobilize to get the answers. We are also not afraid to point a client to a competitor if they are seeking a product or service we cannot provide. If every interaction is pleasurable perhaps they will think of us first.
Orthotown Magazine
October 2025
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