Podcasts about hygienists

In case you missed it, this is a replayed moment from last year and one of the most viewed podcast episodes I've ever shared specifically for hygienists. And honestly, this topic is more important than ever because efficient perio charting in Dentrix directly impacts diagnosis, patient care, insurance documentation, and clinical consistency.

If you've ever thought "it's just a cleaning, I can skip it," this episode is going to change the way you see that appointment forever. The hygiene visit is so much more than polishing teeth. It's one of the most powerful windows into your whole-body health, and most people have no idea what they're missing. Dr. Rachaele Carver sits down with Brenda Powers, RDHAP, a biological dental hygienist in Southern California, to pull back the curtain on what a truly comprehensive hygiene appointment can look like, and why it may be one of the most important health visits you make all year.What You'll Learn in This Episode:A biological hygienist doesn't just check your gums, she's reading your posture, your skin tone, your breathing, your sleep, and your stress levels from the moment you sit down in the chair.Salivary diagnostics can identify the specific pathogens living in your mouth, including bacteria linked to heart disease, Alzheimer's, and type 2 diabetes, even when your mouth looks "healthy."Biofilm is the sticky matrix where bacteria live and multiply on your teeth, and managing it daily at home is just as important as what happens in the office.Ozone therapy is a safe, non-surgical tool that kills harmful bacteria, promotes tissue healing, and can help patients get off the deep cleaning hamster wheel for good.Collagen, vitamin C, vitamin D, B complex, magnesium, and zinc are among the key nutrients that directly support gum and bone health, and most of us aren't getting enough from food alone.Connect With Brenda Powers: Instagram: @holistic_hygienist Website: rdhguru.com Email: rootdentalconsulting@gmail.comConnect With Dr. Rachaele Carver: Join the 6-Week Gum Disease CourseBook Your Personalized ConsultationIf this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear it.Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only.  Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner.  Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests.  This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

In this episode, David Torres and Jessica Atkinson dive into the real concerns and experiences of graduating dental hygienists as they transition from school into the professional world. This candid conversation highlights the emotional and professional challenges new hygienists face, along with practical insights to help them navigate this pivotal stage of their careers.   What We Talked About:   First job anxiety and the pressure of entering the workforce   Why hygienists must stay actively involved in their careers beyond graduation   Adjusting to life after school and building confidence in clinical practice   How life-changing events and personal growth shape career paths   Key Takeaways: Graduating hygienists are not alone in their worries. Staying connected to the profession, seeking mentorship, and continuing education are critical to long-term success and fulfillment. Embracing change and remaining adaptable can make all the difference in building a rewarding career.   Call to Action: If you're a new or soon-to-be dental hygienist, stay engaged with your professional community. Continue learning, ask questions, and seek out support systems that help you grow. Don't let early career fears hold you back from pursuing opportunities.   Resources:   Emails: Kalea Woodyatt: kalea.woodyatt@utahtech.edu   Claire Zufelt: Claire.zufelt@utahtech.edu   Abigail Vogel: Abby.vogel@utahtech.edu   Haydn Bush: Haydn.mcmillan@utahtech.edu

Kim Augustus from Bloom RDH is back again on the podcast and is shedding light on the difficult transition dental hygienists often face after graduating and starting their careers. With several years of experience as an RDH, educator, and career coach, Kim has built a surplus of resources to provide for new grad dental hygienists who feel lost or uncertain in the operatory. She and Dana also discuss career options for dental hygienists outside of clinical settings, such as entrepreneurship, and what their journeys have looked like in becoming business owners.Register for Kim's New Grad Mentorship Courses with Cloud Dentistry → http://clouddentistry.com/r/vxn1Start here:Get dental hygiene school tips, free resources, and access to upcoming student events → https://dentalhygienebasics.mykajabi.com/newsletterWhen you're ready for boards:Join StudentRDH VIP → https://www.studentrdh.com/national-dental-hygiene-board-review-nbdhe-studentrdh-vip-club?utm_source=Referral%60&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_campaign=DHBasics&utm_content=DVIP3Want extra support + events?Get your free CloudU student membership (monthly events + giveaways) → http://clouddentistry.com/r/vxn1

In this episode, David Torres and Jessica Atkinson dive into the real concerns and experiences of graduating dental hygienists as they transition from school into the professional world. This candid conversation highlights the emotional and professional challenges new hygienists face, along with practical insights to help them navigate this pivotal stage of their careers.   What We Talked About:   First job anxiety and the pressure of entering the workforce   Why hygienists must stay actively involved in their careers beyond graduation   Adjusting to life after school and building confidence in clinical practice   How life-changing events and personal growth shape career paths   Key Takeaways: Graduating hygienists are not alone in their worries. Staying connected to the profession, seeking mentorship, and continuing education are critical to long-term success and fulfillment. Embracing change and remaining adaptable can make all the difference in building a rewarding career.   Call to Action: If you're a new or soon-to-be dental hygienist, stay engaged with your professional community. Continue learning, ask questions, and seek out support systems that help you grow. Don't let early career fears hold you back from pursuing opportunities.   Resources:   Emails: Kalea Woodyatt: kalea.woodyatt@utahtech.edu   Claire Zufelt: Claire.zufelt@utahtech.edu   Abigail Vogel: Abby.vogel@utahtech.edu   Haydn Bush: Haydn.mcmillan@utahtech.edu

Kara Vavrosky, RDHEP, had a great chat with Dr. JoAnn Gurenlian, a co-author of a white paper on elevating dental hygienists' role in prevention and patient motivation.Dr. JoAnn Gurenlian is the Director of Education, Research, and Advocacy for the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA). She is also a Professor Emerita for the Department of Dental Hygiene at Idaho State University, a Fellow of the ADHA, an Affiliate Academic Fellow of the American Academy of Oral Medicine, and Past President of the ADHA and the International Federation of Dental Hygienists. JoAnn is the author of over 350 papers in dental hygiene, dental, and medical publications and has given over 650 presentations at regional, national, and international events.A big thank you to LISTERINE® for sponsoring this video and for being such a champion of dental hygienists and clinical research.To download and read the full white paper, go to https://rdh.tv/WhitePaperIf you are a licensed dental professional, join LISTERINE® Pro Partners (it's free!) to get access to free LISTERINE® samples at https://rdh.tv/ListerineNeed CE? Start earning CE credits today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rdh.tv/ce⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get daily dental hygiene articles at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.todaysrdh.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Today's RDH on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/TodaysRDH/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Kara RDH on Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DentalHygieneKaraRDH/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Kara RDH on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/kara_rdh/

Dental A-Team is all about case acceptance. In this episode, Kiera shares how a practice can double its case acceptance in one month (or even one day! She has receipts!). She gives five tactical tips practices can apply today to refine that acceptance and start upping that percentage of "yes." 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 is a great day. I hope that you're loving it and I hope that you remember just as a quick little motivational thought for you that what's right is just as available as what's wrong. And I think so often we're looking at what's wrong in my life and why isn't this working versus thinking what's going well, what's right in the world, what's what's and I'm not saying to   belittle, miss sunshine and not see all the things that are really going on. But I do think that what we focus on, we attract and we achieve more of. so practices that are high performing practices that really have great cultures, they're looking for what's right in this world. They're looking for the good, the positive, they're building that. But that does not mean that they're not seeing the things that need to be impacted and fixed. And so I just really want you to, to think about that today as we as we tackle a fun topic, and that's about case acceptance. And if you know me, you know that I'm obsessed about case acceptance and   Today we're gonna go through how to double your case acceptance in 30 days or even just one day. And it's really true. I've done this multiple times. We've taken practices from 50 % case acceptance to 100 % in one day. I have some practices, they know who they are, they listen to the podcast, shout out to them, where we coach their treatment coordinators. And we've been doing this for several years and we've added multiple millions to their practices. We're not quite to the billions, no pressure team. I know you guys like a good challenge, ⁓ but genuinely, and it's through helping.   just people have better lives. And I think about case acceptance and people are like, but you know, case acceptance, Kiera, it's about like money or it's this objection. And I just want to say that realistically, most treatment coordinators, what happens is we accidentally plant weeds in our flower gardens, aka objections in our case acceptance, unintentionally. And I can have the exact same patient, exact same scenario, different treatment coordinator, different result. And so what I found, and this is why I love this, this is where I got my start.   You guys know that I'm obsessed with helping patients and teams and dentists just have their best lives possible. And so really just giving you guys some tips on how we can do this, how you can boost your case acceptance. And these are tactical ways. So like take the recipe today, take this in, apply it. But what I want to say is I believe that case acceptance is a journey and it's not an overnight sensation. And these practices I alluded to, again, they are some of my favorite clients to work with. The team is amazing. They show up, they have grit.   and they recognize that it is always a next level to improve. And so that's why we work together because we are like, I've trained them for years and yet they keep coming back and we keep refining and we keep going to the next level and we keep improving because there's always a next level within case acceptance. And I think when you recognize that and you see that you can actually be an even stronger treatment coordinator. you guys know, Dental A Team, we are obsessed with making your life better. We love to work with doctors and teams. We love to   do it virtually or in person with you and to possibly influence and impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible. So I'm so glad you're here on the podcast with us. If you love our podcast, please be sure to like, subscribe, share this with people, leave us a review. I do personally read those reviews and I'm so thankful for you guys. I'm thankful for this community. I'm thankful for ⁓ the, I think just the lives that have been changed. I love meeting you in real life. I love hearing from you in emails. I love.   this community of people. I just love people in general. And so I hope that you know that I just truly love and adore you and I hope that you feel that and if I was in person, I'd give you a giant hug today and tell you that I know you're doing better than you think you are. And they're simple tips. ⁓ I can speak very confidently to case acceptance. I was speaking to a candidate that I'm interviewing and there was this there was this humble confidence about them where   They didn't have to prove anything to me on the interview. was like, Kiera, I've done this. I've done this many times. It's like, I know how to get the winning championship and it's not hard. And I don't say this egotistically. I will say that I do know how to get case acceptance boosted and our team knows how to do this. And I think this is one of the greatest services you can give your patients is helping them say yes to dentistry that's necessary. And so I hope that you feel that what I'm teaching you today comes from very strong.   Experience is not just theories and ideas, but genuinely been there done that done it successfully and I'm here to share that with you So a couple of things is number one. I'm really big on when we are working with this So first steps first I work hard on making sure that we have the right mindset I say mindsets everything So if you think a patient is gonna say no to you You're gonna make yourself correct if you say a patient is gonna say yes to you You're going to make yourself correct. So whichever one it is and to me. I'm like both of those are free   Thoughts are free, words are free. Let's pick the ones that serve us. And I'm going to choose the one of everybody says yes to me. I even have doctors that text me and they're like, remember Kiera how you say this? And I'm like, I genuinely believe it. It's because I believe in my doctors. I believe in what we're doing. And I believe that patients deserve to have the best dental treatment and new doctors and new teams are the ones who are going to give it to them. So I'm not going to let this patient leave me just like I'm not going to let somebody who's looking for a great consultant.   Leave me, I know we are the best freaking consulting company you could ever have. So if you wanna have the best consultant, call me, call our team, let's work with you because you're going to see results and that's what I'm about. So with your office, same thing, you should have that same level of confidence in your practice. You should be able to say, I want these patients, I'm going to help these patients. Now that doesn't mean I take on their problems, but I do believe that mindset is 80 % of the game of case acceptance. So that's step one is we gotta start with that. Doctors, when you walk into the room, I wanna when you put your foot on that threshold, walking in to do an exam,   You come into doctor 2.0, whomever it is, like patients say yes to you. Your job is to give them a very clear diagnosis and to be able to guide them into correct decisions. Words create worlds. What world am I creating for our patients? What am I doing for our patients? Am I helping them see like this is easy to say yes or am I making it so confusing and hard with multiple options? Doctors, I'm calling you out on this. I know you wanna explain everything. You're freaking brilliant, but sometimes that's called confusion. And that makes a patient not wanna say yes to you.   Complexity is the enemy of execution. I'll say that again. Complexity is the enemy of execution. So if you don't have clarity and you don't drive people with clean, concise routes, you can give them the options, but let's talk about, do they want fixed or removable? You've got to be very clear and you've got to be very confident when you deliver. Patients are buying your confidence. So number one, I want you to 1,000 % change your mindset. I don't care what you got to do, who you've got to be, but you've got to start with a correct mindset. And if you will do that, your case acceptance will automatically just with that one thing,   go up and that's between treatment coordinators, team members and dentists. All of us patients love us. They want to say yes to us and we have a moral obligation to help them. Number two, I'm really big on you guys know we have this where we're going to have doctors having great presentations. So I talk a lot about ⁓ child Dini's principles of persuasion and whether you like those or not, that's fine. Words are free. Options are free. Thoughts are free. Take them if you want them and I'm obsessed with this because if I can get a patient in the mindset of saying yes to me,   I've already teed them up into that confidence space. So I recommend doctors when you lean the patient back, you say, can I lean you back? They will say yes. Can I do an exam? They will say yes. This is helping them prime and we're priming them to get them into the mindset to say yes to you. Really, really, really important. And I know you don't want to do this, but guess what? It's very easy. So we have the mindset already there. Then we get them to be saying yes to us. Be very careful treatment coordinators. This does not always apply to you because the last thing I want you to do is do you want to get treatment scheduled? We are not leading them to answers with no.   We are only leading to answers of yes. So if you're going to use a yes or a no, you've got to make sure it's gonna lead to a yes. I do not want you planting them with nos. You've gotta be very careful with this. Then step three is going to be, we do comprehensive exams and we wrap it with the NDTR. You guys have heard me preach about this. This was made up in a practice, I don't know, 10 years ago. Shout out to ⁓ my Tucson practice. I know you listened to this. It was your office because your office manager didn't wanna use a route slip.   So I made up this acronym that has stuck with us for years and it's become one of the bread and butter of dentistry that I use. And I will tell you, you put this into place, you're going to add multiples to your practice. We call it the NDTR, next visit, date, time, re-care. You get those items, you put it in a nice pretty bow, doctors, you do a comprehensive exam, you make sure you don't have too many of them being crazy. Like get them into pretty much where they're onto one solution. If you are my mom or my grandma or my dad or my brother or my sister, whatever it is.   This is what I would recommend for you. If cost wasn't an option, what would you select? You can ask them, what's the most important thing to you? Cosmetic function, cost or longevity. There are ways you can tee people up and then you can guide conversations into exactly what they want. This takes finesse, this takes practice, but ultimately we're after results, we're after the W, we're after helping the most amount of freaking patients that we can, all right? So for you, if you want the W, to me, case acceptance, the way we win is by helping more patients say yes.   If you're a great doctor, I want patients saying yes to you. If you're not a great doctor, I want you to become a great doctor so more patients can say yes to you. That's where we're at. So we've got to wrap our pretty little treatment plan up with the next visit. It's clear. What is our exact next visit? Kiera, I want to see you back for the crown in the upper right. I want to see you back in two weeks. That's the date. And I need about an hour and a half of that. Please, for the love of everything, this is step whatever. I don't know. I think this is step three for you. But I want you to make sure it's very clear and concise because   Complexity is the enemy of execution. If they're walking up of like, don't even know what treatment I'm coming back for. I don't know what I need to come. A crown is gonna take me all day. I can't do that. Your patient is subconsciously planting objections and why they can't say yes to this. But if you eliminate those, like we're clearing the fog, it's very easy. I just need to see you back in two weeks. I need to see you for an hour and a half and we're gonna take care of that crown for you in the upper right and the fillings. Or we're gonna do implants, whatever it is, I don't care.   or like, hey, we're gonna see you in three visits. We're gonna start with the upper right. We're gonna take care of that. Then we're gonna go and do your SRP. And then we're gonna finalize with all the rest of the fillings. I don't care, but make it so clear and simple for them. They don't need it all. And I know we sometimes go, this is where we go from clinical jargon to patient simplicity. Make it simple. When I go in and I'm trying, I remember I was at the van store and this girl was like, so do you want a bag? And I was like, no. Do you want this? Do you want that? Do you want this? I'm like, just like I'm done.   You guys mean far too many questions. I don't even want to come back and talk to you. Like keep it. I don't even want to buy it. And I think we often forget that our patients, while we're trying to educate and explain, and there is a line of that, this isn't their passion. And I say that with the most amount of like love, like, know, I know you care about this so much, but they don't. What they care about is, are you the right person? And how are you going to get me healthy and confident? Now they might have questions that they need answers to. That's okay. But for the bulk, people want to know.   Where am I at? Why does this need to get done? And what are my steps to get it fixed? I was at the jeweler the other day and like, my gosh, it was like, you have these chips, you've got this, you've got this warranty. And I just, I didn't do anything because it was too much. I don't care about jewelry and chips and this like, is my diamond going to fall out or not? And what do I need to do to prevent that? And then they were like, well, it's this amount. And I was like, okay. But the ring didn't even cost me that much to begin with.   So you've got to make sure that it really makes sense to patients in the simplicity. So confidence, number one, you've got that. Words create worlds, you're gonna walk in there. Number two, we're gonna tee them up with giving the yeses. Number three, we're gonna give a very simple NDTR, give it to the patient, make sure it's clear and concise, what is the very next step. It's very clear, very simple for them to go through. And then we take them up to the front office and every person, if they follow this, we use route slips, we have handoffs, I don't care, you can have a virtual.   hand off, I don't care, you can type it in, but we need next visit date, time, so we're all saying the exact same thing. So this patient knows my goal for every practice is that that patient leaves the operatory, walks to the front office, which they should not do, but the visual is there that they walk up and like, hey, Kiera, Dr. Smith wants to see me back in two weeks for a crown and it needs an hour and a half for that. If it is that clear, and I need to schedule my cleaning with Sarah. Do you think that patient's bought in? The answer is yes.   You've already got them like 90 % of the way. Now all we've got to do is deal with finances. Like that's truly it. And sometimes that's not even the issue, but we need to make sure that we have that. Now, step four is schedule first. Put the emphasis and the priority on the schedule. People are like, so we got to do the crowds. It's going to be this amount. No, why are we talking money first? Dentist diagnosed it. We need to get this treatment done.   Why are we sitting here wondering if money is the issue or not? It's not, let's get the treatment done. Let's assume they want to do treatment. Remember, everybody says yes to Why would they the dentist if they don't want to get treatment done? They are here because they want to get their mouth healthy. They don't come here because they're like, well, I'm not gonna do anything with it. I went to the jeweler because I wanted my ring fixed. They made it so hard, I walked out of there because it was too hard for me. If they would have said, Kiera, perfect, your two choices are, we can either do it on warranty and this is how much it is, or if you don't, this is how much the total is.   If they would have just said it that simply for me, I would have probably fixed my ring. But it was all this nonsense that I walked out. So think about your patients the same way. So schedule first, that is our next step. Hey, perfect, so Dr. Smith wants to see you. He wants to see you back in two weeks. You're like, care of my schedule is so booked. Fine, when your schedule and my schedule align, please stop making objections for things that are simple. I need you to get out of your own way on case acceptance.   You sit there and over explain, give too many options, don't think it's good to give them urgency, cause you're like, well, the two is not gonna break. I hear you. But what you're lacking is they're gonna leave your practice, go to Costco, be thinking about cereal and the kids and dance. This is the time that they're dedicating to themselves to get their dentistry done. Be respectful of their time and make them a raving freaking fan. Make it so easy for them. I think about Disney. Disney makes it so easy for me to spend money with them.   It's a mobile app. I don't have to go stand in lines. I have this, I have that. They make it so easy for me to say yes. And my question to you is, are you making it easy for your patients to say yes to you or are you making it so hard that they don't want to? Are you making them so confused? They're like, I don't even know what just happened. With IVF, do you know how many words they talked to me about that I don't even know? But it was like, Kiera, this is your next step. This is the total of how much you'll pay and here are financing options if you need them. Now, the only reason I use that as an example,   is because IVF is about $50,000 per treatment. Just like you're all on excess cases, that is the appropriate time to talk about financing there because not everybody has 50 grand just sitting there, just like in that. But most people usually are okay with one to two to three to five to 10,000 even. Not all the time, and I'm not saying that, but be careful that then with treatment coordinate, and this is the fifth step, is we need to make sure that when we're presenting treatment, we don't assume that it's money. We don't assume it's all these things. It's not, it's your confidence in how you're saying it.   Schedule first, talk money second. Now when we're talking money, we go into it and they're like, but what's it gonna cost? No problem, I'm go over that. You're gonna be super confident. We're gonna make sure we take care of all that. Dr. Smith's super busy and I wanna make sure I reserve that time for you. I have Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. Control the conversation, make it very simple for them. Make it very, very easy for them. Then after that, what we're gonna do is we present the totals. Here's the total amount. Here's the estimated insurance amount. This'll be your total when I see you on Wednesday.   What questions do you have for me? I want you to be super confident moving forward. I say super confident moving forward. I am guiding them. I am saying what I want them to do. This is all words again are free. Use them. I believe that this patient deserves it the best dentistry and I wanna make it as easy as possible. There was no pressure on it. There was nothing. It is very, very simple. I've told you what you need. We've got you scheduled. Here's the total. What questions do you have? Some people will be like, let's talk about financing.   Absolutely, we've got financing. Do you have savings or do you want to talk about third party financing? I'm not just throwing out my Rolodex because what happens is, and I did this, we were buying bikes. My husband and I were buying bikes back in COVID. And I remember they were like, ⁓ and or you could do this like thing and you won't have any interest. My husband and had the money. We would have paid right then and there, but because they would not stop talking and assume we weren't going to say yes,   They offered financing. And I know a lot of people fight me in the industry on this and like, no, Kiera, you should offer financing. Like that's the way of the world. I am really pro simple equates results. And if I can have simple things, I'm going to get a lot more yeses. So treatment coordination, we're going to have financial options. Make sure you have it. We want to have them immediately. We want to be really, really solid with this. We are going to present all of our treatment there. And then if they are not on a yes, I go past it two times.   If they're still not a yes, I'm gonna follow up with them in two days, two weeks, two months. Follow-up matters. You have got to follow up on this. We need to check in with them. People get busy, they've got questions. Love them. Do this out of love, not obligation. And that might be like my best line for you. Do everything with case acceptance out of love. I told the team the other day, I just imagine when a patient sits with me, I'm giving them a warm hug. And it's like, not an actual one. Please don't get weird. But like, how can I make you...   feel like you are the most important, incredible human being sitting right in front of me and I'm gonna help you get the best dentistry possible and I'm gonna make your day just a little bit better because you happen to be in my world today. That's the direction to come from. Doctors, that's the direction to come from when you're doing your case presentation. Hygienist, this is how we tee it up to our doctors. These are simple little steps and I promise you, if you will do these items, your case acceptance will flourish. If you choose to pick and choose like this as a buffet, it won't grow. It is all of these steps.   consistently every time when we look at the results, we review the results, we see how are we doing and we refine. Case acceptance is about refinement, it's not about perfection. Where am I having that one or two words where I just need to do that, just change it a little bit, what needs to happen? And I promise you, you're going to get it. So if you want help with this or you wanna be like the team where we're adding multiple millions, please, please, please join us. Reach out, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. But you, your practice and your team.   deserve to have the best case acceptance. You deserve to have patients that love you, that wanna work with you. This is what it's about. They love you. So let them work with you. Make it easy to work with you. Progress over perfection is where it's at. And I am obsessed with this. Just think about it. People are like, well consulting, can cost so much. And I say, if I helped you get one or two more cases closed every single month, we'd pay for ourselves. And you have a fairy godmother on your team.   And you have somebody you can talk to about finances and you have somebody who grows your team and you have somebody who's going to help you with the business side of it. And you're going to have somebody who's way freaking smart in dentistry. And you're going to be able to have access to our entire group. And you're going to be able to come to a mastermind. Like why not? It is that simple. And this is what we do. And this is how we pay for our consulting. Plus give you your life back, plus help you with your patients and make your life incredible. So reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Premedication can feel confusing, especially when guidelines have changed and every office seems to handle things a little differently. That's why I'm so excited to welcome Sue Scherer, RDH, BS to the podcast to help break this topic down in a way that actually makes sense.Sue is the Education and Professional Relations Manager for Water Pik and has been a dental hygienist for over 20 years, with experience as a clinician, instructor, CE speaker, and author. She's passionate about helping dental professionals understand the science behind the guidelines, especially when it comes to topics that often bring confusion to patient care.In this episode, we talk through who truly needs premedication, which medical conditions qualify, what procedures require it, and how to confidently verify everything before treatment. Sue shares practical insights and real-world clarity that hygienists can take straight into practice.If you're a student, new grad, or practicing hygienist who has ever second-guessed whether a patient really needs premedication, this conversation will help you feel more confident asking questions, verifying information, and protecting both your patients and your license.Disclaimer: This conversation was originally recorded in September 2025 and reflects guidelines available at that time. This episode is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional clinical judgment or current guidelines. Always follow the most up-to-date recommendations from your supervising dentist, physician, and professional organizations when making clinical decisions.ADA Premedicaiton Guidelines BetterMouth.TVReady to make patient education easier? Try your first month FREE at bettermouth.tv/brushwithbritt

Kiera and Dana dive into the hygienist's mindset (which tends toward patient care over business numbers) and how a doctor can get a full hygiene team on board with metrics and measurables. They touch on the hygienist drought, growing your practice without stepping on your hygienists' toes, setting expectations everyone can agree on, and more. Dana also touches on a hygiene team she worked with for a couple years that went from struggling to hit its goals to hitting even their daily goals 95% of the time. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is a great freaking day over there. I get the one and only Dana, Dynamite Dana over there. I did not say the other nickname. If you've been on the podcast for a while, you might know, but Dana, welcome to the show today. How are you?   DAT-Dana (00:16) doing pretty good. Thanks so much for having me. It's not always that I get dedicated, you know, Kiera time. So I'm excited to be here.   The Dental A Team (00:22) I know when Dana and I get a podcast, like it's not always common, but I mean, you guys might start seeing Dana a bit more. I've got a few plans and tricks up my sleeves for Dana. We've been together for a long time. Dana, like donuts with Dana tip. don't remember what that was like dentistry tips or something. You were on a roll. You used to, I think you still do them actually every single week. Um, but Dana, you were just a diehard dedicated and always without, will not share it.   DAT-Dana (00:39) Yeah.   The Dental A Team (00:49) but Dana always has the best story. So if you don't know Dana and you want like a good giggle in your life, you name it. And also Dana is the best with trivia. We do a company end of year party every year and it's always like trivia based. Dana whoops everybody. Like this woman knows facts and stats like nobody's business. So Dana, today's gonna be a fun day because not only is Dana dynamite this way, but we're gonna do a little bit of an office autopsy about a hygiene department. So if you don't know in Dana's Other Life,   Dana used to work at a prison as a hygienist and Dana that still is a trip to me. Like, did you ever get nervous that they were going to take their shackled hands and like stab you with an instrument? I'm truly curious because that's my fear. Let's just talk about that for one second.   DAT-Dana (01:27) Yeah, I mean, there were   a lot of like protocols in place for protection and for safety. But at the end of the day, you knew where you were. you know, yes, there was always I think just a niggling element of I just need to be careful, pay attention beyond my toes. Yeah.   The Dental A Team (01:44) Like you're working with sharp instruments.   I mean, it's not like you doled them out to take them in there. Like we're not going to have a sharp scaler. You get a doled one. Like you got to be in there. But yeah, cause I remember I worked in an office and they would bring in inmates and they would be like handcuffed top to bottom. And the girl would always be like, so what were you in prison for? And I'm like, why are we, why are we poking the bear? Like, why don't we just keep them calm? And like, I don't even want to know. Like, but she did it every time. I was only up there a couple of times consulting them, but.   DAT-Dana (02:04) Thanks.   The Dental A Team (02:13) Anyway, beyond prison, also is an incredible hygienist. So today we wanted to kind of office autopsy because Dana had a practice that she worked with for several years on hygiene and their number one motive and their number one objective was hygiene. And I think that this is such a, it's very delicate because I think dentists want hygienists to produce and as a practice, we want hygienists to produce. And Dana, as a hygienist, you feel, I'm not gonna put words in your mouth, but the assumption I get from a lot of hygienists is   We want to just do great work and we don't want to always have to be looking at numbers. Maybe that's true or not, but like Dana, I want to hear what's kind of like the mindset of hygienist and then how do doctors approach this? And then we'll dig into the practice that you worked with that like really freaking crushed it. But I think like, this is such a, I don't know. I feel like it's a sliver in a practice. Like no one wants to talk about it. Like let's just not touch it so it doesn't hurt. But then it like blows up and people are like, my freaking hygienist aren't producing and they don't want to like tick them off because no one's there.   So let's talk about it, because is that how hygienists feel and how do you win over hygiene?   DAT-Dana (03:12) Yeah,   I think it's a mindset. I think it's a difference in mindset, right? I think dentists are always looking at the business side of it because oftentimes the dentists are the business owners and hygiene, their mindset is patient care. And so the easiest way I think to get alignment on that is you actually are caring about the same thing. You just don't realize it. And so it is getting alignment in like numbers tell us   how we are doing in patient care truly. So getting a hygiene team to understand that, getting them aligned that.   No numbers aren't everything, but actually numbers tell you exactly the thing that you care about most. ⁓ And so I feel like they look at it from different angles. And if you can get them aligned and actually it is the same thing and numbers tell you hygienist, the thing that you care about most, which is patient care and making sure that every patient leaves your chair happy, healthier than when they walked in. Understanding that the numbers will tell you how well you're doing at that. ⁓   It's definitely a mindset shift, but I think once you can get them aligned with that and then understand that you're truly talking the same thing, it's a game changer.   The Dental A Team (04:25) I love that Dana and as you were saying that it made me think of like when we do a practice assessment with a practice when they're reaching out to work with us or just wanting clarity the first question one of our first questions is like do you have a 10-year vision that you and your team are rallied around and as you were saying that Dana I thought about okay well if our hygiene department has a vision that we're all rallied around so let's say it's patient care well then the next question always that follows is how do we know if we're having excellent patient care and it's something that can't be a feeling   because we've got to be able to track and measure just like I can't say that I'm the best basketball player, but I have no way to prove that and measure it. My husband's in pharmacy and he's always like, if you're the best, then just freaking prove it, like stats and number it. Like, why do you have to it on feelings? Like, ⁓ it's such a hard thing because then we really never as a hygiene department know, like, are we really doing the best patient care? So then we make actual stats of, okay, great, we have this many perio patients. Like, this is our perio percentage. This is our fluoride percentage.   This is how many reviews that we get, this is how many patients are leaving on time. And then like, this is how we know that we're like hitting our daily goal to make sure we're not missing like our FMXs or different things that need to be done on a regular basis. So as you said that, I thought like even a way to get hygiene teams on board is like, what is our vision? Like you said, and then how do we truly measure that? We got to have actual stats with that. It can't just be the warm fuzzies of I think I'm doing well because what's crazy is I can think I'm doing well and then I have to go run a mile.   And I'm like, no, I've been doing my cardio. Like I'm really a great runner. And then it's like, I ran a mile in 15 minutes and people are like, are you even running? Like until I track and measure, there's no way to improve. And so I think it's when people realize like, that's the only reason we're doing it is to see like, hey, if we've got the best patient care, then like, let's prove it, let's document it. So that way we're confident in that as well. So Dana, I'm curious, I'm a dentist. How do I get my hygiene team on board that there's gonna be a consultant that's gonna like make them?   track number, like what do people even say to make a hygienist, which is you like get on board with this idea. And then Dana, we're going to dig into like how you help turn around a hygiene team. So A though, how does this dentist get his hygienist on board or hers?   DAT-Dana (06:29) Yeah,   I think it's an open and honest conversation of just like you said, like, give me give me descriptors of what an amazing hygiene department looks like to you. If you worked in an office and you said you walked in and this was the best hygiene team you've ever worked with you've ever been a part of what does that look like? And oftentimes that will lead to conversations about patient care about those things. And then it is okay, guys, how do we know, right? I   I want you guys to be the best hygiene team. probably sit here and think you are the best hygiene team. How do I know that though? And then you start to attach those metrics and those measurables to say, hey, like, we want to be this. We, we feel like maybe we even are but how do we know for sure? And I think that it's an opening that conversation and as well as like the   Best part of, yes, I worked very solo for many years in the prison, but when I went into private practice or when I got to temp in offices, the best thing that I loved was getting to learn from my other hygienists. And so we're going to get alignment. We're going to learn a lot from each other. Everybody's got their strengths and weaknesses. And so over the next couple of months, I want you to share your tips and tricks. We're going to talk about verbiage. We're going to talk about how to have conversations. But at the end of the day, our goal should be that   when patients walk in no matter which hygienist they see the same thing is done each and every time.   The Dental A Team (07:54) And I love that you say that because it's like, this is how we get them on in. And I think like, doctors, don't know, Dana, a doctor giving you their, I don't know, expectation or sharing with you as a hygienist, does that like turn you off to where you just want to go like look for another job? Because I think dentists are so scared of their hygiene team leaving that they don't even want to like tell them what they're expecting from them. Cause they're just like, it's okay. Like it's better to just.   hang on to them rather than wanting to elevate. Like how do you navigate this like hygiene drought plus the need to grow your practice? Like how do you navigate that? And what does that feel like as a hygienist?   DAT-Dana (08:31) Mm-hmm. I do feel like it can be a scary conversation. It can be an uncomfortable conversation or a conversation where a dentist kind of dread, but ultimately I think hygienists are   usually typically goal oriented, growth oriented, like they want to know what the expectations are, because at the end of the day, they want to hit it. And so they can sit here and say, Hey, I think I'm doing a great job. I feel like I'm working hard, right. But what actually tells them that? And it does come down to the expectations, the goals, the numbers, those pieces, I think   The Dental A Team (08:53) Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (09:06) It can be a difficult conversation, but I honestly think that hygiene departments, hygienists themselves, like they want to know what the expectations are because I'll tell you they are typically ⁓ goal driven achievement people. Like they want to hit the things that you want. And so I think again, it's like clarity is the best thing that you can do for them. And if you are frustrated that they're not meeting expectations, they're probably frustrated that they don't even know what the expectations are.   The Dental A Team (09:17) Air quotes typically.   I mean, that's fair. And I love that you say that because you're right, most hygienists do want to know what the goals are. And even if you just casually like put it on the table, they're going to casually look at that and just start to casually think about it. And I think like, Dana, I really want to dig into because I know you had a practice and you had an entire hygiene department and you worked heavily with them and they like all loved you, which I think is not common. Like I think you usually have like   three of the four that are super excited about and you got one that's just kind of off on their own planet, ⁓ which happens a lot. But I think it's like, it's okay to give expectations. I think the piece that I've gathered, and I'm not a hygienist, so please, please chime in. I think hygienists just want to make sure that like, of all the things you want them to do, that you're not hurting patient care. So it's like, I'm okay to scan, I'm okay to probe, I'm okay to take x-rays. Like I really get the vibe that hygienists truly are not upset by that. But it's like, if you want me to scan,   probe, x-ray, plus scale, polish, do a great exam. Can we just be realistic and fair of not making me be the Olympic level athlete hygienist and maybe it's we probe and then we scan on the next visit so we could break it up so it's not having to happen every time. And I think when hygienists and doctors or hygienists and consultants come together and where it's like, OK, what are we ultimately all going for? Let's be realistic with our timing. I don't want them to have to be   A star players because not every hygienist is that. So I'm like, how can we make this tour like my B players can still thrive where my A's can like crush more and my C's feel like they it's not so far away. I think like when if you can build it that way, I feel like hygienists are way more apt and I also feel like don't don't try to get them to do every single thing right at once. Like let's do baby steps to where they like if we're not even doing fluoride, if we're not even tracking our numbers, like we're not going to scan every time. And I know doctors, you want to do that. Gap leap.   but you got to baby scale them up. So Dana, I'm just going to like hand this over to you. Like, what did you do with an office? How did you win them over? How do you scale up hygiene departments? Because I think it's delicate, but I think you're the expert on our team that does this very successfully with a lot of hygiene teams.   DAT-Dana (11:43) Yeah, and I think when it comes to, Dennis, we've got to remove a lot of barriers first, right? That's the first thing. is, barriers are always going to be time. It's always going to be, well, my schedule's not full. It's always going to be, so we really talked about those barriers and yes, we want to make sure that your schedule's full, but when it isn't full, how do you maximize, right, what is in your chair? So we started with fluoride, honestly, which was an easy way, and I think that...   When we talk about goals, it helps to know like, why is this goal the way that it is? Right? Why is a fluoride acceptance goal 90 %? So let's talk about that, right? Think about the patients that sit in your chair. It's very rare that a patient sits in your chair that does that there's not something going on that fluoride would benefit.   Right? So even if they have immaculate teeth and they have very little dentistry done, let's keep it that way. Right? If they've got a lot of dentistry done, let's make sure it lasts as long as it possibly can. If they've got sensitivity, right? So just talking about what are the benefits, who can benefit from it? And honestly and truly statistically, that many patients that sit in your chair can actually benefit from it. So we did start with full ride and we worked on that.   The Dental A Team (12:31) Mm-hmm.   Right.   DAT-Dana (12:58) And then after fluoride, our next layer then was perio. And again, it came down to, well, the goal is 30 % of your patients, right, should be perio patients. Well, why? Right? Why is that the goal? Well, the goal is, right, science and statistics tell us that unless you have a very unique population within your practice, so unless you are in a college town and you pretty much see only patients in their 20s, right, or you're a pediatric practice, 30 % of the population   has that, right? And so that's just like science-based, that's just database. But having those conversations, I think, opens up windows to say, okay, this isn't arbitrary goals. We're not just picking numbers out of the sky. There's reasons that these goals exist. And unless you are truly unique in that situation, that goal applies to you.   The Dental A Team (13:29) Hmm.   ⁓ yeah, go ahead. think that that's like, was just going to chime in real quick on like, I love that you broke down the why. And as you were saying it, I was thinking some team members don't need the why. Most dental assistants don't actually need a why. Most treatment coordinators don't really need a why. They're more like, let's just drive and go. Hygienists on the other hand, like, let's just look at their natural behavior. Very detailed. I mean, they sit there and they scrape that calculus. mean, Dana, the fact that you sit there and like, you want to get every little last piece of it.   If I've got a personality that's that obsessive of that small of details, they're going to want to understand the why. So as you were saying that Dana, I was like, even explaining to dentists, like why do they need to know why the goal is and why it's based with science? And because that's who they are. They're bred with like, we want to know the science. We want to know the background behind it. And I think, I think you even just taking that step with hygienist Dana, like kudos to you for calling that out. They're going to be way more inclined to buy in because like you said, it's feeding their brain and how they're naturally wired.   to be able to like, that makes sense. I can get on board with this and I can make sure I'm following rather than you're just making me look at every patient for fluoride because you want numbers. It's like, no, 90%. I tell everybody with fluoride, like my go-to for hygienists is I'm like, look at my teeth. They're really clean. You can clean me in 30 minutes. And yet how many hygienists in my entire life has offered me fluoride? And the answer is none. And I'm like, the fact that not even one offered it to me, like how dare you hygienists assume that I don't want to be proactive and preventative with my teeth?   Gizzles offer it to me because if I would have known I can't ever go back in time retroactively and do that and I wish that hygienists when I was you know 15 16 17 would have offered this to me to proactively take care of my teeth I did not learn about fluoride until I worked in a dental practice and I'm like rude you just assumed I was like clean and healthy and wouldn't want it versus like why not offer it because even your clean immaculate patients if you tell them this is the most proactive preventative thing you can do for your teeth   for 30 bucks or 45, whatever it is, like, do know how much a filling is? I'm going to say yes to you. So I think Dana, like kudos to you on that. But what else were you gonna say? Cause I know I cut you off on your thought process too.   DAT-Dana (15:55) no, and my next thought process was then we tackled just alignment on all of those things. And so we spent a lot of time building Perio protocol ⁓ and talking about the conversations that go along with it. And even on people who don't qualify right for Perio but are heavy builders because we just kept hearing time, time, we're running behind, we're running behind. And it is just...   navigating conversations with patients because you can have heavy builders and yes is that hygienist we want to remove every last speck of calculus but if a patient presents with too much to get done in an hour we have to have those conversations. Hey since I saw you last there is quite a bit of build up here. I'm gonna do the best that I can to get to get all of it off today but moving forward I think it would be super beneficial if you came more often and I could see you more frequently to ensure that I can get   The Dental A Team (16:36) Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (16:51) I can remove all of this every single time. And so it is, then it came down to conversations. And so we built up period of protocol. We talked about what if a patient refuses? We talk about, we still do restorative treatment if a patient refuses period? What are we doing in those instances? Because I wanted them to feel super confident. No matter who sat in their chair, they could navigate whatever they presented.   ⁓ And that they had something to fall back on and I think it was They had a very seasoned hygienist in their practice and I can't tell you how proud of her I was she made massive moves and had Conversations that I think she kind of knew needed to happen But because she had the framework to make them happen because she had a protocol to lean back on That she had something to give her confidence to say like yeah. No, this does   The Dental A Team (17:27) you   DAT-Dana (17:45) need to move in that direction. I mean she just made leaps and bounds. I mean she went from I think about 10 % perio to about 28 % when I was done with the hygiene department.   The Dental A Team (17:56) my gosh,   that's incredible. And Dana, just to give like our listeners a little like glimpse of you worked with this team for about two years, not hitting goal. mean, not hitting perio, not hitting fluoride, not being a producing hygiene team to two years later. Fast forward, just kind of give a glimpse of what this hygiene team looked like when you were wrapping up with that office.   DAT-Dana (18:14) Yeah, we went from pretty much not hitting goal routinely ever to hitting their daily goal about 90, 95 % of the time. So they made leaps and bounds and they had a lot of hard conversations because part of it was, you know, there is doctors play a part in this. And I think doctors oftentimes like will kind of be hands off. These doctors really wanted to be hands on totally fine. And so it was even getting alignment between the hygiene team and the doctors on perio.   on those pieces and so they had a lot of hard conversations they did a lot of calibration they even were calibrating probing depths and probe readings and like they've just put in a ton of work but that work gave them so much movement. ⁓   And I think just so much confidence as a hygiene department that like, we really can learn from each other. We really can teach each other. We really can have these conversations. And I think it also empowered the doctors to understand that like, again, it was a miss of expectations. Their team wanted to do a good job. Their team wanted to meet the protocol. Their team wanted to do what they wanted them to do or the standards that they had for their practice. They just needed to have the conversations, have the alignment and create those   boundaries amongst each other and it was truly amazing to see what they could do once they once they dug in.   The Dental A Team (19:37) ⁓ Dana, this, think is just a, there were so many pieces I heard that I hope office has got the number one I heard was the hygiene team wanted to make their doctors proud. And I think so many doctors think like they don't want to produce or they don't want to do this. And 95 % of all team players, I think you and I would agree to this, coaching as many as we have, there's like a very, very, very small percentage that actually is like not wanting to take care of their doctor. I'm like 98 % of them all want to take care of their doctors. So I think you guys just realizing and hearing that.   The second thing is like Dana, it was two years that she worked with this hygiene team. And what I gathered from all of it was alignment and why, and then giving them the confidence. Because what I found with hygienists is a lot of times the reason that they do bloody profis is not because they don't like they don't want to charge out a bloody profi. Like I feel like the hygienists are like my hands hurt and I just got paid for a profi when I did a full mouth of bribement or whatever it was that they did.   but they're uncomfortable with the conversation. And I don't blame hygienists. You sit there for an hour with this patient and you gotta chat along with them. And it's very uncomfortable to then have to say like, you've been seeing me for 10 years and now I've got to tell you you have perio. Like that's just such a, like I would rather not because I have to see this patient so closely. Or dentists, like not to say you don't have intimate relationships with your patients, but you usually come in for like five minutes for an exam. And then when you are doing treatment with a patient,   Usually their mouths open and they're numb and you can't like, they're not talking to you. And where this is a hygienist, is like therapy session in there, like a hairdresser almost where it's like such an intimate relationship that these hygienists build. And so Dana, think kudos to you to give this hygiene team confidence. And that's what I gathered was like alignment, confidence, and then also getting the doctors to align on expectations. So that way everybody is there. And like also to hear you say that a seasoned hygienist was able to make transformation, I think   I also think kudos to these doctors that saw the need of the hygiene department. They were like, let's laser focus in on this for two years, like two years they worked in. Yes, they expanded a little bit to other departments, but like Dana, mean, I just think about it. If you get your hygiene team from hitting goal, like none to hitting goal 90, 98 % of the time, the amount of revenue, the amount of patients, the amount of diagnosing and co-diagnosing with your doctors that these high Gens are able to do the amount of perio uptick.   Like we're going from $90 pro fees to 250 to $400 scalings. And not to say we're doing it to uptick for revenue. It's just, what the patients need. And we're starting to diagnose it correctly. well, Dana, you like paid for yourself a hundred times over. it's, that is the type of stuff. And now that hygiene team is confident, they're equipped, they're able to care for patients. And I guarantee you, Dana, I'm not a hygienist. So I'm just curious, like.   My hunch is a hygienist who's able to have the confidence, have these conversations actually leaves with more confidence as a hygienist rather than the hygienist who feels like they're taking care of a patient, but deep down knowing that they let the patient down, they just didn't know how to get out of that conversation.   DAT-Dana (22:38) Yeah, I think that that's that's one of the things that was like the beauty of being the person looking at from the outside in and I think it honestly truly I think allow them to like love being hygienist. I don't want to say again, right but even more ⁓ because I do think that as   hygienist and I think they even admitted like, hey, we've known some of these conversations needed to happen or are on the horizon of happening and we just didn't have the tools we didn't have that and we didn't want to say something and then have a doctor come in and disagree, right? Or we didn't want to do the wrong thing unintentionally. so having those guidelines, having the set protocols, the set   The Dental A Team (23:12) Mm-hmm.   DAT-Dana (23:20) pieces in place, I think really gave them confidence and also really truly then they could see what amazing patient care they were giving. And I honestly think it brought them just like closer as a department, a better culture for the practice and truly love being hygiene.   The Dental A Team (23:40) And I think Dana like I just see it even in you I hope you guys were able to see that clip of Dana like the the glowing radiance of excitement of being able to help hygienists love their profession even more to be confident in this I think that that is just magic for all of us to be able to watch that and see and I think for you guys listening one if you need help with your hygiene department I think Dana just showed like We really do very much give confidence to your department and I think doctors it's hard for you because you want to tell the hygienist what you want   But hygienists sometimes need to feel like heard, seen, and understood by someone who's more of a colleague and comrade to them. Like Dana is, she's a hygienist. She understands what those feelings feel like. And so to have a coach and a guide guide your hygiene department, bring the doctors and the hygienists together. But I love that it was like, let's explain why, let's align, let's give verbiage, let's get doctors and hygienists alignment. And then like really have somebody who's holding them accountable, driving these results with them. And the end result is a hygiene department that's flourishing, hitting goals and loving their profession.   And to me, that's gonna retain your hygiene department way more than not having the conversations. That's going to attract hygienists to your practice way more because you've now got raving fan hygienists who are confident that when someone new comes in, they give them the tools and the resources to be these great clinicians. I think Dana just like insane kudos and I hope people also hear that. And if you're interested, reach Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. This is what we do and Dana, like I said, Dynamite Dana over there, she just like, I think it's a subtle love.   of growing them of where they need to go and the results are just incredible.   DAT-Dana (25:13) Yeah, they were, they were a great group. They really dug in. And you're right, it does, it does help when they know, you've been there, you face the things you've had to have the conversations. ⁓ It just starts out with trust. And I mean, at the end of the two years, I just remember sitting down and saying, like, thank you so much for trusting me. Thank you so much for putting in the work. Because it's, it, it allowed me right, I'm not clinical really anymore, but it allowed me just the experience of   knowing and being super confident that like amazing patient care was walking out of there ⁓ truly was a highlight for me.   The Dental A Team (25:50) That's amazing. And I think Dana hearing that and the doctors win is that they also can leave at the end of the day, knowing that their hygiene department is delivering the patient care that they wanted, that they were hoping that like the doctor just could not get, I mean, and these are seasoned doctors. It's not like we were starting with a brand new practice. Like they had been working with this hygiene department for years. The hygiene department had gone through other hygiene coaching. And I think Dana just like to be able to give that to the patients, to the hygiene team and the practice, like   Such a gift and I'm really proud of you and I hope people listening realize this is a reality that has happened. Yes, we gave a one off office autopsy, but it happens for multiple other practices the same way. So if you're interested or you're thinking about it or other departments reach out and Dana, thanks for being on the podcast with me. Thank all of you for listening and as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Dental teams are feeling the hygienist shortage, and many practices are reacting with shortcuts instead of fixing what's actually driving clinicians away. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt sits down with Katrina Sanders, a dental hygienist, educator, and clinician with AZ Perio, to unpack what's behind the shortage, why “oral preventive assistant” roles miss the point, and what leaders can change right now to attract (and keep) high-performing hygienists. You'll learn what the data says, what “respect from leadership” really looks like in day-to-day practice, and how core values and humility shape the culture that determines who you can hire. Listen to Episode 1025 of The Best Practices Show!Main Takeaways:The hygienist shortage is tied to training pipeline shifts: dental school graduations rising while hygiene graduations decline, creating a sustainability gap for practices staffed with multiple hygienists per doctor.Many hygienists cite leaving for reasons that practices can influence directly: limited growth opportunities, toxic work environments, inflexible scheduling, and lack of respect from leadership.Creating “oral preventive assistant” roles can further devalue hygienists and distract from fixing the actual causes of turnover.Leaders who feel threatened by clinical pushback often create cultures that repel proactive hygienists and attract clinicians who won't challenge outdated protocols.A sustainable hygiene model requires clarity on expectations and systems that support diagnosis support, perio protocols, utilization, and production—not just filling chairs.Practices that retain top talent invest in development, collaboration, and shared learning rather than relying on ego or “this is the way we've always done it.”The future of independent dentistry requires intentional choices about culture, values, and team development rather than letting external forces dictate direction.Snippets:00:00 Podcast cold open01:20 Meet Katrina Sanders03:25 Panel story setup05:48 Hygienist shortage data10:19 OPA debate and applause12:02 Would you hire her16:36 Ego and leadership respect24:47 Silver tsunami and workforce trends28:04 Building growth and flexibility30:17 Ego Versus Growth31:03 Core Values Alignment32:53 Prophy Princess Problem33:51 Hygiene Metrics Math37:38 You Attract Your Team39:11 Building Values Nucleus40:09 Why She Stays42:40 Pick Your Direction45:08 Max Bet Contrarian48:49 Curiosity Over Ego50:55 Would You Hire Her51:27 Hire Thought Leaders53:42 Where To Find Katrina54:11 Exchange Perio Workshop56:26 Team Learning Together59:45 Final SendoffGuest Bio/Guest Resources:In the ever-changing world of dental science where research, technology, and techniques for patient care are constantly evolving, dental professionals look to continuing education to provide insight, deliver actionable steps, empower, and create a dramatic impact within their clinical practice.With wit, charm, and a dash of humor, Katrina Sanders enchants dental professionals with her course deliverables, insightful content, and delightful inspiration. Her message of empowerment rings mighty throughout her lectures and stirs a deep sense of motivation amongst course participants.Katrina is the Clinical Liaison for AZPerio, the country's largest periodontal practice. She performs clinically, working alongside Diplomates to the American Board of Periodontology in the surgical operatory. Katrina perfected techniques during L.A.N.A.P. surgery, suture placement, IV therapy, and blood draws. She instructs on collaborative professionalism and standard-of-care protocols while delivering education through hygiene boot camps and study clubs.Resources mentioned:Website: www.katrinasanders.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedentalwinegenist/Program: https://katrinasanders.com/speaking/https://smilesource.com/exchangeMore Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:The Best Practices Show: https://www.actdental.com/podcast/Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpaUpcoming Events & Workshops: https://www.actdental.com/events/Smile Source: https://www.smilesource.com/Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.comSubscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com

Hey Bristles !In this episode, I'm sharing the real-life pros of being a dental hygienist, the things that make this career so rewarding, flexible, and full of opportunity. Whether you're a student thinking about hygiene school, a new grad finding your footing, or just curious about the profession, this episode highlights the reasons so many of us truly love what we do.We're talking about: ✨ Flexible schedules and work-life balance ✨ Strong pay with a relatively short time in school ✨ The ability to help people improve their health through prevention ✨ Career options beyond the operatory ✨ Job security and high demand ✨ Building meaningful relationships with patients ✨ Opportunities to grow, specialize, and evolve your careerAnd because real talk matters, this episode pairs perfectly with my Cons of Being a Dental Hygienist episode #69, where I share the honest challenges that come with the profession.Want more mentorship, resources, and behind-the-scenes support from me each month?Stay Connected with the Bristles Community

What does dentistry have to do with data analytics? More than you'd think. Thais Cooke went from cleaning teeth to cleaning datasets and her unconventional path turned out to be a superpower. In this episode, Thais joins Juan and Tim to talk about why subject matter expertise is the ultimate force multiplier, how to build trust with stakeholders (hint: "I don't know" is a valid answer), and why the best data professionals aren't technical specialists — they're problem solvers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legislation impacts your daily practice more than most clinicians realize. In this episode, we sit down with Derik J. Sven to break down what truly drives change in dental hygiene policy — and what doesn't.   Derik shares insight into the realities behind dental care standards, the ongoing fight for hygienist autonomy, and the complex supervision structures that shape scope of practice across the country. He also explains why legal expertise often carries significant influence in regulatory conversations and how business, public health, and law intersect in advancing the profession.   In This Episode We Cover:   The political and structural forces behind dental care standards   The ongoing battle for dental hygienist autonomy   Supervision requirements and why they matter   Why attorneys often influence dental policy decisions   Lesser-known factors that can directly affect your career   About the Guest Derik J. Sven began his career as a certified dental technician before transitioning into clinical dental hygiene. He earned degrees in Dental Hygiene and Health Care Administration, followed by a Master of Public Health and a Master of Business Administration. He is currently pursuing doctoral research at George Washington University, focusing on dental therapy advancement and hygienist autonomy, while also completing a Master's in Health Care Law. Derik is actively involved in the American Dental Hygienists' Association, where he was inducted into the inaugural class of ADHA Fellows in 2023 and serves as President-Elect of Virginia's Dental Hygienists' Association. This episode offers a practical foundation for understanding how legislation truly moves — and what it means for the future of dental hygiene.   Resources: derik@dentistrywithderik.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/derikjsven/

This is the takeaway episode where Thais Cooke joins Juan and Tim to talk about why subject matter expertise is the ultimate force multiplier. Oh, and what does dentistry have to do with data analytics? More than you'd think!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legislation impacts your daily practice more than most clinicians realize. In this episode, we sit down with Derik J. Sven to break down what truly drives change in dental hygiene policy — and what doesn't.   Derik shares insight into the realities behind dental care standards, the ongoing fight for hygienist autonomy, and the complex supervision structures that shape scope of practice across the country. He also explains why legal expertise often carries significant influence in regulatory conversations and how business, public health, and law intersect in advancing the profession.   In This Episode We Cover:   The political and structural forces behind dental care standards   The ongoing battle for dental hygienist autonomy   Supervision requirements and why they matter   Why attorneys often influence dental policy decisions   Lesser-known factors that can directly affect your career   About the Guest Derik J. Sven began his career as a certified dental technician before transitioning into clinical dental hygiene. He earned degrees in Dental Hygiene and Health Care Administration, followed by a Master of Public Health and a Master of Business Administration. He is currently pursuing doctoral research at George Washington University, focusing on dental therapy advancement and hygienist autonomy, while also completing a Master's in Health Care Law. Derik is actively involved in the American Dental Hygienists' Association, where he was inducted into the inaugural class of ADHA Fellows in 2023 and serves as President-Elect of Virginia's Dental Hygienists' Association. This episode offers a practical foundation for understanding how legislation truly moves — and what it means for the future of dental hygiene.   Resources: derik@dentistrywithderik.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/derikjsven/

In this episode of the Tongue Tie Experts Podcast, I'm joined by Sarah Hornsby, dental hygienist, educator, entrepreneur, and one of the early pioneers in bringing myofunctional therapy into modern interdisciplinary care.Sarah shares how her clinical curiosity led her from traditional dental hygiene into the world of oral function, airway health, and ultimately the creation of an online training program that has educated more than 2,000 providers worldwide.We talk about what happens when professionals step outside their silos, why function must be part of the conversation when we discuss tongue tie, and how collaboration between lactation, dentistry, therapy, and airway-focused providers changes outcomes for families.We also discuss the realities of building something new - the uncertainty, the persistence, and the deep belief that better care is possible when we learn together.This is a conversation about growth - clinically, professionally, and as a community.What We DiscussHow Sarah's career evolved from dental hygiene into myofunctional therapyWhy oral function and airway development must be part of tongue-tie conversationsThe importance of true interdisciplinary collaborationHow online education expanded access to this work globallyThe challenges (and rewards) of building a new clinical pathwayCreating professional community instead of practicing in isolationWhere myofunctional therapy is headed as awareness growsMore about Sarah Hornsby:MyoMentor 12-Week Course enrollment.https://www.sarahkhornsby.com/ LISAP10 for a 10% discountMore From Tongue Tie Experts:To learn more, download freebies, and for the links mentioned in the episode, including our popular course, Understanding Milk Supply for Medical and Birth Professionals, click here: www.tonguetieexperts.net/LinksUse code PODCAST15 for 15% off all of our offerings.This podcast is meant for education and conversation only. It is not medical advice and does not replace formal education, professional training, or individualized care from a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek appropriate guidance for individual concerns. The views and opinions shared by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or Tongue-tie experts.

Casey Hiers and Jarrod Bridgeman tackle the growing influence of Dental Service Organizations (DSOs), specifically their aggressive new recruiting tactics. From signing bonuses offered directly on hygiene school campuses to the shrinking talent pool for private practices, Casey and Jarrod discuss what this means for your hiring strategy.Beyond staffing, the conversation shifts to the critical "Clinical vs. Business" divide, highlighting how even the most skilled clinicians often struggle to master the complexities of practice ownership. Casey and Jarrod explore the hidden leaks—such as poor tax management and unoptimized insurance adjustments—that cause high-production practices to leave significant income on the table.Upcoming Tour Dates: Go to our EVENTS page for infoFacebook: Four Quadrants AdvisoryInstagram: @fourquadrantsadvisoryLinkedIn: Four Quadrants Advisory

What does an industrial hygienist do, and how does it support infection prevention? In this episode of the Five Second Rule podcast, Grant Quiller and Spencer Baker break down their dynamic roles in healthcare safety. From air quality tools to construction oversight and water management, learn how their expertise elevates patient and staff protection. Packed with insights, humor and show-and-tell moments, this episode is a must-listen! Hosted by: Kelly Holmes and Heather Ridge About our Guests: Grant Quiller Grant is a dual certified industrial hygienist and safety professional with over 17 years of field experience. He has diverse experience across healthcare, construction, industry, and litigation. He currently works as an industrial hygienist in the Infection Prevention department at Novant Health serving the greater Charlotte, North Carolina region and beyond.   Spencer Baker Spencer Baker is the first industrial hygienist at the University of Iowa Health Care. He received a bachelor's degree in public health from Brigham Young University and a master's degree in occupational health and safety: industrial hygiene from the University of Iowa. Over the past three years, Spencer has partnered with clinical and facilities teams to reduce infection risks by advancing initiatives focused on hospital infrastructure and environmental safety. When he's not working, Spencer enjoys being outdoors, spending time with his wife and two kids, and binge-watching Survivor with a bowl of his favorite dark chocolate brownie ice cream.

A pair of bills in the General Assembly raise questions about who should be allowed to provide preventive dental care.

Links & Mentions: Consult booking link: www.dryazdancoaching.com/consult Email me: DrDYazdan@gmail.com Make more money video: www.dryazdancoaching.com/MDM Follow me for more tips: (@DrYazdan) www.instagram.com/dryazdan and (@DrYazdanCoaching) www.Instagram.com/dryazdancoaching Episode Summary: Inside this episode, we break down the unspoken power structures in the operatory, within your team, and in your patient relationships — and how to use this awareness to elevate your entire practice

Dental Health Improvement and Its Effects on Dentists' and Hygienists' DemandBy Today's RDH ResearchOriginal article published on Today's RDH: https://www.todaysrdh.com/dental-health-improvement-and-its-effects-on-dentists-and-hygienists-demand/Need CE? Start earning CE credits today at ⁠⁠https://rdh.tv/ce⁠⁠ Get daily dental hygiene articles at ⁠⁠https://www.todaysrdh.com⁠⁠ Follow Today's RDH on Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/TodaysRDH/⁠⁠Follow Kara RDH on Facebook: ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/DentalHygieneKaraRDH/⁠⁠Follow Kara RDH on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/kara_rdh/⁠

DAT consultant Kristy breaks down what exactly took place for a practice that didn't have a solid admin team, struggled to find team members, and other challenges to hit its goal of $3 million in revenue. She touches on what core systems were implemented, how delegation worked, case acceptances successes, and more that got this office meeting its five-year goal 44 months early. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript:   speaker-0 (00:00) Good morning, Dental A Team listeners. I am so excited to be here. You guys know that the consultants and I love recording these podcasts and I get to be here. This is our Monday morning mix up here for Kristy and I. have switched on some of our podcast recording and honestly starting my day.   with these beautiful, beautiful minds has been something that's really, really turned a corner for me. I love starting the week and starting the day with podcasting. Kristy, thank you so much for being here today. ⁓ Gosh, how are you? How's life? How's Kristy's world?   speaker-1 (00:35) Absolutely. I love being here and starting the day and the week with you as well and going well. mean, hitting the ground running end of year and really pushing planning for next year. It's been fun. Fun celebrating with clients and looking toward new goals for the new year.   speaker-0 (00:55) Amazing. I love it. And you guys know we record these in ⁓ succession. We record these in advance and we get these prepped and ready for you. And something we're really excited to bring you today is something Kristy's found within her digging. So every year we help all of our clients prep for the next year. We look at what did we do this year? What was your growth this year? And it gives us an opportunity to see everything that has been done and what's worked really, really well. With all of our clients, we do this obviously monthly. And then we do a really big   quarterly report and get all those information over there and make sure that we're on track for our yearly goal. But at the end of the year, it's this big push to say, realistically, realistically, where are we? And then where can we take you next year to really prep and plan? So this I am really excited for. like to, you know, I like to pick the brains of the consultants. And towards the end of the year now, as Kristy is getting all of these things ready and this recording, you know, comes out early January that   or early new year, I should say at least. ⁓ We're just really excited to be able to see these numbers, share them with you, and then share some tactical pieces that Kristy's been able to develop and implement with this specific practice we picked today. So I am so excited, Kristy. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much for allowing me to pick your brain on your clients. I know you have a handful of platinum and gold clients that you work with constantly. are a... ⁓   you are a digger. Like I feel like you just you dig and you dig and you dig until you find that last missing piece that is that you know, I feel like you've got like thousand piece puzzle and you find you finally found that piece hiding under the table to finish your puzzle and that's it feels like that's what you did this year with this specific client. So Kristy again, thank you for letting me pick your brain and gosh, I I think the best place to start Kristy is to really highlight where they were this specific   practice and then we can get into where you were able to take them with your consulting and their ⁓ you know their leadership within the practice. So where were they when they came to Dental A Team? They signed up just so you guys know as a platinum client. So this means that they had an hour and a half of dedicated time with Kristy dedicated means an hour of time an hour and a half of time with Kristy with access to Kristy outside of that. So that's why it's that dedicated time. So   I know there were emails and there were text messages and then they also did the platinum package has two in office visits or our in person masterminds choice to be made there at sign up. So just so you know, they had the full package and Kristy take us, take us through it. Where were they when they signed up for that platinum package and they were just like, girl, get in my office. We need you here. What did their life look like? Yeah.   speaker-1 (03:38) ⁓ truly Tiff, they were about 2.8 million last year and really pushing, striving to hit over that $3 million mark for this year. ⁓ but really having, struggling with team. they had no admin team members really when we started. so, ⁓ outsourced insurance, ⁓ trying to get that back on track and really struggling to find teammates, ⁓ of quality.   So there was a lot of moving pieces I would say for this year.   speaker-0 (04:14) Yeah, and how many providers did they have in office at 2.8 million for reference?   speaker-1 (04:18) ⁓   Actually, they had ⁓ two and a half because they did have an associate starting the year as well, which phased out ⁓ through the year.   speaker-0 (04:31) and how many hygienists.   speaker-1 (04:34) three, three, four.   speaker-0 (04:35) Hygienist,   awesome. For two and a half doctors. Yes. Yeah, that makes sense. So thank you, Minette 2.8. I've been really looking to break that 3 million barrier with two and a half doctors, three hygienists. I like three hygienists is probably a little bit light for two and a half doctors, but that's where that 2.8 comes into play. It actually works out perfectly. So looking to really increase hygiene, to increase doctors, to really hit the ground running and get that 3 million.   speaker-1 (04:38) Yeah, two and a Okay.   speaker-0 (05:03) As you said, when they came, I think they, I recollect that they came and they just really didn't know what that extra piece was for that 200,000. Like they were like right on the cusp of it and where do I find it? And even just saying that, like going from 2.8 to 3 million, right? That 200,000 is like, oh, when I say it as 200,000, now I can think in providers, what do I need to do as far as providers, as far as treatment, et cetera?   That makes sense. So it sounds like they needed an extra at least 200,000. They needed team members. They needed to figure out why they didn't have team members and then probably reduce their outsourcing and bring stuff back in-house, I'm sure. So Kristy, as it just brought oversight before we get into the nitty gritty, that's where they started. 2.8 lacking team members, really needing a plan. I know their profit was reflective of   2.8, they were reflective of needing more profit. Now, by the end of the year, so by the end of 2025, working as a platinum client with you, where did they end up?   speaker-1 (06:10) Yeah, they're ending the year over 3 million and actually even cut working hours, Tiff. And I'll back up a minute and say truly, it was probably closer to two doctors by the time they split hours and still looking for another hygienist actually to add to the mix. with that being said, they hit their mark and surpassed it for sure. They've got about 18.5 % growth over last year.   and doctors working less hours.   speaker-0 (06:41) Amazing. And I think that's the ultimate goal, right? Most doctors come in and they're not like, okay, Kristy, teach me how to work five days a week and make $300,000. They're like, teach me how to work three days a week, two days a week, even get an associate in place and make $3 million or more, whatever that goal is. So 18 and a half percent growth is massive. And I know that's reflective also in their profit. And then where did their team kind of, I know that there's   You guys, just have to say this for whatever reason, an instability in teams is not super uncommon anymore. It's just, is an ever fluctuating space. It's a, it's a moving piece that dentistry has not had in our lives before. think it's been in other industries. think other industries have felt these kinds of waves and they've dealt with this. It's not something that dentistry has really had until the last few years. So to say that they,   had a lot of outsource to say that they had not as many team members as they might need coming into the year is not the most uncommon thing. And to continue to fluctuate with that is not the most uncommon thing. So I do want to preface with that, but Kristy, how did their leadership come along? And to get 18 and a half percent growth, there's got to be some sort of personal growth as well and leadership growth and kind of team stability in some areas at least. So how does that look?   speaker-1 (08:06) Yeah, absolutely. And you are spot on. We did a lot of self-reflection and dug deep in our own leadership style and working on ⁓ developing a feedback loop for team members and for team members to doctors, right? And giving that reinforcing feedback and then developmental feedback along the way. So making sure that we had team touches every quarter.   to guide the growth and development for sure.   speaker-0 (08:37) Amazing, amazing. So leadership within the doctors for sure and the owners, but also leadership within the team and self-reflection within the team of job descriptions. this what I'm really good at? Is this what I want to do? Where can I do better or ⁓ learn more to enhance my position within the practice and really talking about those things? feel like I remember this.   client and I remember because most clients are this way, they come in and they're just not talking about the things and I think that happens in every industry and every company and even families. We just don't talk enough and so really ramping up the communication within their departments and within each other as a full team, I think really helped to highlight some of the systems and implementations that you guys were able to develop. Do you agree?   speaker-1 (09:29) I agree 100 % painting that clarity through their duties. And really we worked on delegation too. Being able to delegate and trust and then come back and track and verify. And it gave the doctors a peace of mind that things were happening. And once they started seeing that, it was easier for them to continue to delegate.   speaker-0 (09:53) Absolutely. So I want to come back to the delegation because I know everybody is sitting there thinking, I need to write this down. How do I, what do I, what do I delegate? Right. It's not always just the, do I delegate? But sometimes it comes down to what do I delegate? So I want to come back to the delegate. But first I want you to maybe just highlight a few of the core systems that you guys were able to implement. And then we'll talk about within those systems, what were they able to delegate out to the team? So I can imagine.   that there was some room for growth and some space for some diagnostics and making sure that we're diagnosing enough. know the first place doctors like to go or practices like to go is new patients. And that is a space and I'm not going to discredit new patients. But oftentimes we have to really take a step back and think, we making the most out of the opportunities that we already have and have been given? Or do we need more opportunities? So that's a   That's a space where I think the consulting comes in and really helps to decipher based on the data that we have because we know what it takes to diagnose certain amounts. And yes, it depends. I know I've got an office that's in like a college area. And so yeah, he needs more opportunity because he's not got a lot of, you know, implants or whatever. But I know you guys really, really dug in and focused heavily on that aspect of the diagnosis, the new patients, all of that. So what were you able to uncover?   within the diagnosis space and realistically that turns into your case acceptance too.   speaker-1 (11:22) Yeah, really multifo-tiff, but for the most part, what we were noticing is doctors were really great at diagnosing. ⁓ They had probably over $3 million in diagnosed treatment even this year, and ⁓ case acceptance was a little bit lacking in that regard. ⁓ We had probably $2 million of unscheduled treatment walking out the door.   and being able to hone in on our skills for ⁓ case acceptance, not only ⁓ financially finding solutions, but also how we're speaking to patients at the chair to create that value. We really worked hard to dial that in and it showed. We really captured and gained more case acceptance from patients.   speaker-0 (12:17) Amazing. It sounds like that is again, going back to the communication within the team. So getting the communication or getting the team talking more, communicating more, really, really helps to increase the trust that the patient feels that the team starts trusting each other more. And you don't even walk around thinking I don't trust these people. It's not an apparent lack of trust. But the more you communicate with someone, the more intentional conversations you have. And the more you talk about   the needs even just treatment planning that trust naturally builds. And then you just, you have a closeness. All of a sudden you're closer with people than you were prior and that's what it is. You're not walking around thinking I don't trust people, but then all of a sudden you're like, my gosh, I love these people. And that's how it's developed. So developing that within the team then transpires into the team, communicating more with the patients as well and communicating on a different kind of level, think, chair side even.   regarding treatment and trusting the treatment planning. if we've got a team that's like, just honestly, if we've got a team that's not super emotionally close to the doctor or the practice or our vision or our why, if we're not bought into why we're here, we're not as intentional speaking about treatment. So really ramping up that communication, Kristy, feels like it was just such a space that transformed   how they communicated about the treatment that gave them the opportunity to level it up.   speaker-1 (13:48) Yeah, I agree with you 100%. We actually took a step back and revisited the doctors why and shared it with the team and let that really be our beacon of light in every, every interaction with our patients. So, um, and I would say even, even with that, you know, creating the team buy-in back to doctors, why and purpose for the practice. Um, and they were all committed and it showed.   speaker-0 (14:17) That's beautiful. That's beautiful. And it really does make a difference because we need to know, we need something to believe in. We need something to go after. We need a goal. And then we need the inspiration of a why of something to believe in. What are we even doing here? So I love that. How what kind of systems did you use? And you can use actual, you know, dental lighting systems are all here on these podcasts somewhere we love giving. We love giving the information out. But what were the actual chair side?   or ⁓ communication tools, what were the actual systems that you helped them implement that really changed their communication? So we can say, talk more. We've got to have the system behind it.   speaker-1 (14:57) Absolutely. ⁓ Number one, the handoffs, making sure we're communicating with patients, whatever they came in on the phone call, whatever they said, making sure that was communicated to the clinical team and addressed with the patient. So they understood out of the gate, wow, you listen to me, right? And then hygiene handoffs to the doctor when they come in the room. ⁓ And then back to...   the clinical team and clinical team going handoff to the front, all that whole connection all the way through Tiff. ⁓ And again, also working on our communication of what matters most to the patient, finding out their motivator and tying everything back to that. When we can find out the patient's why, we're not just telling them what they need, right? It really is relational, not just   the relationship between us and our handoffs, but the relationship with the patient. So those were some of the big ones that we really worked on to increase communication all around. ⁓ And I would also say financial ⁓ presentations, starting with comprehensively financing treatment, even if we're phasing it out, we found a solution to get the patient healthy, even if it was over time. And that made a huge difference.   in their case acceptance too.   speaker-0 (16:25) sure you made it relatable for the patient and attainable.   speaker-1 (16:29) Yeah, 100%. And if a patient didn't, mean, sometimes it does take a little bit to build trust, right? We did our two to two follow ups, making sure that, you know, the patients understood even though they left and they didn't schedule something, we care about you and it's important. And those make a difference too, because how many times do they leave and patients start wondering, well, do I really need it? They didn't. I mean, they don't care to call me. They just said, call me when you're ready. Right.   speaker-0 (16:58) Yeah,   totally, totally. we're not, it's not the same as when you go to the store and you want this jacket or this outfit or car bar, I don't know, whatever it is that you went to the store and you're like, gosh, I really want that, but not right now. Like not yet, I need to just wait on this. And then you go home and you're thinking about it you're thinking, gosh, I should have gotten it. I could be wearing those sweats right now. I could be so comfy. Like you're not thinking that about your dental treatment. You go home and you're like, well, I'm going to set this down on this counter over here.   and come back to it in six months when I go get my cleaning again, which hopefully we at least scheduled that. So I think that's beautiful. A follow up is key because we have to remind, know, Lululemon or Yori or whoever, like they're not calling me saying, don't forget you love those pants. You know, that's in my mind. I'm not going to forget it's there. I want it. But my dental treatment, I'm never going to think about again. If I leave the practice rarely ever, I can't say never, but rarely. I love that. So you were able to seriously change   the community that they're they're sitting in because you guys were able to really implement some amazing amazing tools and that 18 and a half percent is Nothing to cough at that is a massive amount of growth and again, that was while Like decreasing doctor hours so really tightening up the schedule so I imagine there was some some scheduling tools as well that were put into place and Scheduling tools that were put into place and really just like   ramping up what that schedule looked like. What did you do? I know we talked block scheduling a lot. So tell us a little bit about that block scheduling, because I'm sure that you have so much that you've done over there with that. And tell me a little bit more about that.   speaker-1 (18:40) Yeah, Tiff, we really dug into their procedure counts and formulated an efficient schedule. One doctor started the year about $9.50 an hour and ended his year closer to $1,100 an hour. Wow. Yeah. The other doc started about $600 an hour and ended close to $900 an hour. And hygiene.   speaker-0 (19:06) amazing.   speaker-1 (19:08) This will blow your mind. They started about 128 an hour and they ended at 147. They did ⁓ get a new laser for hygiene, but literally adding the blocks in there to make sure we had room for perio, make sure doctors had room for their big cases just by taking a look at where they were performing and leaving room for additional growth in that. And then ⁓ reverse engineering it to what   speaker-0 (19:14) my gosh.   speaker-1 (19:39) They wanted the outcome for their goal to be. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun. They designed it and I helped guide them with it and it worked and they all are following it because they see that it creates easier days for them and they don't have the roller coaster of really high production one day and then really low production the next.   speaker-0 (20:02) That's amazing. Even hygiene, and I know you said, yeah, they implemented the laser. They brought the laser on board. But bringing a laser, buying a laser, taking the course for the laser, getting certified, and then actually using it to increase production and increase your patient's health is a completely different thing. So they were able to, I would imagine, find the space within their   ⁓ our appointment or to our appointment or however long they were scheduling for that, they were able to find the space to actually implement it, to feel comfortable and confident to do it. That's really, really cool. I actually really love that. So to wrap it, you've done handoffs, you've done chair side handoffs, you've done handoffs with the front office, and then also blocked scheduling and really, really dove into the metrics and the numbers and how   It's kind of like that lemon that you have that you're like, gosh, I just have like one or lime, right? I have one taco left. Like I don't have any more limes. You're squeezing the last little bit of juice out of the taco, or out of the lime on the taco, but you're really making it so that everything is flowing better. Everything is smoother. It's more efficient and it's really running like a well-oiled machine so that they could get that 18 and a half percent increase.   speaker-1 (21:21) Yeah, 100 % Tiff. And truly, ⁓ it took us really dialing into the why because as you know, so many offices, ⁓ they do have relationships with their patients. But when you have healthy mouth patients and we're reappointing those and not leaving room for the infected patients, it directly affects the doctor's schedule. So letting them see, kind of triaging it like a...   hospital would, right? If I'm coming in and I'm bleeding, I'm going to take precedence over somebody that ⁓ has a, I don't know, ingrown toenail. Re-framing that and letting them know, hey, we can still see those people and we want to see them, but we need to formulate a schedule that allows us to not only make our goals, but treat our patients in a way that aligns with our vision.   speaker-0 (22:01) Yeah, absolutely.   speaker-1 (22:18) ⁓ and mission, it really made the big difference.   speaker-0 (22:23) That's beautiful. That's beautiful. That's amazing. And Kristy, kudos to you. Kudos to this team. You guys worked really, really hard. And I know you worked tirelessly with them to support them and guide them and give them the tools that they needed and really give them the support and the accountability. I did say I'd come back to the delegation so quickly. What did they end up being able to delegate to other, maybe team members so that it wasn't all the doctor or the owner?   speaker-1 (22:51) Yeah. First and foremost, it was them sitting in on those one-on-one meetings, guiding the new employees. Because as I told you, the admin team was... They weren't even there. So they ⁓ hired somebody that could help manage the office and allowing her to see their style. And then...   speaker-0 (23:05) They didn't have one. Yeah. ⁓   speaker-1 (23:15) watching her implement and run with it gave them the courage to let go and let her do it. ⁓ with that being said, that was huge implementation there.   speaker-0 (23:26) And I would imagine too, that they didn't do all of the informational search. They didn't do all the digging on the financial options, but they probably allowed their team to also help find what would work for the patients. And they're not going and sitting on these calls with Cherry and implementing the tools. they're allowing the team to have a part in this so that they're actually using the tools as well. Am I right?   speaker-1 (23:54) Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ In fact, bringing in other financial solutions. Yeah. One thing also that they uncovered was one of the insurance ⁓ insurance plans was really holding them back and allowing the team to have say in, hey, I think we need to look at this one and maybe eliminate it because it's not serving us.   speaker-0 (24:17) That's beautiful. So making more dollars per hour production for the treatment that you're doing, getting paid, getting paid what you should. I think that's brilliant. And this is, this is the time and age to be doing that. A lot of practices are looking at that. I love it. I love it, Kristy. So handoffs, chair side, handoffs, ⁓ just within the team in general, handoffs at checkout, handoffs at treatment planning, all those different spaces and really, really looking for the opportunities that are being missed. So we often look for   quantity and we look for, let's bring in more. We're not getting enough case acceptance so we need more like to diagnose. they often, oftentimes practices will look at that new patient space and it could be the new patient space. I'm not gonna discredit that, but sometimes it is within the case acceptance. And so you've already got it there, increasing the systems and really looking at the why, getting a team fully on board, delegating the things that you can delegate, increasing that can make a massive difference. And then you're.   serving the patients that are already there even better than you were before. So Kristy, this is beautiful. I think there are a lot of nuggets that people can take from this. And again, 18 and a half percent, that's nothing to cough at. And I'm not saying you guys that everybody's going to get 18 and a half percent. They have the space and the availability and they did it. I have seen 5%, 7%, 12%. I've seen 22 % growth. It just depends on where you're at, what you're capable of doing within the size limitations that you have. And we are just so happy, Kristy.   Thank you for working so hard with this practice and with others. You are an incredible consultant and your clients are very, very lucky to have you.   speaker-1 (25:50) Thank you. It was fun. It's fun. I love seeing their visions come true.   speaker-0 (25:56) Same,   same, I love it. Well guys, I hope that you were able to take some notes. If you are driving, please re-listen and then take notes. Don't drive and take notes at the same time. Drop us a five star review. We always love to hear what you're thinking or any nuggets that you picked up from this. And as always, you can reach us at Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Thanks guys.  

If you want high-dollar procedures done more often in your practice, this is the episode for you. Kiera specifies what needs to be in place, including skillset, morale, and language. This kind of case acceptance goes beyond the everyday appointments, and Kiera explains the difference. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today I feel like this is my bread and butter. I feel like this is what Kiera Dent was made to do. And I cannot wait to teach you guys the secret to getting patients to say yes to those high dollar, high ticket cases. We're talking the 20, the 30, the $40,000 cases. But the great news is these principles can be applied to your smaller cases too, because I just think that like how to do this and this is what Kiera's really good at. And I have a practice that ⁓ implementing incorporating these tactics.   has been able to grow every one of their locations, multi-millions every single year. And people look at these practices, they see their stats and they say, how did you get these numbers? And they said, it all started the day we brought Dental A Team into our company. And that's just a huge testament to me, to the work that we do, to what our consultants do. And for anything, it comes from a passion of being able to help more patients get the dentistry that they need and deserve. So I just feel like there's so much fun to case acceptance and ⁓   It's not about selling, it's about words are free. And so let's use our words to the best of our ability. Let's use our words to the best experience for our patient. And let's help all of them have the trust, the clarity and the confidence to be able to say yes to those. You guys, Dental A Team is obsessed with helping you and your teams have more profitable practices, happier practices, happier teams, happier patients. We are obsessed with that. And our mission is to positively impact the world of dentistry in the greatest way possible.   and doing it in a tactical, practical, let's do this. So I really want you guys to hopefully take this on, take the system, take the tactics and help more patients say yes. And to just be proud of the dentistry you're able to do. Now, step one is you've got to be really, really good at dentistry. I can sell any dentistry. Like I feel like I'm a miracle girl for practices. I feel like there's easy ways to do this. But step one is we've got to have great dentistry. Otherwise our treatment coordinators and   our team and our patients that makes it very, very hard actually for us to want to sell dentistry. So step one of this is going to be you've got to actually do great dentistry. Okay, that's step one. So if you're not good at something, please don't sell it, go get good at it. But also please don't make it worse than it is. You might actually be a great clinician, but you don't give yourself the credit for that. So I'm on a mission to help the best dentists thrive, the best dentists do great dentistry and to help more patients.   So that's step one is I got to make sure that you guys are doing really, really, really good. Step two is getting patients to say yes, especially for these higher dollar ticket ⁓ items. We've got to make sure that we've got dialed in systems. ⁓ I use the example from Disneyland that people can feel perfection. And so does our team feel well oiled? And this means that our hygiene team is teeing up treatment. We're all looking for it. If our associate doctors are not doing this treatment and they're referring to our general doc, our, our owner doctor,   We've got to make sure all the associates and the hygiene team are trained on what to look for, how to present this, how to tee it up. Do we bring them back for consult? Can we diagnose it? What's the process for that? And if you want these high dollar procedures to be done more often in your practice, training your hygienist and your associates is one of the best investments of your time. So everybody's looking for it. We basically become a referring practice to our doctors that do these procedures. ⁓ I really do believe that   everybody. So hygienist looking for it. Hygienist should be the first person and this goes for all treatment planning, but we're going to dive it into these higher dollar ones because there is a little bit different on how we actually present the treatment plan. But all these first steps should be all parts of high case acceptance. Now just also give a little credibility. ⁓ Implementing these processes usually take for just general dentistry, it usually gets you up to a 75-ish percent acceptance rate up to 90.   Now, if we're higher than that, I know we might not be diagnosing as much as we need to, but in general dentistry, we should be cracking pretty high case acceptance. Now for my like 20, 30, 40, $50,000 cases, right around a 35 to a 45 % acceptance rate is going to be the targets we're looking for. And that is dollar for dollar, not one for one acceptance rate. So if that helps you guys, that's what we're going for. ⁓ But step one is do great dentistry.   Step two is believe in the dentistry. And then step three is going to be where everybody is speaking the same language. hygienists should be the first person to tee up all dentistry. They should be the one showing the x-rays, showing the intraoral photos, showing all of that so the patient can absolutely 100 % see what we see. We want that patient to be bought in. We don't want to just try and help them like, okay, like you might have this. We actually speak in the same terms as the rest of our patients.   ⁓ In one practice what we did is we actually had the doctors tell us exactly how they diagnose treatment We as consultants recorded it on our phones and we had the whole team hear it and then we gave them all these recordings and the whole team has to listen to it and this was our fastest easiest way to get everybody up to par like driving into the office driving home from the office like listen to it in the office like you've got Christmas music playing but instead it's it's all the ways that we diagnose and describe this that way everybody says it the same way so the patients hearing it   multiple times in the exact same way. Now when the doctor comes in, there should be a handoff from hygienist to doctor. We call it the I creep. So introduce, compliment the patient, recap the treatment and say something personal. Hygienist, you want a fast exam? This is how you get it done. Doctors, you don't want to do that awkward dance of like, how do I get to know you without getting to know you, but I need to get to know you? This is how you do it. Introduce, compliment, that puts the patient more at ease, recap treatment already discussed, and then something personal about them.   Then doctors, we get them into a yes frame of mind. We're going to say, can I lean you back? Can I do a full exam on you? Yes, yes. You want to actually get them in the frame of mind of saying, yes. It's true psychology. Again, words are free. It's not manipulation. It is genuinely setting the stage to get a patient open-minded. They don't want to be at the dental office already. So how can I help them get into this higher frame of mind? Then after that, doctor's going to comprehensively diagnose. And then they're going to recap with what we call the NDTR handoff.   So next visit, date to return, time needed for appointment, re-care scheduled. This is going to be more for your general procedure. Then we take that, hygiene, then takes ordinal assistant, takes them up to the front office, say the exact handoff. Amalia's amazing up front. Dr. Smith wants to see Kiera back for that crown on the upper right. She wants to see her back for, you know. ⁓   an hour and a half and wants to see her in two weeks and she already has her cleaning scheduled. And then from there, the front office team picks it up. Let's get you scheduled in two weeks. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. We need an hour and a half and then we go over financing. That patient has now heard this multiple times of the exact same thing. And that same process, just with a small fine tuning is going to be for these larger cases. Typically larger cases, yes, they are found in hygiene, but oftentimes it's going to be a little bit longer of a   consult if you will, ⁓ because we want to make sure that we have the before and after photos. We want to make sure we build trust with them. This is where having the hygiene team tee it up. This is where we have the perfect handoffs between doctor and hygienist. And then the doctor has to have confidence and clarity. So you've got to work this like pre-treatment build to make sure that the patient feels like they already know kind of what we're looking at. If it's all built up like this, it's very warm, it's very consistent.   everybody's on the same page. Your team feels like your patient feels like your team has their stuff together. And that's what we want. So I would look at this, like how are we doing on pre-treatment? Not even if just large cases, but how are we doing with those handoffs? How is the handoff from hygiene to doctor? How is hygiene teeing up treatment? How is everybody talking about treatment? Are we all on the same page or are we all on different pages? What does that look like? And then from that,   We wanna make sure that we're really, really, really good on visuals. So are we doing scans? Are we doing mockups? Do we have photos of before and afters of the cases? Do we have clear and simple explanations? Do we have ⁓ more like this is information. So if we're doing an all on X case, do we have information about what this happens and what are the steps? And do we have it broken down into really easy steps for them? I actually changed up treatment plans on these larger cases to step one is extraction in place.   Step two is impressions and step three is delivery. Those are very patient friendly. If our case is 45,000, I break it down to step one is, you know, 19 ish thousand and then step two is going to be like 11,000 and then step three is whatever the remainder of that is. This way it's very simple. They can pay in full for some practices or we pay per appointment. Now with these larger cases on AR and also on production and collections to make sure we're not having these huge spikes.   Sometimes it does make sense to have the patient pay as they go. Other practices want a pay in full. Both are totally fine. But what we've got to do and what we also have to realize is when we go into the finances. So typically when I'm presenting like a one to $7,000, I'm gonna schedule them first, I'm gonna present the dollars, I'm gonna talk the insurance as a coupon. ⁓ Here's total treatment, here's your insurance estimate, and then this is the total when I see you on Wednesday. Or if you would...   require a deposit, take the deposit then, and then ask what questions they have. Then we go into financing options, but it's just a very clear, very confident space that we're gonna walk into. Now, if I'm presenting a 20 or 30 or $40,000 case, it's psychology. It's a smooth flow from front to back. It is the confidence that we are gonna do the best for you. Here's what's going on. Let's talk about it. What questions do you have? I wanna make sure that you're very confident moving forward. Dr. Smith is the absolute best dentist.   to create this and to do this treatment for you, like you were in good hands. Notice in there, I edified my doctor. I made sure that I asked them what questions, not do you have questions? The last thing I ever wanna do is have my patient tell me no. I wanna keep them always in a yes frame of mind. Now, we're gonna look at this of cost. I'm not going to plant weeds in my flower garden on purpose. I don't wanna say like, is a big investment for you. Why am I saying that? It's not a big investment. This is an investment.   This is you taking care of yourself. This is you deserving this. Like how exciting is it to be able to eat food that you haven't been able to eat for the last however many years? How exciting is it to smile with confidence? I am going to radically focus on the positives for this. And then I'm going to go after and ask them what questions they have. I don't want to pre-assume question marks that they have. When people come in for these 20, 30, 40, $50,000, they're not going to be sticker shocked to see that it's that amount. Some of them might.   But the general population knows just like I use the example of when we were doing IVF, IVF is $50,000 per procedure. It's not ⁓ a cheap procedure. And the buyer is very educated when they walk into that. So it's not like what 50 grand? You didn't tell me that. It is more a great, this is what it is. What questions do you have? I want to be here as a support. Now for some offices, they do offer financial avenues that some people might not have thought about. For example, polling from a 401k.   For example, a home equity line of credit, going to a bank, you might work with a local bank and having some of those options just so people can see. And I will tell you an IVF, they did actually offer this with us and they put that in our sample, like our folder that we took home with us, just because they wanna make it to where it's easier for us not to have a barrier or a concern. I will say that a lot of times these larger cases are a two-part close, not a same day close. That does not mean that people don't just hand over their credit card and pay you.   80,000 or 150,000 right there on the spot. I've seen it done many times. So I'm not going to assume that people need that, but this will be a tool in my tool belt. Lending Club, Cherry, some of these are going to be better at financing higher amounts. ⁓ And so we're gonna look for that. Sometimes applying for financing in the office through Care Credit, or like I said, Cherry or Sunbit, or some of these others. Lending Club, look to see who you can use. It's going to really help. do know Cherry is a very big fan favorite. ⁓   that does help fund some of these higher ones. A local bank is a great thing and have a direct line to your person that's a loan processor there that can actually help these people get loans. It's a $50,000 procedure. That's like buying a car. There are loans for this and it's not uncommon to do that. And so helping the patient of whatever questions they have. They might have questions about the recovery time. They might have questions of the payment options. They might have questions all the way around. So,   Be really crystal clear in your practice of do we collect in full before we start initial records? If so, it might be a two part close where they've got to go find out their financial options, but you set the followup because again, you're a concierge of these, we're a high end, this is a high end surgery, we are completely changing their world. For my IVF, I had a financial coordinator who talked to me, I had a treatment coordinator who talked to me, I had a nurse who talked to me, there were steps through this whole process to make me feel confident.   Confidence is going to buy these and close these cases for you. Your treatment coordinator being exceptionally confident. They don't have to know all of the dentistry, but they do need to be confident talking dollars, looking for solutions and being confident in the dentistry you do. I will say all the time, people will hear me. No matter what size treatment plan, people are buying the doctor's confidence and they're buying the treatment coordinator's confidence. If you're confident that this is the best dentistry that people are ever going to get, you will close radically more cases.   Also your psychology, what am I thinking? Am I thinking like, that's a big number. If I am, people are going to feel that versus like it's a number, it's a treatment plan. This patient deserves great dentistry. So we really have to make sure and also with payment options, not being over the top on these financial avenues. You offer them 70 different options, they're going to be very confused. I prefer two to three that I'm very confident in. I know the ins and outs of them, things that most people use. I might have a few of these that are just a little bit more.   like unconventional, for example, the 401k or the home equity line. A lot of people don't even think about those as options, but they are viable options. ⁓ And then from there, we wanna just make sure that we are dialed in and we have a very, very solid followup on these if we don't close same day. But practice it, track your stats, look to see how you're doing on it, review your stats with your treatment coordinator and doctor every single week.   record yourself and listen to yourself back. And I know that sounds wild, but this office that we've added multi-millions to five locations, the treatment coordinators literally record themselves and send it to me and we listen to it. I role play with them for years. Every other week we are role playing. We are talking about it. What's going well, what's not going well. What's the psychology, what's the breakdown. I had a treatment coordinator the other day get on with me and she said, you know, Kiera, like 45 grand is like my large case for me.   But what I'm struggling with are these like perio ones where we're charging like 900 for gingivitis and I just don't know how to get through it. And so sometimes also presenting the other side of the coin. What happens if they do nothing? What happens if they start now? A lot of these things, but what I've learned is closing these cases is a finesse. There is clarity on schedule first. There is clarity on being direct in our treatment plans.   There is clarity on having a very simple process of step one, step two, step three. There's a very clear, like very strong correlation of higher acceptance when it's that clear, that direct, that confident. Because if I'm going in for surgery, the last thing I want is somebody who's like wishy washy or we can do it this way or what do you think or what do you want or you know, if you need it or if you want it. No, I need somebody who knows what they're doing. This is a $50,000 case. This is a $20,000 case.   We need to have our ducks in a row. We need to be very thorough. We need to be very confident in it. And we need to present this plan and help more patients. So when we look at all this, number one, we got to do great dentistry. And number two, everyone needs to be speaking the same language. And we need to have the psychology that everybody wants our dentistry. And we're great here. We need great handoffs, that warm handoff of teeing it up from hygienist to doctor. Everybody's speaking the same language. We need to be showing them.   testimonials, this is what it's gonna look like, transformations, this is how your life is going to change, this is how this one patient said. And then from there, we're going to make sure that we also are really, really strong on our how we schedule, how we do our handoffs, how we present the dollars and the financial clarity and the very, very clear next step for them. And then very, very strong follow-up. If a patient doesn't schedule in the office with me, it's two days, two weeks, two months of follow-up. I am going to be very rigid with my follow-up. I'm going to have a follow-up.   And then I'm going to review every single week my progress. I'm going to look at what I closed, what I didn't close, what was said. I'm going to listen to my calls. I'm going to listen to the doctor exams because usually, and I hope every one of you hears this, usually cases are won or lost by one or two words. It's not usually all the rest of it. We've got to have all the other pieces in place. But usually when I listen, I hear one or two words that tips a patient in one direction or the other, like,   It's very small, it's very much psychology, it's very much what you're hearing that's not being said is usually what's winning or losing this. I tell everybody sequence matters on how you present treatment plans. We can have a combination lock that the combinations one, two, three, and we can put three, two, one. I had all the right numbers, but in the wrong order and I don't open it. Same thing with presenting these larger cases. I can have all of the dots, but in the wrong order and I won't close. So this is something of.   realizing that when patients say yes, they trust you, they understand, they feel safe, they feel seen, they feel heard, they feel your confidence, and they feel very confident in their decision that this is the best absolute option for them. So I really hope that you realize that high value, high dollar dentistry is partnering with patients. It's transforming their life. It's giving them the confidence and they didn't have, it's giving them life experiences that they didn't have. And so this is a dialed in of how do we get more patients to say yes?   How do we get more patients to optimal health? How do we make sure that patients are getting the best dentistry with you? Now, if they come to you and they give the objections, time, money, spouse, la-di-la-di-la, those are just to me, top line levers that are telling me of an underlying root problem. And I need to listen for that. I need to answer that. And I need to listen to what's not being said and respond to what they actually need. So this is what I love to do. This is how we help a lot of offices.   ⁓ I'm obsessed, like we said, we role play with people, we help them, we transform them. And if we were able to boost your case acceptance one or 2%, what would that do for your practice, let alone 10, 15, 20 %? This is something we're obsessed with and I hope that you guys just heard some great tips, some great tools that you will go implement in your practice. Case acceptance to me is one of the greatest gifts you can give your patients. Doing great dentistry is what this is all about and helping patients see that and say yes to you is the greatest gift you can give them. So if we can help in any way, reach out.   Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Go change lives, go change smiles, go be confident in yourselves and just know I'm rooting for you. I'm here in any way we can help you. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.  

Rachel Norwood said "Yes" to a job at a hospital.  What she didn't know was that this role would lead her to a passion for working with the elderly and supporting their caregivers.

Today's video is a look back at your favorite triggers from 2025 and how they came to live, and what I enjoyed about them. Would you like this to become series? May be explain the curtain choice behind the "Oh such a good asmr video" :) ? Thank you for being here ♥ 00:00 Intro01:01 Ear zoom in attention05:41 Hygienist crinkles, 2-3-2 10:37 Russian words, hands, countdown17:04 Inaudible book reading, earrings and Russian words20:38 Dior massage tool with beadsCELEBRITY DIOR FACIALIST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc6oHYSgqeQ&t=11s25:45 Pencil biting, up-close whispers29:07 Paper bag crinkle heaven32:09 Wind and string34:19 Zoom in triggers, fixing touches on Photos of YOU 36:51 Beaded dress on faux leather 39:08 Thank you ♥ Links:My top https://amzn.to/49ancnJNails https://amzn.to/4spxSYHKeyboard https://amzn.to/4q2d2Np#ASMR #GentleWhispering #2025recap

What to see an alarming stat? 77% of OBGYNs report that their pregnant patients are declined routine dental care. There is plenty of stigma and misunderstanding swirling about in the dental community regarding pregnant patients, so give this episode with Katrina Sanders as she shares 8 important tips for treating pregnant patients! Resources: More Fast Facts: https://www.ataleoftwohygienists.com/fast-facts/ Katrina Sanders Website: https://www.katrinasanders.com  Katrina Sanders Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedentalwinegenist/ 

In this episode, Kirk Teachout and Zach Shelley dive into what truly drives hygiene retention in a thriving dental practice. They explore how clear communication, collaborative teamwork, and ongoing education can strengthen your hygiene department and reduce turnover. From breaking down role-based silos to empowering the front office for smoother operations, this conversation highlights practical strategies for building a supportive, growth-focused culture. Discover how investing in your team leads to loyal hygienists, stronger relationships, and long-term practice success.

Is your dental care routine actually protecting your health—or quietly putting it at risk?In this Better Health Bookshelf episode, Mike Capuzzi talks with Heather the Hygienist, author of The Great Tooth Deception: Revealing the Dark Side of Dentistry. With 30 years of experience in biological and holistic dentistry, Heather exposes the hidden fluoride dangers, root canal risks, and misleading practices that too often compromise oral and overall health.Listeners will discover:How to recognize harmful ingredients hiding in everyday dental care products.The truth behind fluoride dangers and why safer alternatives exist.What to know about root canal risks and how to find a holistic dentist you can trust.Play this episode to learn how small changes in your dental care can create big results for your long-term health.Get your copy of The Great Tooth Deception to take control of your oral health and make smarter choices.If you find this episode helpful, please consider subscribing and sharing it with friends and family. 

In this unapologetically honest episode of Dentistry Unmasked, David and Pam sit down with Melissa Obrotka, aka the Badass Dental Hygienist, for a real conversation about motivation, mastering your craft, and why not all hygienists—and not all hygiene careers—are created equal. We dig into what it truly means to practice at the top of your license, why skill and calibration matter, and how elevating your value can transform your earning potential. We also confront the long-standing divide between dentists and hygienists and explore what it will take to build respect, alignment, and stronger teams across the industry. If you're ready for a conversation that challenges norms and inspires growth, you won't want to miss this one.

In this episode of Management Unfiltered, Kirk Teachout and Zach Shelley unpack how to determine the right time to bring on an additional hygienist. They discuss the operational and clinical indicators to watch for, how patient demand and scheduling bottlenecks factor in, and why proactive hiring can prevent burnout across the team. The conversation also covers how clear systems, strong culture, and team alignment make it easier to onboard new hygiene team members and maintain a smooth, efficient practice as you grow.

More than three million dental implants are placed annually. Hygienists can help protect implant longevity with biofilm control, advanced air polishing, and patient-centered care strategies. Amber Auger, MPH, RDH Read by Jackie Sanders https://www.rdhmag.com/patient-care/implant-maintenance/article/55311878/responsible-restorative-dentistry-creating-sustainable-protocols-for-implants

In this episode of Management Unfiltered, Kirk Teachout and Zach Shelley dive into the essential strategies for retaining top hygienists in dental practices. They explore how streamlined systems, clear communication, and a culture of empowerment can make all the difference. From the importance of positive reinforcement and continued education to the vital role of the front office and teamwork, this conversation unpacks what it tru

When a hygienist's clinical judgment is dismissed and her documentation removed, it sparks serious questions about ethics, legal responsibility, and patient neglect. Sarah Crow, RDH

"Early to bed, early to rise..." Long before the invention of podcasts and personal trainers, wise men knew that sleep is essential. "Healthy, wealthy, and wise" = goals, so join us for our conversation about sleep habits: the good, the bad, and the honest. nojokinexp@gmail.com

We're not just talking about sitting up straight or adjusting your stool—we're talking about the equipment you use day in and day out, and how the wrong tools, especially your ultrasonic scaler, can take a toll on your body, your comfort, and even the length of your career. Joining me is Caitlin Parsons, RDH, a dental hygienist with over 15 years of clinical experience. Caitlin will tell us why it's so important to have that conversation with your boss about updating older, non-ergonomic equipment. From ultrasonic scalers with ergonomic handles and adjustable frequencies, to small operatory tweaks that make a huge difference. Caitlin is here to show us how smart choices in ergonomics can mean less pain, more happiness, and longer, healthier careers in dentistry.

In this milestone episode, we're celebrating both the 100th episode of the Brush with Britt podcast and the close of Dental Hygiene Month with a special tribute to the dental hygiene community.This episode features a collection of incredible hygienists who have made an impact on my personal and professional journey. Each guest shares who they are, their favorite part about being a dental hygienist, and a piece of advice or encouragement for others in the profession.While this episode highlights only a few voices, it represents the many hygienists who continue to inspire, support, and uplift one another in this field. It's a celebration of growth, community, and our shared passion for prevention and patient care.In this episode, you'll hear:Reflections from inspiring dental hygienistsPersonal stories and favorite moments in hygieneAdvice and encouragement for every stage of your careerGuest List:Dr. Joy Boyd Holmes – info@drjoyrdh.comAmanda Hill – amandahillrdh@gmail.comShelley Brown – care@shelley.dentalDerik Sven – derik@dentistrywithderik.comAngela Do – anchihdo@gmail.comSue Scherer – sueschererrdh@gmail.comJessica Atkinson – Jessica.Atkinson@utahtech.eduAmber Lovatos – amlovatos@gmail.comDr. Emily Boge – ereinert@hotmail.comSusan Cotten – oralcancerconsulting@gmail.comWhitney DiFoggio – whitney@teethtalkgirl.comShelby Wagenman – shelbywagenman@yahoo.comAnistinn Donovan – floss.fairy.anistinn@gmail.comYou'll leave this episode feeling motivated, inspired, and ready to continue striving for excellence in your dental hygiene career!

Tiff and Dana discuss how to achieve full team alignment on periodontal policies and protocols, even when it's the last thing you feel like doing. Their tips include which habits to build upon, which templates for conversation with the patient are most educational, maintaining team alignment, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello Dental A Team listeners. We are back with you with us today I have Ms. Dana and I'm so excited to do these podcasts. I have podcasts all day I have podcasts with you Dana. I podcast with Britt today I never get Britt on these suckers anymore and then I think I'm Kristy later, too So it is a whirlwind of podcasting day. Thank you for letting me, you know Just bust it out and get all of you guys here today I'm really excited. I'm really excited for the one we just did. We record these just kind of like back to back to back just so you guys know in case you were wondering how this actually happens. We're not live right now. I wish we were. That'd be super cool. But it'd be really time consuming at the same time. But we just did a really fun one. I'm excited for them to hear about it. Dana though, I haven't asked you lately just how's life. had, it sounds like a full weekend of kiddos sports. Dana (00:54) Mm-hmm. The Dental A Team (00:54) ⁓ But you personally, you guys, talked about consistency in this last one. And you personally, you have some of the best consistency that I've ever seen anyone maintain. So number one, I think my big question that might be on everyone's mind is why? How do you maintain that consistency? You show up for everyone, but you still show up for yourself. You still do your workouts. You still make sure that your path for your own health is one of the most important aspects of your life. So Dana, how do you maintain that? Dana (01:29) Yeah, I think that just I learned early on in life, right? Like, especially with my health, like I had a point in my life where my health cup was pretty much empty and I had nothing to pour from. And so I just promised myself when I made it through that, that like, I would always prioritize keeping that like as a priority. And ⁓ it's just something that like, I've shown up for for myself. ⁓ And to like, because I've shown up, it just, I don't know, like it just keeps me saying it makes me a better mom, it makes me a better friend, it makes me a better partner, it makes me like, just better in so many ways, because I do take that space. And I don't always like, there's guilt, for sure that I do it and that I take the time and that you know, like I put other things aside to do it. But I think what it like, reaps and benefits and rewards for me outweigh those things. And so I'm truly on to the point now where I have kept it so consistent that when I fall off I feel terrible. The Dental A Team (02:43) Yeah, yeah, that's the real deal now. Yeah, I love that. I think that the things you pointed out there just your why is big enough. And I think a massive reminder to everyone that typically for a human being to make a change in life, it has to be hard enough. Like, we don't change things that don't feel like they're not working, right? That haven't like sprung up as a quote unquote, like broken piece of life yet, right? Like however you want to word it. If it's not hurting, we don't typically think, we're not thinking about it. If it's not hurting, we're just not thinking about it. So why are we addressing things we're not thinking about? So when it finally does get bad enough, I think I had a similar story, not the degree of health, but a similar instance where it was just like I hit the spot where it's like I actually don't have a choice. I either take care of myself or my health continues to deteriorate. So was honestly, it was easy at that point. So it's interesting because it's so easy, I think for us from the outside, especially for you and I for fitness and health, like I think you and I have, I can imagine you're the same like my whole life. It's been in my, it's been in my being for as long as I can remember. So it was very easy to see that in myself and to see that in my life and to see where. the consistencies or the inconsistencies are, but it's interesting to take a step back and see how relatable it is to just so many aspects of life. And if we applied those same steps and processes, the same thought to other aspects of life, how different things could look. And we narrow that focus because I think fitness and health just like, I don't know, I feel like it's like a box to check instead of like, away and for you and I like it's a way especially for you and so it's just gives you the template for other areas which I think for us makes a lot of times consulting fun. I think it's more fun and it's a little bit easier for us to sometimes see the structure of what needs to happen because it's literally mimicking the results that we've seen in other areas of our life and first So happy you're here, Dana, because had you not taken that initiative, things could look very different today. And I'm very happy that you did and that you dedicated to yourself and that you continue to. Second, you were teaching your kids the most important valuable lessons of their entire life. And it's so cool to watch you do that and to watch you show up for yourself, but for them too. I've always taken that stand with it. They're like, Brody's going to know that exercise is for health. It's not for the other. ideas in there. So I never wanted him to, you know, have whatever complications with health and fitness in his life. So I made it a priority for me pretty early on in his life because of that. And then really had to about six years ago. So I applaud you for those pieces. And I just think it's really, really cool. And I think it kind of stems and spurs into a more fun version of today's podcast. Because I really do think that that consistency and again that template that you have for like no I'm just going to do it and some days, you know I'm sure you wake up like I do or I'm like today's not the day and then it's like no just go just go it's 30 minutes It's an hour of my life. Like just go and you will always feel better afterwards So sometimes life comes in and this task or this duty comes in and it's like this feels like it's gonna be really hard I don't really want to talk to this person about this thing I'll do it next time. And the I'll do it next time only slides us backwards. And we see that with the health and fitness very easily. If we don't go to the gym today, like we're sliding backwards to tomorrow. But in these conversations that we're talking about today with the perio, everyone's favorite word, perio, and being in alignment on the periodontal care kind of makes me think of those areas where we really do slide backwards because we're like. I don't really want to have that hard conversation or, that kind of borderline or I don't know what we would classify this as. I'm just going to probe you today. Maybe they'll see somebody else next time. Like you're my, you're one of my favorites, Brits, my other favorite, ⁓ perio brain to pick when it comes to stuff like this, because really getting alignment on that can look like so many different things and consistency on the alignment I think is one of the key pieces. And Dana, there's so much to pick apart in there. I'm obviously alluding to have the hard conversations with the patients when they need deep cleaning, even if they've been coming to your practice forever. I don't care, just do it. But how are the doctors important in your opinion and from a hygiene standpoint in gaining the alignment within the periodontal care, within the periodontal policies and protocols? Because we can tell a hygiene team to go do it, but I feel like without the doctor, we're like 90 % there. Dana (07:22) Mm-hmm. ⁓ Yeah, and and I really and truly feel like the doctor is so crucial in to me. It's like, ⁓ we have to do in this situation is build a plan and then create habits stacking for our hygienists like to do it right. And I think that the doctor is so crucial in setting up the standard of care for perio like what are the expectations for the hygiene team for each specific perio service within the practice? What are our parameters? What are our guidelines? That way, when a patient walks in, no matter which hygienist they see, the same thing is recommended. Also too, it gives a very clear roadmap for the doctor to back you up. You've built it together. So you know that if you follow the protocol, the doctor can confidently back you up. You know that you'll get that every time that they walk in the room. And then lastly, importantly, just as important, it allows you to ⁓ confidently have the discussions that maybe you haven't. And I've seen an office as to where we built the protocol and there are moments of maybe we disagree, right? Maybe we see something different on an x-ray or maybe we see, you know, we probe slightly different or our angles are a little bit different or I've got a doctor versus a hygienist that one presses a little bit harder when they probe, right? But it allows us to definitively be able to make a decision and say, we default to the protocol. This is what the protocol The Dental A Team (09:08) Yeah. Dana (09:16) says when we have this many millimeters in probing depth, this many, and this is how often we do those things. This is the cadence in which we bring them back. These are the results that we expect to get it. And so when you have that outline, whether you are so far from it when you start or whether you're like pretty close to it when you start, it's okay. It's just build your roadmap of what you want your The Dental A Team (09:23) Yeah. Dana (09:41) period to look like in your practice first. And doctors play such a key role in developing standards of care with hygienists. The Dental A Team (09:50) Yeah. my gosh, that was beautiful. something you said at the beginning was the habit stacking and then something in pieces, ⁓ kind of pulling those together, the habit stacking, mentioned, basically you mentioned templates, right? Templates of how to get there. So I think the first template that a doctor in that habit stacking, which is 101 of anything, accomplishing anything in life, it just generally gets put on the health and like fitness industry. ⁓ side of it, but anything is habit stacking to create any kind of habit you're going to have it stack. So what you're saying there and what it makes me think of is like realistically the initial template, like what do I do with my patient? So you mentioned probing. So I think that habit stacking is like probing how often that's your, that's your first habit. Like how do we implement the x-rays and the probing at a certain interval to get the result that we want. And if we want to be able to diagnose periodontal disease, we've gotta have the x-rays and the perio charting. So then it's like, okay, our first habit is getting these things into the appointment. Our second habit is diagnosing accurately and having those three to four periodontal classifications, that's the word I want there, that we can choose from and making sure that we're in alignment on those. There's so many, you guys, you can get recommendations. You can get 15 recommendations on anything anymore. So just be careful what you're looking at. That's a true space of alignment. What is a one to three periaprobe? One to three millimeters, what does that mean? What is three to five? What is five plus? And then what is, we're referring this out. So I think when you're talking habit stacking from an outsider's perspective, I am not a hygienist, I would imagine if I were to sit in your seat, these are the things I would need. to get this started and the consistency on time, like how often are we periaprobing? How often are we taking these x-rays? Dana, I think those come from the doctor and I know I might've just made so many hygienists so angry because I know that I have this conversation so many times. You are a provider but at the end of the day, like it is the doctor's practice and the doctor's license and those types of recommendations have to come from Dana (12:11) you The Dental A Team (12:15) him or her where they're saying, I want bite wings once a year. I want bite wings every six months. I want perioprobes once a year. Dana, is that the kind of habit stacking and templates that you're looking for too? Dana (12:27) Yep, You're spot on in there. How do we gather the information that we need to make our period diagnosis or to make our cleaning recommendation with our patients and outlining and defining how often we do that, when we do that. What it means to do that, like what are we doing ⁓ is your first and foremost foundation. And then it is like bridging into what we do end up diagnosing, right? So what treatments do we choose and when do we choose them? So that's your perioprotocol, right? That is when do we do localized SRP? When do we do generalized SRP? What is scaling in the presence of gingivitis in this office, right? Because that's a term that's very broad. So how many bleeding points? do we have to have? it have to be in all four quadrants? Does it have to be 20 bleeding spots? What does that look like in your office? ⁓ What is a perio maintenance? What do we do? mean, even farther as far as, when do we refer out? If we... aren't, that's one time that I see that hygienists maybe sometimes disagree because it's hygiene comfort. Then I always say default to who you recommend to. If you have a periodontist that you love in your area, call them and say, hey, at what point would you really like to see them in your office? And we start to kind of go back and forth with this patient. So that way it's a very, very cut and dry of what we follow. Right? And then, you know, then it becomes then it's templates for the conversation. Right? So how do we get to the conversation to educate the patient? What do we say if this has been a long term patient? What do we do if a patient refuses? Right? If they just want the cleaning that insurance covers, what do we do once they've had each of these? Right? Is it are we a yes please, perio for life, right? Like once perio, always perio. Do we have wiggle room in there, right? Like what is our, like what's our protocol for all of that? The Dental A Team (14:27) Mm-hmm. Dana (14:28) And I do feel like a lot ⁓ of doctors take the place that like, hey, my hygienists are my perio experts. And I think that like, that is a great stance to have, but I think doctors, need to be a part of building the standard in your practice. And then yes, trusting your hygienists to follow that standard for sure, and make the recommendations on the things that they see. Absolutely. But I do think it's crucial that the doctors are part of the standard setting within their own practice. The Dental A Team (14:54) Yeah. Oh, you nailed it. I couldn't agree more. And that's coming from a non hygiene standpoint. And you just heard a hygienist word straight from her mouth. And I think even the most, I'm gonna say it stubborn and hard headed hygienist who are like, no, this is my world. It is your world. But I think even the most stubborn, hard headed or strong willed is probably a better word to use. Hygienist will agree that structure. helps progress. And if there is a structure to be had, there's input to be had, I think anyone would prefer that input upfront and honestly than on the back end saying like something went wrong, right? I didn't do something correctly. Well, we've all said it like, well, you didn't tell me that I didn't know, right? Or I didn't know you wanted it that way. This is the space to get all of that stuff out on the table first. And doctors, for you to be like, my standard of care is X, Y, Z. And a hygienist to be like, well, tell me more about that because I think this. You know, I think ABC. And a doctor's like, cool, this is why I think X, Y, Z. Why do you think ABC? This is a space to have conversation. it's not, Dana, what you're saying is everything you said was a conversation. So it's more about Everyone being able to bring to the table their own knowledge, what you guys have learned, we've all gone, everyone likely has gone to a different school, right? Hygienists go to a different school, typically university, than the doctors do or trade school or wherever it's from. Doctors in most practices, it's rare that you have even associates that have gone to, everybody's gone to the same school. So there's different schools of thought depending on where your training was. And there's different opinions. I walk into some practices that floss is floss. I walk into other practices that there's like, do not use glide, or do not use whatever on the wall, and it's coconut floss. And then there's other practices that are like, don't eat coconut. You just pick and choose. It's all just the best that you guys can come to terms with. And so I think that it's more of a sharing of ideas coming with the standards and protocols. Now, there are things that will be like, There are things that will be a discussion and I think everything is a discussion. ⁓ There are things that will be flexible, there's things that won't be super flexible. Like x-rays are probably not a super flexible spot. How often are you periaproping? Because these are based off of standards, literally standards of care for their licenses, but it's still a discussion. And I know I've had hygienists that are like two years bite wings, but doctors are firm on one. Like, cool, just take the bite wings. That's the standard of care. and come to an agreement. And Dana, think that based off what you're saying, like that alignment is not just a, this is the box you stay in, but it's a conversation. And what you said earlier kind of resonated with me too, because I do see sometimes, oftentimes where doctors are like, yeah, we'll do a perio alignment meeting and meeting Mondays, we'll do meeting Mondays and we'll do perio alignment meeting. And they've got a patient, they're doing a crown while hygienists are meeting. And then hygienists come out. They're like, this is what we decided. And doctors are like, OK, I'll review it. I was like, come on, just be at the meeting. Right, Dana, do you think? Dana (18:16) yeah. Yeah, I see that a lot. And then, you know, then it sits on a doctor's desk or, or a doctor does review it and has notes, but like the notes don't get to the team or then it doesn't get even fully rolled out because we're still kind of waiting to see like, did we agree? Do we agree? Like, where is this? Where is this thing? And and I think the doctors being part of the meeting and part of the The Dental A Team (18:33) Mm-hmm. Dana (18:42) conversation, I just feel like you leave with alignment and you leave with buy-in. When a doctor is just is a part of that because I feel like, As a hygienist, I never wanted to feel as if like I was doing something that was outside of what the doctor wanted as far as care for their patients. And so I think when they're part of the discussion, they're part of the building the standards, they're part of mapping out those habits stacking and the pieces that they want to see. I think then it makes sure that no matter what patient is in the chair, no matter who they see, right, everybody is aligned and everybody is doing like what is desired for that specific office. The Dental A Team (19:29) Totally, I agree. think this was so cool. And I think we spun this in some fun directions today that were a little bit different than ⁓ areas we've spoken before where it was much more structured. This one is a little, slightly less structured. There's still structure to it, but it's more giving you guys the knowledge base to understand that you get to build the structure as a team together too. Our structure, our recommendations, your action items today. Schedule a perio. alignment meeting. A lot of times these get put in the schedule as a hygiene team meeting or a hygiene department meeting and they're going to talk about perioprotocols and doctors don't think they have to attend or it's not on their schedule at all. But doctors who are listening, hygienists who are listening, office managers who are listening, schedule a full team alignment even if you're like, hey, we don't have issues, we diagnosed just fine. I just come together once, at least once a year, probably once every six months or so. Just make sure we're all on the same page, you guys. And I think Dana, Something I've seen happen the most frequently is any kind of addition to the team, even Steril Tech, who's helping turnover rooms, any kind of addition to the team, those are the pieces that get lost first. That consistency becomes inconsistent and we lose the template. So first and foremost, make sure you guys have alignment meetings and then make sure you have some sort of a structure or a checklist on what are the things that these alignment meetings... One, what are we trying to gain? Like what is the goal of the alignment meeting? And what are we going to cover? So templates A to Z, our x-rays, our perioprobing, our exams, how often do you have to have a doctor in the room for an exam? All of these pieces that might to some of you guys listening now be like, that's crazy that practices deal with this. But if you don't have it, there will come a day, there will be someone that it gets lost on. So just make sure it's there. So Dana. Let me know if you have any more action items. My first one, schedule that alignment meeting. Second, make sure there's templates. Make sure you guys know what you're working towards and why. And then implement. And I think, Dana, when we're building out Perio protocols, I think it would be safe to say you should be able to implement those within a quarter. So if you've got the alignment meeting scheduled, you hashed out on the meetings, you should be, if you do it quarter one, you should quarter two, be able to roll out those Perio protocols. Do you agree, Dana? Dana (21:51) Yeah, I do. I agree with that for sure. And then I think the last action is if you already have a perio protocol in place, make sure that every hygienist on your team knows it and make sure it is updated. Right. I think that, you know, there are some things that in the perio world have changed and will continue to change. And so I always say when you build these protocols or you build these templates and you have alignment, it's not just like set it and kind of forget it. Make sure it gets added to onboarding packets for new hygienists. Make sure that we, you know, continue to kind of check in and see what we're doing. Make sure that we've got tracking in place and make sure that we update those things as Perio changes because, you know, grading and staging is now here and pieces that if you've had a long term Perio protocol, we may need to add or consider updating. The Dental A Team (22:40) Totally, beautiful, thank you. I am leaving it at that. Everybody, if you were listening in the car, go listen again, write these things down. If you were listening, I don't know, anywhere else, I hope that you were taking some awesome notes. If not, listen again. The recordings are here for just that. So, share this with a friend, you guys. Everyone needs to know these Prairie Protocols. This is massive. It is a huge space that is underdeveloped in a lot of practices, I would say most practices. the perio space is underdeveloped. So these are some really quick, easy tools to get that ball rolling without having to take extra courses and laser certifications and all of these things. Those would be like step two or three. These are your first steps. So go do the things you guys drop us a review. We always like to see those five stars and know what you loved and any ideas that you have to add to what we talked about. And then Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. That was a hard one to say today. ⁓ is where you'll reach us. If you have any questions or you want any templates or ideas, just shoot us an email, you guys. do, Dana and I do get a lot of those requests straight to us from our Hello team. So just let us know how we can best help you and we'll catch you guys next time. Thank you.

Organized dentistry's history of undermining credentialed professions reveals systemic failures, hidden risks, and patient harm—raising urgent questions about oversight, accountability, and the future of dental hygiene. Derik J. Sven, MBA, MPH, RDH, CDT, FADHA Read by Jackie Sanders  https://www.rdhmag.com/career-profession/article/55312066/lessons-from-the-past-how-dentistrys-treatment-of-lab-techs-mirrors-todays-attacks-on-hygienists

In this episode of the Dental Boardroom Podcast, host Wes Read, CPA and financial advisor at Practice CFO, and an AI co-host unpack the ADA Health Policy Institute's Q3 2025 “State of the Dental Economy” report. The data paints a complex picture of a dental sector stuck in an uneasy holding pattern where rising costs, flat reimbursements, and persistent staffing shortages are squeezing practices nationwide.Despite modest growth in consumer dental spending, many practices report being less busy than before, caught between financial pressure and patient affordability challenges. The discussion dives deep into the fiscal squeeze, workforce struggles (especially hygienists), and the strategic choices dental practices are making to adapt.Key Points :1. Confidence Levels: Stabilized but Still CautiousDentists' confidence in their own practices (67.5%) remains higher than confidence in the U.S. economy (33.4%).Optimism has eroded throughout 2025 despite a slight Q3 bounce.Top concerns: tariffs, political unrest, and global uncertainty.2. The “Fiscal Squeeze” ExplainedCore problem: costs (supplies, labor, operations) are rising much faster than insurance reimbursements.Two-thirds (65.8%) of dentists raised fees in 2025 by an average of 6.7% just to maintain margins.This has worsened patient affordability and fueled a perception of dentistry as “discretionary,” reducing patient visits.3. Spending vs. Busyness ParadoxConsumer dental spending is up 10% (inflation-adjusted) since pre-pandemic levels.Yet, the number of dentists reporting they're “not busy enough” jumped from 25% to 35% in Q3 2025.Average patient wait times hit a three-year low (12 days), showing ample capacity and lower demand intensity.4. Staffing & Hiring ChallengesHiring in dental practices remains flat, but recruitment demand is high.Hygienists are the most difficult position to fill; 90% of dentists report it's very hard.Only 43% of those recruiting for hygienists successfully filled the role.One-fifth of hygienist positions remained open 6+ months, hurting production and patient flow.5. Strategic Responses by PracticesMany dentists are investing in software (41%) to improve efficiency and adding staff (47%) where possible.Some are dropping low-paying PPO plans to regain control over pricing and profitability.Practices are focusing on what they can control: internal efficiency, cost management, and workforce adaptation.6. The Big Picture: A Sector in a Holding PatternThe dental economy isn't collapsing, but it's not growing fast either.The balance between rising costs, stagnant reimbursement, and patient affordability remains fragile.The future may depend on technology adoption, workforce development, and new care delivery models to break the stagnation.#DentalEconomy #DentalIndustryTrends #FiscalSqueeze #Dentistry2025 #DentalPracticeManagement #HygienistShortage #DentalCareCosts #ADAReport #WesRead #DentalBoardroomPodcast #DentalBusiness #DentistryInsights

Clinical attachment level versus clinical attachment loss—what's the difference? Discover why this distinction is vital for accurate periodontal diagnosis, staging, and treatment planning, and how understanding it can improve patient outcomes. Marianne Dryer, MEd, RDH ,  Katrina M. Sanders-Stewart, MEd, BSDH, RDH, RF Read by Jackie Sanders https://www.rdhmag.com/patient-care/article/55310252/decoding-the-language-of-clinical-attachment-what-every-hygienist-needs-to-know

Episode Overview In this special, nostalgia-fueled episode, Andrew takes a look back at meaningful conversations from prior episodes, bringing in crucial advice for dental professionals and hygienists that's just as relevant today as when it first aired. Whether you're a long-time listener or just finding the show, this episode is packed with practical insights and inspiring stories from Tom Viola and Renata Nehme on topics crucial to the dental hygiene field. Key Topics and Highlights 1. Dental Hygiene Training and Qualifications (with Tom Viola) Rigorous Training: Tom shares insights from his experience teaching pharmacology to hygienists, highlighting the level of stress, acumen, and stringent requirements of dental hygiene programs. Anesthesia Rights for Hygienists: Discussion on why dental hygienists should be qualified to administer local anesthesia in every state and the process Georgia undertook to make this a reality. Inter-Professional Trust: Tom argues that dentists often lack understanding of hygienists' training. If they witnessed the training firsthand, their confidence in hygienists' skills would grow. Education & Reciprocity: Andrew and Tom debate how state-to-state differences in training impact reciprocity of credentials and the importance of maintaining high standards. 2. Palatal Expansion in Adults (with Renata Nehme) Early Intervention Matters: Renata explains how early observation of jaw growth and dental spacing in children can predict future needs for orthodontic intervention. Adult Expansion Experience: She shares her personal journey with palatal expansion as an adult—including the use of MARPE (mini-implant-assisted rapid palatal expander), the procedure, and recovery. Relapse & Muscle Function: The conversation dives into the importance of myofunctional therapy for lasting results and the role of tongue and muscle habits in dental relapse. Facial Changes: Renata explores how palatal expansion affects not only occlusion but also facial structure, including cheekbones, lips, and nasal width. Must-Listen Moments Tom recalling the intense nature of hygiene school and advocating for robust education standards. Insights into how anesthesia training and workflow advances have elevated the hygiene profession. Renata's deeply personal account of her orthodontic journey, the challenges, and the transformative facial changes she experienced. Practical advice on early dental intervention and the significance of myofunctional therapy from a seasoned clinician. Connect with Today's Guests Tom Viola: Website: tomviola.com Social: @PharmacologyDeclassified Renata Nemi: Instagram: @myomoves Airway Circle: airwaycircle.com Courses for hygienists at Myo University How to Support the Show Subscribe: Don't miss an episode—hit that subscribe button! Newsletter: Sign up for our updates on our website. Engage: Follow us on social media and let us know what you'd like covered in future episodes. Produced by Endeavor Business Media. Have questions, comments, or want to be a guest? Drop Andrew a line through the website or on social media!

Workplace violence in healthcare is reaching crisis levels – and dental hygienists aren't immune. Host Matt Crespin sits down with Jeff Schill, Vice President of Training at the Crisis Prevention Institute, to tackle a challenge many face but few discuss. With 81% of healthcare workers experiencing workplace violence in the past year, the need for de-escalation skills has never been more urgent. Jeff explains why poor communication fuels most crises and shares practical techniques like the power of breathing and allowing silence. This conversation delivers actionable strategies every dental professional can use immediately, whether in clinical practice or educational settings. Don't miss the downloadable resource with 10 quick tips for managing crisis situations. Guest: Jeff Schill, Vice President of Training, Crisis Prevention Institute Host: Matt Crespin, MPH, RDH, FADHA Crisis Prevention Institute: https://www.crisisprevention.com; Top 10 De-escalation Tips for Health Care Professionals: https://www.crisisprevention.com/library/health-care/top-10-de-escalation-tips-for-health-care; ADHA Rebrands Podcast to "Hygiene Rising": https://www.adha.org/newsroom/adha-rebrands-podcast-to-hygiene-rising/

Are we on the brink of a mass retirement of dental hygienists? Are hygienists really all that unhappy and what are the drivers that factor into job satisfaction? Rather than guessing, we have Thalia Diedrick on the show who comes with the answers directly from the dental audience! Resources: https://gotu.com/state-of-work/ Thalia@joingotu.com cassidy@joingotu.com

Dr. Bicuspid Editor-in-Chief Kevin Henry joins me to discuss some crazy current events! A California dentist has been sentenced to 75 years to life in state prison after what prosecutors called a “reign of terror.” The man's crimes included multiple sexual assaults against five female patients and an extern, with victims ranging in age from 19 to 73. Prosecutors said he treated the women “as his playthings,” committing the assaults while they were under anesthesia and alone in his office. What broke the case open was the courage of a dental assistant, who secretly filmed one of the assaults, exposing the abuse and ending years of unchecked violence. The conversation examines how this could happen inside a dental practice where patients should feel safest and the red flags that every dental professional must recognize. From patient safety and sedation oversight to the ethics of working alone with anesthetized patients, this disturbing story forces the industry to confront hard truths about accountability and protection. Our discussion continues into the state of the dental profession today. A new Delta Dental study shows preventive care has finally returned to pre-pandemic levels, but capacity hasn't caught up. Hygienist shortages continue to strain practices, and legislative moves across states like licensure compacts and the rise of oral preventive assistants aim to fill the gaps. There's also a sharp look at data trends: claims show a rise in occlusal guards and fillings, signaling more stress-related wear and tear, and new fraud triggers are catching the attention of insurers. Teresa and Kevin unpack how AI, remote admin roles, and shifting workforce models are reshaping the business of dentistry and what every practice owner needs to know to adapt.

As AI continues to advance, it's essential for dental professionals to stay informed and proactive. By embracing AI today, you can position your practice for a more efficient, effective, and patient-centered future. To tell us more about AI and how it can do many things for dentists and hygienists is our guest, Melissa Turner, a 20-year veteran dental hygienist. Melissa is a sought-after consultant and speaker. She partners with companies of all sizes on brand strategy and product growth, leveraging her unique insights from experience in the boardroom and as a clinician. Thanks to our episode sponsors: Solventum - https://www.solventum.com/en-us/home/oral-care/ BISCO - https://www.bisco.com/

Re-releasing a DAT listener favorite! Kiera is all about key performance indicators in this episode, and why they're important. When framing KPIs as the vitals of your practice, it makes a lot more sense! Some of Kiera's favorite KPIs are … Production (net, not gross) Collection (at least 98%) How many new patients you're getting Average diagnosis Acceptance rate Overhead There are a lot more indicators she talks about in this episode, so whether you're a beginner with KPIs or elite status, there's something you can learn. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:05) Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, pillar, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you.   Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental. And I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A-Teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.   Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And you guys, how's your day today? You guys loving it? Are you crushing it? I hope you are, wherever you are. I am actually sitting in my bedroom. I ⁓ rarely ever podcast here, because usually my husband's home. But tonight, I have some friends over there in the front room, and I definitely needed to get some podcasts done. Sissy was asking me, I just love having team members that are great at what they do. And I hope you guys take time to acknowledge the team members that make you great. The team members that are   just awesome at what they do. guys, Sissy keeps me so on the ball and I love her for it. Shelby does, Tiffany does, Brittany, Dana, Kylie, they are just an incredible bunch of people. And guys, if you ever get the opportunity to meet any of them, you are one lucky person. So I hope you're having a great day. I hope you're loving it. So podcasting today from the bedroom. I hope the audio is great. I hope you're loving it. Sun's just going down and today I just wanted to dive into a topic that I think is really awesome and it's KPIs.   So what the heck is a KPI? A KPI is Key Performance Indicator. I'll be completely honest. You guys, know I'm like authentic Kiera Dent. People when they call me and they chat with us, like interested in working with us, the number one thing I get told is, Kiera, you sound just like you do on the podcast. And I'm like, this is really great because it is me.   I don't shake it up, I don't change it. The only thing I do differently is I talk in a microphone so my voice sounds a little bit like smoother, if you will, on the podcast than in real life. But beyond that, same cadence, same tones. This is Kiera real life. So you guys know I am always, I try really hard to just be authentic Kiera. So if you ever come meet me in person, you peel back the Wizard of Oz current, I would be the exact same person as I am on the podcast as I am in real life. So when I first started as an office manager,   I did not know what a KPI was. I did not know why they were important. I didn't know that I should be tracking these things. I literally had no idea. So guys, if you're in my boat, hey, welcome, welcome to the CureDent No KPI Boat. If you know what they are, welcome, welcome to the Elite Boat. And if you are using them, welcome to the Rockstar Amazing Boat. Let's make you even better. So KPIs, I call them, the way I describe a KPI is they are the vitals of your practice.   So just like when you go to the doctor and they take your blood pressure, your temperature, they listen to your heart rate, all those things, those are the vitals. They take your weight. ⁓ I just went to the doctor the other day and it's super cool, like, right? You sit on the chair and they say they'll take your weight. And it was funny, the gal asked me, she said, do you wanna know your weight today? I was like, wow, thank you. Like, thank you for not making me have a bad day if I don't want to or thank you for giving me the opportunity. It just made me giggle.   But bottom line is the vitals, we go to the doctor and they take those vitals first because if any of those are out of alignment, that's the first sign that we have trouble. So that's what I think of with KPIs in a practice. These are the core pieces that are going to show you, is your practice healthy or is it not healthy? So yes, it's tracking and there's lots of different KPIs you can track. That's why it's called a key performance indicator. I am a firm believer that you should be able to change these up.   I think there are certain things that you should be tracking consistently. But I also think as human beings, we get stagnant and bored. So give yourself a decent amount of time to track and then shake it up. That way you're growing constantly and we don't get bored with KPIs. So for me, some of my favorite KPIs, this is a question every consultant who comes to Dental A team to work with us, we ask them, what is your favorite KPI to measure? One, I'm checking to see if they know what a KPI is. Guys, I probably would have flunked the consulting test if I would have come on.   We're a more elite company, guys. I have to keep these consultants on their top notch. They can't be lower than us now. So I ask what your favorite KPI is to track and why. Most of the time I get production and collection. Production is a great KPI to track. It's something, and again, be careful on production. Make sure you're tracking it on net, not gross. A lot of people wanna tell me that they have.   These huge successful practices, but guess what guys, if you can't collect it, don't even tell me that number. I don't care. It does not impress me because guess what? That high gross number feeds your ego. Your net number feeds your family. So I don't care about it. So report that number in net. Next up is your collection percentage. I want to know how you're collecting. So if you're a $1 million practice and you're only collecting 700,000, that's stressful. That means you're at a 70 % collection rate. I am aiming for a 98 % collection rate. Now,   There are lots of other KPIs and I will say there are some great softwares out there. Practice by numbers, dental intel, divergent. Those are my top three favorites. I'd probably put them in the order of dental intel, divergent, practice by numbers. I think all three of them are great. I love them all for different reasons. The reason I'm pro-ing for dental intel is because they just merged with Medento and guess what? They are kicking it. So I love that. I love what they do and I love Medento as a company. So any company with Medento, that's going to be my favorite company right now. But bottom line is a lot of these track KPIs.   What I found that gets tricky and what a lot of offices do is we often track too many things that we don't actually move the needle on anything. I'm guilty of this. So in our company, was having Cissy track how many Instagram followers we were getting every single week. At first, I thought it was a great marketing metric. I thought it was great to see how our marketing was doing. Guess what? It was actually just feeding my ego. So guys, if you want to feed my ego, please just go follow us on Instagram. I would love it. Get your friends, get your family, get your siblings, get your kids. I don't care who.   You can boost that number just to feed my ego. At the end of the day, do the Instagram followers actually matter? No, they don't. They don't move our company forward. What matters, just like you guys, how many new patients we're getting. So don't actually care about social media followers. Yes, it's a fun number to track, but what I care is how many new patients are we getting? Then after that, I actually care about if I'm going to the elite boat or to our rock star boat on how many new patients you're getting. Do you know how much each patient's value is?   Do you also know what our average diagnosis is on each patient? And do we know what our acceptance rate is on each patient? If you don't know that and you're already tracking some of these numbers, that might be a fun zone for you to go to, to be 2.0 or 3.0 of KPI tracking. If you're just starting out, don't go there. Let's just get you tracking new patients and where they're coming from. Bottom line is these are the vitals. So first steps first, I want you with your KPIs to make sure that you have the vitals of your practice. Production, collection, new patients.   case acceptance, reappointment percentages. Those are like your main shebangs that are really gonna tell you where you're going. If you wanna add in your overhead, I also love that because that's gonna pull in the business side of it to make sure that we're actually profitable as a business and we're not just running around trying to serve, but not even being profitable as a practice. We need our practice to be profitable. Otherwise we can't serve more in our community. Those are my main things I love to focus on. So if you're just starting out, start tracking those.   I prefer you track them at a minimum every week at best. I actually like these ones to be tracked on your morning huddle. It's great. Everybody has it, have it on a whiteboard. Everybody can see it. That is the vital heartbeat of your practice. I would love you to do it. Just like on my Apple watch, I'm watching the rings on my Apple watch. That's honestly the only thing on my watch face guys, because it'd be really fun. But I decided I don't want to get distracted by other things. I need to master these items before I move on.   So that's why I love it to be front and center. Get these KPIs front and center. Get a whiteboard, guys, they're real cheap. Put it up, track these items. Production, we talked about it. Net, not gross. Collections, we wanna make sure we're collecting at least 98 % if not higher. And then I want you to know how many new patients you're getting out of goal, what your case acceptance is. A healthy practice, if we're talking dollar for dollar, I'd like you to be anywhere from 35 to 65%. Now there's a wide range on that because I actually, if you don't...   diagnose a lot of ortho and you're not diagnosing a lot of implants in larger cases, your dollar for dollar should be way up higher. If you're diagnosing these huge treatment plans constantly, you actually should be hanging out lower because we're presenting so much treatment that I'm okay with a lower case acceptance. If we're one for one, meaning one thing accepted off of our treatment plan, no matter how large it is, I want you actually to be sitting at at least a 90 % case acceptance. If you're not, we got to talk.   That's right, you and me, we're going to have a date, we're going to chat. We need to get that case acceptance up because what we're doing is we're dis-serving our patients. We're not helping them find a way to get this treatment done. You as a treatment coordinator, your job is to be a solution creator with the patient. So do your job, find the solution, get those patients accepted. That way we can help them have healthy mouths and a better life, right? That's what it's all about. Hey, Dental A Team listeners, how was your 2021? Have you reflected back? Where did you really win?   Where did you really not win? If 2021 was a year of years, congratulations. I am celebrating with you and I would love to invite you to take it to the next level. If 2021 wasn't quite your year, hey, it's all right. I'm there for you. And I would love to invite you to make 2022 the year for you. That's right, guys. If you're ready to take massive action, if you're ready to take your practice and your team to the next level, increase your profitability. Yeah, guys, through an easy way.   Get your entire team aligned and you're ready to just have your life be different. That's right. Team development, top to bottom system development, top to bottom, changing and shifting your culture, improving your team morale. If that sounds like what you're interested in guys, I'd love to invite you to join us in our Dental A Team platinum group. It's the exclusive group where we physically fly to your practice. We give you insider tips. We share with you. have a quarterly newsletter that goes to that shares all the updates we're coming up with and we share it with our platinum group.   We'd love to have you and I would like to invite you because guys remember you're always one decision away from a completely different life. So reach out guys. I'd love to chat with you. I'd love to see if you're a great platinum client or what works best for you. Email me Hello@TheDentalATeam.com and I can't wait to welcome you as our newest platinum client. Take massive action. This is your year. Let's make sure 2022 is your year. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. Can't wait to welcome you. So those are my main KPIs that I love to track.   Once you get those dialed in and you're consistent on those and you know, then we're going to start diving into even more data. I want to know how well our hygiene department's doing. They should be producing at least three times their pay. So if I'm a hygienist making $10 an hour, wouldn't that be a dream guys? Welcome to 2022. Hygienist $10 an hour. Yeah, right. You guys are like a hundred and a billion dollars an hour. Like it's crazy how much hygienists are at right now, but let's say for the sake of this podcast, it's $10 an hour. Okay. I should be producing at least   $30 per hour as a healthy hygienist. That's on a PPO. If I'm fee for service, I like you producing at least four times your pay. So if I'm in a fee for service practice, I'm producing $40 an hour, okay? So that would be another great KPI to track. You can also break it down per department. So we might have our doctors. Great KPI to track on our doctors is what are they producing per hour? Most doctors should be producing at least $500 per hour at a minimum, okay?   So if we're working in an eight hour day, that's a $4,000 day per doctor, again on net, not gross. So that's a great metric to put in there. What are our doctors producing per hour? What's our doctor case acceptance? What's our doctor diagnosis? Great KPIs for you to start tracking. If we move on to our hygiene department, you can track fluoride, you can track perio. Perio is a great set to track. We can track ⁓ how many night guards they're doing. We can track how many orthostarts they're doing.   Great KPIs to track, again, if you're in the elite rockstar status. ⁓ Dental assistants, I like to track how many same day conversions you get. Also, how many times you leave the room is a great KPI to track. Also, how many Google reviews do dental assistants get? Those are all really, really great ones that you can do. For front office, scheduling. How often are we scheduling our hygiene and doctors to goal?   So I usually like between 80 and 90 % that they're scheduled to go. Schedulers can be how many openings they have in hygiene. It can also be how many new patients you're scheduling. For our treatment coordinators, case acceptance, right? We want to make sure that we're getting those cases up there. For office managers, what's our collection percentage that can also go to our billers? Billers, I love you to be tracking your AR. Also outstanding claims. ⁓ How long it's taking us to get our claims paid. It's a fan-freaking-tastic KPI to be tracking.   because we want to be paid quicker. Guess what? If I'm tracking that, I can see, are we not sending our claims clean and are we having errors? Could we fix that? Could we enter data better so we don't have these issues happening? Could also track how long our patients are waiting in the waiting room. If we're working on VIP new patient experience. As I just listed, there are a myriad of KPIs you could do. What happens is we often try to track too many things that were actually focused on nothing. So I suggest you usually have at least one primary KPI per   person in the practice. It's their primary. That's the one that no matter what, they're going to hit that. And we make sure it moves our needle forward. So what's going to move our doctors forward? What's going to move our hygienist forward? It's going to move our dental assistants, our scheduler, our biller, our office manager. What is the one thing if we could only focus on one thing, what's going to move each of those people forward the most and move our practice forward the most? Focus on that. Master that. Set a goal of what you should be hitting and report either weekly or daily.   on those. I'll be honest, if you report it daily, just like working out daily, you will probably see greater results than if you do it weekly or just monthly. So I also have with KPIs that you should really, really, really, really be ramping those up and making sure you're reporting consistently and that people know the goals. If we miss it, let's find out why. What's going on? Let's diagnose the problem. Let's find out what can we do to improve that. Again, I want you to think of these as vitals. KPIs are vitals of a practice.   If you don't track these, if you don't check them, you will die. Okay? If you think about it that way, well, instantly I'm like, maybe I don't need to track that. Maybe I don't need to focus on that. If you're already tracking it and you're breathing imperfect, guess what? What happened to the doctor? They start checking other things. They run blood tests on us and they check a thousand different things in that. Okay? So there are lots of KPIs you can do, but I would say keep it simple. Do the kiss method. Keep your KPIs simple. Then add to it. Maybe each quarter we add something.   Maybe each month we add something. It's also fun if you have your team help create these KPIs with you. What do they think is going to the practice board? What did they get excited about? Maybe they want to make social media posts. Maybe they care about how many followers we actually have. Maybe you guys want to do that. Maybe they do it on how many new patients they can get. I just had an office, super fun. The team decided that they were going to try and get more family members scheduled. So on average, this practice was averaging about 35 new patients. Guess what?   Guess what? Just by focusing on asking for referrals from patients and getting more family members scheduled, they use the phrase, what other family members can we get scheduled for you today? They have increased their new patients with no marketing to 50 new patients a month. Is that not rad? That's because they focus on a vital that the practice needed to do. They focus on where they were weak and they're able to move their practice forward. So guys, I would encourage each of you.   Look at these KPIs, get them set. If you don't have a regular KPI tracking, let's start there. If you do, I want to bump it up. Are those KPIs being reported weekly by all team members? And does the doctor and office manager review this? I will tell you at our company, Shelby, she's a rock star. Our whole team reports on a Google drive. We call our leadership scorecard. Those are where our KPIs hang out. Every person has a number that they're tracking. We review these, we make sure that they're the vitals of our company and they're moving us forward.   Every person reports on this every single Friday. We have a reminder that goes out, so everybody fills it in. Shelby then makes sure it comes over to me. I then with Shelby review this leadership scorecard. Then on our leadership team, we look at this every single month and make sure that those are vitals. And then we look to see where are we weak? What do we need to move forward? This is how you start to track. Also, if you want to stamp out and do more practices and you want to have more growth, having a leadership scorecard where you track these KPIs consistently.   allows you to then be able to manage and oversee multiple locations because everybody's tracking. And at a second, you can glance at this and you'll be able to know where your practice is weak and where it's strong and where you need to dive in and give it massive help. So guys, I strongly encourage you, if you're not doing it, do it. If you're doing it already, where can you ramp it up? If you're already ramping it up, get your team members involved and ask them where they want to take it to the next level. KPIs are magic. They're vitals. Also, if you're in that top, top tier,   Maybe I challenge you and say, where could you simplify? Are you overtracking? Sometimes when I look at dental intel, I'm like, holy guac. That's a lot of items you're tracking. How do they know where to focus? I think about the book, Essentialism. If you haven't read it, I would strongly encourage you to do it. If we're focused on too many things, we actually don't make a lot of progress anywhere. We make minimal progress. If we're focused on one thing, we kill it. We knock it out of the park. We dominate it. So I challenge each of you, look at those KPIs. Could you simplify them if you're already doing them?   What are the main drivers of the practice? Keep it to three per department is my recommendation. Make sure that what we're truly focused on is actually going to move you guys forward. If you need help getting those KPIs set up, if that's something you want to start doing, we make sure our practices are all tracking. Our offices have vitals. We look at them. We actually call it their vital scorecard. Truth. That's really what we call it. So if you guys want to help with this, if you'd love somebody to help hold you accountable, email me. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'd love to help you out.   nothing else guys, go get these KPIs in place and know that you guys are in control of this. You can see your practice at a glance. You can know if you're healthy or not just at a glance, just like the doctor does when we go in for our medical doctors. So guys, try it out. I'd love to hear it. I'd love to hear your successes. Post your KPI scorecards and tag us. We'd love to see it. Share. If you guys want to, you can start to get on our Facebook group, Donuts with Dana. She's literally going around and she's pulling these ideas and she's sharing and she's answering questions.   So join her, she's on Facebook Live every Friday, Donuts with Dana. So hop on over there if you have questions getting this set up, she's there, she'll help answer questions. And as always guys, just take action, do it. Don't be afraid of KPIs, they're very easy. And if we can help you, email us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. I'd love to share it with you guys. If you need a sample, email us, Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast. And that wraps it up for another episode of The Dental A Team Podcast.   Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.  

If time wasn't an issue, if everything was free, if you had the autonomy to practice any way you want... would you practice differently? Amanda Hale and Heather Kenney from the Functional Roots podcast join me today to offer a different than mainstream point of view on the practice of holistic dental hygiene. If you want more of this kind of conversation, be sure to head over to their show! Resources: functionalroots.com @functionalrootspodcast on insta