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It's a common trajectory: Dental schools create great dentists, but they don't create good business owners. Kiera shares three critical (but attainable!) tips for creating a profitable, scalable, and enjoyable practice, so doctors can continue doing the work they love. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I'm excited to chat with practice owners, office managers, and to kind of just talk about like what every practice owner should know. But I think a lot of us learn that too late. Myself included, I feel like business owners, I feel like we are great at our craft, but at business we learn it a little too late. And so I think that like I looked at all of our students at Midwestern and they learned how to be great dentists, but they didn't.   learn how to become great business owners. And we hear this all the time. I'm not saying anything new. I just think that a lot of practices hit ceilings because it's not their clinical skills. It's the business outgrows their knowledge. It's like, hey, take me to the moon. You're like, I've never been to the moon. And so I think just being able to help practice owners today realize in office managers, like leadership systems and financial decisions really are like the core. That's why we call it the yes success model. So you, that's the leadership,   systems and earnings. Like that's really what makes up a successful practice. But I feel like that feels so easy. But I want to just walk through like what are three things that every business owner needs to know to have a profitable, scalable and enjoyable practice. You guys the Dental A Team like we work with hundreds of practices across the nation from startup practices to multi-million dollar offices. And what I realize is the challenges are all the same. Like it's fundamentally stays the same. It just gets bigger or smaller based on the size of practice that you're in. And so   I think so many people know how to work really hard. I think so many people outproduce their problems. I think so many people they just it I hear all the time when people are calling to work with us, like Kiera, I just don't know what I don't know. And so today I just want to go through like, let's just talk about three things that I feel like every single business owner needs to know and some tactical ways that you can implement this. So hopefully it takes you from being stuck to unstuck. If you've heard this in the past, maybe you're hearing it at a different time. I know for me these are three fundamentals that I go back to no matter what phase of the business I'm in.   No matter what size of practice I'm in, none of that. So number one is going to be your leadership is like completely the like growth of your business. And your business will never outgrow your leadership. And so your business is a reflection of you as the leader. I remember reading Jocko Willink's book about that extreme ownership. And it was like everything about your business is a reflection of you. And when so when I'm frustrated of the systems or the scalability or the lack of accountability, that's me. And so when we have that.   I hate this, but I love this. Is where can we get consistency? Where can we stop the firefighting? Where can we like make sure that we've got stronger accountability? And where can we make sure that the doctor's not carrying everything? Because I think so many doctors are like, I'll just do it. I got this. Like, I I'm a hard worker. I know how to GSD. I know how to get through this. But I'm like, okay, we've got to figure out how like being a leader is not just a title. How do we create more clarity and how do we create more consistency? And how do we develop leaders and owners within our organization?   And so for this, like when I look at our leadership and how for you not to get stuck in that, like being a great leader is being able to make hard decisions. Being a great leader is how do I create clarity and consistency for my team? Being a great leader is how do I make sure that my team understands the numbers and we use those numbers to guide our decisions. we were going through a whole list the other day of of topics of leadership. And I was like, gosh, I like leadership is   It's a journey. It's an evolution. It's not something that you just do overnight. and I think about Kiera as a leader when I first started and she was erratic. I was like, I was turbulent. I had so many pieces. but leadership is maturity. it's how do I get people to buy into a vision? How do I rally them and how do I get them to buy into a vision? How am I to be a CEO versus a manager and really understanding the difference of those two hats? How do I have time management where I   Truly focus on the most important things, not just because I'm capable of doing it, but because I'm the only one that can do it. How do I delegate and work through my team? How do I like learn people and work to their strengths and work to their superpowers? Working through my team, not just working with my team, using my team. How do I have the art of influence? How do I grow my team members into incredible people? How do I see that potential when I'm hiring? How do I hire better? How do I figure   like leading, managing, and holding people accountable. How do I have consistency? How am I an example, but not the one who has to do everything? how do I value my team? Do I see them as an asset or a liability? How do I help my team feel valued without being the one who does it all? Like there's a there's a there's a great quote over here today that says I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is try to please everybody. And that's by Herbert Swoop. And I thought about that as I was prepping for the podcast today of   That's I think in leadership where I'm not trying to please everybody. I'm going to make decisions that upset people, but I'm always going to make decisions that are in the best interest of the business. how do I own my mindset and make sure that I'm showing up with that clear, sharp mind? How do I have like mental health and grit and make sure I'm having that? What about creating culture, getting a team of ownership, having like my office manager, doctor, duo and having that relationship? What about performance management of my team?   So when I look at this and I think about this, like leadership, like you developing and growing as a leader. And I think that when I go back to this of like a lot of owners just think like I owned it, I got the title of a leader. But leadership is this evolution and this journey. It's becoming, it's evolving. It's all those pieces I listed off, and yet it's not a, it's not a checklist. Like, how do I learn to listen and not react? How do I learn to have my team come up with solutions rather than me?   So I rattled off a lot and all those can hit people at different phases of business. And I believe that I can check one of those off and then I can move. And then my team will double in size or our business will double in size. And I might have to go back to the beginning and the basics again of like, all right, I gotta figure out again how to work through my team. we went from having where me and our team was doing it to where now we're bringing on the C suites and the leader I need to become to manage a C suite versus the leader I needed to be.   Run when Tiff and I were just running the business together. The way I act and interact with my EA and personal assistant today versus when I first had one. It's an evolution. It's a leadership. It's an evolution of who you are. And so it's how do how do we become better at leadership? And I would say listen to podcasts, read books. some I I go back to fundamentals. I read the go giver constantly, I read traction a lot. It's so but boring. Like, sorry, Gino, it's very boring.   read the book, How to Be a Great Boss, Crucial Conversations, Discipline Without Punishment. Those are just some great books, but also look at great leaders and what do they do. For me, I'm a big mimic and mirror. So I talk to people, I talk to dentists that have really great cultures. This is why I love our mastermind group. I bring the best of the best of the best together. And I know because we work with all of them and I know our dentists personally, I have a lot of my great core leaders that I know are just dynamite leaders.   I have them share what do they do? How do they have it? How do they have performance reviews? How do they give cr like critical feedback? Some of the dentists early on in my career. I had them practice these conversations with me, like literally would have to send me voice memos. Practice your leadership skills. Use a consultant. Let's talk through how we're gonna have this conversation, how are we gonna talk to our team about this? But really I think like if I break it down to the nuts and bolts, it's how do I get a team to buy into a vision? How do I make sure that we hold accountability and ownership?   And how do I make sure that I maintain consistency and clarity? I think if I boiled it down and that's a rift on my own side, like not prepped, those would be the pieces I'd boil down. And so how do you become a stronger leader in those areas? And again, there's just indecision is worse than a wrong decision. And so just making those decisions, being more confident in yourself. someone once said like 2.0 is sitting here, and I think about Kiera 2.0, like she wasn't born, she was created.   Leaders are not born, they're created. You've got to like flex and strengthen that leadership skill because your practice can never outgrow your leadership. And if you want to get to the next level of growth, whether that's financially, whether that's profitability, you have to flex and become a different leader. If you've got pure chaos in your office, that's you. If you've got people who aren't falling through, that's you. And that doesn't mean you have to go fix it. I mean, that's you tolerating that. And that's the standards of your practice. Your business will always fall, not to what you say, but what you tolerate.   And so being that leader that raises the standards, I this year I was annoyed. I was like, okay, we're going for outcomes over activity. I realized I was tracking activity, but that's not moving our company forward. We need to be tracking outcomes. Our team is flourishing. But me as a leader, I need to be looking down the line and seeing, and I need to be developing myself as well. I go to the gym, I put myself into a complete fitness competition where I wanted to get to my best physical, like PRs, physical fitness. I went through   A cut. I've never done a cut before. I push myself physically, mentally, often because to me that's a a different pressure test that's gonna sh like allow me to show up better as a leader as well. So it doesn't even have to just be within your practice. Discipline at the gym, discipline in working out, discipline in how you show up, discipline in how you eat, those things are going to make you a far superior leader. I will tell you.   Going through a cut where I had the least amount of calories, I was the strongest, most sharpest leader I've ever been. And I was exhausted. But I knew I needed to show up and I needed to be stronger and I needed to think better ways. So those are going to be some zones hopefully that will help you on leadership. The other one that I found that a lot of people miss is we talk about so often, but systems truly do create freedom, not restrictions. And I think people think that they need to have really strong and lots of systems. And even our team was doing this, but realistically.   There's just a few core systems that need to be in place. There's not a lot of systems that actually need to be there, but they do need to be consistent. They do need to be scalable, and they do need to be followed through on. And so when we look at it, our team was going through and there's there's business fundamentals like core value, vision, mission, org chart, meeting cadences, figuring out our BAM, figuring out our projections, looking at our overhead. Like those are business fundamentals. And then there's systems. And we actually broke it down and we're like, gosh, if we just put into place like 10 core.   Most things are going to get better. Most things are going to get fixed. Most things are going to get resolved. But they're not sexy. They're not fun. They're not things that I'm like, my gosh, like, let me get on a podcast and tell everybody, like, let's just fix these seven items. But that's all it really is. But I think that what happens is we want to continue to scale. We want to continue to build. For me, I want to reinvent, reinvent, reinvent, reinvent. But that's actually not something that's going to grow us. And so it's like,   Just having KPIs that we track and monitor and we use those to make our decisions, having a solid morning huddle with an agenda, following set meeting cadences, having proper handoffs, having a proper scheduling protocol, having case acceptance protocols, having a collections protocol, working on new patients and referrals, having a period protocol, recare reactivation. Like those are really core items that if you have those systems where you follow them and we scale them and everybody's doing it the same way, 95% of your problems get fixed.   Of course, there's other ones. There's hiring, there's onboarding, there's leadership, there's all these other ones. But I think so many people don't want to just be at the basics. We want to reinvent the will. We want to do these things, like have job descriptions at the end of days. Like just do it. It's boring. It's not fun. People are like, wow, wow. We have to have a a morning huddle prep sheet. Why do pilots have checklists? Like the checklist manifesto. They create freedom, they create predictability, and they create systemization. That's all you need to do.   And I found that when offices follow it, when we have it in place. And for me, I also don't want systems to be something that people have to remember. How can I have it as a true system like Chick-fil-A where their burgers come out with three pickles every single time? How do I make sure that our schedule has the same system every single time? How do I make sure that our our handoffs have the same thing every single time? And I don't have to hope that 15 team members remember it. We're gonna put this in to where we have it consistent every single time, no matter who's doing it, no matter what new team member comes in.   That is scalability with systemization. And so have it documented, have it simple, have it repeatable. That's gonna get duplicated. So I think for offices, systemization really that that's the core. That's the systems. It's not sexy, but it is very, very effective. And then the third things that I think a lot of people don't realize, including myself, is you have to know your numbers better than anyone else. That's better than your CPA, better than your financial advisor. You have to know, and that's not just production, that's profit. Like I remember someone said,   production feeds the ego, profit feeds the family. And I think about this all the time. Like, you have to know your production. And I'm talking net, not gross, your collections, your overhead. Then within your overhead, like what is our payroll? What is our supplies? What's our marketing? What are our labs? What's our profitability? And then what's our billing and our AR? You know those numbers. You're solid. You can make so much stronger decisions. You don't, you have financial surprises, you make poor decisions, you're on reactive rather than proactive.   You grow, but you don't have profit. Like, I can't tell you how many offices I've that are singing the five, six, seven, eight million and they have no money. And I'm like, golly, you're making so much money, but you don't know how to keep the money. You gotta make the money and you gotta keep the money. All right. Like that's what we gotta do. So you have to make sure that our profit is there and we can't be willy-nilly. To me, you guys know I talk about the MMs. I do money and meditation in the morning. So triple for you morning, meditation, money. Look at it every single day. Look at your P and L.   If you don't know your overhead and your profit right now without looking, you gotta know it better. You have to. And that's a doctor and an OM. You must know this number. This number creates all the drive. Profit is the only number I actually care about. Like I can sit here, we can track all the KPIs, so many things, but if your profits down, everything else in your life is hard. Your profits up, most things in your life are really easy. Money solves a lot of problems. And so let's have profit. Let's have like I'm stressed out, I'm moving my hair around. Like   I don't enjoy this. This stresses me out because you've got to know your numbers better than anyone else. You don't sit here and lie, if your CPA is not delivering to you by the second of the month, like the second week of the month, get a better CPA. Like they work for you. You have to know your numbers. You have to be confident in them. And if things fill off, challenge it, question it until it gets right. Don't just sit here haphazardly. That is not a strong business owner. This one fires me up more than anything because I used to not know my numbers. My husband was like, Kiera, I don't get it. Why are you broke? And like,   I don't know. Well, I learned this great thing about AR. I had like a hundred grand sitting in AR that I didn't know about. We weren't collecting properly. You better believe I fixed that real fast to where I'm never gonna be in that situation again. And you layer by layer by layer, you get more and more and more financially savvy, but you have to know your numbers better than anyone else. You know your production numbers or so, I hope. If you don't know that number, but do you know your collections? Do you know your collection percentage? Do you know your overhead? Do you know your payroll percentage? Do you know your supply sip? If you don't,   You must learn that. So I'll get off my rant. But this was funny. They said production is a vanity, profitability is a reality. And I think that that's a good anchor line of yes, it is. Profitability is your reality. So your numbers are gonna tell the truth whether you choose to look at them or not. The truth is always there. Some of us don't want to like get on the scale and say weigh. I had a great trainer tell me, she's like, Kiera, that number means nothing other than giving us data and information. It's not my   Self-worth, it's nothing. Just like your profitability is just a number on a scale. It just gives us data. If we spend more money on payroll, this is the number that we get. We make better decisions if we know. But I will tell you, your success, your happiness, your stress is all tied to you knowing these numbers or not. And a lot of people are like, no, no, no, I don't want to. Yeah, right. You're sitting in stress constantly that you don't even realize. So know your numbers. Schedule a monthly financial review. Commit to knowing the story behind your numbers.   Like, do money meditation with me every morning. Just have your bank account on there. Just look at it every morning. Look at your PL every day. I don't care. Do not sit in excuses on your money. You're a business owner, you've got to know this. So I hope that wasn't too much of a rant. But I hope it gave you some good tips on how to have leadership. some good money books. I love Profit First by Mike McAllicks. I also love Money Master the Game by Tony Robbins. That was a long book, but it taught me a lot.   there's some great financial podcasts out there. there's also some really crummy ones. I The Psychology of Money was another great one that I read that was on financial. systems, the checklist manifesto is a great one. Come up for air is a great book. There's several great books based on where you're struggling. But if you notice, this is our yes success model. You as a leader, earnings and profitability, system structure and scale. That's what it is. And every single one of those will give you the yes success model.   You've got to take care of them. You've got to do leadership. You've got to do profitability. You gotta do systems. The yes success model follows constantly. So what part are you the weakest in? What part are you the strongest in? And where do you need to grow? This is the zone like you're not a great practice is not built by accident. It's intentional, it's focused, it's consistent. I had another great trainer. She said, Kiera, it's not about perfection, it's about consistency. That's I don't care if last month you didn't look at your numbers.   I do care if you consistently are not looking at the numbers. You aren't, I'm not expecting perfection, but we do have to have consistency. So how can you have more consistency? And if you're feeling overwhelmed, it doesn't mean you're failing. It just means that you've outgrown the current systems, you've outgrown where you're at, you've outgrown the knowledge. It's kind of like the Wi-Fi symbol. You're just popping up to the next level. And your next level of growth comes from working harder. Like it can, but it usually comes from knowing your business better, leading better, making better decisions with finances. So this is what we're obsessed with.   I love to help you. I love our team to help you. I love you to be a part of our community. We talk about this every single month. We talk about this in person. Come be a part of it. Like for me, I'm not going to get a six-pack without a trainer overseeing me. You might not be able to grow your business without a trainer overseeing you, an advisor helping you, somebody getting you out of the rut, somebody helping you get to that next Wi-Fi symbol. So let's help you out. Reach out. Hello at the Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. You guys, this is your life, your practice. And I feel like these things are not known. I feel like they're kind of known.   But knowing and executing are the difference between winning and losing. Are you just gonna know the facts or are you gonna actually execute on it? The challenge is there, the choice is there, and I hope that you choose to be somebody who executes. Reach out, let's get you out of the hole. Come on, let's do Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Online upsets at BLAST Bounty, Major stickers money issue, and asking the questions for the fall season: Vitality era, Falcons contender status, #1 conversation, next Major winner, and more in this episode of Confirmed!➡️ Follow us for updates: https://twitter.com/HLTVconfirmed

Shaju Puthussery and Deepak Ramaswamy are the CEO and CTO of LightSpun, which is rebuilding the back-end engine of insurance processing as agentic AI infrastructure, starting in dental and moving into vision and ancillary benefits. Both came from Overjet, where Deepak was a co-founder and Shaju the first employee, and this conversation is largely about why they walked away from that thesis. Reading X-rays was the visible AI problem. Underneath it was a plumbing problem: claims that never reach clinical review because the documents were wrong, the provider record did not match, or the file never loaded cleanly.Two things in this episode surprised us. The first is that their most valuable asset was an accident. Shaju assumed credentialing was table stakes until a payer CEO told him it was blocking dentist onboarding, and one weekend later Deepak had an approach. That became the rail for roughly 87% of practicing dentists in the US and the provider data spine that feeds adjudication. The second is Shaju's answer to whether anyone profits from claim friction, which is not the cynical answer most people give.We discuss:Why Deepak argues the AI question is not either-or, and why world-class clinical review is worthless if the claim cannot get to itThe moment their business model was confidently wrong: they built for benefits configuration, customers came back asking about credentialing, duplicate records, and file loads, and a startup that planned to do one thing had to bet on tenWhy credentialing was never a Trojan horse for the provider data layer, how the same 200,000-dentist dataset gets monetized twice, and what obligation comes with being the thing the system quietly depends onThe honest ceiling on model performance: 85 to 90% out of the box, and why the climb to 98 or 99% production-ready is where the humans actually liveThe exact decision they will not automate, with the line drawn between deterministic denials (two cleanings a year, a $2,000 annual max) and anything touching a clinical outcomeWhy regulation, not technology, sets the pace, and how they take a faster primary source verification method to their internal NCQA leader with screenshots, timestamps, and source authenticity to prove it still holds upShaju's contrarian read on the $17 to $21 billion admin waste question: no one is winning from the friction, both sides are automating, and the real goal is shifting dollars from admin to careBringing fintech into adjudication with a benefits flex card that carries a Visa or Mastercard rail, blocks non-covered procedures at the chair, and opened doors to a vendor network of roughly 150 health plansThe discipline of not chasing every model release, what Hugging Face taught them early about picking bets, and why the architecture is built to swap foundation models out entirelyDeepak's pushback on the beachhead narrative: dental is several years behind medical, which means the solutions may not transfer cleanly, and they designed for vision and ancillary from day one rather than treating dental as a waypointWhy compliance came before the AI story, with SOC 2 Type 2, HITRUST, and NCQA in place first so they could get in the room with large payers at allThe legacy Deepak actually wants: recognized as the company that automated the boring and the safe, and left the critical decisions with people—Brought to you by: Sage Growth Partners — Value-focused strategy and marketing for growth-driven healthcare organizations.—Where to find Jared:• X: https://x.com/jaredstaylor• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredstaylor/

Lisa Arciga, Procurement Manager at Pearl Street Dental Partners, Tim Otto, CEO of Alcan Dental Cooperative & Riley Berg, Business Development Manager at Dental City discuss: Standardizing Procurement AI in Purchasing Last Minute Ordering To connect with Dental City visit: https://dentalcity.com/ or contact Riley Berg at rberg@dentalcity.com Connect with Lisa Arciga at lisa@pearlstreetdentalpartners.com or visit https://www.pearlstreetdentalpartners.com/ You can also learn more about Alcan Dental Cooperative at https://www.alcandentalcooperative.com/ . Subscribe to our channel for more episodes and stay updated on the latest DSO news, insights, and events! If you like our podcast, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on iTunes https://apple.co/2Nejsfa and a Thumbs Up on YouTube.

In this episode of Ask George, Dr. George Hariri breaks down the pros, cons, and brutal truths of running a fee-for-service dental practice. While dropping insurance is a dream for many in dental practice ownership, George explains why going out-of-network is often like "swimming upstream". It becomes significantly harder to attract new patients and retain existing ones when they face higher out-of-pocket costs.However, if you are committed to this model, it can be incredibly rewarding when executed correctly. To achieve sustainable dental practice growth without relying on PPOs, you must deliver an experience that justifies the premium price tag.Here is your blueprint for operating a successful fee-for-service dental practice:Simulate the In-Network Experience: The best out-of-network offices are extremely insurance-friendly. You must submit claims on behalf of the patient and avoid charging extra for preventative care whenever possible to reduce friction.Leverage Rural Markets: The most predictable path to fee-for-service success is in rural or underserved areas. When there is a severe lack of access to care, patients have no choice but to tolerate out-of-network fees.Create a Unique Value Proposition: If you are operating in a highly competitive, urban market, your patient experience—from the doctor-patient relationship to the physical office environment—must be undeniably superior to the in-network clinic down the street.Transition Slowly: If you are acquiring an in-network clinic, do not abruptly transition into a fee-for-service dental practice. Build your patient base first, establish goodwill, and then gradually drop the lowest-paying plans one at a time.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

Out-of-pocket exposure is an important component in Medicare coverage conversations. In this episode, learn which costs factor into the OOP equation and help your clients make more educated decisions.   Read the text version   Get Connected:

Is dental assisting just a job or can it become a long term career with more opportunities, higher confidence, and greater earning potential? In this episode, we explore why national certification is helping dental assistants take their careers to the next level and why leading organizations are investing in professional growth. In part two of this three part series, Kevin Henry is joined by Amber Musser from Aspen Dental and Atia Black from the Dental Assisting National Board to discuss why national certification matters for dental assistants. They explain how certification strengthens clinical knowledge in areas like infection control, radiation health and safety, and regulatory compliance while also creating more career opportunities across multiple states. The conversation highlights how certification builds confidence, validates experience, increases job satisfaction, and can lead to higher earning potential. Amber also shares how Aspen Dental's investment in certification has improved retention, strengthened provider and assistant partnerships, and removed barriers that once kept many dental assistants from advancing their careers. Together, they make the case that supporting professional development is not only good for individual dental assistants but also improves patient care and strengthens the future of the dental workforce. Connect with DANB and Aspen Dental DANB Website: www.danb.org DANB State Requirements www.danb.org/state-requirements Aspen Dental Website: www.aspendental.com ------------------- Dental assistants play a powerful role in whether patients move forward with treatment. You are a key part of the patient journey, and having the right financial options can make all the difference. CareCredit is a health and wellness credit card that offers flexible financing options, so patients can pay over time for the care they want or need, subject to credit approval. When money isn't the obstacle, patients say yes. Want to make CareCredit part of your practice's offerings and strengthen case acceptance? Email me at kevin@kevinspeaksdental.com and let's make it happen for your team.

Alan welcomes back CAD-Ray's Damien Bonner to demystify the rapidly evolving world of chairside 3D printing and digital restorative workflows. The two kick off the conversation with a lighthearted look at phishing scams targeting clinicians before diving into CAD-Ray's scanner lineup, including the Shining 3D Elf and Elite. Damien breaks down the new Shining 3D Ceramix Nano restorative printer, comparing its compact footprint, built-in curing, and $6,000 price tag to existing systems like the SprintRay Midas. They also tackle the major shifts in software licensing—highlighting Exocad's new accessible monthly subscription model and cloud-based AI design tools—and discuss how printed resins compare to milled ceramics for long-term clinical success, inlays, onlays, and provisionals. Some links from the show: CAD-Ray Exocad subscriptions at CAD-Ray Shining 3D Elf and Elite Shining 3D Ceramix Nano Sprint Ray Midas Join the Very Dental Facebook Group using one of these passwords: Timmerman, Paul, Bioclear, Hornbrook, Gary, McWethy, Papa Randy, Frank or Lipscomb!  The Very Dental Podcast network is and will remain free to download. If you'd like to support the shows you love at Very Dental then show a little love to the people that support us! We're proud to be supported by the folks at Net32! I'm a big fan of the Bioclear Method! I think you should give it a try and I've got a great offer to help you get on board! Use the exclusive Very Dental Podcast code VERYDENTAL8TON for 15% OFF your total Bioclear purchase, including Core Anterior and Posterior Four day courses, Black Triangle Certification, and all Bioclear products. Crazy Dental has everything you need from cotton rolls to equipment and everything in between and the best prices you'll find anywhere! If you head over to verydentalpodcast.com/crazy and use coupon code "VERYSHIP" you'll get free shipping on your order! Go save yourself some money and support the show all at the same time! The Wonderist Agency is basically a one stop shop for marketing your practice and your brand. From logo redesign to a full service marketing plan, the folks at Wonderist have you covered! Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/wonderist! Enova Illumination makes the very best in loupes and headlights, including their new ergonomic angled prism loupes! They also distribute loupe mounted cameras and even the amazing line of Zumax microscopes! If you want to help out the podcast while upping your magnification and headlight game, you need to head over to verydentalpodcast.com/enova to see their whole line of products! CAD-Ray offers the best service on a wide variety of digital scanners, printers, mills and even  their very own browser based design software, Clinux! CAD-Ray has been a huge supporter of the Very Dental Podcast Network and I can tell you that you'll get no better service on everything digital dentistry than the folks from CAD-Ray. Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/CADRay!

Kiera shares ways practices can make patients feel valued from that first visit to their final treatment, including tips for establishing consistency, intentionality, and the genuine connections between it all. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I wanted to just talk about how to help people feel valued. Like, I know that seems so cliche. I know you're like, great, but patience to team members, like, what are some of those secret sauces that just really make people feel that extra ump to feel that extra peace? Because honestly, patients don't leave because of bad dentistry. Patients leave because they don't feel seen, known, or valued. And I don't think it's about being overly nice.   I just think it's about being intentional. And so today I want to just kind of dive into something that's going to impact your patients, your team, your leaders. of just like little tips. What are some little ways? And I'll I'll do a patient side and I'll do a team side of how do you help people just feel valued, feel like humans? And the reason I want to bring this up is because I feel like this actually is a like, gosh, it's like the   Like the cheat code, if you will, to success right now. I feel like so many people are mean. I feel like so many people don't genuinely care right now. People are just not nice in the world anymore. And so to me, I'm like, this is the cheat code to success. This is one of the easiest ways for you to improve and to win in the patient experience, to improve and to win in the team retention experience. And it's one of those of like, how do we have a full journey and different little things to have? So   A lot of pieces that I'm gonna pull from are a book that I really enjoyed, Unreasonable Hospitality. If you haven't read it, read it. That one is one of my like go-tos that I think of often of how can I make magic moments for my patients and for my team. And that's really showing them and help them to feel valued. So a couple of things, and this ties to leadership and this ties to patient experiences. We've got to make sure that we're consistent, having consistency in how we lead, not having favorites, consistency in our patient experience. There was a book, gosh.   I can see the title of it. It's blue. You guys are gonna like write me an email and tell me what it is. But it was about this guy who went to the barber. And every time you go into the barber, it was a different experience. So, like the first time he got like a warm towel and a great shave. Then the second time he like got a shave, but not a warm towel, and then he got a drink. The third time, like towel, no shave, no drink. And he left. And I thought about it like.   Gosh, if you could just be consistent. I think about Starbucks. People say I go to Starbucks not because they have great coffee, but because I know it's always going to be consistent every time I go. And I think about this like people want that consistency. They want the experience to be consistent. They want their boss to be consistent. Like every single month we do one-on-one check-ins and I check in on you on your life and who you are. And we do morning huddles every day. Like things that can feel consistent with our patients. We have a warm handoff. Like it's   A handoff every single time where it just feels like we're a put together movie set, if you will. Like it's like we don't feel rushed. I remember I was in the ER for my appendix years ago. Yep. That was fun. That was a fun moment. And I remember the ER doctor just it felt like he was the nicest human in the entire world. I was not doped up on drugs. at the point, I was in a lot of pain still, but he was so nice to me. And my husband happened to like step out to go use the bathroom and   I remember he's like, Kiera, I saw that ER doctor and he was freaking running, like running. But as soon as he got to the door, he like put himself together, walked in, and was like calm as a cucumber. And I think for us in our patient experience, like we don't want to feel rushed. We don't want to feel like we are rushing through. You can be very efficient and consistent and help patients really feel very valued. So for example, we have a very consistent handoff from hygienist to doctor, where the patient's a part of it. We're not talking behind their head.   We're talking to them as a human, they're part of it. And like I call it the ICRP handoff. So introduction, compliment, recap the treatment already discussed, and do a personal note. This way the patient feels like you heard me, you listened to me. This hygienist has been actually taking care of me or dental assistants. Dental assistants are a little trickier, I get it. but if we say like, hey, Dr. Jones, this is Kiera, you met her last time. she's been doing an amazing job on her flossing. She's really, really ramped that up.   Just so you know, we already chatted. She knows she's got a couple of crowns probably on the upper right. She knows she needs to come back for that deep cleaning. and then she also knows that there's probably a couple of fillings on the lower left. And then just so you know, Dr. Jones, Kiera is headed off to Hawaii next month. and she's just we're so excited for that Hawaii trip. She's gonna absolutely love it. Well, now Dr. Jones can seem incredibly warm. Have a warm welcome, talk to me about Hawaii, compliment me on my flossing. Me as a patient, I instantly feel at ease and I feel like you love me.   You know me, you heard about me, you're going to take great care of me and you're genuinely interested in me. Then doctor does the exam. Doctor then wraps up with the next visit, the date, the time, the recare, making sure that's all done. Wishes me well on Hawaii because we've already made that easy connection. That could take five to seven minutes tops from start to finish. And that patient just felt like I had the most incredible experience with that doctor. I felt like the whole team is on board. Then that hygienist takes that front office team member up.   Or that patient up to the front office and they say, Hey, perfect, Dr. Jones on C Care back in two weeks. We're gonna start with the upper cro the upper right crowns. We're also gonna get her scheduled for that deep cleaning. Kiera, Sarah's amazing. She's gonna take incredible care of you. We've already got your cleaning scheduled for you. I can't wait to see you back in a couple of weeks. she's gonna take great care of you. Now Sarah picks it up and Sarah schedules me and perfect. Let's get you in with Dr. Jones. We'll make sure you're super taken care of. How was it today for you? All these different pieces for you.   Let's get you scheduled. We're gonna get you scheduled for that crown. Blah dah da. Gets me scheduled, sends me on my way. I have a great experience. That feels so consistent. And if that happens every single time where the doctor gets a handoff, the doctor handoffs to the hygienist, hygienist hands off to the front office or clinical team. We say it the same way. We have it. People feel like this experience was magical. They feel like, wow, they like really have their stuff put together. They feel very connected. They feel like they know me. I didn't feel rushed through the process.   You can be psychotic, rushed and behind, but that patient doesn't need to feel that because you are like that ER doctor where you are a duck on water and you're just paddling underneath, but you're taking care of all the pieces. And they're judging like patients and team judge the entire experience. So if we're talking about patients and helping them feel valued scene, practice these interactions. Practice how it is. We can practice how the new patient experience happens. Like, what do we say on the phone? How do we schedule them? What happens if it's ringing?   Also pay attention to when they walk in. Like, does someone greet them consistently every time? Do we have our coffee bar stocked all the time? Do we have like nice things all the time for them? Whatever our experience is, you don't have to go expensive. You don't have to have, but you just make it consistent for them where they can count on it and it feels welcoming. I will also do a hard, like no food at the front office. It drives me nuts. I can't tell you how many times I've walked in and they're eating, and I'm just like, stop it. I know you don't think it's that big of a deal, but it feels you're in a medical space. Stop that. Don't.   Front office, I used to be guilty of this. I had like my little snacks in the drawer. No, go to the break room, get your water in the back. Don't have clutter everywhere. Have it clean when they walk in. Make those patients feel like this is the best decision. It's clean. It's welcoming. Also, if you're on the phone, no problem. You can like wave to them. You can make eye contact with them. You can like point to the drinks. give them a little heart. Like you're so happy that they're there and so welcoming to them. When you answer the phone, smile.   Like every single time we smile, we're so happy to answer that phone. and to truly love them. And so if you do each of those little checkpoints, patients feel insanely valued. And then we pivot that to how do we make our team feel the same way? Let's have morning huddles where we do shout outs of core values. Let's have one-on-one check-ins with them every time. Let's every single day doctors like if you need to, I had a doctor set a compliment alarm where you genuinely compliment and say thank you. Not just a   Thanks for a great day. It's a, hey Kiera, thanks for rocking that root canal with me today. Like you crushed it. I couldn't do this without you. And I'm so grateful I can always count on you. Very intentional thank yous to your team members. Both sides of that equation make both people feel very valued. Doesn't take a lot of time. It's just very consistent. Other things I feel are just very confident on like next steps. And this ties to patients and team members. that's NDTR. Like, what is the next step at the end of my exam? Like,   What am I doing? Where are we going? How much time is this? That way patients aren't defaulting to like, I'm gonna think about this or whatever. Same thing with team members. If we've got one-on-one corrective action, like what is the next step? What is that process? Britt in our company, she does a lot of our operations in HR and she says clear is kind. And I think for both patients and team members to feel valued, to feel seen, what's clear? Like how do I make this as clear as possible? Clear is kind. So what are the next steps? Being very clear on our communication.   Making sure our treatment plans are clear, making sure we're asking what questions do you have, not do you have questions? Same thing with team members. Both of these are interchangeable. Like, here is the plan. What questions do you have for me? When we're rolling out a new training, what questions do you have for me? I'm going to send over the plan. This is what's expected of every person. These are the dates. These are the times. This is the expectation of what we're going to do. This way people feel certain. Certainty creates confidence and certainty creates value. People feel like   They're ready to go. Like confusion is the enemy of execution on either side. Confusion is where people feel anxious. People feel don't value. They don't feel seen. They don't feel loved. So how do we make everything with our patient experience and our team experience where we have clear communication, where it's drawn out, it's very much where people can just feel solid. You might not like the decisions, you might not like the treatment, but you're very clear. The communication was clear, the expectations were clear. Pieces were very, very clear for you. And then another piece is like,   Making sure we have genuine relationships, not just transactional relationships. So knowing people, like so if we have a big case, I'm really big on like calling those patients. There are pe places where you can have automated voicemails so it acts like you call them, but you don't actually have to call them. Medenta was fantastic at this. And you could just have a voicemail after a big case where it's like, hey, care, hey, like, hey, this is Dr. Jones. I'm just calling to check in and see how that appointment went for you. If you have any issues or any pain, please give me a call. I'm hoping that you're doing really, really well on all of this.   You don't even have to the patient's name, but it feels like you cared about them. what are check-ins? How can we check in to see how they're doing? like when patients come in, remembering little subtle things about them. So if care is going to Hawaii, we put it in our notes and we ask her, How is Hawaii when you come back in? Those little simple things create relationships. Same thing on the one-on-ones. If someone tells you that they're going on vacation, ask your team member how was that vacation? if it's their birthday or anniversary.   What ways can I foster the relationship? And to me, this is where I tie into unreasonable hospitality of how do I make magic moments for these people where they're like making meaningful moments in the everyday moments. So how do I help people feel seen, heard, and loved in both of them? So we don't just stop at checkout for our patients. We don't just stop after the one on one. We know them as humans. shout out to Tiff with her consultant team. She does Tiffany's connection time.   And she literally like meets with the consultants, talks to them, connects with them as humans. And I love that she calls it connection time because I feel like that's her building relationships. Connection time with your patients. How do I build those relationships? How do I remember who they are? How do I remember little things? I have a fee for service chiropractor. I love her every time. She's like, So you just got back from Kentucky? And I'm like, Yes. And she's like, How is like in your next trip? You guys are headed out to wherever? Like, I feel she knows me. She has a lot of patience.   But people want to be known, they want to be remembered, they want to be seen for birthdays and anniversaries, like big small big team, small team. How do you make that person feel seen, valued, heard? How do you do the small daily things where you're looking out, you're sending out thank yous? you guys compliment each other? Do you guys have a shout-out jar where you guys call out on each other? What can you do to make sure that there's strong bonds and relationships? Because people don't leave offices because of   usually money, sometimes they do, but typically it's due to a lack of a relationship, a lack of a bond. Tip told me she said, cure the reason I've been with you for almost a decade. Shout out to the TT Spiffy Tiffy over there. she's like it's because of the relationship we have. And I think about that and I know it can feel like as our team's getting larger, this is something I'm often questioning of how do I make sure team members feel seen, valued and heard. And I will say as a CEO, one of the things I do and as an office manager,   Gosh, I hope my team doesn't listen. I don't, I'm not perfect at this, but I do have a list of every team member and I actually hand write letters to them and I'll mail them to them. or if I know something's going on for them, I will make it a point to either ask about it or make sure I help out with certain things with them. I'm not perfect at it, but I do feel like when people feel seen, valued, and heard, we always for their birthdays, we have in a survey and we send them their absolute favorite things. And every time, and we send them a gift, we send them something personal for them.   when I know someone's got a rough day, we'll just send over a little treat. You don't have to have a lot of money, you just have to have intentionality. And this goes to patients and it goes to team members. If you know someone's birthday's coming up, like so many times I I check in at places and it's my birthday, and people get my ID. They type in my birthday and they don't say it. Like, could you just look ahead and see whose birthday's coming up? How could I like could we celebrate? Anyone whose birthday is in June or July? Tell your patient happy birthday.   If you see something that they did, how do you just build the relationship so it's not transactional? It's very much feels like a it feels like you know them, that you love them. And I would say that comes from genuinely loving people, from genuinely wanting them to feel valued, genuinely wanting to make a magic moment for them, getting excited. There's a doctor in Georgia that's on our team, and he got so giddy. He just got so giddy. He's like, Here, I'm putting together the holiday party for them. And   He like goes all out and he like spent all night decorating and he just got so giddy. And I love working with him. I love learning from him because to have that genuine joy and curiosity and excitement and love for your team, it filters into then how you say thank you to them. And I think it's seeing teams and patients. Do you see them as liabilities or do you see them as assets? Do you see them as value ads or soul sucking?   and the way you view them is how you're going to treat them and you're going to create more of that. So I might encourage you of just looking to see how we can do that. So just a couple of things, just as a quick recap for you, is making sure you are consistent, making sure you have clear communication, clear as kind, and really truly trying to build that relationship with them. and I think if you can can just again.   To me, these are the sprinkles on a cupcake. You've already got the cupcake, you've already got the frosting. I feel like the sprinkles really are what make the pop, the pizzazz, the the what makes you stand out from the other offices. All the other offices have a cupcake and they got frosting. Maybe some offices only have cupcake. Like they do dentistry. You need dentistry and you at least have some of the pieces. But to me, this is where I feel like value comes from sprinkles. And I think it in the analogy of this cupcake, the cupcake's the core. That's their job, that's their coming to the dentist. The frosting is   I don't know, probably their management and their clinical care. the sprinkles to me are what are going to set you apart and what people are going to remember. And I love the analogy because the cupcake is the largest, the frosting is smaller, and the sprinkles are really just the accent pieces. but it's crazy. I had a designer come out, we were doing some fun things and she's like, Kiera, it's crazy because the little things, like she literally like had a bowl and   rolled the napkins and like the placemats and put them in the bowl rather than just like I was gonna just stack them. And she's like, Kiera, those small little details are what make people feel like this is a home and it's cozy and it's warm versus like sloppy and not put together. And I thought about that and I'm like, it's those sprinkles that make people feel valued or make them feel like they're just a transaction or just a number on the page. And so I would I would encourage you to figure out like what sprinkle of these ones that we talked about can you do to make your patients and your team feel more valued.   Again, it's not more and I know I said more valued, but I think it's just intentionally valued where it's not doing more, it's being intentional. It's changing of how I do it. Can I be intentional on my thank yous at the end of the day? Can I be more intentional on my communication with them so everything's clear and mapped out for them? Can I have it where I have a consistent experience for my patients every single time? can I look to build the relationship a bit stronger and write?   a thank you card. It could take six months, guys. Like I'm not saying it's every single month. Like I have a list and I work through it and then I go back and is there a way where I can maybe change our birthdays and our anniversaries? Our team does videos for everyone and I know it's like we have so many. They come up so often. But to get like that takes 30 seconds from our teammates to make somebody feel valued and important and special. Those to me are the sprinkles. 30 seconds out of an entire eight hour day is so minimal. And yet   That's sprinkle on your cupcake. So where can you add the sprinkles? Where can you add the value? Teams deserve it. You deserve it. And I believe that this is the greatest way to like truly it's the secret sauce to win, to win, to hire and retain people, to bring in patients that feel valued, to feel seen, to feel loved. We're all looking to see how we can compete with others and how we can have a cutting edge. And I would say, like, add the sprinkles, add the sprinkles, stand out just a bit stronger. Everyone else has the cupcake. Most people have the frosting. Not all have the frosting.   But if you've got the cupcake and the frosting, add those sprinkles, help people feel valued. And if you're struggling with this, or you're like, gosh, that's just not my thing. As I said, we give doctors the the to-do of you put a compliment alarm on your on your phone and you do that. this is where I love to help people go to the next level to optimize, to scale, to have structure, but in a way that's not necessarily production scale.   But in happiness scale and fulfillment scale, which ultimately is going to lead to higher production, higher profitability. So reach out. I'd love to chat with you. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Go make it a magical day. Go spread some sprinkles. Go share. Go love. Go genuinely enjoy what you get to do every single day. It won't be forever that you get to do this. So let's make it magical. Let's make it impactful. And let's make it meaningful with helping people feel seen, valued, and loved. And as always, thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

This is part one of a 2-part recapThe Real Housewives of London is now on Bravo, so we are reposting our first episode coverage from last year This episode was originally posted last Sept 2025! We decided to check out the series premiere of Real Housewives of London, and we loved it, obvs. Come join us as we enter a world of Wham! romances and dentistry dustups. To watch this recap on video, listen to our bonus episodes, and participate in live episode threads, go to Patreon.com/watchwhatcrappens. Watch this on video: https://youtube.com/live/f2Ykpzlt9NQFind bonus episodes at patreon.com/watchwhatcrappens and follow us on Instagram @watchwhatcrappens @ronniekaram @benmandelker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is part 2 of a 2-part recapThe Real Housewives of London is now on Bravo, so we are reposting our first episode coverage from last year This episode was originally posted last Sept 2025! We decided to check out the series premiere of Real Housewives of London, and we loved it, obvs. Come join us as we enter a world of Wham! romances and dentistry dustups. To watch this recap on video, listen to our bonus episodes, and participate in live episode threads, go to Patreon.com/watchwhatcrappens. Watch this on video: https://youtube.com/live/f2Ykpzlt9NQFind bonus episodes at patreon.com/watchwhatcrappens and follow us on Instagram @watchwhatcrappens @ronniekaram @benmandelker Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this throwback episode of the Very Dental Podcast, Alan sits down with his long-time friend and dental school classmate, Dr. Bart Schultz, for a wide-ranging, candid conversation that blends nostalgia with clinical reality. Celebrating their entry into the 50-year-old club, the duo reflects on the evolution of their careers from green, baby-faced associates to seasoned clinicians. They swap unforgettable stories from the trenches, ranging from a "barbaric" old-school practice that recycled extracted teeth as autograft pontics to the historical misuses of Miracle Mix as a permanent restorative material. The heart of the episode explores the profound breakdown in patient communication—analyzing why patients frequently lose track of complex treatment plans and how shifting terminology from "root canal" to "tooth disinfection" can dramatically improve patient comfort and comprehension. Finally, the two dive into clinical insights surrounding predictable sinus lifts, the true cost of full-arch clear-cut procedures, and finding professional sanity outside the high-volume insurance grind. Some links from the show: GC Miracle Mix Join the Very Clinical Facebook group!  Join the Very Dental Facebook Group using one of these passwords: Timmerman, Paul, Bioclear, Hornbrook, Gary, McWethy, Papa Randy, or Lipscomb!  The Very Dental Podcast network is and will remain free to download. If you'd like to support the shows you love at Very Dental then show a little love to the people that support us! We're proud to be supported by the folks at Net32! I'm a big fan of the Bioclear Method! I think you should give it a try and I've got a great offer to help you get on board! Use the exclusive Very Dental Podcast code VERYDENTAL8TON for 15% OFF your total Bioclear purchase, including Core Anterior and Posterior Four day courses, Black Triangle Certification, and all Bioclear products. Crazy Dental has everything you need from cotton rolls to equipment and everything in between and the best prices you'll find anywhere! If you head over to verydentalpodcast.com/crazy and use coupon code "VERYSHIP" you'll get free shipping on your order! Go save yourself some money and support the show all at the same time! The Wonderist Agency is basically a one stop shop for marketing your practice and your brand. From logo redesign to a full service marketing plan, the folks at Wonderist have you covered! Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/wonderist! Enova Illumination makes the very best in loupes and headlights, including their new ergonomic angled prism loupes! They also distribute loupe mounted cameras and even the amazing line of Zumax microscopes! If you want to help out the podcast while upping your magnification and headlight game, you need to head over to verydentalpodcast.com/enova to see their whole line of products! CAD-Ray offers the best service on a wide variety of digital scanners, printers, mills and even  their very own browser based design software, Clinux! CAD-Ray has been a huge supporter of the Very Dental Podcast Network and I can tell you that you'll get no better service on everything digital dentistry than the folks from CAD-Ray. Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/CADRay!

Can a brand-new dental startup attract 200+ new patients in its first 30 days?In this episode, Dr. Andrew Vallo joins us to share the exact blueprint he uses to open practices that hit mature numbers in week one. If you've ever worried about launch delays, hiring struggles, or burning through capital on marketing, Andrew's high-performance expansion strategy is exactly what you need.Learn how to navigate construction setbacks, master low-cost digital ads, and build a leadership foundation that allows you to scale multiple clinics at once without losing your mind.Hit play to learn how to turn your new practice into a thriving powerhouse from the moment the doors open!

Most dental practices love showing off their team on social media. It builds trust, shows off your office culture, and makes your practice feel human. But there is a massive legal blind spot that most owners completely overlook: employee media rights.If you think a standard, generic media release covers you when an employee leaves, you could be setting yourself up for a costly legal battle.In this episode, we sit down with HR compliance expert Kara Kelly to expose the hidden legal landmines of employee social media. From TikTok trends to behind-the-scenes office photos, Kara breaks down why a simple "signature on a line" isn't enough, and how failing to secure a tailored, legally sound agreement can lead to devastating lawsuits, damaged reputations, and lost staff.What We Cover in This Episode:The Employee vs. Patient Release: Why you cannot use the same consent form for your team as you do for your patients.The "After" Problem: What happens to your social media content when an employee quits on bad terms (and why they can force you to take down years of marketing material).Real-World Horror Stories: How dental offices have ended up paying thousands in legal fees over seemingly harmless social media posts.The Culture of Consent: How to introduce media agreements during onboarding in a way that feels respectful and transparent, rather than restrictive.Beyond the Checkbox: Why compliance isn't a one-time task, and how often you need to update your agreements to stay legally protected.

In this episode of Coach's Corner, Caitlin Embree interviews Paul Lowry, co-founder of Dental Menu, to solve one of the biggest bottlenecks in dental practice management: failing in-house membership plans. While dropping insurance is a common goal, data shows that unmanaged cash-pay patients only have a 12% retention rate over five years, compared to 64% for insured patients.To achieve sustainable dental practice growth, practice owners must treat their membership programs like true subscriptions (e.g., Netflix or Amazon Prime) rather than one-off "Groupon" discount bundles that cause renewal gaps. Poorly administered plans not only create massive administrative headaches but also artificially lower your practice valuation by forcing you to zero out production or write off massive adjustments.Here is your blueprint for upgrading your dental practice management through a properly structured membership plan:Stop the "Discount" Mindset: Shift from selling a bundled package of cleanings to an auto-renewing subscription model to prevent patients from lapsing for months at a time.Fix Your Accounting: Stop adjusting membership preventative care to $0, as it destroys your KPIs. Dental Menu uses a separate bank account to process monthly fees and generate internal EOBs so production flawlessly matches collections.Protect Provider Pay: Proper dental practice management requires accurate ledgers so associate dentists and hygienists receive their correct collection-based bonuses when treating membership patients.Incentivize Your Team: Drive dental practice profitability by offering your front office staff bonuses (e.g., $25 per sign-up) to consistently present the membership plan to cash-pay patients.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

Insurance billing doesn't have to be one of the biggest headaches in your practice. In this episode, Dr. Glenn Vo sits down with Shreyas Parab, Co-Founder & CEO of DayDream, to discuss how AI and experienced billing specialists are helping dentists improve cash flow, recover more insurance revenue, and take the stress out of revenue cycle management.

Have you ever felt like your SEO company isn't delivering the results you want?Dr. Brittany Dickinson shares her failure in dental SEO that lost her new patients and led her to discover the unexpected power of AI. From surviving zero cosmetic consults a month to thriving with 17 and counting, Dr. Dickinson reveals how leveraging AI allowed her to take matters into her own hands, save thousands of dollars and attract more patients. If you want to learn how to harness AI and its potential to transform your marketing strategy in dentistry while saving time and money, don't miss out on Dr. Dickinson's story!‍‍Listen to Brittany's Other Episodes Here:Rise of a Cosmetic Dentist: Balancing Work and Life in Chicago | Dr. Brittany Dickinson | 517 – The Dental Marketer PodcastKey Lessons from 2024: Building Stability and Growth in Dentistry | MME – The Dental Marketer Podcast‍Host: Michael AriasJoin my newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/‍Join this podcast's Facebook Group: The Dental Marketer Society‍Love the Podcast? Follow on Your Favorite App! https://lnkfi.re/TDMPod

The news story this week should cause us all to pause. Medical emergencies are a reality for which we should all be prepared. When an incredibly sad news story regarding a dental death occurs, we owe it to ourselves, our team, and our patients to pause and ensure that we are as prepared as we can possibly be. In an effort to remind us all, Dr. Kuba and Bethany have resurrected a recent episode regarding medical emergencies. Together they reflect on several REAL scenarios that recently occurred in the dental field. They discuss the appropriate steps to take during an emergency in order to protect your patients, your practice, and yourself. In addition, they discuss preventive steps that can be taken to ensure that your team responds well before, during, and after an emergency. Do yourself a favor and take notes today!  Dr. Kuba and Bethany dig much deeper into this subject in the May digest. For non-subscribers, if you missed the May content, you can purchase it through our Hub/Shop. Don't miss your chance to attend The Leadership Summit. In eight weeks, on Friday, September 18, Dr. Kuba and Bethany will join up with attendees at Homewood Suites in The Colony, TX for an entire day dedicated to practical leadership topics. With only a few spots remaining and the early bird special coming to an end, don't hesitate to register TODAY! HUB HIGHLIGHTMay Dental Digest BundlePrepare your team for medical emergencies with the May Dental Digest Bundle, featuring training scenarios, a team emergency quiz, and a clear action plan for addressing gaps in your practice. Dental Assistant Checklist Bundle Keep your dental assistants organized and your practice running smoothly with editable checklists for daily duties, downtime tasks, and ongoing responsibilities. Don't forget to check out our social media for moreManaging Dental Drama FBManaging Dental Drama IGConnect with the Managing Dental Drama Community!Managing Dental Drama Membership Club Sign UpWait! There's More!We want to hear YOUR voice!Text a 2-minute voice memo to 214.326.4605 with your questions, comments, real-life examples, or tips for a chance to have YOUR voice on the air!Interested in the Leadership Summit?Join Us! Friday, September 18, 20268:30am - 4:30pmIn The Colony, TXInquire or register TODAY!HelloBethany.com/Leadership

What does it really mean for a dental assistant to practice at the top of their scope? In this episode, industry leaders explain why certification is more than just another credential and how it can transform careers, improve patient care, and strengthen dental practices. Kevin Henry is joined by Amber Musser of Aspen Dental and Atia Black of the Dental Assisting National Board to discuss the real impact of investing in dental assistant education. They explore how certification builds confidence, creates new career opportunities, improves workflow, and helps dental assistants deliver higher quality patient care. The conversation also highlights how Aspen Dental supports its teams through structured training, study resources, and career development while navigating different state requirements. Whether you are just starting your career or looking to take the next step, this episode offers practical insights into why practicing at the top of your scope benefits both dental assistants and the patients they serve. ------------------- Dental assistants play a powerful role in whether patients move forward with treatment. You are a key part of the patient journey, and having the right financial options can make all the difference. CareCredit is a health and wellness credit card that offers flexible financing options, so patients can pay over time for the care they want or need, subject to credit approval. When money isn't the obstacle, patients say yes. Want to make CareCredit part of your practice's offerings and strengthen case acceptance? Email me at kevin@kevinspeaksdental.com and let's make it happen for your team.

The Best Dental Marketing Podcast, powered by Dentainment, delivers cutting-edge strategies to help dental practices attract new patients, grow revenue, and thrive in today's competitive digital landscape.

Starting Dental Hygiene School? You're in the Right Place. I know exactly how you're feeling because I was once sitting where you are now...excited, nervous, overwhelmed, and wondering if I was really capable of making it through dental hygiene school.In this episode, I'm sharing the 10 biggest lessons I learned throughout my own journey and the advice I wish someone had given me before I started. We'll talk about everything from finding patients and dealing with difficult professors to overcoming failure, protecting your mental health, and learning to believe in yourself even when things feel impossible.My hope is that this episode reminds you that you don't have to be perfect, you just have to keep showing up. Dental hygiene school will challenge you, but it will also shape you into the incredible clinician you're meant to become.If you're looking for even more support, be sure to check out these resources:✨ BrushWithBritt Podcast – Episode 58: Dental Hygiene School Advice✨ BrushWithBritt Podcast: Six Tips for Starting Dental Hygiene School✨ BrushWithBritt YouTube: Tips for Dental Hygiene School✨ BrushWithBritt Student & New Grad Resources: Visit the Students & New Grads tab on BrushWithBritt.com for free resources, tools, and guidance to help you succeed throughout dental hygiene school and beyond. BetterMouth.TVReady to make patient education easier? Try your first month FREE at bettermouth.tv/brushwithbritt

Throughout this series, I've answered the questions travellers know to ask.But today, for the final episode of Series 6 – One Question at a Time, I want to answer the questions you probably won't even think to ask… because they're the little things you only discover once you're here in Vietnam.You've listened to the podcasts. Read the blogs. Watched the YouTube videos. You've done your homework.Yet Vietnam still has a wonderful way of surprising you.In this episode, I'm sharing seven of those unexpected realities that no booking website, weather app or guidebook can fully prepare you for. These aren't travel mistakes—they're simply the little nuances that experienced travellers learn along the way.From choosing the right hotel atmosphere for your travel style, to understanding why distances take longer than expected, navigating immigration queues, and leaving enough room in your itinerary for those magical unplanned moments—these are the insights that can quietly transform a good holiday into a great one.If this is your first trip to Vietnam, consider this the conversation I wish every traveller could have before they arrive.In this episode00:00 – Welcome to the Series 6 finale: the questions you don't even know to ask02:10 – Why Vietnam's weather forecast doesn't always tell the whole story05:15 – Your hotel has a personality too—and it may not suit yours08:35 – Vietnam measures time differently: why distances can be deceiving11:45 – When English suddenly disappears in rural Vietnam14:55 – Immigration queues, airport arrivals and why your holiday may not start quite as you imagined17:50 – Why hotel photos don't always tell the full story20:50 – The biggest mistake isn't what you booked… it's what you didn't leave room for23:20 – Final thoughts and thank you for joining me throughout Series 6Three Key Takeaways✓ You won't find the biggest influences on your Vietnam holiday on Google or booking websites—they're only discovered through experience.✓ Vietnam rewards travellers who allow flexibility, go with the flow, adapt and stay curious. The trick is to NOT over-schedule every moment.✓ The memories you'll treasure most are often the ones you never planned.  Follow on your favourite pod channel, email directly to whataboutvietnam@gmail.com Keep abreast of news on our social pages on FB, IG,LinkedIn and TikTokLet me design your #customised #private tour of Vietnam  - See our Travel ServicesDo you need a #Dental Procedure?  Why not find out what's possible through our Dental and #Cosmetic Medical partner Worldwide Beauty Hospital. Mention #whataboutvietnam to receive 5% discount at Worldwide Beauty Hospital 

Marketing is different than it was five years ago, especially now that AI is firmly entrenched in so many communities. Kiera talks about how AI, online reviews, and local trust are more important than ever, and what you and your practice can do to keep patients coming your way. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera, and I hope you're having a great day. I am having a great day. I love being in office with offices. I love working with practices. I love being with our team. I love seeing my team elevate and grow. I love watching and seeing just wins. I love hearing how our clients are doing. I love to see the wins our clients are getting. Honestly, dentistry is so great and it's fun. It's fun to see the evolution of the Dental A Team. I remember when I started this, there is no way, shape, or form that I honestly thought.   That we would have this many clients that I get to celebrate and love on and just rally to see them hitting production goals that they never thought they'd do, having profitability, working through leadership team issues, ⁓ revamping what they believe is their why and their power. very invigorating to see offices wanting to possibly sell to a DSO and then finding other alternatives, having offices sell to DSOs, having offices bring on partners and associates. To me, that is one of the most like   rewarding parts of owning Dental A Team is to see so many people and to get to be friends with so many of you and to truly watch I would say like the good guys and girls win. And ⁓ my job and our company's mission is to truly like your success is our passion. So I'm excited. I hope that you're excited. I hope you remember the dentistry. We're so lucky to be a part of dentistry. We get the most incredible job and it's it's not just a job. I think it's a life changing experience we all get to be a part of. So today I just want to kind of like dive into like   AI reviews and ⁓ trust are genuinely kind of changing how patients choose their dentists. And I've been watching this and we've been talking about it within our private doctor communities and ⁓ just recognizing that the world's changing on how people are picking dentists now and how are they finding you? And this is a little ⁓ I feel local. So some areas are gonna have more AI influence versus other areas are possibly going to have less AI influence.   But I think for all of us to just kind of figure out like how are patients choosing to go to the dentist? How are patients coming and picking dentists? Cause I do believe that marketing and the AI, it's different than it was five years ago. So I'm also finding that patients truly have already figured out who they're probably gonna call before they even call you. So like they're gonna determine do they trust you or not before they even make that first phone call. And before I used to feel like we could win them over, and I still believe we absolutely can, but a lot of it's already coming. And so it's coming before they talk to you.   And it's more than just having a website. It's you gotta be able to build that trust online with your patients before they even walk through the door, before they even want to make a phone call with you. So I just want to talk about like how is AI changing behavior, why our reviews like genuinely matter, how things are changing over there, things are shifting. there's some new algorithms if you're not familiar with how Google is switching it up for us, and really just trying to give you guys some preps because I believe that there are maybe some possibly three areas for a practice to focus on to really like   be the choice of your community. So we're big on making sure that we work. We work across the globe. We work across the nation. So seeing practices and how patients are making decisions from small boutique country villages to very metropolitan cities to places where there's not even like more than like five team members to choose from, to little isolated islands out in the Caribbean, you name it, we've seen it all. And so just really trying to help offices ⁓   look at things differently and to be observant. And so I want you guys to to realize that there's still ways to stand out. I think there's still ways for us to make big influences. And right now, AI is so new that we don't know all the ways of how it's working. And so just giving some tips and ideas to kind of have that healthy conversation of what is the innovative way for practices as of today, knowing that it could shift and change. But I believe that when we're on the cutting edge and we're being attentive to this, we're trying to stay   as up to date as possible without like killing ourselves off, I think is very important and very astute as CEOs. they have the phrase innovate or die. And I believe the practices do need to innovate. We do need to be on top of this. Otherwise we will get ⁓ dated very quickly. So ⁓ I think what was happening is patients are they used to rely a lot on referrals and I still think that that is a piece of it. But I will say it's a referrals and then it's a verify.   So they're verifying referrals. They're looking to see, hey, my friend told me this dental office. I'm gonna go double check it. And the way I'm gonna double check it is I'm gonna go read the reviews. I'm gonna check their website. I'm gonna look at social media. I'm gonna search online. Do you how many people are looking? Like you guys, I just went on a trip. I asked Chat GPT. I said, build me out the best hotels, the best locations. So people are starting to use AI. It's not all algorithm from the reviews and different pieces. It's pulling from that, but it's also not there. So we're kind of all looking like AI tells me this and I'm gonna go check the reviews. So   We're starting to have a lot more pieces to that. And so I really do believe like your online presence is a lot of times the exact first impression. And we're looking at evaluating trust before they come in and they're going to like evaluate your treatment. So can I trust this? Do they have a good online presence? And I know that that's annoying because not all the best practices are the ones with the highest reviews. However, society and for years of training of five stars, we're starting to learn that that's what we trust.   So I believe that there can be two practices side by side, similar services. One has recent reviews and online engagement and like very clear online presence. The other one hasn't updated anything in years. Patients are gonna look at both of those side by side and they're most likely probably gonna choose the one with the great reviews. Even if they're identical practices, even if they do the great same dream, even if the one who doesn't have a strong online presence is better, people don't know that. And it like you have to be present, you have to be winning online in order for people to want to come and work with you. So   For me, it's you've got to make sure you're building that trust online. You've got places where people can see you. And we have to remember different types of buyers are going to look at this differently. So if your demographic and population is going to be a more senior patient base, you might still be newspaper flyers, ⁓ having webinars, CE, things like that, where you're in person with them more. If your demographic is anything of like 60 and younger, they're probably online. not all the 60, like from the 50 to 60 range, that's still variable.   But anyone pushing that 50, they are in that realm where they have been trained with reviews and looking online and things like that. So, and regardless if your patient base is older, you have to remember that next wave of patients coming that are probably going to be your patients long term. They are that younger generation. So people don't want just recommendations anymore. They want confirmation. Like I want to trust. I think that in the world of AI where people are really questioning what's real, what's not real.   We're asking for referrals. We're verifying online. We're trying to put all the pieces together because we're inundated with so much noise that people are really trying to sift through the noise to figure it out. So ⁓ I think if you one one call to action on that is like re review your online presence this week as if you're a brand new patient. What's our social media look like? What are our reviews saying? When was our most recent review? What's our worst review? It's okay to have a bad review. Like it truly is. How you respond to that bad review is actually going to weed out patients and it's also going to show people a lot about you.   It's okay to not have the best reviews. It's not okay to have a lot of bad reviews, but it is okay because guess what? Everybody goes on there and the first thing we do is we look for the newest and then we go for the worst. We want to see, we want to see what happened. That's what's also going to make you stand out is real. I don't want you having a lot of bad reviews, but it's okay if you do. It just depends on how you respond and also pay attention. Are there things that you can fix and change with those reviews? Sometimes even calling those patients can help with those reviews. But look at that, see, go ask people to like type into Chat GPT.   Go do it on your own. See if you pull up, see where things are at. Are you the most recommended dentist? Look at those items. If you're not pushing like five, six, seven, eight hundred reviews right now. A lot of people are going to gloss over because there are other dentists that are going to whoop you because they've got like they're going to beat you in the race because they have more reviews than you. So that leads into our second thing of reviews really are becoming word-of-mouth marketing. And they're not just nice to nice to have anymore. They truly are like part of the patient experience. And so   You've got to have consistent review generation. You've got to have reviews that are talking about patients' stories. You got to have team involvement asking for feedback. Now, a latest update with Google algorithm is if they have the team member's name in there, they're starting to like disqualify some of those. I did have a practice tell us that they lost like 15 reviews in one day. Now, this feels a little weird to me, and I hope Google's listening. Not that I think they care about Dental A Team podcast, but I hope they do. Because to me, I'm like, I actually want patients to talk about.   their team. I understand that there's ways that we can gamify the system and we can like have our team members try to get their names and reviews. However, a lot of people are going to talk great about it. So in our mastermind, we were talking, we do have a dentist who has over 1500 reviews and she said where she's actually getting the reviews is right at the end of the appointment when they're checking out. They are asking for reviews right then and there and the text message is going to that patient while they are still in the practice. And people are like, we don't want that. Like they're busy on that. And I was like, guys, she has 1500 reviews.   I think she's got something going really, really well for her. She's figured it out. She's doing an incredible job and they're going for it. So this is something where like mistakes on reviews are where we only ask occasionally. You've got to be very consistent. We've got to be asking every single time. ⁓ we don't want reviews to be an extra task. Like, we don't want to ask for reviews when there's a problem. We're like once in a blue moon. You've got to have a steady stream of consistent reviews coming through. I love Swell. Swell's been one of my best best.   Review generators across the board. I've tried tons of them. I personally love Swell. You guys can tell them Dental A Team sent you. We still get like OG back at the very beginning when Zeke and Kiera met when we were just babies building our businesses. And Zeke still honors that pricing over there. So definitely would recommend them. It's Swell ⁓ dot I think it's CX. It's been a while since I've said their website, Swell dot CX. sorry, Sw Swell CX.com, I believe is their website. And   Head on over there, the SwellCx.com, let them Dental A Team sent you. It is truly one of the absolute best review places, but putting it right then and there, asking for it, having them go through. Some people use their computer softwares. Regardless, you need to be attracting and getting reviews on a consistent basis. And I'm talking like one, two, three, four, five a day. Yes, I said a day, because think about it. If you have two hygienists, if you've got four hygienists, if you've got six hygienists,   We are seeing eight patients a day. So minimum you're probably seeing 16 patients a day on hygiene side. Doctor side's probably pulling in at least eight more. You're seeing like 30 to 50 patients per day on a low end, up to like 100, 150 on a high end, even up to 200. Pediatric, you're seeing a ton. So think about if we're only getting like even 5% of those patients are leaving a review. That's a very small amount that I believe that we can all get trickling in there. So reviews.   At scale, they are going to build trust. So think about it: the best restaurants, the best thing, but be a practice that's review-worthy. We've talked about this on so many other podcasts. We can link some of those for you. But make sure that your practice is doing an incredible experience because you want to have a consistent review process instead of hoping that reviews will happen naturally. You've got to be asking for it. And I know that that's annoying, I know it's awkward.   Do believe me. Do you think I like coming on here and be like, hey guys, leave us a review? So if you want to feel good about a review, go leave us a review. Give five stars on Dental A Team, give five stars on our podcast. It feels good to leave reviews. And so that way you can also feel good asking for it. And it's something where just like working out doesn't feel good at the beginning, but then it feels real good. This is just asking people to like share their great experience with the world about you. There is nothing wrong. If you've done a great service, ask those people to share about it. It's a great way for more patients like them to find you.   So that's gonna be like step two. And then step three around that is going to be like, I do believe that local trust is becoming a very big competitive advantage. So technology is growing, AI is growing, but I still believe that like trust still wins and having local people and consistent people like building that local trust. So having those reviews, having those referrals, having raving patients. I just came from an office. I'm so proud of them. They've grown from four ops into 15 ops, and now they're looking to add on to 25 ops. So   it's only been a couple of years. I think we've been together about four and a half years. So really fun. And to see them, they're getting patients looking at their reviews, having people tell them that they're a great dentist and they want to go. But it's just a consistent patient experience. It's community involvement, strong referrals, team consistency, follow-through. And I'll say just being good humans, like treating patients like humans. ⁓ patients, I believe they want confidence, they want connection, and they want credibility and they want to know that you're you're authentic.   Again, we talked about there's so much out there that's not authentic. We've got so many people and it's like, what's real? I went, I was doing a gym photo shoot and they're like, pick photos that you like. And I showed my trainer which ones and she's like, Kiera, you picked all AI photos. And I was like, Well, shoot, that's not even fun. Like, we don't even know what's real or not real. Things look so real and they're not. So people still want to know that it's real and authentic. And so having a great patient experience, having it where you're involved in the community, ⁓ being the dentist that the community chooses, being a part of things.   Being a human, having authentic connection to your patients, giving them confidence and having a team that really backs you is, I believe, a lot of great ways for you to still be competitive, even in spite of a world that's so, so advanced in technology. ⁓ and I really do believe that private practices have a huge competitive advantage of treating people like people. ⁓ I think it's like the Ritz-Carlton's tagline is ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. Like, what if it was like,   Dental professionals serving, like human beings serving human beings. We're just here to serve them and to love them and help them have this amazing experience at a place where most people don't even enjoy being. So I believe that technology might help patients find you. I believe that trust, connection, consistency, continuity is what's going to help them continue to choose you long term. And I want you to remember that just because a patient's been seeing you forever doesn't mean that they're with you forever.   I do believe that every time they come to you, it is an opportunity to rewin their trust to bring them in, to help them, to help them see that this is ⁓ the the best decision that they could ever make. So really truly you've got to be visible because visibility gets attention, the trust, the connection, the community, it keeps the patients with you. So look at your practice and see like, what are we doing every week to build trust with our patients? How are we making sure that we're genuine and authentic? What is that our culture? Is that what we preach?   go read the reviews, see what people are saying about you, ⁓ look to see where people are referring and just be good humans. Like I I know that seems so silly, but be a great human goes a long way. I think it's starting to become the currency that people are looking for of being kind, being considerate, being connected, being authentic. ⁓ so again, remember patients are looking for that proof before they even make the phone call. So you've got to be visible, you've got to have reviews, you've got to have things out there. ⁓   Reviews are like your modern word of mouth. So they're gonna read, people are gonna look at it, they're going to see. And then having that local trust, that community connection can be a great differentiator. So that's a great way to stand out. It's a good way for people to talk. Have your care to share cards, give them to people. We had podcasts on that. Like remind people to share you with their friends and their family because I still believe that referrals are one of the fastest ways to grow your practice and be the dentist that people want to refer. I think that that's probably my like final line. Like   Be the dentist, be the dental practice that people want to refer to. And I think if that's your mantra, that's your mindset, you're gonna win every single day. I wanna be the dental consulting company that people refer to. I wanna be the consulting company that when you need help, you think about us. I wanna be your best friend in the industry. I wanna be the person that you can count on to always give you non-filtered advice to truly give you the best of the advice. I will constantly be elevating myself and I wanna be that person for you. I wanna be the dental consulting company that dentists choose and the teams choose, ⁓ that they trust that they know that are gonna take care of them.   And I hope that you want to be the dental practice that your community chooses. So go out because really you can continue to win patients over. AI is coming in, technology's coming in. You've got to be visible. It's non-negotiable. You have to do it. It's just what it is. You got to check yourself there. You've got to be present there first. And then you got to make sure that that what we say online is what we really do. And in person is actually better than out there. If we can help you guys, this is what we do. We improve patient experiences, we improve.   How to ask. We help get your teams on board to ask for those reviews. we help make it very fun for teams and for owners. So reach out. I'd love to help you out. As always, guys, don't fall behind. Innovate or die. Be the dentist that the community chooses. Be the dentist that you're proud of. Be the practice that you're proud of. ⁓ be authentic to you, but make sure that you're visible because I would hate for somebody who's not as great as you.   Just because they have a stronger online presence, patients are going to them when I know you're the better dentist. I know that you have the great hand skills. And I'm not here to pit dentists against each other. I'm here to say, I want the best dentist, which is you listening, to win. You're the best dentist, you get the best treatment. Patients only have 32 teeth, and most of the time they only have 28. And I want those 28 teeth to be taken care of for as long as possible from the best dentist. And that's you. So get yourself visible. You have an obligation to share yourself with other people because they deserve to have the best clinician. They deserve to have that.   Get the review so people know about you, post on social media, and then make sure that you've got a great connection and a great community. If we can help you out, reach out. I'd love to help you. Like I said, I want to be the dental consulting company that you choose, that you share with. And I believe that that's how most of our practices feel about us. So come be a part of it. I'd love to have you be a part of us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Your dental practice can feel like it's drowning even when you're fully staffed and the schedule looks reasonable on paper. The real culprit is often smaller and harder to spot: tiny steps in your systems that get skipped, “just this once,” and then explode into bigger problems for the next person downstream. I'm breaking down how that ripple effect creates the daily feeling of chaos, backlog, and burnout and what to do about it as the leader. We walk through concrete dental practice management examples that every team recognises. First, pre-collecting patient copays for larger appointments: when we avoid a brief, uncomfortable money conversation, we often create longer conversations later, more insurance re-checking, slower check-in, and weaker patient commitment that leads to cancellations and holes in the schedule. Then we talk about scheduling hygiene and recall the right way, including the simple commitment question that reduces last-minute reschedules and protects production, team bonus, and momentum. We also dig into the front office and back office handoff, and how small documentation mistakes can quietly destroy trust. When the front desk has to keep double-checking what happened in the operatory, it slows everything down and can even lower treatment acceptance because patients feel the uncertainty. The solution is not hiring another person. It's building clear agreements, coaching the “why,” and creating a culture where each team member asks, “Did I make someone else's job easier or harder?” If you want calmer days, stronger systems, and a team that runs smoother together, subscribe, share this with a practice owner friend, and leave a quick review so we can help more offices. What small step gets skipped most often in your practice?Join our Newest and Best Coaching Program, Click Here for More InformationTake Control of Your Practice and Your LifeWe help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams.Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

In this episode of Dental Unfiltered, we sit down with Dr. Julia L. Jackson to dive deep into implant dentistry, oral surgery, and the critical business decisions every practice owner faces.We discuss why general dentists need to elevate their implant techniques and shift to a "prosthetically driven" mindset rather than focusing solely on clinical execution. Plus, Dr. Jackson shares invaluable insights on how to build a highly successful practice with a clear, profitable exit strategy in mind from day one.What We Cover:Prosthetically Driven Implantology: Shifting your mindset to improve patient outcomes and restorative success.Elevating the General Dentist: Mastering oral surgery and advanced implant techniques in a GP setting.The Business of Endings: Key strategies for structuring your practice with a lucrative exit plan.

On this episode of MB2 Underground, Joe Fox and Sarah Reed welcome Dr. Wendy Steger, owner of Campbell Crossing Dentistry, for a conversation about leadership, lifelong learning, and building a career with purpose. Dr. Steger reflects on her journey from working in a dental office at 15 years old to becoming a practice owner, sharing the lessons she learned along the way. The discussion covers practice ownership, organized dentistry, advocacy, continuing education, leadership, and why investing in yourself is one of the most valuable decisions you can make throughout your career. She also shares her perspective on balancing practice ownership with motherhood, the growing connection between oral and overall health, and what she believes is next for the future of dentistry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------  Subscribe & Listen: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/69Dz26hgC9D6YqwN8JMDBV Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mb2-underground/id1747349567 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow MB2 Dental on Social: MB2 Dental: mb2dental.com Instagram: instagram.com/mb2dental Facebook: facebook.com/mb2dental YouTube: youtube.com/@mb2dental LinkedIn: linkedin.com/mb2-dental

"You can never have enough cash.” Connect With Our SponsorsSolventum - https://go.solventum.com/clarityGreyFinch - https://greyfinch.com/jillallen/A-Dec - https://www.a-dec.com/orthodonticsSmileSuite - https://getsmilesuite.com/ Summary In this episode of Hey Docs!, Jill chats with Chandler Wrightenberry from Live Oak Bank to discuss the intricacies of healthcare lending, particularly focusing on practice purchases and real estate investments. Chandler shares insights from his extensive experience at Live Oak Bank, emphasizing the importance of understanding costs, building a supportive team, and maintaining transparency in banking conversations. They explore the current market conditions, project timelines, and the significance of long-term investments in healthcare real estate. Jill and Chandler also touch on the complexities of construction timelines, the importance of zoning, and the necessity of having the right team when expanding an orthodontic practice. They emphasize the need for realistic expectations regarding project durations and financial preparedness, including cash management strategies. Connect With Our Guest Live Oak Bank - https://www.liveoak.bank/Chandler's Phone Number: (828) 337-1374 Takeaways Chandler Wrightenberry has over 12 years of experience in healthcare lending.Live Oak Bank is the largest SBA lender in the country by volume.Building a supportive team is crucial for successful real estate projects.Transparency in financial discussions leads to better outcomes.Interest rates are currently stable and reasonable for borrowing.It's important to have early conversations with lenders about financing.Investing in real estate is a long-term commitment that can yield significant returns.Doctors often experience growth after relocating to new facilities. You should have an expectation of working with a city to get everything finalized in about six months.Ground-up construction typically takes nine to twelve months for planning and an additional 18 to 24 months for completion.Zoning issues can significantly delay project timelines, so it's crucial to ensure proper zoning before purchasing a property.Having a specialized commercial real estate agent is essential for navigating zoning and permits.Expect projects to take longer and be more expensive than initially anticipated.Financial preparedness is key; saving cash and having a safety net is crucial for large projects.A good rule of thumb is to have at least 10% of the project cost in cash reserves.Investing in liquid assets can provide quick access to cash when needed for projects.Chapters 00:00 Introduction04:35 Market Reality Check07:16 Costs and Rates Today11:25 Build Your Project Team15:04 Be Candid With Lenders19:21 Realistic Project Timelines22:23 Remodel vs Ground Up Schedule23:29 Zoning Pitfalls and Team26:08 Lease Timing and Overlap28:03 Cash Reserves and Liquidity32:00 How to Contact Chandler Episode Credits:  Hosted by Jill AllenProduced by Jordann KillionAudio Engineering by Garrett LuceroAre you ready to start a practice of your own? Do you need a fresh set of eyes or some advice in your existing practice?Reach out to me- www.practiceresults.com.    If you like what we are doing here on Hey Docs! and want to hear more of this awesome content, give us a 5-star Rating on your preferred listening platform and subscribe to our show so you never miss an episode.    New episodes drop every Thursday!   

What if some of the most important work dental hygienists can do happens outside the dental office?   In this episode of A Tale of Two Hygienists, Jessica and Dave sit down with Jenell Robins to explore the growing role of dental hygienists in hospital and medical settings. Jenell shares her journey into medical-dental integration, the impact oral health has on overall patient outcomes, and why collaboration across healthcare disciplines is becoming more important than ever. This conversation offers a glimpse into the future of the profession and the expanding opportunities available to hygienists beyond traditional practice.   In this episode, we discuss:   How oral health influences overall patient outcomes   The role of dental hygienists in hospital and medical settings   Medical-dental integration and interdisciplinary collaboration   Challenges and opportunities in hospital-based practice   Jenell's journey into integrated healthcare   The future of dental hygiene beyond the traditional dental office   Connect with Jenell Robins:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenell-robins-5541542b8/ Email: jenellrobins@yahoo.com   Connect with the Hosts:   Jessica Atkinson: jatkinson@endeavorb2b.com Dave Torres: dtorres@endeavorb2b.com

Ready to lead a team that grows stronger with every challenge? This episode of the Just DeW It podcast brings back Cara Cherry, Spring 2023 cover story and Los Angeles regional president at Patterson, for a conversation that's as insightful as it is inspiring. Anne explores Cara's unique journey, from her horse-riding roots in Philadelphia to her current role leading high-performing teams, all while balancing life as a committed mom and passionate advocate for women's advancement and sustainability. We get a candid look at the lessons Cara learned early on—discipline, resilience, and investing wholeheartedly in whatever you do—and how she applies these values to build workplaces where people grow, stay motivated, and feel accountable. The conversation dives into practical strategies for creating strong teams, fostering a culture where progress matters more than perfection, and encouraging everyone to adapt to technology and create positive environmental change. With personal stories, actionable tips, and unfiltered advice on embracing failure as part of growth, this episode offers wisdom for professionals across dentistry and well beyond. What You'll Learn in This Episode: How early life experiences outside of work shape strong leaders Key leadership principles for building motivated, resilient teams The importance of “progress over perfection” in fast-changing industries Strategies for identifying and addressing gaps in team performance What makes a people-first company culture stand the test of time Real-life stories of mission-driven leadership creating a lasting impact Practical, entry-level sustainability tips for homes and dental practices How small green steps fuel larger industry-wide change Adapting to rapid changes in dental technology and digital tools Tune in now to discover Cara Cherry's personal playbook for leading with heart and taking bold actions with your career, your team, and your community! (This episode originally aired on December 11, 2024) You Can Learn More About Cara Cherry Here: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cara-cherry-912559a Cara's DeW Article: issuu.com/dentalentrepreneur/docs/dew_magazine_spring2023/s/24060593 Ready to be part of a movement of women shaping the future of dentistry? Join Dental Entrepreneur Woman for masterminds, education, exclusive events, and a supportive community designed to help you grow, lead, and leave your mark on the industry. Become a member at: https://dew.life/membership/ Mentions & Links: Events: The DeW Life Retreat DTA Tools: Gallup CliftonStrengths (2.0) Organizations: Patterson Dental

Neil Sikka joins Payman to reflect on a career that has moved from single-surgery NHS dentistry in Bethnal Green to building a ten-practice London group, selling to Bupa, and now helping shape clinical strategy across one of the UK's biggest dental organisations.He talks candidly about the Barbican Dental Care years, why he chose cultural fit over the highest offer when selling, and why he still practises one day a week after decades in the profession.This is also a conversation about service. From funding a dental carriage on India's Lifeline Express to supporting Dentaid and Mercy Ships, Neil's work outside the surgery is just as revealing as his business story.Expect thoughtful reflections on the mouth-body connection, Bupa's future, clinical excellence, personal branding, charitable dentistry and the quiet art of getting on with people.In This Episode00:01:00 - Bupa, leadership and clinical voice00:02:45 - From Bethnal Green to Barbican00:06:40 - Growing ten practices00:10:30 - Selling the business00:14:00 - Risk, reward and optimism00:16:10 - Lifeline Express00:21:35 - Mercy Ships and Dentaid00:28:20 - Childhood and family00:35:15 - Why he still practises00:37:30 - Blackbox thinking00:45:30 - Life inside Bupa00:52:00 - Bupa Training Academy00:57:00 - Mouth-body connection00:59:15 - Personal branding01:07:25 - A week in Neil's life01:18:15 - Dental learning and mentors01:22:30 - Music, golf and real tennis01:25:45 - Fantasy dinner party01:28:40 - Last days and legacyAbout Neil SikkaNeil Sikka is Chief Dental Officer for Bupa Dental Insurance and Director of Dentistry at Bupa Dental Care.Before joining Bupa, he founded and grew Barbican Dental Care into a ten-practice London group, building a corporate dental plan model for major employers. He continues to practise one day a week and has long supported access-to-care projects through Dentaid, Mercy Ships and India's Lifeline Express.

In this episode of Dental Unfiltered, Dr. Andrew Vallo breaks down exactly why his dental group transitioned to a call center model and how it's delivering real ROI. He compares the pros and cons of call center coverage against traditional in-house teams and virtual assistants (VAs). Tune in to discover why capturing missed calls can translate directly into thousands of dollars in added production for your practice.

In this episode, Bill Piskorowski, DDS, Associate Professor Emeritus of Clinical Dentistry, University Of Michigan School Of Dentistry, discusses advancing medical and dental integration, expanding access to care, and preparing the next generation of dental professionals. He also shares his perspective on AI, workforce challenges, and making dental education more affordable and sustainable.

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. George Hariri answers listener requests to strip away group practice bias and focus entirely on elite solo dental practice management. Many practitioners mistakenly believe that a multi-provider clinic is the only route to high-level profitability, but optimizing a solo model can create an incredibly low-stress, high-income asset. George outlines the precision growth pathways and details how transitioning from a standard solo dentist to a "productive solo" or "smart solo" can elevate your take-home pay to $400,000 and beyond.To break out of the low-revenue trap, you must learn how to manipulate the core levers of dental practice management.Implement these critical solo growth metrics and systems in your practice:Build the 2-2-2 Operational Balance: Scale your patient base to seamlessly support two full-time hygienists, two front office team members, and two dental assistants to perfectly balance your diagnostic and administrative workflow.Master Hygiene Benchmarks: Understand that there are roughly 200 active patients per day of hygiene. Target a base of 1,600 active patients to completely fill two full columns of hygiene working four days a week.Hit Case Acceptance Targets: Elevate your presentation style to consistently achieve an 80% patient acceptance rate (patients saying yes to at least one treatment item) and a 30% to 40% total dollar value treatment acceptance rate.Lock In Diagnostic Consistency: Develop clear, research-backed clinical diagnostic protocols so your hygiene team can confidently co-diagnose and tee up treatment plans before you even enter the room.Maximize Time Efficiency: Unlike group practices that focus heavily on analytical data points, a solo practitioner must treat their personal clinical time as the most valuable asset in the building by delegating every legally allowed task to auxiliaries.Transforming your solo office requires moving past basic survival and adopting highly intentional dental practice management strategies.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

Send us Fan Mail"When a dentist invests millions of dollars into a practice, who should that office be designed for?"The patient?The clinical team?Or the dental equipment sales quota?For decades, the industry has answered this question the same way, and most dentists have never stopped to question it.The greatest dental offices are not remembered because they had the most operatories.They are remembered because patients felt cared for from the moment they walked through the door.Perhaps it is time we stopped asking how many operatories can fit into a building......and started asking how many extraordinary patient experiences can be created inside it.Support the show

Got questions? Send Ericka a Text!Dental billing can look smooth from the outside, but that “smooth” is usually one person doing a mountain of detailed, high-stakes work behind the scenes. We're sharing a quick, focused message about Dental Billers Appreciation Day and why it matters for every practice that depends on clean claims, accurate coding, and steady collections. You'll hear how a conversation with Qiana Craig (Ask the Biller) about Medical Billers Appreciation Day sent us down a research rabbit hole and revealed something surprising: dental billers didn't have a day of their own. So we created one. That story opens up a bigger theme we live by in dental office administration and practice management, if you don't see the space you need, build it. We also get real about what the job requires: deep organisation, constant follow-up, tech skills across modern billing tools, and the discipline to keep up with changing codes and systems in today's dental economy. Dental revenue cycle management doesn't run on luck, it runs on expertise. Dental Billers Appreciation Day is July 20 every year, so mark your calendar and do something meaningful for the person who helps keep your practice financially healthy. If this resonates, subscribe, share it with your team, and leave a review so more dental offices start giving billers the credit they've earned. Interested in a Demo of Dentiq - The Billing Command Center? Get on the interest list here:https://4063-dentiq.systeme.io/waitlistGet your Dental Billing Toolkit Here:https://www.dentalbillingdoneright.com/the-dental-billing-toolkitDownload "The Most Underused Codes in Dentistry - And How to Get Them Paid" checklist here:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxnnfSlNd0NPhMoBWq-1D_xU5R8LS4xPhHNKIjfLQwStOUag/viewform?usp=headerSchedule a billing chat with Ericka:https://calendly.com/ericka-dentalbillingdoneright/30minEmail Ericka:ericka@dentalbillingdoneright.comEmail Jen:jen@dentalbillingdoneright.com

Walk through your house with me for a minute. That baking sheet in your oven? It's not just for cookies, it's a radio antenna ground plane, a cooking surface over coals, and a drying rack for seeds. That petroleum jelly in the medicine cabinet? Fire starter, skin protection, rust prevention. That five‑gallon bucket in the garage? Sanitation system, water hauler, food storage, even rain catchment. Most people see clutter. Preppers see capability.In this episode we look at 17 overlooked everyday items with real survival uses. Aluminum foil becomes a heat reflector, emergency cooking surface, even a late‑night plumbing patch (ask us how we know). Baking soda handles grease fires and bug bites. Bandanas filter water and become slings. Coffee filters pre‑filter dirty water. Dental floss repairs gear, and yes, we talk realistically about wound closure options. Empty pill bottles protect matches and tinder. Old belts become straps and tourniquets. Zip ties secure almost anything. Plastic sheeting turns into shelter. Freezer bags protect documents, electronics, and supplies.Preparedness isn't always about buying more gear. Often, it's about recognizing the hidden utility in what you already own.Mentioned In This Episode:Support Practical Prepping72 Hour Prepping ChecklistClozex Emergency Laceration ClosuresDownload this episodeIf you find value in what we do, if you've learned something new, gotten an idea for something you need to do, been entertained, or just like Krista's Southern charm, would you be willing to give back a little?You can do that one of several ways.     Go to our support page               OR     By starting your Amazon shopping from our website? --->  CLICK HERE        (We earn from qualifying Amazon purchases)Contact us:Practical PreppingWebsiteOur Sponsors:Practical Prepping BooksProof Minimalist Wallets (Discount code PREPPER)ProLine Digital Group   Website  Email1791gunleather.com (Discount code: PREP15) SurfsharkPodcast music written and recorded by Krista LawleyWebsite design and hosting by ProLine Digital Group.Podcasts Copyright 2026, P3 Media Group, LLC, and Practical Prepping Podcast

Infection control is the most important responsibility in every dental practice, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. Are dental teams truly protecting their patients, or are outdated habits putting safety at risk without anyone realizing it? In this conversation, Tija Hunter, CDA, EFDA, CDIA, CDSO, MADAA joins Kevin Henry to discuss why infection control should always come before productivity, scheduling, or practice growth. They explore the growing challenge of training new dental assistants, the spread of misinformation in dentistry, and why proper education is essential for keeping both patients and dental teams safe. Tija explains how certification in dental infection prevention builds confidence, strengthens careers, and helps establish consistent standards across the profession. The discussion also covers common misconceptions about sterilization, the importance of documentation, understanding state regulations, and why continuous education is one of the best investments any dental assistant can make. Whether you are new to dentistry or an experienced professional, this episode highlights why infection control remains the foundation of quality patient care. Connect with Tija Hunter Email: tijaefda@gmail.com DANB Website: https://danb.org/ ADS Website: https://www.myads.org/ ------------------- Dental assistants play a powerful role in whether patients move forward with treatment. You are a key part of the patient journey, and having the right financial options can make all the difference. CareCredit is a health and wellness credit card that offers flexible financing options, so patients can pay over time for the care they want or need, subject to credit approval. When money isn't the obstacle, patients say yes. Want to make CareCredit part of your practice's offerings and strengthen case acceptance? Email me at kevin@kevinspeaksdental.com and let's make it happen for your team.

This episode of the Very Dental podcast is actually a terrific throwback to the Dental Hacks days! Step into the time machine as Al and Jason welcome Dr. Steve Ratcliff from the boardrooms overlooking the impressive Spear Education auditorium. This candid conversation delves into Dr. Ratcliff's early days at Spear, his role in developing their revolutionary study club modules, and the philosophy behind "layered learning." But this episode goes far beyond dentistry! Dr. Ratcliff opens up with incredible vulnerability about his past, including his firing from an oral surgery residency due to chemical dependency and his incredible 38-year journey of recovery. Hear how mentorship, gratitude, and a willingness to change completely reshaped his career and his life. From the power of interdisciplinary collaboration to practical advice on introducing dental photography to patients, this episode is a fascinating mix of professional insight and powerful personal testimony. Don't miss this chance to hear a foundational voice in dental education like never before! Some links from the show: Spear Education Join the Very Dental Facebook Group using one of these passwords: Timmerman, Paul, Bioclear, Hornbrook, Gary, McWethy, Papa Randy, Frank or Lipscomb!  The Very Dental Podcast network is and will remain free to download. If you'd like to support the shows you love at Very Dental then show a little love to the people that support us! We're proud to be supported by the folks at Net32! I'm a big fan of the Bioclear Method! I think you should give it a try and I've got a great offer to help you get on board! Use the exclusive Very Dental Podcast code VERYDENTAL8TON for 15% OFF your total Bioclear purchase, including Core Anterior and Posterior Four day courses, Black Triangle Certification, and all Bioclear products. Crazy Dental has everything you need from cotton rolls to equipment and everything in between and the best prices you'll find anywhere! If you head over to verydentalpodcast.com/crazy and use coupon code "VERYSHIP" you'll get free shipping on your order! Go save yourself some money and support the show all at the same time! The Wonderist Agency is basically a one stop shop for marketing your practice and your brand. From logo redesign to a full service marketing plan, the folks at Wonderist have you covered! Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/wonderist! Enova Illumination makes the very best in loupes and headlights, including their new ergonomic angled prism loupes! They also distribute loupe mounted cameras and even the amazing line of Zumax microscopes! If you want to help out the podcast while upping your magnification and headlight game, you need to head over to verydentalpodcast.com/enova to see their whole line of products! CAD-Ray offers the best service on a wide variety of digital scanners, printers, mills and even  their very own browser based design software, Clinux! CAD-Ray has been a huge supporter of the Very Dental Podcast Network and I can tell you that you'll get no better service on everything digital dentistry than the folks from CAD-Ray. Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/CADRay!

For 29 days, it looked like Dr. Dave was teaching flow triggers.But in the final episode of the Flow Protocol series, he reveals what those 29 days were really about.Not psychology.Not theory.Not a clever content series.A profit engine.Because in an AI world, the routine parts of dentistry are getting easier to copy, automate, and commoditize. And in a skeptical world, patients are harder to keep and harder to turn into referrals.That means the next great advantage in an independent dental practice will not come from finding better people. It will come from building the people you already have.In this episode:Why the Flow Protocol was never just about flowHow performance triggers become profit triggers inside a dental practiceWhy AI and commoditization will punish mediocre teamsThe biggest performance gap most owners are still missingWhy developing your people may be the highest-leverage move in your practice right nowListen to the final episode and take the challenge:Stop trying to hire your way out of a broken machine. Start building the kind of team no machine can replace, no competitor can copy, and patients want to talk about.━━━━━━━━━Busy isn't the same as Irreplaceable. One fills your schedule. The other protects your time, your income, and the team that has your back.Ten questions. Four minutes. See where your practice is strong, where it is exposed, and what to build next so you can work less, earn more, and be ready for what is coming.Take the Commoditization Threat Assessment: assessment.irreplaceablepractice.com

⭐️⭐️برای شنیدن دنت‌کست 160 در سایت رسمی اینجا کلیک کنید⭐️⭐️اگر خارج کشورید از سایت https://dentcast.org استفاده کنید ❌❌❌قوس دندانی کوتاه‌شده (SDA): آیا واقعاً برای هر بیمار باید انتهای قوس رو پر کنیم؟ نگاهی مبتنی بر شواهد به اینکه یک قوس تا حد پرمولر برای اکثر بیمارها چقدر کافیه، و کجا نگه‌داشتنش یک تصمیم درسته نه یک کوتاهی.

The Best Dental Marketing Podcast, powered by Dentainment, delivers cutting-edge strategies to help dental practices attract new patients, grow revenue, and thrive in today's competitive digital landscape.

Many West Virginians have trouble with their teeth. In fact, there's a big gap between the folks who can reliably access an affordable dentist and those who can't. That's no surprise when half the state's counties have fewer than six dentists. National rankings consistently put West Virginia at or near the bottom in overall oral health care and a state report shows that by third grade, 56% of children show signs of tooth decay. Twelve percent of older adults have had all their teeth extracted. But as Us & Them host Trey Kay learns in this award-winning encore episode, there are new approaches that aim to change some old habits.  

What does it take to be a better producer? For Dr. Spencer Greer, it's not about chasing new patients or pushing treatment.In this episode, he shares the exact language he uses to present treatment without sounding greedy, losing trust, or pressuring anyone into a "yes." You'll learn where most dentists drop the ball on case acceptance and the traits that turn a surprising hire into a top producer.The best part: the growth you're after is already sitting in your schedule.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:03) From salesman to dentist(04:04) Building your career with intention(06:56) Why he hands all production to associates(09:25) The benefit to hiring new associates right out of school(15:30) Communication mistakes (+ how to fix them)(18:46) Having hard conversations without sounding greedy(21:28) Presenting it delicately, with a real example(22:42) How to handle rejection(24:57) More production without more patients(30:48) Dash Production courseUse code PAUL for 10% off Dr. Spencer Greer's Dash Production course! The course starts on July 17th, so sign up here today: https://highleveldentists.com/This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.comCheck out the Growth Program Here Join our Newest and Best Coaching Program, Click Here for More InformationTake Control of Your Practice and Your LifeWe help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams.Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

Corporate dentistry can copy more than most dentists want to admit.The equipment. The software. The scripts. The offers. The polish. Even the people.So what's left?In Day 29 of The Flow Protocol series, Dr. Dave reveals the advantage that never shows up on a balance sheet but shows up the moment a patient walks through the door.In this episode:Why patients feel the difference between a team that works near each other and a team that moves as oneHow flow turns an ordinary appointment into differentiation patients talk aboutWhy referability is the most underbuilt growth engine in independent dentistryListen to Day 29 and learn how to build the practice code corporate dentistry can't crack.━━━━━━━━━Busy isn't the same as Irreplaceable. One fills your schedule. The other protects your time, your income, and the team that has your back.Ten questions. Four minutes. See where your practice is strong, where it is exposed, and what to build next so you can work less, earn more, and be ready for what is coming.Take the Commoditization Threat Assessment: assessment.irreplaceablepractice.com

Most dental events are just sales pitches and superficial networking. If you're tired of cluttered conferences with zero substance, this episode reveals why the legendary Dental Boost Camp is completely different.We sit down with thought leader Dr. Alan Stern to preview the "summer camp for dentists" an event built entirely on community, professional growth, and authentic connection, completely free of sales pressure.What we break down in this episode:Community Over Networking: How intentional social dinners turn strangers into lifelong colleagues.Top-Tier Experts: Why industry veterans and speakers like Todd Fleischman and Dee Fisher return year after year.The Mastermind Blueprint: How the event creator, Paul, builds a curated environment to elevate your dental IQ and peer network.The ROI of Relationships: Why high-quality professional tribes profoundly shift your career trajectory.If you are hungry to learn, healthily competitive, and ready to find your tribe, tune in to discover why Boost Camp is a truly transformative experience.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Vallo to discuss his official move to join ZERO Dental Billing; the leading dental insurance billing and verification platform—as a minority partner. Dr. Vallo shares his journey from initial client and beta-tester across his own practices to strategic investor. Tune in to hear how firsthand experience solving a massive dental office pain point convinced him to put his money where his practices are.#ZeroDental #DentalInsurance #DentalBilling #InsuranceVerification#DentalPodcast #DentalLife #Dentistry #DentistLife #DentalOffice#DentalPracticeManagement #DentalSoftware #DentalUnfiltered

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Caitlin Embree interviews Max Dempsey, the rockstar office manager for Dr. Jaspreet Parmar's two growing practices. Max provides a rare, behind-the-scenes look at dental practice management from the perspective of an elite team member navigating an ownership transition. With 29 years of experience, she shares how she evolved from a lead dental assistant into a multi-practice manager by mastering front-office billing, insurance communication, and team leadership through targeted coaching.For any dentist evaluating dental practice acquisitions, this episode highlights how crucial it is to establish a unified culture from day one.Here is your masterclass in team-driven dental practice management:Establish Core Values Early: Do not let your team wallow in uncertainty during a transition. Dr. Parmar took his team out on day one to collaboratively define the clinic's core values, instantly proving his commitment to structured leadership.Master Fee-for-Service Verbiage: Running an out-of-network practice requires flawless communication. Train your team to respond to insurance questions by offering to verify benefits and calculate estimated copays, ensuring a "wow factor" patient experience.Delegate and Trust: True dental practice management scaling requires the owner to step out of the daily administrative weeds. Dr. Parmar built trust with Max to the point where she now handles major HR issues independently, allowing him to focus strictly on clinical production.Hire for Personality: Never make desperate hires. Prioritize candidates who fit your culture and exhibit a strong desire to learn, as technical skills can always be taught through effective dental practice management systems.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

Hello, Voices of the Bench community. This is Casey Baldwin with Ivoclar. If you've been curious about fast-firing zirconia to improve efficiency but aren't convinced it can deliver predictable, high-quality results, I'd encourage you to connect with us. Our new IPS emax Zirconia, offers multiple fast-fire protocols designed to help you save valuable production time while maintaining consistent outcomes. Time is money in every lab. Don't wait. Reach out today and discover how IPS emax Zirconia can help streamline your workflow. As full-arch dentistry continues to grow, so do the demands on today's dental laboratories. That's why Knight Dental recently launched SimplyARCH Studio, a dedicated production environment built exclusively for full-arch restorations. To support this specialized workflow, Knight invested in an XTCERA milling system and carefully evaluated multiple CAM software solutions before choosing hyperDENT. The decision came down to exceptional milling quality, minimal hand finishing, and impressive production efficiency. But what truly set hyperDENT apart was the implementation process. From the very beginning, the team provided more than software training—they shared the knowledge and experience needed to build an optimized workflow for complex full-arch cases. With proven expertise in advanced milling strategies and laboratory production, hyperDENT helped ensure SimplyARCH Studio was designed for long-term success from day one. This week we finally get to sit down with someone we've been talking about ever since meeting him at exocad Insights in Spain—Felix Chung from Imagine USA. What starts as the story of a kid who dreamed of becoming an astronaut quickly turns into one of the most fascinating journeys in digital dentistry. From researching zero gravity at NASA to trimming models in his uncle's dental lab (a job he absolutely hated), Felix shares how an aerospace engineering degree unexpectedly became the perfect foundation for helping shape the digital lab industry. Felix takes us through the early days of Imagine, back when it was known as iMilling, explaining how a brand-new 3Shape scanner, a lot of late-night research, and a willingness to take risks led him to become one of the pioneers of custom implant abutments and titanium bars. He opens up about betting everything on a quarter-million-dollar milling machine that barely worked, buying his uncle out of the business, and how meeting Jordan Greenberg completely changed the trajectory of the company. It's a story full of huge risks, bigger lessons, and the determination it takes to build something from the ground up. The conversation dives deep into the evolution of digital dentistry as Felix explains how Imagine expanded from a milling center into one of the industry's leading providers of CAD/CAM solutions, Exocad, HyperDENT, scanners, mills, and technical support. He shares why hiring great people has always been more important than selling great products, how the industry has shifted between outsourcing and in-house production over the last fifteen years, and why supporting laboratories through every technological change remains the company's biggest priority. We also spend plenty of time talking implants as Felix tells the incredible story behind the Mist implant component line, how a relationship with the United States Navy helped launch the brand, and how partnerships with companies like Keystone and SIC are helping bring better, more affordable restorative solutions to laboratories. Along the way, we discuss OEM versus compatible components, the ever-changing implant landscape, and what's next for Imagine—including new implant systems and a patent-pending angled custom abutment solution that could change how labs manufacture restorations in-house. If you enjoy hearing how innovation, perseverance, and a little bit of luck can transform an entire career, this is an episode you won't want to miss.Special Guest: Felix Chung.

In this episode of Ask George, Dr. George Hariri shatters the industry myth that achieving more than 10% same-store growth is impossible. For the modern dentist, transitioning from an exhausted clinician to a strategic CEO requires executing targeted dental growth strategies. Rather than forcing generalized systems onto your team, true leadership means diagnosing your clinic's unique bottlenecks. To scale efficiently, stop treating every operational issue equally and focus your administrative time on the constraints that generate massive dental practice profitability.This episode serves as your survival guide for mastering dental practice management. George reveals the four operational levers that guarantee sustainable dental practice growth:- Patient Flow: Implement the Retain, Open, Fill method. Lock the back door by mastering hygiene reappointment rates, then open new columns.- Case Acceptance: Empower your staff to co-diagnose. When the team leads patient education, doctor production becomes completely predictable.- Consistency: Close the performance gap between your best and worst clinical team members to instantly elevate the practice floor.- Efficiency: Play "Whac-A-Mole" with your metrics. Identify massive operational leaks, like a high missed call rate, and resolve them immediately.Elite dental business strategies require you to leverage your time. If you only spend a few hours a week working on the business, you must direct that energy toward your weakest links. Customizing your dental growth strategies to target these precise inefficiencies guarantees predictable expansion year after year.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.