Podcasts about hygienists

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Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2025 37:35

Heather DeJonge joins me on this episode to share her journey in dental hygiene and how she's become known as The Relaxed Hygienist! Her self-proclaimed title is earned through years of working on herself and regaining her mental and physical health to achieve a more relaxed lifestyle. We cover all topics relating to burnout, stress, and the long-term effects of neglecting your health. She has some amazing stress management tips that I personally think everyone could benefit from! Find her on YouTube and Instagram @the_relaxed_hygienist. Submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE! Transcripts are available on Apple or by request. Slide into my DMs HERE: Instagram: @dentalhygienebasics Facebook: Dental Hygiene Basics Twitter: @DH_Basics Email:DHBasics@protonmail.com. Want a question answered on the show? Fill out the DHB Questionnaire HERE. Looking for NBDHE prep? Become a VIP StudentRDH member today: https://www.studentrdh.com/?rfsn=8529631.46e55d Timestamps:(00:00) Heather's RDH Origin Story (05:26) How Her Health Issues Allowed Her to Help Others(14:49) Radical Self-Care(23:32) Being Proactive in Preventing Burnout (31:14) Daily Tips for Stress Management Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The hygienist that wouldn't stop talking | The Brunch Bitch

Auscast Comedy Channel

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2025 5:22

Indulge in the best-of from the live, weekly Brunch-Hour with Two Brunettes & A Gay. Witty banter, lively satire and hysterical millennial discussions. Three 30-something Adelaideans, exploring local events and bringing you the best our city has to offer. Perfect for unwinding any time of the day, accompanied by your favourite bubbles. Follow us on Instagram. Give us a like on Facebook. Check us out on TikTok. CREDITS: Hosts: Aaron Collis, Celeste La Scala & Deanna Carbone. Panelist: Deanna Carbone. Content Warning: None. Two Brunettes & A Gay is recorded LIVE every Saturday @ 11am (Adelaide Time) on Radio Italia Uno 87.6FM. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Karuna people. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The hygienist that wouldn't stop talking | The Brunch Bitch

Auscast Entertainment

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2025 5:22

Dentist Hygienist Communication: Enhancing Patient Treatment

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2025 10:10

Amid a nationwide dental hygienist shortage, nearly 40% of practices are struggling to fill positions. How can we improve patient care through dentist-hygienist communication? Sally Aube, MSDH, RDH, CDA, Read by Jackie Sanders https://www.rdhmag.com/patient-care/article/55261519/enhancing-patient-treatment-outcomes-through-effective-dentist-hygienist-communication

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Marisa, the Financial Hygienist, On Becoming Free from Debt

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2025 40:12

Marisa Kibiersza, known as the financial hygienist on Instagram, joins me on this episode to share her experience of becoming a dental hygienist with a passion for personal finance. We delved into the topic of finance as a dental hygiene student as well as post-licensing to hopefully educate future RDHs on a topic that is not commonly explored in our profession. She shares how she got a bachelor of science in biology with the intentional plan of becoming a physical therapist. After some unexpected life changes, she found herself attending an associate's program for dental hygiene at the College of Lake County in Illinois. Marisa is a clinical hygienist who aims to help future and current hygienists with their financial goals; I can't thank her enough for her donation to the DHB Scholarship!! Make sure to submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE! Transcripts are available on Apple or by request. Slide into my DMs HERE: Instagram: @dentalhygienebasics Facebook: Dental Hygiene Basics Twitter: @DH_Basics Email: DHBasics@protonmail.com. Want a question answered on the show? Fill out the DHB Questionnaire HERE. Looking for NBDHE prep? Become a VIP StudentRDH member today HERE.Timestamps: (00:00) Marisa's RDH Origin Story (08:23) Her Current Roles (11:00) Finances in DH School (18:30) Money Advice for New Grads (29:00) Adversities Marisa Faced in School(31:47) Rewarding Memories from School Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hygienist Inspired: Chairside Recruitment to Grow Our Workforce (Ep 156)

Your Official ADHA Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2025 43:34

The "Hygienist Inspired" chairside recruitment program launched this week – a partnership between ADHA and the Foundations of Delta Dental. Three incredible dedicated Advisory Committee members share their dental hygiene journeys with host, Matt Crespin, and explain how this initiative builds diversity in dental hygiene and addresses workforce shortages while improving access to care in underserved communities. Learn about becoming a Hygienist Inspired Ally in this movement and how dental hygienists can inspire future professionals through direct chairside conversations and person connections. Matt shares the latest ADHA news from a busy start to 2025. Guests: Marlyce James, MEd, RDH, CDA, FADHA; Richard Robinson, BS, RDH; Ryan D. Rutar, RDH, MAM, FADHA, MAADH (Hygienist Inspired Advisory Committee) Host: Matt Crespin, MPH, RDH, FADHA www.adha.org/HygienistInspired www.adha.org/Newsroom

The ADHA is not under attack: Hygienists are asking for change

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 11, 2025 5:07

As a profession, we're in dire need of a strong association, as we are challenged routinely. But why the low membership in the ADHA, and how can interest be revived? Jackie Sanders, MBA, RDH, Chief editor, RDH magazine Bethany Montoya, BAS, RDH Read by Jackie Sanders https://www.rdhmag.com/career-profession/inspiration/article/55270913/the-adha-is-not-under-attack-hygienists-are-asking-for-change

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#964: Happy National Dentist's Day!

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2025 14:54

Kiera reminds dentists to prioritize wellness and support in their day-to-day. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:01.006) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and happy National Dentist Day. I felt like today would be such a great day for us to highlight how we can support dentists on mental health, wellness, and excellence on National Dentist Day because I believe that dentistry can be a lonely profession. I believe that I've seen so many dentists feel alone and isolated like they're on their own island. And so today I just wanted to highlight and celebrate. how much dentists do and also how dentists can help themselves, but also how your team can help support our doctors that do so much for us. So today, you guys, honestly, dentists face unique challenges. And so today I just wanted to have it be a powerful reminder that prioritizing wellness and support in our profession is necessary. It's needed. It's such a lonely profession in so many ways, if we choose. And I don't want us to choose that. I want us to choose a vibrant, a happy, a fulfilling space in dentistry. And that's honestly what Dental A Team is about. We created this podcast to positively impact the world of dentistry. Our mission is to truly impact the world in the greatest way possible. And we do that through expert consulting for dentists and teams. And so really helping you see that there's two sides to this coin. There's ways that we can see that it's a lonely field and we can also see that it's a very fulfilling field. And so today I just really hope that you take some tips from today. I'll give you three simple steps of how we're able to really take care of ourselves through self-care. through mental health and also team collaboration in dentistry. I'm really a big proponent of mental health, especially in dentistry. And so today I just wanted to walk you through, you guys know the Dental A team, we're here to support you. We have consultants that are truly in every position in the dental practice. We come into your practices. We coach you virtually. We help you. are your advocates in dentistry. We're your advocates in business. We're your advocates for having the life on your terms. Like I've said many times, life is my passion, dentistry is my platform and helping you truly be the fulfilled dentist that you were created to be. I love focusing on you as a person, on your profitability of your practice and then on systems and team development for your practice and really making that be an achievable piece for you. And so today, you guys, I do believe that there is a balance needed between professional success and personal wellness. And I don't believe that it has to be one or the other, it's an and. And so really giving you some quick tips today. Kiera Dent (02:19.418) of some concise value-packed information that hopefully will be able to help you as we celebrate National Dentist Day. So number one, step one is to prioritize mental health and stress management. And I think the word prioritize in choosing that I am someone who does prioritize mental health and stress management. There've been studies that have been done that show that the workforce used to be one where it was more physical labor and so really taking care of our bodies. And now we've moved into this space where it's a very mental world where so much of it is in the mental cognitive constantly running and it never shuts off. And I believe for dentists you have the mental where it never shuts off, but you also have the physical exhaustion of truly doing dentistry all day long and your bodies and making sure you've got the ergonomics. so being able to have that mental health and stress management where we have some shutoff time, where we do build the muscle of our brain. I remember I was in therapy and I said like, I can go and I can work out, but what can I do for my mind? And that's where we we start to create the, if you will, the workout or the, the mental strength building through meditation and through silence and through some of that downtime shut off to allow ourselves to actually have that calm, have that space. so some key strategies for better mental health are mindfulness and stress relief practices like meditation. I'm a big believer. I read Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. So if you're interested in a book, I love some tacticals for you. That wouldn't really help me see how I could have a miracle morning of meditation, journaling, taking some time for me. And I really would encourage you to schedule 10 minutes a day or even just one minute a day for you to have mindfulness and reflection starting today. Do yourself a favor. It's National Dentist Day. Buy yourself the gift, the gift of time, the gift of mental clarity, the gift of of really taking care and honoring yourself. And for me, I was able to do a shift of, like to honor my body. This incredible body that does so much for me is where my mental health journey started and to relieve the stress. So whatever it is for you, for me, it's hiking, it's being outside. So I love to meditate and I love to go for a morning walk to give my brain a shower. So whatever it is for you, giving yourself the gift, because if we can take care of ourselves, then we're able to give in support to so many others. And so dentists really, Kiera Dent (04:35.662) being aware that you have the physical demands and you also have the emotional cognitive demands that are on you. And so having that, I also believe sometimes having a therapist can actually be a great thing for you within this mental health and stress management strategy that you create. And then also there's other things of joining communities of like-minded people like you. I believe that really can help and that's something I'm very passionate about. That's why we're bringing our dentists together because so many times as a consultant, I hear hundreds of offices. and they have the same issues and the same concerns just colored in a little bit different way. so bringing our doctors together in person through our masterminds and through our in-person events really is a great way for our doctors to feel the support to say, I'm not alone. And when I hear dentists who have connected say, Kiera, I'm so grateful to know I'm not the only one. I think that can also boost that. So I would encourage you to schedule one minute to 10 minutes of just you time through meditation. through stress relief, we're off the phones, we're off the screens, we're not listening to things, we're not trying to solve the problems of the world, but we just take that moment and reflect starting today. Step two is team members. This is for team members of how you can support your dentist. I do believe that teams, can really support our doctors by champion for them, helping our doctors get out on time, doing things for our doctors so that way we can... Let them have the as much as we can take off their shoulders. So having our room set up and ready to go when doctors come in, so they're not looking for it. Hygienist calibrating. So that way your doctors have consistent exams. So when they walk in, they're able to get in, have a great exam and leave the room. Office managers, what your doctor asks you being really mindful and intentional to take notes and to follow up and to come back to your doctor. So they're not having to have the mental stress of trying to remember all the things they've asked for, but you proactively being on top of that. Also making sure we're hitting our production goals and our profitability goals and our billing and keeping that AR down. I think are some really great ways to help support our doctor. And then also scheduling a schedule that's realistic for that doctor to be able to get through and not have to be superhuman and be in like five rooms at a different time or all at the same time. To me, that feels so unfair for that doctor. We expect so many things from our dentists. so teams, feel really being proactive on how we can help our doctor look to see because Kiera Dent (06:53.912) Your doctor, as an owner, can tell you, is constantly thinking of ways that they can help make you happier too. And so if we can be a yin and yang team together where we're all looking out for how can we help each other. But those are some quick tips, I think, from doctors and from owners and from CEOs that I've heard that if team members would just rally in those little areas, typically the things that cause the most stress for our doctors are unproductive schedules. working and not making money. not collecting and not having that 98 % collections and then also team morale and problems. And then there's a million other things, but I think those things really are some, some clutch things for teams to support. so teams also, I would encourage you check in with your doctor, especially office managers. You're the one closest ask your doctor, Hey, how are you doing? And what can I do to alleviate stress for you? Because I want to remind you, there's so much weight that none of our teams can see. When I was a team member, didn't realize how much weight was on my doctor and my owner that I couldn't see. so really like seeing that weight that we don't even know and lifting in these little ways, I think can really help. And doctors, going to encourage you to ask for the help. I know we think as CEOs and owners, we're expected to do it all and have all the answers and you're a doctor. And what I will tell you is that's a great way to be lonely, overwhelmed and come unraveled versus there is another alternative that I'd love to offer as a perspective where you can actually have a team that supports you, that trusts you. that rallies around you that wants you to be the best that you can possibly be and really truly creating that type of a culture that allows freedom, allows creativity, that allows fulfillment rather than being completely like smothered by your practice and feeling like you have to do it all. Both are available to you and I might encourage that today you actually choose this path and a great way for this is have a team meeting. to discuss that every ways that our team can lift and maybe say, hey, this could really help me out if you could do X and each of us brings only one thing for one person. So not one person is getting 75 different things, but we're being intentional and cognitive of that. But how can we lift that burden? And a lot of times those burdens aren't even known. And so speaking up and having a team where we're collective with this, because the reality is most of us can take on one little piece that would actually chip away the burden of somebody that's very heavy. And then step three is, Kiera Dent (09:05.73) I believe committing to lifelong learning and professional growth can also really help and this ties into a community. But finding ways to stay inspired, finding ways to get excited about what you're doing in dentistry rather than the day in day out mundane. And so finding ways where we can have continuous growth, we can find ways to stay engaged. I know for me, I accidentally got to a spot where I got disengaged. I lost the passion. I lost my why. I lost, why am I even doing this? I love what I do, but I'm stagnant. And it was because I wasn't growing, I wasn't evolving. And so go to CE courses, schedule one in that really gets you excited. What do you really want to learn this year? What's kind of a pain point for me this year? It's marketing. And I'm super jazzed, even though it sounds daunting to me, but I'm super excited to learn the ins and outs of marketing, to take on AI courses, to figure out how I can incorporate that into the consulting company and then bring it also to our dental practices. But something that's going to engage me. I really have found that a lot of our doctors and myself included as a CEO, getting in a community or a mastermind group with professionals, like where you can talk to them about these issues, you can be with them. I learned so much in person and that's why Dental A Team has brought in person to the table, to the scenes in 2025. I know when people have little kids or family agreement arrangements, it can be tricky, but I want to just remind you it's about a day and a half, at least that's Dental A Teams. It's a day and a half where you leave the practice, you leave your family. and you go and you energize and you fill your cup. So then you're able to give to all these people so much more. And I think we, oftentimes make it bigger than it really is. It's a day and a half. So I'm giving up three days max of time to fuel my soul. And I think when we remind ourselves that we're worth that, but that's something essential. That's as essential as eating and having oxygen, at least for my soul and for me as a CEO and for a lot of the dentists that I consult and that our team consult, that's the equivalent of oxygen. And so really being able to have that of having a peer group, And then really for yourself, just like, what do you want to evolve and to grow into set one or two of those that really just juices your life and gets you excited. I found that doctors, when they've joined groups, so a lot of our consulting clients, we have about a hundred clients and this year I'm excited. We're definitely going to be bringing on at least 200 and we've done it in a way where it will still feel very intimate, very small because I hate going into groups where I feel like I'm just one of the crowd. so Kiera Dent (11:25.156) keeping it to where you feel very connected, very tethered, but also being able to expand our reach to more practices and to get more people connected. That's something I'm super jazzed about. And what I found is when dentists come together, when they see each other, when they meet with each other, their happiness goes up, their productivity goes up, their stress goes down, their team engagement goes up, because we don't just do this for doctors. We actually bring your office manager or a leader in person for you, because I found that that was the hardest thing. I go, get all excited about CE, then I have no one to implement with me. And so not having that be the problem for you, but bringing you together. So productivity goes up, happiness goes up, stress goes down, team engagement goes up and ease comes into place and having friends. was like, gosh, it's like six wins right there. Just by being a part of something professional that stimulates you have a community of like-minded people for you. So like I said, three ways to do it are one, prioritize your mental health and set aside time to meditate, to do something for your mental wellness and stress management. Number two is have a team that supports you and surrounds you and make sure that you are supported as a dentist and also dentists, you're asking for that help, not just burying yourself. And number three is having a support group and CE that energizes you and jazzes you and makes you so excited to continue and to be engaged are three great ways for you to be able to celebrate your mental health, your wellness and your fulfillment. This is truly the zone where you're gonna be able to have long-term success. We're not playing for the short game. We're playing for the long game. We're playing for you to be fulfilled and happy for long-term success. And so I want you guys to know that I'm here. DM me, ask for help, reach out. If you want to come join us in person, I'd love to have you. These are some things that we can do. I'm happy to share with you my favorite meditation that I do, whatever I can do. So DM me for any tips. The Dental A Team, we're on Instagram, we're on all the platforms, we're on LinkedIn. You can message me directly. And then also subscribe for more Leadership Insights where we celebrate you. We help you be a successful, thriving dentist and team. And if this can be a support for you, if you need one-on-one help or you're like, it would really help if I just had a coach in my corner, reach out. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com This is what we do. This is what we're experts at. And this is our passion. It's your success is our passion. And that's what we're here for. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.

Daisy's Inspiring Dental Hygiene Story

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2025 41:16

My guest speaker on this episode, Daisy, shares her amazing story of becoming a dental hygienist. She practices hygiene in the state of Washington, working part-time so she can focus on her brand and marketing. Daisy and I shared a great conversation about finances and how she covered school costs; spoiler- she was the recipient of 10 scholarships! Her story is especially inspiring as she is a first-generation college student raised in a single-parent household. Future RDH's, you don't want to miss this episode!Submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE! Transcripts are available on Apple or by request. Slide into my DMs HERE: Instagram: @dentalhygienebasics Facebook: Dental Hygiene Basics Twitter: @DH_Basics Email: DHBasics@protonmail.com. Want a question answered on the show? Fill out the DHB Questionnaire HERE.Timestamps:(00:00) Daisy's RDH Origin Story(03:29) Side Hustles through Hygiene School(05:18) Temping as a Hygienist(09:21) Dental Assisting Experience(10:37) Finances through College(20:03) Daisy's Advice for Financial Aid(23:10) GPA Before Hygiene School(28:40) Struggles in Clinic(38:00) Her Favorite Mems in School Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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#960: The New Hygienist Landscape

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2025 35:11

Kiera and Britt continue their conversation from episode 958, Hiring Hygienists in Today's Economy, by discussing the shifting landscape of hygiene. This includes the pros and cons of assisted hygiene, shortened appointments, practices without hygienists, and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.73) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and the one and only Brittany Stone coming back for part two of our hygiene conversation. welcome back. How are you? Britt (00:09.332) It's always fun when you start off with my full name, so I'm like, alright, let's go! Kiera Dent (00:12.304) It is funny. You do range from Britney, Britt, like no BS Britt to B. B has recently come in. How do you feel about just B? I hope it comes across as like nice, but then I realized like, B could be taken wrong. So I never say the, hey B. Britt (00:28.75) You're not the only one. I'm fine with it because it's easy and I'm like shoot you grew up with the initials BS like what are you gonna do? Kiera Dent (00:37.904) Well, I never want to like sometimes when I call you and I'm like, hey B and I'm like, I hope it lands as like, like love. Yeah. Yeah. It's not meant for any other letters. But Britt and I, if you didn't listen to our other podcasts, Britt and I were chatting shop about how to hide like hire hygienists in today's economy. And with Britt bringing a hygiene perspective, if you don't know, Britt used to be hygienist. Britt (00:46.83) It's Brett. stands for Brett. Britt (00:52.748) Yeah. Kiera Dent (01:07.3) Great. How long has it been since you graduated from a hygiene school? Let's just give people your scene. Britt (01:10.05) Kiera. You're gonna age me a little bit here. Kiera Dent (01:16.162) Okay, don't feel age. The only reason I asked for it, so before you answer, just know my reasoning so you don't have to answer. I was just thinking because I wanted people to know you've been in the field for like enough time to give weight to your answers. But maybe we don't need to do that. Maybe it's been there for longer than five years. Shut, I didn't even know. All right, well, you have been in it for a long time. Britt (01:31.512) That's fine. Eighteen, Kiera, eighteen. Britt (01:40.378) I'll say this, was a young graduate from high school, so I'll give you that. That pushed me a year ahead, but 07 is when I graduated, so this year we'll make it 18. Kiera Dent (01:49.111) No way. Kiera Dent (01:52.996) Dang girl, I didn't even know. Okay, so Britt really has a lot of weight and you did hygiene for, and then Britt went from hygiene to then office management of a pretty large DSO and then came consulting and now does consulting and operations. So. Britt (02:06.38) Yeah, I did full-time hygiene for a decade. So I'm like a solid, five full-time, full-time, 40 hours for a decade. Kiera Dent (02:09.21) Did you really? Wow. Man, I really like there's some moments that I just see you as a hygienist. Like I can just picture you walking up with your like, it's not a swagger, but you have a can't that you definitely walk. And I can see you walking up, getting your patient. Hey B, how's your swagger? But. Britt (02:28.11) You can call it swagger, I'll take swagger. don't know what else to Kiera Dent (02:35.736) Yeah, so I'm like, just, could imagine you being a hygienist sometimes, but then you're like, Britt the consultant, Britt operations, Britt, my yin and yang. So anyway, well, that's fun. That's a fun. Okay. So to give Britt credit, she did hygiene for a decade. I won't say anything about loops, Britt. We will not discuss that on this episode. We will. Britt (02:56.238) I mean, I just changed myself a little bit. you know, we talk about it. I would have to know if I was a full-time clinical, for sure. Kiera Dent (03:01.752) Of course. Yeah, of course. I know you would. You don't, you stay very current. I do appreciate that you stay very current with hygiene. You attend hygiene CE all the time. So what we were talking about in the last episode that this would be part two of was we talked about kind of like, do we, how do we work with the compensation pieces of hygiene? And then talking about it from a business standpoint and a doctor standpoint and a hygienist standpoint. and really bringing those two perspectives to the table, which is what the podcast has been built to do is bring different perspectives. And something I just want to reiterate today, if you missed the last one is that the things Britt and I talk about today are going to be perspectives and never meant to weaponize. So doctors, can't weaponize it against hygienists and hygienists, can't weaponize it against doctors. And so really just setting the stage today of let's have an open conversation around where are we at the dynamics. there's no. there's no like hiding the fact that it has been hard to hire hygienists since COVID. It's it we thought that it would probably be four years, maybe five years before the hygiene shortage caught up. I still think it's in like massive catch up time, then you tack in inflation on it. So raise like the amount people are coming out asking from school, but I, I mean, I don't really want to ask, but I am going to ask I'm sure hygiene has been like attempting field to go back into. I'm like, you work at Dental A Team but you've got hygiene over there. And it just keeps like getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I think if I was in your shoes, I might just contemplate it here and there, especially on days when it maybe isn't your favorite day at Dental A Team, which is hopefully like one and every moon. I know what happens. We just had it like a week ago. Britt (04:31.822) Everybody's got a day there right like it happens but I Mean here's the I I love hygiene and I left it loving it so like that's the thing is I and I'm like I still go back I still double from time to time, but I'm going back full-time I The things that are appealing right hygienist know what do I love? It's like Pretty predictable, right? Like you got a job, 100 % predictable, but my hours I'm gonna work, I know my schedule. If I can get the doctor to work with me, I can manage running on time. like, and then when I'm done at the end of the day, I go home and I don't have to take it. Like there's nothing for me to do outside of the office other than like learning stuff, but there's nothing to do outside. like, those are the, we know that those are the perks of hygiene. Kiera Dent (05:02.692) That does fit you so much, Britt. The stability, the... Britt (05:29.23) and that's part of why I loved it is because of those reasons. Do I debate going back? I don't know. I enjoy what I do now. It's different, right? Like you grow and you morph into different things and it's fun to take the next step. And can I go back to it? Sure. Would it be different? 100%. Kiera Dent (05:47.888) Hahaha fair. I was just curious because I mean, like I know I've looked at what I want to go back into management, what I want to go run a regional, what I want to run a DSO. And for me, there was like a lot of fun in it. There's a lot of fun in being in a system. But I think I agree with you. I feel like I have morphed and evolved into things that I really enjoy. Like I really enjoy the creativity aspect. Do I sometimes wish, Britt, like sometimes I do miss the like, go in, just like you know your day. You don't have to like be thinking and creating nonstop and you leave at the end of the day and like, we're done, we're done versus here. Ideas will continue to, I mean, I saw you last night. You're building a whole spreadsheet, which is fun, but it never shuts off unlike at the dental office. So different, different times. But what we were wanting to chat about is we talked about compensation on the last one. And now it's coming into how can offices kind of like did a really great job of like paying your junior. Britt (06:33.269) Yeah, yeah. Kiera Dent (06:46.692) like fresh out of school and it's based on skill set, not based on longevity or tenure. Then we morphed into talking about what do we do for base versus commission if offices can't afford it and different ways to navigate that. And so I wanted to just kind of finish up that conversation with a few other ideas of what's hygiene's take as a landscape of assisted hygiene and shortened appointments. Because as we were discussing on the last episode, it's kind of coming to this like necessity and survival mode for practices of like, hey, we're like running such a high number up for hygienists. So what this is truly called is innovation and things are changing and shifting and adapting due to the nature of lower reimbursement rates of insurance, inflation has come up, there's a hygiene crunch. So hygienists are coming up as a higher paid profession than what they were even four or five years ago. And so it's kind of like, well, what do we do? what about assisted hygiene? What about shortened appointments so that way we can have more appointments? And again, I'm not here to advocate for it. I'm just saying like, this is the reality of what doctors are thinking of. And it's the thinking of this. They're also thinking of do I bring a doctor and instead of hiring a hygienist, they're thinking of do I do a hygiene less practice? So I'm just curious, let's talk assisted hygiene first, give me kind of a hygiene perspective on because I don't I don't know how it feels as a hygienist. So you get to speak, I know every hygienist is different, but like just what you hear from colleagues in your perspective. Britt (07:59.361) Huh. Britt (08:06.85) heterogeneous is different and I feel like it's a it's one of those polarizing things that I think there's people that love it and either you love it or you're not really a fan of it I feel like so that's like the that's the I don't see a lot of in between or it's like sure I'll do it for a little while while we hire like even I would do it maybe for a little bit while we hire someone but it's it's not my jam I can't say that I love it when it comes to Kiera Dent (08:31.738) Tell me why, why don't you like it? Like what is it about assisted hygiene just from a hygienist perspective that's almost like a grind for you that you're like, I'll do it for a little bit. Cause I hear that all the time, like I'll do it for little bit. Like what is it from a hygienist perspective that makes that a bit trickier? Britt (08:46.446) I think the piece that makes it tricky is like you're just, I don't know, probably part of why we get into what we do is like the one-on-one with patients and interacting with them and being able to ensure like from kind of beginning to end, right? The team has an impact, but I'm... I'm giving them a good experience from beginning to end that doesn't feel rushed, that doesn't feel jumbled. And so I think that's for me personally, and I think some other hygienists, it feels like, great, I'm popping in, I'm in their mouth pretty much the whole time that I'm in there, and then I'm popping out and going on to the next one. I don't think it has to be exactly like that, but I think that's how it can feel from the hygiene side. I think having a really good assistant can make it much more doable. I think how you schedule it, how stack that. Assisted hygienist can definitely make a difference on how much time you've got to interact. like, do hygienists, we like a little bit of control. I don't know, probably. And so it's just like, I know I've reviewed the things. I think that's probably the difference between hygienist and doctor is I'm not leaving it to an assistant to review medical history or ask the questions or hear what's going on and gathering it. Like I get to do that from beginning to end when I'm. Kiera Dent (09:41.411) Yeah. Britt (10:00.332) So it's just a little different when you've got the assisted hygiene in there. Kiera Dent (10:03.834) So, and I'm also curious, like, I've never really scaled teeth for real. I mean, I kinda, in Utah, as an assistant, I was supposed to be able to profite, and I'm like, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. There was one time I pretended to scale because my hygienist was late, so I just like, I didn't even actually really touch their teeth. just, you know, like, did a little tap, tap, tap, waiting for this dang hygienist to come, and I was like, yeah, we'll just like get started. I didn't do a darn thing. So I don't actually know what it feels like to scale that much. I'm curious, like, on a body. Britt (10:18.744) you Kiera Dent (10:33.622) Does it like hurt your hands? Does it, is it exhausting to just go because you don't really get any break or reprieve? You're just going nonstop. I'm just curious or to like the ultrasonics and things like that now help that make it easier for you. I don't really know the mechanics of that. Britt (10:48.994) So yeah, scaling time, like absolutely. Does technology help? Yes, I'm a big fan. I will say it. Polish first. Polish first. If you're not polishing first, you're spending a lot of time on stuff that you don't have to be spending time on. And I'm a big fan of ultrasonic or piezo. I will use it on pretty much everyone. Like even my kids because they got a lot of plaque and I can polish and I can get a lot done with that that doesn't sound or feel the same as scaling. And so I'm a big fan of it. Kiera Dent (11:06.117) Mm-hmm. Britt (11:18.636) And then so like So there's a lot you can do to help minimize it But that's the piece of doing assisted hygiene usually it's if I've got an assistant if they can polish right they're doing They're doing all the easy stuff and so it is me just doing what's the stuff that I only I can do? Pia's own hand skill, right? And so like it's more of that every day and it does hygienist need dentist hygienist assistance, right? We all need to take care of our bodies because it's It is a more physically taxing job than people think that it is. And so taking care of yourself, making sure you're doing some stretches. And so, yeah, it is a little bit more physically taxing to do assistive tithing, but it's a lot better than it used to be because we got a lot better tools than we used to have. Kiera Dent (12:02.607) Right. Okay. So that actually helps. And so I'm curious, like, let's just throw out a scenario. And Britt, this week, I mean, we talked to offices about this in our consulting where, so let's say a hygienist, I'm going to use really easy numbers because I don't want to get wild. Let's say a hygienist is $30 an hour, which some of you are laughing at me. I know that's not even in the realm of your hygienist. I'm very aware of this. I also don't want to throw ranges out there intentionally on the. Exactly. There's also a reason I'm not throwing high ranges out there because I don't want to set standards that are not. Britt (12:24.366) a bit apathetic. Kiera Dent (12:31.056) Realistic for your area. I feel like 30 is a safe number for me So if I'm hiring a hygienist at 30 and I bring on another hygienist for 30 That would be $60 an hour that I'm paying of compensation for it Well in this area if my hygienist is 30 odds are I could probably get an assistant for between like 17 to 20 realistically if my hygienist is only at 30 I think that that's like a fair number probably more like 15 in that area, but let's say you're there at 20 just for easy math I've got $30 for hygiene. I've got $20 for an assistant I actually have $10 of extra, if you're following my math, $10 of extra that's not being paid. Britt, what are your thoughts of if an office takes that $10 and even if they pay a hygienist say 35 an hour during assisted hygiene time versus just 30, does that actually make any difference for a hygienist? I know some can do more. Some it's gonna be like, you're paid 30, now I'm paying you 40 during your assisted hygiene days. Tell me like how that is from an office standpoint. because there's obviously different compensation amounts we're going to be doing. And from a hygienist standpoint, does that feel better? Does that make it easier? Is that like, sure, I'll take on a couple assisted hygiene days. I'm always pro don't run assisted hygiene every single day. I think that does burn your hygienist out. Usually if I recommend it, it's either for a day or a half a day for a hygienist, but trying to make it, but like, is that necessary, Britt, from your perspective from hygiene? Britt (13:50.786) mean, yes, some degree of compensation difference 100 % if you're running assisted hygiene. I know on the last episode we talked about a base plus commission. I like that even for assisted hygiene because, if we're doing assisted hygiene, we should be producing more. And so again, I do like that model because it naturally adjusts things and compensates accordingly. So yes, I do think there should be some sort of compensation that's more on those days. And I do like it when it's Kiera Dent (14:01.775) Mm-hmm. Kiera Dent (14:11.972) Mm-hmm. Britt (14:20.494) Base Plus Commission. Now I've got some, I've had one client where it's nice when you have a group of hygienists. I do love an office with a few. And they did, they rotated an assisted hygiene day through all of them. And they were like fighting over who got the assisted hygiene day. Like they wanted it, right? Like, and it's because yeah, they make more on those days and they were compensated based on their production was a part of it. And so they loved having those days to get a little bit more of a boost. And it was almost like Kiera Dent (14:34.743) They do! Britt (14:46.862) when we don't need it anymore what's going to happen because they all like getting that little bit of extra income coming from. Kiera Dent (14:53.368) And so how do you even win over a team to do it? Because I agree, and I actually hear that more than I hear the opposite. I hear more hygienists actually enjoy it more than they thought they would. I hear a lot of them figure it out, especially when that's not my everyday. think if they had to do it every day, it'd be a little bit more taxing. But think about it. You've got four hygienists. We add an extra column of hygiene four days a week. We've literally brought in a whole extra hygienist without bringing a hygienist on. So I think it's a very creative way to do it. But how do I even like? package this, you know I look at in sales terms, like how do I even like convince a team that this is a great idea to trial it out rather than just the resistance of hygienist saying no, just like you said, no, I want my patient care. I want to own over this. Like I want A to Z. I hear all the time we're going to have the patient care. It's going to be disrupted. And I'm like, well, it can be, or it could actually be more awesome. How do you win a team over to even be open to trying it? Britt (15:47.084) Yeah, I think it depends on the office scenario, right? Like what's the reason, what's the why that we're doing it? And I'm a big fan of like, hey, let's try it first, right? Like I'm not saying you have to do it forever. I'm not saying you have to do it every day, but like, let's try it and let's figure out a system that feels comfortable and meets our like standard of care that we want to provide. So let's start easy, let's work through it, let's train up an assistant. do think. Cystid Hygiene needs one of your best assistants to be helping in Cystid Hygiene to make it run smooth and give those patients that great experience. And so let's work through the system and see how it goes. like, yeah, it's going to be compensated. If I've got a hygienist who's a gunner and likes to run and does not like to stop, then that's usually my first one. Then I'm like, great, let's team up. Let's get that figured out and see how it goes first. And then word can kind of spread because usually they'll do really well. Kiera Dent (16:14.681) I agree. Kiera Dent (16:34.448) Hmm. Britt (16:42.062) And so yeah, sometimes it's a personality thing, right? Some will love it, some will struggle a little bit. Sometimes there's people that like are gonna be your ones to help you figure it out. And some are like, well, once I see someone else do it and like, oh, that's not so bad. All right, then I'll go ahead and do it. So I think depending on the reason why, I think trying it first, I agree with you, not an everyday thing. It can even be like start with half a day and see how it goes and just start to figure out to find the rhythm of it. Because I think when you find the rhythm of it and you're like, yeah, that works really well, then it's like, OK, like we can do more of this. And I think it can run. Kiera Dent (17:18.276) And I'm really grateful that you shared about the office that you have, that they all want it and they enjoy it because I think that that actually can be the reality of what can happen from it. And I'm really big when you roll it out, agreed. Having not a great assistant really will actually make this harder. So do not go and hire a brand new fresh off the street assistant that does not know what they're doing, can't take great x-rays, can't move through because hygienist having someone that they trust that they can lean on, that they know is going to do a great job. If they can polish, that's a great way for them to be able to use it. And then really also another big piece are no new patients, no SRP, no perio maintenance put in that. It's really just pro fees because that's gonna make it so much cleaner for them to be able to run this effectively. And you're running it on the half an hour. And then doctors, you have to be very strategic when you go in for exams. And doctors, you cannot be late on assisted hygiene because that will throw your whole hygiene. Like it's a domino and it will be good part. Britt (18:12.302) That's the quickest way to take your hygienist off when you're asking them to do assisted hygiene. 100%. That's the way. That's the way to do it. Kiera Dent (18:15.44) And that's not like, we'll be there, we'll be there. It's like, you've got to get up and jump. But that's also with hygienists too, making sure that we're giving our doctors enough time. Like I try to ask hygienists to give a 30 minute window of exam time where a doctor could come in. So that way doctors can find the end time of prep, come and get their exams done and keep everybody on schedule. So hygienists plug there, try really hard because I know there's some hygienists who love to alert right at the end of the appointment. And then they're fresh when doctor doesn't come in. Well, like let's notify when they could come in. Like let's take our x-rays the first 15 minutes and then try to get doctors out at that. I try to have them out. Please do. Britt (18:51.934) I'll one-up you a little bit on that as soon as diagnostics are done. As soon as my diagnostics are done and they've got x-rays, they've got period charting photos, I'm letting them know. Come at any time. I'm happy to have you. And of course, there's a bunch of plaque that's gonna make it more difficult once I've got that done, but I'm gonna notify them. at any time. Kiera Dent (19:04.856) Yes. Kiera Dent (19:12.536) And then doctors, I try to have you out at the quarter to the hour, meaning like you're not walking into the exam, you're walking out of the exam. So that allows hygienists to polish floss, wrap up, get everything done, get the patient out, flip the room and get their next patient back on time. So I think that that's something that before I maybe rolled out assisted hygiene doctors, I might take that on with the hygiene team. Like let's get really good on our exams. Let's calibrate those exams up so they can be more efficient. Let's do the, I have a better. I haven't told you my new acronym. It's not iCrap. So if you've been listening to me, I have a new one. It's called iCreep. So it's iCreep when you come in that's introduction, compliment, recap, and then a personal note. And if hygienist can get really good at that handoff when doctors come in or assistance, and then doctors are really good on their NDTR, so wrapping up your treatment plans, that's gonna really help that synergy. And then also maybe doing what would doctor do to diagnose and to help tee up treatment. I think that that can just... Again, we're all working together to make those exams as efficient as possible while also giving the best patient care. But I creep, that's my new one. It's not I, Sierra. It is, I creep. Someone was like, creep, and I was like, amazing. I wish it could be CPR. I've been working to figure out different letter and words. So to be determined, but okay, let's like, go ahead. Britt (20:16.11) It's a step better. It's a step better than the last one. Britt (20:28.014) Real quick, one more thing on the exams, because with a really good assistant on exams, the other thing I think about, and that for me as a hygienist I care about as well, is making sure treatment is teed up really well. Kiera Dent (20:40.675) of greed. Britt (20:41.59) Patients aren't having to repeat themselves and get frustrated and then not wanting to get treatment done just because they feel like they're not being listened to. So that communication piece and having an assistant who's really strong who can relay that information to doctor if they're the ones that are going to be in there for the exam and make sure that it's teed up really well for the doctor and they can speak to it is huge because that's, I don't want to, you know, rob Peter to pay Paul, right? I don't want to. have not so great exams and not close as much treatment by adding an assisted hygiene, I'd rather leave it and get really good exams and really good case acceptance. Overall as a business, that's gonna help me a little bit more. So just making sure that again, that assistance key, really quality exams for your patients, even though you're working assisted hygiene, make sure that experience is stellar and 100 % can be done. It just takes a really good team to work together with a hygienist and assistant. Kiera Dent (21:35.0) Yeah, that's a great point because you can have forms where the hygienist can document it in there because people are in opposite rooms. But getting a good role and a good synergy is going to make this so much better for setting this up for success. And I think the answer is I actually don't think hygienists hate assisted hygiene as much. think it's there's quite a few little like tick boxes that if you can check them off, have a good assistant have good exams. have doctors in and out on time, have the assistant really, really solid with being able to tee up the treatment and close the cases, have someone that has a similar vibe to the hygiene team that cares about these patients a ton. I think if you can check those boxes, and then you also compensate higher. There's so many little pieces that everybody's super excited about to do it, but I think if you're missing any of those six, it does not feel as good to try. okay. Britt (22:14.701) Mm-hmm. Britt (22:24.022) Yeah, and patients are used to working with two people, right? So that's even, it's like, yeah, it's one more person in the mix, but on the doctor's side, there's two of you. So having an assistant with hygiene, isn't that big of a deal? Seeing the same two faces every time, like they'll be fine with it. Cause I know that can be a concern. I'm like, they're used to having two people on the doctor's side. Kiera Dent (22:41.104) I see the same. I'm like, just because we're not used to it doesn't mean it's odd for the patient. I tell doctors when you're onboarding an associate, I'm like, you can assist each other. And I know that feels weird to you, to the patient, they're used to someone else in there. To hygienist, they're used to people switching rooms. it's not something, if we're not weird about it, your patient won't be weird about it. But I think we feel very awkward because we feel uncomfortable. But just not projecting that onto your patient. Cause I don't think it's as much as you might think it is. So, okay, Britt (23:10.316) And ender fun for assisted hygiene, I always have someone to pair your chart for me. So I'll take that as a win. Kiera Dent (23:15.28) True, that is a big win. mean, truth, you're not having to call for it. Okay, the hot topic of shorter appointment times. I'm talking, I've heard 50 minute appointments, 45 minute appointments. Is this doable, Britt? And I think I'm gonna know your answer, I also, like come from both, come from hygiene, Britt, and operations, Britt. Bring both of those Brits to the table and you answer. I'm curious. Britt (23:40.11) And I'll say this, I have worked in offices with all of the above, right? So I've done all of the above. Kiera Dent (23:44.42) came. Her bigade you guys have idea. Good thing we plugged that at the beginning. Britt (23:49.038) So all are doable. I think there's a couple of things that make a difference when it comes to shortening appointments, depending on what type of experience you want them to have, right? That's an important part to consider for doctors. Depending on our pay or mix, what we need to do in order to the business running, that's something to consider. And then also how efficient we are. Kiera Dent (24:11.376) true. Britt (24:17.07) as a team and like doctor doing exams, right? That's an important piece of it. And then another one is our patient base slash how good are we at keeping them healthy and not giving ourselves a lot of work every single time our patients come in. If you know what I'm saying, those bloody profusers, they're a lot of work. So if I'm treating period appropriately, I'm educating my patients, they're coming in regularly. Kiera Dent (24:30.85) you Kiera Dent (24:36.089) I do. Britt (24:42.734) We all know those are patients that are a lot easier to see and more efficient most of the time. And yeah, there's gonna be even working on shorter appointment times, there's gonna be some. Like you know that person that's like an advanced period patient and I'm like, I cannot in my right moral standing do that in 45 minutes, it's gonna be an hour. There's gotta be some of that liberty where needed. Kiera Dent (25:03.888) Yeah, I agree. So I think the hard thing of switching appointment times is I do think it becomes an all model because for me to shift it, it feels like a daunting project to shift from 60 minutes to 45 minutes. Now I'm moving everything up. My exam times don't hit at the same time anymore. Things just are moving all around. that's a huge jump. Britt (25:18.99) Mm-hmm. Britt (25:29.804) And 60 to 45 is a big jump. I wouldn't go that far if we're going to play around with times. Maybe you could go from 60 to 50. Most offices are running on 10 minute increments. So you can make that shift. And it's just you've got to be really on point to run that efficiently, because the quality's still got to be there. It's just we've got to be able to run really efficiently. Kiera Dent (25:45.208) I agree. Britt (25:57.944) And I'll add this, and depending on what I was expected within that appointment as well, right? If we want the hygienist to be super comprehensive, we want them to get scans done, we want them to collect a lot of information for us, like, I map it out, right? That takes me two minutes, that takes me three minutes. Like, what's reasonable in an appointment for us to get done by the minute mapped out and then make your decision? Kiera Dent (26:11.002) Mm-hmm. Kiera Dent (26:19.652) I think that that's a wise and don't go for your fastest hygienist and don't go for your slowest hygienist. Let's find that middle ground of what's reasonable between the two because you do have some. mean, Britt and I, can even hear in our, the way we talk, we've got different tempos. mean, but you can guess who's a little bit faster and who's a little bit slower between me and Britt. And sometimes it's really good. Like Britt slowing me down and me speeding her up. And I think Britt and I would both agree that a happy medium between the two of us is the right spot to be, which is usually where we end just in Britt (26:33.752) huh. Britt (26:41.87) Mm-hmm. Britt (26:48.814) Yeah. And a team working together really well, right? Especially when I was working on 45 and 50 minutes. I mean, we had a fantastic clinical coordinator, right? So if my next patient was here and there was a room to be had even for a few minutes to get x-rays done, and someone was available, they were getting those x-rays done and getting it started. So it's a different tempo and pace you run on. And it does take full team support. It's not going to be like, oh, well, they're early. Oh, they're here. We have space to see them. Kiera Dent (26:49.561) in decisions. Britt (27:18.058) start getting them taken care of so that it helps your team members out and we get them out as efficiently as possible. Kiera Dent (27:24.464) So that's a good point because then it becomes, it's not just the hygienist. Cause I think 60 minutes is kind of like hygiene does their own thing. We want them to do everything on shorter appointment times. We are trying to get more, more bodies in and out. But I did the math and it's like, if I'm going from 60 to 50, I'm getting 10 extra minutes per appointment. That's going to give me 80 minutes in a day, but that's not enough for me to get two extra appointments unless I do a 50 minute plus an additional like 30 minute. And so I would ask the question, Britt, and I don't know if Britt (27:32.897) Mm-hmm. Kiera Dent (27:53.36) you run the numbers or not on it. I mean, I haven't, so that's why I'm asking. But if I've got a hygiene team that does take ortho scans for us when we do ortho, I've got a hygiene team who's taking CBCTs for implants and we're teeing it up for all on X cases. If they're looking for sleep and we're doing snore tests on them, does it really make sense to get me one more hygiene patient for hygiene? Or does it make sense to look to optimize the additional services? Now I get like, we might be trying to get because I'm like, well, what's the reason we're doing it? If we're trying to shorten the appointment times because we have too many patients, maybe it's worth looking at our fees. But if we're trying to get more patients in to optimize our hygienist pay, to be able to pay them and compensate for the amount of production they're doing. And I know a lot of offices don't pay hygienists for those scans. Like if you do a night guard scan or you do an ortho scan, it goes to the doctor, which I understand because the doctor is going to need to do a lot. But I'm just curious, like to me, it makes a little bit more sense, possibly. If my hygienist have 60 minutes, I'm already there, why don't I try to optimize and maximize that appointment, paying them maybe a little bit of these scans that I want to be done so that way they can hit their production number, but it benefits the office on a bigger scale. What are your thoughts on that, Britt? Britt (29:05.61) where I think it comes back to what type of experience, what type of office, what's your vision. It comes back to ultimately write any business. It comes back to the volume value question. By cutting time, we're choosing volume. By using that time better, we're choosing value. Kiera Dent (29:20.208) Mm-hmm. Britt (29:26.318) It's going to be a personal preference. I'm not going to say there's a right or wrong answer in that because there's a lot of factors depending on kind of what your payer mix is like. I definitely have some areas that even for me, I tried to move that culture of the area, if I tried to move that patient at the speed that I need for a 45 minute appointment, they are not going to love it. Even though I might be the most pleasant human being they've ever interacted with because the pace that they run is a little bit slower, right? And so... Kiera Dent (29:50.916) Yeah. Britt (29:56.334) right when I was running 45 minutes, we were right outside of DC. Those people don't want to be there that long. Right. And they were, you know, demographic was easy for us to run them through. And so they didn't mind the fast pace and we still connected, but we were able to run like that. So I think it comes back to overall experience on what you want to have. and there's no right or wrong, but I love making more use of the time we have, which is where I think hygienist functioning to the the height of their capability, right? If you can use laser and that's something your office wants to bring in, great. That's something that can be an adjunct service that adds to the production. You know, what can you do for the patient? I think not only on the hygiene side, but that's where I think it really is a team to where what can I do in scans, in pictures, in educating patients about treatment options, talking to them about what do they really value? What do they really want? Are there cosmetic things that they're looking for? Kiera Dent (30:29.232) Mm-hmm. Britt (30:53.24) There's a lot you can do and I think that's for hygienists to realize if we do well overall, right, everybody wins. So when we're able to get where we need to production collection wise as an office overall, it makes it easier for us to say, yeah, that time is useful. We're making good use of it on the hygiene side. Let's keep our appointments at 60 minutes. Or if it's like, hey, we're not, we either need to do that and get things up or. we're going to have to evaluate and make some decisions because sometimes there's just business decisions that need to be made and we need to figure out how to adapt and innovate. Kiera Dent (31:28.324) Yeah, right. That was such an insightful piece. And as you were talking, I just thought, I hope offices are listening because I think that this is just a really good, like, this is where we, have to get into the, are we doing this? What are additional pieces rather than just the like quick surface level decision? Because I think there's so many pieces below it. Like you said, demographics, DC, 45 minutes makes a ton of sense. Those people are faster in and out. They're younger population. Like it's an easier model to roll that. Britt (31:56.268) Mm-hmm. Kiera Dent (31:56.396) versus maybe let's say some areas in Arizona, like you might not have a same, you might have it like in Scottsdale Tempe, but if we're going a little further out to maybe some of those senior centers, that's not an ideal model for maybe an older population base. So really like you said, and I think like volume versus value, and I don't think it's the value that we're bringing to the patient. It's the value of are we doing ortho? Are we adding these adjunct services to it? You obviously add value to your patients, but are we doing a lot of people? or are we doing less people but more extensive? That's gonna be a clinical or a business decision and also a clinical decision and also a cultural decision of what you ultimately want your practice to be. But I get it, you gotta make these decisions, you gotta make the business run. I would just caution, don't make the quick decision because I think there's multi-layers below each of them to really consider. So hygiene Britt, thanks for coming today. Any last thoughts you've got as we wrap up? Assisted hygiene, shorter appointments, I think they are really good perspectives to bring. Britt (32:55.822) I think my last thing I like that you said, right, don't make the quick decision, evaluate it. And I think even hygienist, right, it's easy for us as team members, I do the same thing, right? I can see my world and what it's gonna impact for me, but I understand there's more behind it than just my view. And so really taking a good look overall and seeing what's gonna be the best decision. And yeah, how we're functioning now might make us think that we need to make this decision, but maybe we can keep running and function a little different to where we don't have to make that change. Kiera Dent (33:25.52) I think it's a really good perspective. if you guys are in this debacle, we're speaking to your souls. This is what we love to do with our practices is really weigh the pros and cons and help the office make the best decision for their practice, not just a decision and really thinking through the, all the different pieces and then executing and getting your whole team on board, helping the team see the pieces so you can really be successful. So reach out if we can help. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com thanks for being with me today. I appreciate it. Britt (33:53.196) Yeah, thanks for having me. Kiera Dent (33:54.648) Of course, and for all of you listening, thanks for listening. And we'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

#958: Hiring Hygienists in Today's Economy

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2025 31:43

Kiera and Britt have a deep discussion on the ins and outs of hygiene right now, including what's on hygiene grads' minds, the right ranges for skill sets, how different practices are staying scrappy amid the dearth of hygienists, and more. Episode resources: Sign up for Dental A-Team's Virtual Summit 2025! Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:00.822) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I have Brittany Stone, the one and only No BS Britt. And today I'm asking her to play Hygiene Britt. If you didn't know, it's actually fun. It is. And it was funny because yesterday, Britt and I actually like had, we were heavy in Dental A Team mode. And then I called Britt back probably like a minute later and I said, Hey Britt, can you be Hygiene Britt for me? Cause I have a hygiene question. Britt (00:26.988) you Kiera Dent (00:29.102) So Britt, welcome to the show today. How are you? Britt (00:32.308) I'm good, how are you doing? Kiera Dent (00:34.23) I'm great. How does it feel to be hygiene Britt? Like go from, mean, you're Dental A Team's operations manager, you're also consultant, like all the things. How does it feel like go back into that clinical space sometimes? Britt (00:45.678) I mean, hygiene are roots, man. Like that's the beginning. So it feels to me, I know you guys haven't known me as like hygienist. Like, yes, I know hygiene stuff, but you never worked with me clinically as a hygienist. But to me, I'm like, yeah, that's me. Kiera Dent (00:54.872) true. Kiera Dent (01:00.91) I'm glad because it is fun. I actually was talking to Jason last night after you and I had chatted and I said, Jay, it was actually really fun to talk to Britt about like where we started. I mean, I'm dental assistant, Kiera, office manager, Kiera, treatment coordinator, Kiera. No one's known me as that in Dental A Team. And so I'm just going to throw it out there because you never know who's listening to the podcast and who would ever like take me up on this idea. But if there's someone out there, that would love to allow Dental A Team to come in for one day and go back to our roots. So Britt, we probably have to do this in Arizona, because I think you're only licensed in certain states, right? Okay, so Arizona offices, if you know someone in Arizona, all of our crew will be there in March and there might be a few other times, but I think it'd be funny to see a Dental A Team take over. Like how would it be for Tip to be an assistant? Britt (01:35.318) Yeah, currently still just Arizona. My OG state over here. Kiera Dent (01:52.462) me to either be an assistant or a treatment coordinator, and Dana to go back into hygiene and just see like how it would run. if anybody's open to letting us come back into our, like put the scrubs on and just see like, shoot, we'll cover for a day for you guys. Britt (02:01.198) . Britt (02:06.358) It would be like a good and wild time all at the same time because I think we're all a little bit more maybe assertive than we might have been in some of our olden days in those positions. Kiera Dent (02:14.038) Hahaha Kiera Dent (02:18.316) I agree. And this is why I want to see like what would Dental A Team do if we were all put into one office at one time. So anyway, if you're interested, email me Hello@TheDentalATeam.com This isn't a passive ask. This is like, I really think it'd be so fun. We've talked about it so many times, like what would it be like? So, Hey, if you're ever interested in Dental A Team. Britt (02:23.046) Yeah. Britt (02:35.982) Usually what we do is we say if we could all only be one role, so no doubling up on roles, this is the game Kiera likes to play, who would be which role within the office is usually how this goes. yeah, not to say we don't get along, we would have a fantastic time, but you'd get a lot of ideas that they would run quick, I'll tell you that. Kiera Dent (02:45.118) I do. Kiera Dent (02:49.762) and Kiera Dent (02:55.608) Thank Kiera Dent (02:58.99) Well, and I'm like, believe it or not, I would actually not go for office manager. So I'm out on that. Shelby will probably take on office manager role, even though she's never done it, she'll do great. But it is kind of funny, Tiffany, we were talking the other day and I said, Tiff, I remember being a dental assistant and I had hours of time sitting there like root canals, crown preps, where I just thought of all these ideas and Tiff's like, I would like, I literally would hate if you actually went back to that and had that much time to think of ideas. Britt (03:08.014) Thank you. Kiera Dent (03:26.904) Fair enough. anyway, throwing it out there, Britt and I have a good time, but truly I do think it'd be fun if an office allowed us to come and just like see what would happen if all of us went back into it. You might hate it. Don't worry, doctors. You can still keep like one or two main assistants. Like we won't fully do it, but like we're, we think we'd be the A team. I'm just curious if we'd actually be rated A, B, C or D going back in as a whole team. Exactly. But on that note, pivoting into what we want to chat about. Britt (03:47.327) Put our money where our mouth is. Is that what you're saying? Kiera Dent (03:55.96) Britt and I wanted to get on the podcast and I really wanted Britt to be on this podcast with me because Britt is a hygienist and believe it or not, I have had actually some clients ask Britt and Dana like, hey, if you ever want to like leave consulting and come back to hygiene, hey, poo poo on you, that's terrible, don't do that. We don't poach your people, don't poach ours. But it is interesting because I do know that hygiene is a hot topic and so I thought Britt, if we came on the podcast today and we actually chatted about... Britt (04:08.174) Thank Britt (04:12.056) you Kiera Dent (04:22.508) All right, let's talk about hygiene. How do we get hygienists? How can we hire? How can we attract? What are maybe some out of the box thinking today? And also doing on both sides of the coin because I do know we have hygienists that do listen to the podcast as well. So shout out to you listening in and educating yourself and understanding kind of the predicament the doctors are in because it's this constant, like I do feel over the last four years since COVID, the hygiene pay range has like just like escalated up this ladder, which is making it hard for practices to stay profitable, which then leads to if The practices can't maintain profitability. I do actually wonder and this is kind of just my thoughts and I'm sure Britt you've thought of it. Will there come a point where hygienists are actually asking for too much that dentists say it's not worth it for hygienists? I'm just going to hire a dentist. So I'm just like just so we know and I want hygienists. So it's going to be kind of like a really open conversation. My goal today is that none of what we bring ever should be weaponized against people. So there might be some ideas discussed hygienists if we're talking about certain things to me. This is not always on where you can go in. take this to your doctor and demand certain things and doctors if that happens, like it sounds like that's a great opportunity to coach that hygienist out and bring someone else in and vice versa. Hygienists and doctors, like doctors not weaponizing and saying, hygienists we're so high, I can't afford to do this or things like that. I think really understanding the dynamics of where we're at, I think is gonna be a good conversation. So Britt, you, hi, Janice Britt, welcome to the scene, hello. Britt (05:45.454) Thank you. I'll put that hat on. And it's all in fairness, right? I think that's what it comes down to in any working relationship. And even when it comes down to talking about things like compensation, like it should be a conversation for both sides, right? And sometimes there's things that can be done. Sometimes there's things that can't be done. And sometimes performance-wise, it doesn't warrant being done. So I think that's just the mindset to go into it with always when it comes to those conversations is it is a conversation. It should be a conversation. demands back and forth and finding the best fair solution. Kiera Dent (06:20.502) Yeah, absolutely. And Britt, I'm so glad that you're open to this. And Britt, the reason I love her in operations next to me, like I feel like her and I are really good yin and yang. think Britt and I truly, we have very different personalities. We have very different mindsets. We have very different pieces. And I think when you can bring those two perspectives to the table, I'm very strong entrepreneur. I'm very strong business. very, like Britt will tell you, I come in very strong on those and Britt will come in very strong on team. Britt (06:32.876) you Kiera Dent (06:45.282) I think that to have someone like that in your corner to me is invaluable because it allows Britt and I to really, like we say hash, like we really do go back and forth knowing that our ultimate goal is to land on what's fair and best for the business, what's fair and best for the patients, what's fair and best for our team, what's fair and best for every player in the scene and the arena. And I believe when you can have these conversations, you can get there. So Britt, I wanna just kick off. It's something that's come up and I'm just curious from your perspective as a hygienist, because you are a senior hygienist. You've been in the ranks. You haven't been there as a brand new grad. And there are some hygienists who are feeling like these new grads are coming out asking for quite a lot. I've actually been told that a lot of the hygiene teachers are actually telling them to ask for higher amounts. And I'm really curious, like, do you feel that there should be ranges where if you've been out of school for say zero to five years, it's kind of like this is your range. if you've been out of school from five to 10 years or 10 years plus, because some of those senior hygienists do feel like, hey, I've been in here, I've been running the ranks. And then I'll give you the flip side that I also think of, but sometimes my senior hygienist might not be as up to date as my brand new grads out of school. So there's this like, there is an experience piece of you've been with the patients longer, but sometimes like, I know certain hygienists don't do as much perio, whereas new grads do more perio sometimes. So. Again, I'm not here to judge the hygiene world. I'm just curious, Britt, from your perspective, being a hygienist who's been in the realm for a while, what's your take on like, should there be ranges based on experience or is it on performance? Like, what's kind of some metrics that you see that would be beneficial when we're looking at compensation to be fair across the board? Britt (08:22.414) I mean, you know fairness is a big thing to me, right? So I and this will be a probably to some maybe not the most popular opinion But I do think it's the fairest and I no matter the role right whether it's a hygienist whether it's an assistant whether it's a front desk whether it's an associate coming in I'm big on it comes down to skill set and what are they able to do? Right? What what's their skill set in the position? How are they able to perform? What things can they be? responsible for and own and make sure that they get done. Now with a new grad, would I probably be a little bit conservative on what they start them out with and say, hey, here's your path forward, right? Once you show me XYZ, you're running on time, you're making sure your diagnostics are quality, all those things, this is your path forward as far as compensation goes. But I do think it should be a skill set based compensation, not just like tenure based compensation. I'm not a big fan of tenure overall, no matter like Kiera Dent (09:21.517) Mm-hmm. Britt (09:22.176) like where it is. The thing that I will say along with that though is to make sure that our owners, right, whoever's making those decisions on compensation, that we keep it all fair. So I think sometimes some of those more senior ones, maybe they've stayed at a rate for a really long time and maybe haven't been increased according to inflation or what they're paying other people now. And so like that piece needs to be fair as well. So make sure, I'm a big fan of tears, what's the skills and make sure that it stays within those tiers. And yeah, if you've been with me for a long time and you've got a full set of skills for hygiene and you do really well, you should be at the top end of that top tier. And if not, then we need to have a conversation and talk about it and see how we can get you there. Because that's ultimately my goal for any of my team members is how do we get you performing to the top of your skill set, your ability or your license. And with that should come like fair compensation that comes along with it. Kiera Dent (10:22.392) So, okay, I really like that. I've got two follow-ups on that. One is what are like set skillsets that could be ranging someone up? Are we just talking perio? Are we talking laser? Are we talking like, what is it that is specifically for hygiene, the skillset? And I do love, I hope you guys all asked like that, like every person should be performing at the top of their license. So that's follow up question number one. Second is gonna be about a compensation question. So what are those skills that you feel will range them up exponentially? Britt (10:50.252) Yep, so for me, like basic skills, running on time. If you have an anesthesia license, you're doing your anesthesia, if that's allowed within your state. Chart audits are good. You're getting everything that needs to be done, that your charting is complete. You're getting all your diagnostics done. You're coming prepared to huddle. You're being a team player. All of those things are kind of like my basic level stuff. Kiera Dent (11:16.846) Should they like interjecting real quick on that? Should they be hitting a certain production amount or is it more just those? It's like, what is the production amount that they should be hitting in like basic skill level before they even move on? Britt (11:29.038) Yep. I think whatever your basic goal is, I'm usually depending on the area, depending on your PPO fee for service, right? There's going to be a little bit of a difference, but I'm usually like a 12 to 1500 is usually around kind of like my base, depending on if you're PPO or if you're fee for service kind of on that upper range. And then as you as you one, I think get more confident with perio, have those conversations, perio percentage rate, that's case acceptance for peri percentage rate would be a next level to look at. So not only are you having the conversations, right, you can do it, but how effective are you educating patients in advocating form to get the treatment done that's needed? So this is where a few more specific metrics are gonna come into play. So per year percentage is gonna start to come into play looking at jumping to that next level. I'm also gonna start looking at how well are you setting up doctor and teeing up doctor for treatment. That's going to be my mid range that they need to be able to have those conversations. TFDoctor, be a partner in that conversation. So that's kind of like my mid range ones and my high range ones I'm going to tie in. Yeah. what's your case acceptance coming out of your room? How well are you supporting the doctor and advocating for those patients? Having conversations because at some point with hygiene, right, there's clinical skills and with those, right, doctors should be checking, sure, check my perio from time to time on my charting to make sure we're aligned. Yes, if I'm missing stuff that I shouldn't be missing, then like absolutely those should be things that are talked about and would keep me in that like basic pay range if I'm not doing well at my job. But to get up into that advanced pay range, it comes to a lot of the soft skills. Are you adding in that scan? Are you on board? Are you advocating for the practice and getting things done? Are you talking about treatment? Do you have good case acceptance coming out of your room? It's a lot of those soft skills and showing initiative instead of like, no, that's too much. I'm not going to do that. It's almost like a difference in personality and an initiative once you get to those higher range and you know them, you see those hygienists that are just rock stars and they're like, yep, they will Britt (13:34.33) help out, they are a team player. Yep, I can get that done. I've got time to do it. They are having the conversations, they're supporting the doctor really well. That's my top tier. That's what I ultimately want everyone to be. Kiera Dent (13:47.918) And I think that actually really helped in like that 1500 that 1200 range like there has been a model out there of like three times their pay and I'm just curious Britt. Is that even a realistic number from your perspective now of three times a hygienist pay? I do say for fee for service usually at a four or four point five times their pay but with PPO schedules and with the new rate of hygienist coming out, do you still feel like three times their pay is fair? Britt (14:14.242) I think it is a great starting point, right? There's across the country, and this is where like you can pull the economics of it into it, right? Depending on the area, depending on how many hygienists there are. Like that's something that we, I think, have seen across the board that impacts higher ranges or lower ranges, right? That's the way a free economy works. Welcome to it. So, right, depending on the area, I would say yes, that is, everyone should be shooting to hit that. And some of our areas where you know, it's a little bit more competitive or depending on, you know, well, we'll throw it out there. State laws, different things that have to be offered, right? That impacts the price and how expensive it can be to pay a hygienist. And I'll say to my hygienist, you guys are worth it, right? Especially you're that top tier hygienist. Like you guys are worth it. But from a business standpoint, there's like we got to we got to stay profitable at the end of the day. And so I do think that three times fee for service us up to like four times pay is a great place to start. And if we are not there, then we need to start looking at other factors. Is it reasonable? Most of time, yes, 100 % it is. Some cases, depending on the area where there's like those shortage, those higher ranges, like it's a little bit more of a struggle. And that's where it comes to the conversation of, all right. hygiene or associate. And we've definitely had those practices where it's like, for what I'm paying this hygienist, I can have an associate who can not only do hygiene, but can also do treatment. Which direction should I go? Kiera Dent (15:38.862) Mm-hmm. Kiera Dent (15:48.96) I agree. I think, I think the hygiene world, like making sure that it's cognitive of that too, because I think it could be a dangerous zone where without trying hygienists actually like work themselves out of the marketplace. I agree. think hygienists is such a valuable player on the team. And so just making sure that like we're cognitive of that. And I love that, Britt, you bring that from a hygiene perspective. I will also say though, I don't just think it's fully on the hygienist. And Britt, I know you agree with this completely that Britt (16:15.555) Mm-hmm. Kiera Dent (16:16.334) looking for that three times and instead of saying like we can't get there, let's look to see how could we get there. So it has the office actually looked at their fees and are we making sure that our fees are competitive, that we're negotiating with the insurances. This doesn't mean you have to drop in and drop your insurance plans, but it does mean we need to be very effective with it. Looking to see can we add in laser? Can we add in PRP or PRF? Can we add in some of those adjunct services? Are we adding fluoride? Are we getting all of our x-rays on the right series? Are we billing out the correct comp exams for it? Are we looking for those additional pieces and looking for like, what are all the codes that we can bill out within hygiene? Of course, not over diagnosing things out or billing things out. But I think like, let's also look at medicine. They bill for the gauze, they bill for the cotton, they bill for all these things. And I'm not here to say like nickel and dime your patients, but I am here to say. I think they're starting to become a world where we've got to start being more proactive on what we do, bill out to insurances to hit the rates that the hygienists need to be producing as opposed to just doing what we've always done. So I think like as an office collectively working in conjunction with a hygienist, let's not just throw our hands in the air and say like, they're too expensive. There's no way they'll hit it. No, that's not true. There's actually a lot of hygienists who are being paid those higher ranges and they are producing three, four times their pay. I have hygienists in... less affluent areas able to hit that. And so it's kind of like the four minute mile. People thought it couldn't happen, couldn't happen, couldn't happen. Well, I think sometimes it's telling us it can't be done. We actually find ways to make that true rather than saying, hey, other offices are doing that. Let's get creative and let's let's let's work together and figure out what we can do. So I want to maybe have some commentary. Please do. Britt (17:51.118) Yeah, I want to make a quick plug on this because I know I threw out there like there does come a point where like sometimes we sit there and we contemplate of like associate or not the hygienist and me do I want doctors doing hygiene? No, I don't. don't. No. Do doctors want to be doing hygiene? No. Kiera Dent (18:04.27) No, I don't either and I'm not even a hygienist. Now. Britt (18:11.072) No, they don't want to, right? So like it's not an ideal solution, but when it comes to a business being able to survive and stay profitable and keep running to take care of patients and provide livelihoods for everybody, like some that's the that's the business side of my brain that it's like sometimes those are things that we have to contemplate and see what's the best decision moving forward. Kiera Dent (18:30.296) for sure. And I'm glad you put that because the ultimate goal is to not replace hygienists. The ultimate goal is no. But I think it's like, look at other businesses. Do you think other businesses wanted to convert to AI? The answer is probably not. But due to necessity of profitability, like to me, that becomes a survival skill. Like is this business going to live or die? They're going to find ways to live. That's a natural human tendency. And so I think it's like, let's partner together. Let's find the solutions. I even have some practices who have elected to go Britt (18:35.598) I don't want that. Kiera Dent (18:59.064) hygiene, like no hygiene in their practices. so knowing that, like, but again, this is just getting scrappy. This is doctors just like, we have to find a way to survive. think it's Britt (19:01.71) Mm-hmm. Britt (19:08.14) And out of necessity, if they can't find one, right? Like sometimes that's kind of been the state that some of them have been in, so. Kiera Dent (19:15.342) for sure. So Britt on that we did talk about like baseline pay and we talked about longevity of it. What happens when you have a seasoned team that has been there? And we've got hygienists, they love the practice, they love the things they're doing. recruiters are pretty impressive these days. Like I do feel everybody's being bombarded with other offers constantly. And it's like you might be very happy. But hey, like sometimes dollars do count. What do you do for a practice? when like these new grads are coming out and let's say they're asking because like right now I have a practice and the new grads like literally looking on indeed all practices hiring right now are like $5 an hour more than what they're currently paying like their highest hygienist. Like what do you do in that realm because like if you've got three or four hygienists now I've got to increase everybody $5 an hour just to be able to bring one new hygienist in. I think this is where it's like this wave of constantly like chasing a number but it's not just one person I'm chasing it's multiples. what do you recommend for businesses and new grads? Because I'm like, if I tell this new grad, like, well, this is where we'll start to, I've got seven other offices willing to offer this hygienist that they only need one hygienist. They can do it because the finances make sense for them. What do we do in those scenarios to help these practices out? Britt (20:27.724) Yeah, I think having a community near you to know kind of what people are really getting paid, right? There will always be, especially in your more like city, right, areas, there's always going to be someone out there who can pay more. There's gonna be an offer on the table somewhere. I always say question that. Know what you're getting into on those ones that are like real high from everybody else. But I think it's a real question of what are you ultimately looking for? One, with that higher rate you better believe you're still, you're gonna have to make your way, right? To make it worth paying you that amount. So that's gonna be there. Also, you know, what do you value in the people you work with and the type of things that are being done and the care that's being provided in practice not taking a hit at anybody but I'm like that's an overall it's not just a dollar like sure you can go out and you just want to pick a job based on dollar Go for it. If you want it's risky in my opinion Look at the whole picture and see kind of what you're gonna be living because we spend a lot of time at work, right? It's a it's a big part of our life and we spend a lot of time and I don't know I take a lot of pride in where I work. So I care about when the people and what we do. And I hope that's the same for our providers out there, for our hygienists out there. But I think take a look overall. And then I think when it comes to those rates, so have a community know what like the actual rates are not just the jobs that are out there and what people are getting paid. Make sure you're competitive like 100 % the rates need to be competitive and if you fall in behind some unlike yeah we might need to see what we can do and see if we can start to get back within the range of the market to stay competitive. And then Britt (22:16.45) that also I think brings confidence in knowing you're offering something fair, right? So if I'm like, if I know, hey, it's competitive, it's fair. We're a great place to work. I always want to get people in to come meet us, experience us, because again, it's more than just a dollar. If they're making a decision just off of a dollar, they're probably not the right person for me anyways. So I want to get them in, let them see the whole picture. And then, you know, when it comes down to it, at the end of the day, I can offer what I can offer and offer a path of like, hey, this is where it starts. And here's what you can do moving forward in the potential. But we're getting to know each other. And I'll say this recently, especially for assistants as well, because I think it's the same, similar scenario in assistant world, is some of the doctors that know their affair, they come in, they're confident. have people who like them and they're like, okay, you know, not to say it always happens, right? It won't always, but it's more likely to happen instead of just chasing a dollar amount and trying to like outbid someone. So I think still be confident in your moves. Don't jump too fast. Make sure you're competitive. Make sure you're allowing people to see the whole picture of you. I'll add to that. Make sure you're actually a good place to work along with that so that you attract people. Kiera Dent (23:12.878) Right. Kiera Dent (23:32.398) Agreed. Britt (23:34.382) because I think trends and you'll see articles and research out there, money matters and there's always going to be those people where money is their top priority, but life I think these days matters to people a little bit more. Kiera Dent (23:46.22) I would agree. think that that's something that the shift of the, think money used to be the currency that people were going after. And I think now it's time and lifestyle that is the new currency. so realizing that and recognizing that, Britt, let's say an office, the going rate is higher than what you are really like able to afford in your practice. What's your take on offering like a lower base, but commission from a hygienist? Like does this, I don't know how it lands for hygienist. Is it like, well, I want the guarantee of like knowing that I can let's say it's $5 different between offices, but this office is really struggling, but they can offer you the commission base. How attractive is that to a hygienist? I have my opinions, but I'm not a hygienist. So I'm just curious from your state, what you hear from colleagues in the industry. Cause I know you see very connected to the hygiene world. What are you kind of hearing around? Britt (24:33.42) Yeah, I think it's a super fair model. I know when I was managing, that's the model we were off. I want you to know that you can count on something that's reliable, right? So that's where I do like having a base that's very reasonable, that's very fair, that is an amount that easily hygienists should be able to produce and make that and cover themselves. But for those who do like hustle, right? They're not gonna be like, well, I've got an opening, I'll just go home. Or like, I'll just like chill. Like they want to work. They wanna keep people on their schedule. They want to be supportive of the team. They should make more. And so it's even just a fair from a multiple hygienist in an office. I'm like, yeah, yeah. working hard I should make a little bit more than the person that's kind of slacking off a little bit. And so I like that model to where one you know what you can count on because there's that base there. And then yeah commission is going to be ultimately whatever you want it to be right? Like that's where you've got some control and if it's a commission based on production or adjusted production or collections whatever route the doctor ends up going fees rise in the practice, right? That's you naturally kind of build in that increase over the years as office fees change. Kiera Dent (25:56.782) Fair, that's a good point. And Britt, I have so many more questions I wanna ask. I think for today, keeping it here, I really also think one thing to plug on the commission that I think Britt, you and I have done a really good job. Like, mad kudos to you within our company, because we do offer our consultants based in commission. So I think like we can actually speak to this model pretty well. But something I really pride ourselves on is we actually go and look at real numbers. I don't want to be going for my best hygienist and offering off of my best hygienist. We want to find an average between like our lowest producing hygienist and our highest producing because I would rather set a clear expectation with that hygienist coming in of like, if you do basically like bare minimum, this is what you'll be making. And then if you choose to like go more, which there are opportunities, this is the range you could do. And literally when we do offers, we literally show a hygienist or like in our instance, it's a consultant. Here's what it is. Here's what the averages are. And for me, I think that actually makes me way more confident going in because I'm not offering the highest end. We have we have consultants that produce a lot more than other consultants. But I don't want because that just sets an expectation for that hygienist coming in. This is what I think I'm going to be paid. And then when I'm not, they get angry with you versus it being like, this is where I think it's very fair. This is very realistic. This is the time frame. Realistically, I think you can hit it. This is an average day. Here's our actual numbers. This is an actual hygiene schedule. So that way I really do think that that will make you more confident when offering. If you can't offer say that $5 more or you want to bring people in and maybe you're a little bit less than that. You don't want to raise your entire hygiene team. And again, hygienist, it's not because I don't want to raise you. Like I just want to make that super clear as a business owner. I want to pay my entire team exponentially well. Like truly this is like my heart of hearts. Like Britt knows this. I'm constantly looking like how can we raise people? How can we do it? Britt (27:38.413) Thank Kiera Dent (27:40.918) I also know as a business owner, my job is to make sure I keep the business profitable because if I don't, I've actually heard every person that we serve in the community of patients. I've heard our entire team of being able to afford it. And also I don't want to be stressed as a business owner, like fully. would, I like, I love you and I want to pay you. I also want to be able to sleep at night and not constantly stressing of do I need to take a second mortgage out on my home? So like just understanding it's, it's a business, it's a person, it's a human, but I think be fair with your numbers that you offer. And Britt, I do want to do another episode. I'll just tee it up of what do hygienists feel about assisted hygiene? Cause it is a model that's starting to come as popularity of not being able to find hygienists. Is it something of we like it, we don't. Also, I know there's conversations around, we shorten hygiene appointments to be able to see more patients as insurances aren't reimbursing as much. So I definitely want to like tee it up of having a few more hygiene conversations. But Britt on this, thank you for giving you the perspective of like the ranges of how to pay and what you feel about base plus commission. Britt (28:13.528) Thank Kiera Dent (28:38.874) Hopefully we were able to give you guys some tips on how can we attract these people. think like you said, Britt, having a great place and a great reputation within the community, having longevity of team members, it's been shocking. Britt and I have been doing interviews and I don't know if you picked up on it, Britt, but the last, I think two or three interviews we've done, one of the questions they've asked is how long is your longest team member and can we ask why they've stayed? It's been shocking to me that that's a question that has come through. It's been consistent. Britt (29:02.156) Consistent. 100%. Kiera Dent (29:05.132) And I'm thinking it's because people really want to work in places long-term and there's so much jostling that I think they're also wondering, are employers keeping team members too? So just note, that's been a very random comment that's come through on our last very, and we're talking like yesterday. We just had an interview yesterday, that question was asked, so it's very real. But Brittany, any last thoughts you've got you want to wrap up today? I appreciate your Brittany hygiene today, coming to the table for the perspectives. Britt (29:29.102) No, I just, I think it's a good conversation and agreed on running numbers and especially if you're wanting to maybe like transition within your practice, right? Hygiene wanting to propose it or doctors wanting to like switch over so that it's a much more sustainable model for you. Run the numbers and see what it looks like, right? That's reality and I'm with you on like low and high end when it comes to hiring. Worst thing you can do is set expectations you're not gonna meet. Kiera Dent (29:54.094) Agreed Well, Britt, thanks for being on the pod. You guys, appreciate you. We will definitely come back. I know there's lots of questions. I know this is hot right now. So, Britt and will definitely podcast again about assisted hygiene, what we do for shrinking hours. Is that even doable from a hygienist perspective? Or is that like, no, there's other solutions because I know everybody right now is just trying to find solutions for the pickle that we're in wanting to maintain and... really pay these hygienists what we believe that they deserve. So Britt, thanks for being on it. And for all of you, if we can help you and your hygiene team, if these are issues you're struggling with, if you're like, am just like hitting my head against a wall. I don't really know what to do. Reach out. That's what we do. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com And as always, thanks for listening and we'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.

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Audio Article: Spondylolisthesis and Spondylosis - A Warning for Hygienists with Back Pain

bs back pain hygienists rdh spondylolisthesis

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2025 7:15

Spondylolisthesis and Spondylosis: A Warning for Hygienists with Back PainBy Rebecca Marie Friend, BS, RDHOriginal article published on Today's RDH:https://www.todaysrdh.com/spondylolisthesis-and-spondylosis-a-warning-for-hygienists-with-back-pain/Need CE? Start earning CE credits today at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://rdh.tv/ce⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get daily dental hygiene articles at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.todaysrdh.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow 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

From Burnout to Flourishing: Overcoming Toxic Work Environments for Hygienists, featuring Amber Auger

Just DeW It

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2025 18:21

Have you ever felt burned out or talked down to in your dental career? Today we have Amber Auger on the Just DeW It podcast to dive into the often-unspoken hurdles within the dental profession. Amber opens up about the rigorous challenges she faced—from battling burnout to navigating through toxic work environments. She unveils how persistence and emotional intelligence served as her guideposts toward realigning with her true purpose. With her extensive expertise as an MPH and RDH, Amber sheds light on how emotional resilience played a pivotal role in her personal and professional growth. In a heartfelt exchange, Amber passionately shares her mission to empower fellow hygienists, helping them discover joy and fulfillment whether their path lies in clinical practice or extends beyond into other fascinating roles within the field. As the conversation unfolds, we explore how mentorship can act as a cornerstone for success, while investing in oneself and nurturing a positive mindset are indispensable tools for achieving long-term career satisfaction. Tune in to gather invaluable insights and strategies to cultivate a rewarding career infused with purpose and harmony. What You'll Learn in This Episode: How to navigate and overcome burnout in the dental field. The role of emotional intelligence in achieving professional success. Strategies for finding joy and fulfillment in your dental career. Insights into transitioning to different roles within dentistry. The importance of mentorship and personal investment for growth. Techniques to maintain a positive mindset amidst career challenges. Dive into Amber Auger's journey from burnout to thriving in dentistry! (Audio disclaimer: this episode was recorded at an event so you may hear some background noise.) (This episode originally aired on April 19, 2023) Learn More About Amber Auger Here! Website: amberauger.com Sponsors: For 150,000+ solutions and unmatched support for your dental supplies, visit Patterson Dental today! (Don't forget to mention the podcast!) pattersondental.com Don't Forget to Sign Up for the Next DeW Retreat! 7th Annual DeW Life Retreat November 13-15, 2025 Charlotte, NC Want to get more involved? Join our membership and community below for exclusive perks! Join the DeW Life movement by becoming a member using this link.Join the Dental Entrepreneur movement by becoming a member using this link.Read the most recent edition of DeW Life Magazine here.Just DeW It Podcast is the official podcast of Dental Entrepreneur Women (DeW), founded by Anne Duffy, RDH. The mission of DeW is to inspire, highlight, empower, and connect all women in dentistry. To join the movement or to learn more, please visit dew.life. Together, we can DeW amazing things!

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Very Dental: Is the Hygiene Model Broken with Dr. Jason Smithson

The Dental Hacks Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2025 48:45

Alan is joined once again by the one and only Dr. Jason Smithson. We've often compared how dentistry is delivered differently between the United States and the UK, but today we compare how dental hygiene is delivered differently. Summary: Dr. Alan Mead and Dr. Jason Smithson discuss the stark differences in how dental hygiene is approached in the United States versus the UK. They explore the reasons behind these differences, including insurance models, historical practices, and the perceived value of hygiene appointments by patients. The conversation also touches upon the role of diagnosis, consent, and duty of care in dental treatment. Key Discussion Points: Jason's Current Activities: Dr. Smithson discusses his teaching schedule at Spear Education, including new courses on aging teeth and other advanced restorative techniques. He also mentions his work in Australia and Europe. The Hygienist Shortage: Alan describes his difficulty in finding a hygienist due to increased pay demands and a shrinking pool of candidates. This leads into the core discussion of the episode. US vs. UK Hygiene Models: US: Hygienists are often the primary point of contact for patients, with a focus on regular cleanings regardless of individual needs and disease. The system is largely insurance-driven. Patients often prioritize the cleaning over the dentist's exam. UK: Dentists assess patients first, determining recall intervals based on risk factors (caries, periodontal disease, wear). Hygienist appointments are prescribed by the dentist and are therapy-focused (e.g., scaling and root planing for periodontal disease). Healthy patients may not see a hygienist at all. Value Perception: Jason argues that the US system can make hygiene seem like a cosmetic procedure, diminishing its perceived value, especially for healthy patients. The UK model ties hygiene to specific therapeutic needs, increasing its perceived value. Insurance and Payment Models: The discussion touches on the differences between NHS (government-funded) and private dental care in the UK, as well as the impact of insurance on treatment decisions in the US. The UK has a mixed system, while Dr. Smithson's practice is entirely fee-for-service. Direct Access Hygiene (UK): In the UK, patients can directly access hygienists without a dentist's referral. This is uncommon in the US. Diagnosis and Consent: Jason highlights the importance of explicit diagnosis before treatment, emphasizing that informed consent cannot be obtained without a diagnosis. He suggests that the US system sometimes relies on implicit diagnoses. Duty of Care: Jason explains the concept of duty of care in the UK, stating that dentists assume responsibility for a patient's care once treatment begins. This raises questions about the US system and potential legal implications. Efficiency and Multitasking: The conversation explores the inefficiency of jumping between patients and procedures, including hygiene checks during restorative work. Jason cites research on the negative impact of multitasking on quality and productivity. Patient Expectations: The discussion acknowledges that US patients have been conditioned to expect regular cleanings, even when not clinically necessary. This creates a challenge for dentists who might want to shift to a more therapy-focused model. Some links from the show: Spear Education "Deep Work" by Cal Newport Join the Very Dental Facebook group using the password "Timmerman," Hornbrook" or "McWethy," "Papa Randy" or "Lipscomb!" The Very Dental Podcast network is and will remain free to download. If you'd like to support the shows you love at Very Dental then show a little love to the people that support us! -- Crazy Dental has everything you need from cotton rolls to equipment and everything in between and the best prices you'll find anywhere! If you head over to verydentalpodcast.com/crazy and use coupon code “VERYDENTAL10” you'll get another 10% off your order! Go save yourself some money and support the show all at the same time! -- The Wonderist Agency is basically a one stop shop for marketing your practice and your brand. From logo redesign to a full service marketing plan, the folks at Wonderist have you covered! Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/wonderist! -- Enova Illumination makes the very best in loupes and headlights, including their new ergonomic angled prism loupes! They also distribute loupe mounted cameras and even the amazing line of Zumax microscopes! If you want to help out the podcast while upping your magnification and headlight game, you need to head over to verydentalpodcast.com/enova to see their whole line of products! -- CAD-Ray offers the best service on a wide variety of digital scanners, printers, mills and even their very own browser based design software, Clinux! CAD-Ray has been a huge supporter of the Very Dental Podcast Network and I can tell you that you'll get no better service on everything digital dentistry than the folks from CAD-Ray. Go check them out at verydentalpodcast.com/CADRay!

New Hygienist Energy

Dentistry Unmasked: A Roundtable Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 12:19

Meet Maddie Blythe an energetic dental hygiene student who just attended Dental Hygiene Seminars with her entire class. Her energy for the future is contagious.

energy hygienists

Your dental hygienist doesn't have to hate you... here's how with Erika Flateau, RDH

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2025 35:52

Hygienists are pissed that foreign trained docs and dental students can now do hygiene. Dentists feel like hostages in their own practices. It's been 5 long years since it all imploded ... but if we're honest ... it doesn't have to be that way. Let's be better! Join Erika Flateau, Pam and David for a very solutions oriented episode that'll move the needle in your practice today!

dentists dental hygienists hygienists

#952: This Practice Has No Hygienist (and is Successful!)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2025 43:08

Kiera is joined by Mike and Stephanie Walton of Walton Family Dentistry in Bardstown, Kentucky. For the past almost year, the Waltons have not had a hygienist in their office. They talk with Kiera about why they were struggling to keep one staffed, what led them to stop having one in the first place, and how they efficiently and profitably operate to this day without a hygienist. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:05.844) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and today is such a special episode. I am so excited. I am being joined by our incredible clients. I've got Mike and Stephanie Walton. They are running such an incredible practice. They are doing something so different, so unique, and I just wanted them to come on and share just about themselves. I think they're just a great example for so many offices out there. So Stephanie and Mike, welcome to the show. How are you today? Mike Walton (00:30.602) Doing great, doing great. Thanks for having us on. Stephanie (00:33.948) Thank you so much. Kiera Dent (00:35.114) Yes, absolutely. And I'll do better. I'll ask like Mike this, Stephanie that, because I know when there's three of us on here, can get a little funny, I'll just have Mike, I'll have you kind of kick this off. You two are incredible. I finally met you for the first time. We've worked together for so long. Tiffanie's your main consultant, but it was really dreamy when I got to meet you in June at the Dennis Money Show with Dennis Advisors. Stephanie (00:39.209) . Kiera Dent (00:59.07) So super fun, I'm excited to see you guys in person really soon too, but Mike, I'll have you just kick us off, kind of tell us a little bit about your practice, where you guys are at, kind of the dynamics of what you guys do in your practice. So the audience gets to know Mike and Stephanie Walton's office. Mike Walton (01:11.809) Great. So we are central Kentucky, little south of Louisville. So we're in a town called Bardstown. That's the bourbon capital of the world and the most beautiful small town award that we've received as well. Stephanie (01:27.244) In America. Kiera Dent (01:28.69) I agree. And you also bring the best candies and treats with you. Like they loaded us up when they came and met us. Bourbon Central, it was amazing. It was great. I was so like, it was so, the Carmel Stephanie, top notch, incredible. That was my favorite. So thank you. Mike Walton (01:43.318) Well, and Kara, have to say, you know, when I first saw you there, you know, of course we've seen each other on the think tank and, I saw you across the room and I was like, Hey, there's Kara. And I was like, she probably don't know who I am. We've never met before officially. Stephanie (01:44.759) You're welcome. Majestics. Kiera Dent (01:46.961) Exactly. Kiera Dent (02:01.086) I did it. Well, cause you know, you guys can see Mike, like there's video of him, Mike always, so we have, meant in think tank, which is our doctor mastermind every the first Tuesday of every month that we have. And Mike always wears his Yankees hat. Always. He always has a hat on. So even tonight I'm like, Mike, what are you doing? I'm not even going to recognize you. And you're right. I was like, where's your Yankees hat? That's fair. All right. So you guys are in Kentucky. Mike Walton (02:19.4) I'm saving it for next season. Kiera Dent (02:27.103) Tell us kind of the dynamics of your practice. How long have you been practicing? What does this practice look like? Mike Walton (02:30.026) So I've been practicing, it'll be 22 years in June. Started out in partnerships and then went out on my own about six years ago. So we are a small office where you are about five operatories. It's one doctor. And then right now it's four assistants, two front desk and then office manager. Stephanie (02:35.246) you Kiera Dent (02:56.552) And did you hear there's no hygienist, which is what we're going to lead into of how Mike went from a hygiene practice where he had hygienist to the shortage. was crunch time. Like he couldn't figure out how to, like it was so hard to hire. And so that's what I'm super excited to talk about. There was literally four assistants, no hygienist. Stephanie, tell us about your place. How are you in the practice? How did you get involved? I mean, you must really love Mike to be working there. You're even like scrubbed up over there, girl. It's not like you just shop. Tell us kind of how you. Stephanie (03:07.129) you So I could tell that he was kind of unhappy at the last place and I was like, you know, it doesn't have to be that way. And so we started doing some research about how to open an office because they don't tell you a lot of business in dental school. And I had my own career and we had three little kids, but I wanted him to be happy. And we found ideal practices and they helped us open the office up and it was well worth the money. And so that's how I got in there with him. And it was just he and I and an assistant and a hygienist when we started. And now we have two wonderful girls at the front desk. And so they do the majority of running the day-to-day stuff and I get to do the stuff that expands the practice and things like that. So we've come a long way, especially with your all's help. Kiera Dent (04:16.54) amazing. Tiffanie loves you. She raves about you. guys, every time you're on her coaching call schedule, Tiffanie is like, I get to talk to the Waltons today. Like truly, it has been such an incredible relationship. She adores you. And Stephanie, I love that you love Mike so much. And I think that that's just so telling of who you two are as a couple, what your practice is, the vibe you have, really just coming together as a couple. So now everyone is wondering and I'm wondering, like, how did you guys even come to this decision to have no hygiene? And how is that even like operating. Like I need to know this because when you mentioned it on think tank, I didn't realize because I'm not on all of your calls that you literally had zero hygienist in your practice and it's been that way for a little while. So whomever wants to like take this on, I don't know whose brainy idea it was, like how did you guys even come to this decision and how is it going and give me all the things. Mike Walton (05:04.002) Well, I think what kind of led to, know, after COVID came through, you know, the number of hygienists went way down and, you know, it was constant turnover. It was, you know, they were in such demand and every office needed them that it was constantly training and getting them adapted to how we like things done. And then Stephanie (05:19.492) Okay. Mike Walton (05:30.66) somebody else would make a better offer and then they would go. And you know, their schedule would be booked out six to eight months and they'd give you a two week notice. And it was super stressful because you know, then we're faced with, well, we're running an ad, there's no way we're gonna get somebody to replace you in two weeks. And it got to the point where it was like, do we reschedule all these people or do we squeeze them in? And we were squeezing them in. Kiera Dent (05:34.666) Mm. Kiera Dent (05:42.377) Yep. Mike Walton (06:00.778) And it was stress and stress and stress and more stress. And then we got to the point where we're like, we can't do this anymore. and you know, you'd go through the cycle where you'd finally get somebody to bite on your ad, you'd get them in the office. And then, you know, I think about every maybe three or four months, it was turnover. And we were going through the same thing again. And we finally got, we're like, how do we, how do we get out of this terrible cycle of. Stephanie (06:19.136) you Mike Walton (06:30.441) of one, having to train, and two, having to deal with a six month schedule that's booked out for a two week notice. And the team was feeling that too. It wasn't just us because they were picking up a lot of the slack. And so we were like, gosh, if we keep doing this, they're going to get frustrated. We're going to lose the whole team. And then what are we going to do? Stephanie (06:53.736) And we have a wonderful team. The assistants are wonderful and the two at the front desk, shout out to Haley and Jessica. They are great. Kiera Dent (07:03.346) Yeah. Stephanie, how did you feel going through this? Did you agree with Mike? Were you like, let's just cut bait and try and see if we can figure this out? Or were you like, let's not do that. I mean, the traditional model is we need hygienists. We know we need two hygienists for every doctor. Like, Stephanie, what was your take? Because I think if I was in your shoes, I have a reasonable level of risk, but I'm also very risk adverse. And so how is it for you? I mean, this is your livelihood. You two are a couple in this. You went away. You've given up your career. You're in this now. Stephanie, how is that for you? making this decision to go hygiene-less in a practice. Stephanie (07:36.508) you end up with kind of your opposite when you marry you know and so I'm the kind of like let's don't miss the boat and he's like that let's not rock the boat kind of person so so this was my idea like I was like Kiera Dent (07:48.042) Okay. I love it. I knew it was. I didn't even know, but I was like, I bet it was Stephanie's. Just knowing you two, I'm like, I bet. Mike Walton (07:54.627) But that's what I was gonna say is that I think you're directing this question to the wrong person. Kiera Dent (08:02.612) Yeah Stephanie (08:03.274) So I'm always like, well, what about this? And what about this? And what about this? And they're like, you're wearing us out. And so I try not to change too many things. But at the same time, I'm like, if anybody has any ideas, that's the great thing about small business and not having anybody to be your boss. You can try it. And if it doesn't work, you try something else. Kiera Dent (08:26.47) Exactly. Stephanie, what was your career prior to joining the dental practice? Where did you come from? What were you doing? I know you had three littles. So what did you do beforehand? Stephanie (08:34.462) was an occupational therapist. So I did, you know, worked at the hospital post, you know, rehab for strokes and hip replacements and things like that. So it comes in handy telling him about ergonomics and protecting that because I had patients that were former dentists. And so I can help the assistants and hygienists. We had one when we switched to this model and assistant that was having some ulnar nerve impingement because she was doing so much of the same task. And so I was teaching her about ulnar nerve glides and ergonomics and stuff. So that's what I did before. Kiera Dent (09:13.564) I love it. And so what's fun about that is I wanted to highlight that because I think so often having a fresh perspective like you'd have Stephanie of we're running a ragged race and Mike, I think we're in dental. We're so ingrained in dental. That's why it's really fun to have consultants or have other business people or have someone else's perspective. So Stephanie, how did you pitch this and what was your reasoning? Like walk me through, how did you even say like we're getting rid of the hygienist? Like forget it, Mike. We're going to go for this. Walk me through kind of your thought process of even how you thought to do this and then I'm excited to hear Mike how you guys actually ended up doing it. Stephanie (09:46.832) You know, I don't even know if I'm on a lot of different forums and a lot of just to learn podcasts, consume, you know, and I don't know if somebody else was doing it or if it was like a hybrid from like accelerated hygiene or if it was just the fact that can we entertain the idea of not having that position in the office. and then boost the wonderful people that we do have, you know, could we make that work? Because I'm kind of like, you know, out of the box, you know, well, have we ever tried this before? And, you know, I watch a lot of Simon Sinek, you know, you can have anything you want as long as you don't hurt anybody else in the process, you know? So. Kiera Dent (10:29.224) Yep, yep. Kiera Dent (10:33.13) Mm hmm. All right. So Mike, she pitches this to you. Let's get rid of hygiene. I can only imagine a dentist's worst nightmare is, hey, you want to start scaling teeth again? So I'm just dying to know, Mike, how did this pitch go? I'm imagining Shark Tank. Stephanie's got the like white boards. Like we could do this. We can think outside the box. And Mike, you're like, but this means I have to scale again. So Mike, how did this go for you? Give me come because I guarantee you dentists listening are like I'm hanging up. Like I'm not even gonna listen. How did this dentist even say yes to wanting to do hygiene again? Because I imagine that that's how it's rolling in your practice right now. Well. Mike Walton (11:04.144) Well, you know, we've been married. We've been married for it'll be 24 years this year and together for 31 years. And I learned a long time ago that I say, you're right. you know, it doesn't take a lot of fight anymore to kind of get me to go along because Kiera Dent (11:13.374) Wow, congrats. Kiera Dent (11:22.942) Yeah Mike Walton (11:28.956) She does a lot of that research and a lot of that background. You know, I've always been more of the technician and she kind of says, hey, if you think about this, you think about that. And she's got a good way of presenting it to where it makes all the sense in the world. You know, I think there were some logistical things that were kind of popping in both of our heads of how does this work? But also from her background as an occupational therapist, she is... Stephanie (11:38.526) . Mike Walton (11:57.744) incredibly structured and organized. And so it, you know, she took a lot of that on and kind of said, Hey, what if we do this? What if we do that? And I was like, I couldn't find anything to argue with other than, you know, in dental school, I remember graduating dental school thinking, well, that's the last prophy I'm ever going to do. and you know, I kind of dreaded it going into it at first, but you know, it's not, it's not bad. know, right now I'm still like, you know, Stephanie (12:02.157) . Mike Walton (12:25.787) I'm not gonna do any scaling and root planing. you know, I say we're hygienist-less. We do have one of our old hygienists that does come in and do our scaling and root planing for us. And we set her up every couple of weeks and with a full schedule and she's fantastic. And she comes in and takes care of us with that. But we do all the paramedinance and all the pro fees. you know, it took a little time to kind of get into that groove because we were trying to figure out, we do it all? all hygiene in one day and all restorative in another day or do we mix and match it? And we decided and figured out that it was more efficient and profitable to kind of break it up and do it day by day. we got one day or I guess we work four days a week. So in a two week span, we got eight work days and we'll do several days of just hygiene and several days of restorative. Stephanie (13:22.5) Three. Mike Walton (13:24.859) and we kind of alternate those doors. So yeah, so like today was a full day of hygiene for me. So we had three operatories of hygiene just back to back to back and ran all day like that. Kiera Dent (13:27.316) So you do a full day. It's a full day. Go ahead. Stephanie (13:27.383) you Kiera Dent (13:40.668) Amazing. And so you basically are doing triple accelerated hygiene. You've got your assistants who are over a column and then you basically just go in scale. You can do the exam at the same time. So that is convenient. Is that how it operates? Now I'm dying to know the logistics. All right, so we've got three columns of hygiene that we're doing, which is why we have our assistants. How does that work for you, Mike? Are you just scaling, they're polishing, they're taking the x-rays? Mike Walton (13:42.594) Thank Kiera Dent (14:07.282) and do you stagger your schedule so that way you're able to get to all of them or are they blocked on the hour just like a regular hygiene schedule? Mike Walton (14:12.26) So good question. We do not stagger them. We kind of have them on our appointments. I'm trying to think of what's the best way to start here. Stephanie (14:29.31) The front desk does a really good job of mixing patients that need x-rays with patients that don't need x-rays. So that's kind of the substitute for staggering and the DAs do too, looking forward. Mike Walton (14:33.186) Yes. Kiera Dent (14:35.978) Amazing. Mike Walton (14:37.518) Yeah. So yeah, we'll have somebody that needs x-rays and two that don't. And so what happens is I'll start out and I'll just scale. As soon as they get the first three patients back, I'll scale one. The other assistant is getting all the data and profi. And then the other one's doing the x-rays. And so they're a little bit behind that second one. And then it kind of staggers when I need to go into each room, if that makes sense. Kiera Dent (15:07.614) Mm-hmm, it does. Mike Walton (15:08.043) And then, you know, that's what it is. It's just kind of a bounce, room to room to room, and then they got time to turn over, and then we bounce room to room to room again. Stephanie (15:20.476) And we're real fortunate in the state of Kentucky because the dental assistants can do everything but the scaling. With the certification, they can do the coronal polishing. They can do, we trained them to do period charting. We trained them to do everything but the scaling and of course the diagnosing. And that has worked out tremendously well as far as that. But they can do everything. They can do sealants, can do flora, they can do polishing. Kiera Dent (15:20.659) Amazing. Stephanie (15:48.785) They can establish rapport and so they fill that time with what we call how's your mama experience, you know, because that's what it is when people come in, we say how, you know, how are you doing? How's your mom? And we know that good. Kiera Dent (15:54.984) Yeah. Kiera Dent (16:00.095) Mm-hmm. Right. And in the state of Kentucky, because I don't know all the laws, are they, when we go to the restorative side, can they act as like F does in others or are they, they do fillings? Can they do crown preps? Like you obviously prep. that, does that work for you? Because I'm just trying to figure out logistics on restorative day, because I'm guessing you've got quite a few columns of restorative. Is that how your, your assistants work? Mike Walton (16:22.74) Right, right, exactly. yeah, anything that is reversible they can do. And so they are all extended duty certified. And that's kind of how we run. Whatever they can do, they are allowed to do, they do, and they do it well. You know, that was one of the... Kiera Dent (16:46.473) Right? Stephanie (16:47.311) And the great part about that is, is they understand the restorative part when it comes to treatment planning during a hygiene appointment. And the hygienists always struggled with that. They knew hygiene inside and out, everything about that. But when it came to treatment planning, the process of extractions and dentures or whatever it may be, they didn't understand that. And these dental assistants understand it forwards and backwards. And so they're his right hand in the restorative. And so when it comes to treatment planning, Kiera Dent (16:55.156) Totally. Kiera Dent (17:09.258) right. Stephanie (17:17.147) They already know how he likes it, the procedure process, the steps of it. And so even the treatment planning is so much better because they understand the restorative part where the hygienist really didn't. Mike Walton (17:21.558) All right. Kiera Dent (17:30.394) That's a good point Stephanie and I hadn't actually not thought about that. Like you're right. They're probably teeing up treatments so much better. They don't even need to know what would doctor do because they know they've assisted you and as an assistant, I'm like, I know what my doctor is going to do. You're so intimate with your doctor that you really do know. That's actually like a plug for people that want to go fully hygiene, hygiene less like you guys have. If you're looking at assisted hygiene, that assistant really can tee up a lot of treatment if they've worked with a doctor and they are an experienced assistant. Stephanie (17:36.078) Yes. Mike Walton (17:36.469) you Stephanie (17:39.856) Yes. Mike Walton (17:42.101) Okay. Kiera Dent (17:58.346) That's a really big pro that I had not thought of. So Mike, is it for you as a dentist, like scaling all day long? Are you okay with it? Do you like the piezo? Walk me through, how many months has this been since you guys have gone to this model? Mike Walton (18:06.516) It was probably May when we started doing this. Yeah, yeah. And so it was tough at first because it's a whole different positioning. know, it was, I would end the day and could hardly, you know, stand up straight. you know, it's taken a long time to try to figure out Kiera Dent (18:15.754) Okay, so we're like nine months, 10 months in. Kiera Dent (18:27.145) Yeah. Stephanie (18:29.765) It's. Mike Walton (18:35.858) where proper position was, you know, cause it had been so long since I'd done it. But you know, the last, probably the last month or two, month and a half, it's gotten to where I found that groove and I get in. it's not, you know, it's not that strenuous on me as it was in the beginning. You know, I think that was one of the things early on that we thought, gosh, we might not be able to pull this off because it was so hard, you know, physically, but. Kiera Dent (18:41.833) Right? Stephanie (18:58.051) Okay. Mike Walton (19:05.363) I think we just kept working and of course, know, Stephanie's got a lot of good input on how to do things with the ergonomics and, you know, if I was complaining about something bothering me, she's like, try this, try that. And so, you know, that all kind of panned out and, you know, I think with the assistants learning new skills and taking on more responsibility, they really like, they've run with it, you know, it's pushing there. Stephanie (19:27.051) Okay. Mike Walton (19:35.388) their level of importance up in the office and they appreciate that and I appreciate that. It kind of makes their job more fulfilling and it allows us to get through the day. We tend to on time a lot better than we did before. I think one of the nicest things is that there's no interruption. When you had a hygienist, was no matter what you were doing, was constantly, I'm ready for a check. Stephanie (19:53.614) Okay. Kiera Dent (19:54.834) I bet. Kiera Dent (20:01.279) Mm-hmm. Mike Walton (20:04.518) and you'd have to stop and get up and go check and then you come back and then it seemed like as soon as you sat down and put your gloves on and got your fingers wet, it was time for a check again. And so we don't have that anymore. And so that's like a huge stress reliever. And because you're not having to get up and down all the time, it allows you to schedule more efficiently. know, it... Kiera Dent (20:14.461) Right. Kiera Dent (20:26.856) I was going to say, I bet on restorative, can actually do a lot more restorative faster and more efficiently and actually get more done than you were prior. Have you noticed that to be true? Mike Walton (20:37.027) It has because and you know just kind of jumping a little bit into probably what you would ask down the road, but you know I think our our overall production has gone down a little bit just because we Yeah So like it's it's gone down a little bit just because we can't see as many patients anymore Stephanie (20:50.092) Okay. Kiera Dent (20:52.262) Yep, you knew, you know me. Of course I want to know like what are the numbers? Mike Walton (21:01.584) So we had to scale back just a little bit to make it work with the amount of appointments that we had possibly available. But with how efficient we are now with the scheduling, the profitability has gone up. And I had those numbers and I did that on a presentation with another mastermind group and I don't have it right in front of me, but I don't know, do you remember what those were Stephanie or no? Kiera Dent (21:02.634) Mm-hmm. Stephanie (21:26.668) Not exactly, we took home more is what it came down to and our team did. Like we were able to give raises, we were able to share that because we didn't have that hygiene overhead. But another good point is that we had to set aside specific time in the schedule, make appointments, make events. Kiera Dent (21:33.353) Mm-hmm. Stephanie (21:45.75) to formalize their training with how to do period charting to his standards, how to do these skills to his standards. It's like everything else you had to put it on the schedule so that everybody could check it off. And so it's kind of like a loss in the beginning, but it pays off in spades down the road because they feel confident about it. And it's like they're their patients, you know, and they're, you know, in charge of it. Kiera Dent (21:48.383) Yeah. Stephanie (22:11.335) and responsible for it and they're very proud of how many skills they have now and you know so they were kind of hesitant at first because it's just like it's unknown and you know I don't know if I can do that and but you know by checking off and feeling confident you know it's made the biggest difference. Kiera Dent (22:30.75) That's amazing. And as an assistant myself, and I know tips and assistant as well, it actually is really fun to think of elevating assistants to give them more skill sets, things that they can do giving them that autonomy. It actually kind of comes down to an ortho assistant model where they're able to do so much more while still being able to have the the general side where we get to do all the fun, like I call it the blood and guts of dentistry, like ortho is so clean, which hygiene is so clean with air quotes around it. Mike Walton (22:45.23) you Kiera Dent (22:58.538) And so I think you've actually blended for assistance because I was always envious of the ortho assistance. I'm like, gosh, they get to do so much. They get to do so much more than I do. So I think like really incredible work agreed. think I'd be nervous to take this on and be like, if we're doing hygiene, but I think also way to give them a huge elevation piece. So, and it's also fun to hear about your numbers. I would imagine without that hygiene expense that you will be more profitable. So you run When you run restorative days, you run three columns of restorative on that, or how many columns of restorative do you normally do? Mike Walton (23:30.189) three and then. We'll have a foot. We've got a fourth room that if we have kids we can squeeze in a fourth. Yeah, yeah. Stephanie (23:42.692) that are assistant only. Kiera Dent (23:44.842) Sure. Okay, so we're running three columns of hygiene on one day, then three columns of restorative, which you can. Now you can have them shorter appointments. You can get in and out. You can utilize your assistants more. So they're having fun too. They have a hygiene day, then restorative day, hygiene. So it breaks up their model too. They're not running all the time. But I'm curious. I always think like long-term, like, do you guys wanna go back to hygiene and or would you hire another dentist? So then Mike, you and another dentist are doing this hygiene model. can see, cause I'm thinking, well shoot, you're seeing three columns of hygiene. You're probably only seeing two before, but we're seeing three columns, but just not consistently across the time. So what are your kind of your long-term pieces? You took home more, you had a little drop in production. I'm super curious like to see a full year of this. Like will the numbers come back up now that everybody's trained? We kind of have this whole model, but what's kind of in the long-term scope? Are you thinking of another doctor or maybe looking for hygienists? or like, no, we're gonna just ride this out for a little while. Mike Walton (24:41.671) I think the plan is gonna be to kind of ride it out. We kind of talked about if you brought on another doctor, are they gonna buy into doing hygiene like we have? I think that's a hard pill to swallow until you've had the heartache and the upset that we had with maintaining a hygienist. So I think it's gonna be kind of ride it out and see how things go. Stephanie (25:00.407) . Kiera Dent (25:03.486) Right. Mike Walton (25:12.317) Is there ever a time where you'd have a hygienist back in? Absolutely. I think there's some things that have to change market-wise and availability-wise and knowing that security because I think that's one of the biggest things that the patients have noticed is they're getting consistency with the same person. And we're... Stephanie (25:34.233) They love seeing the doctor. There's no pushback to not having a hygienist. They are very excited to have more time with him. Kiera Dent (25:34.495) Right. Mike Walton (25:41.29) And, you know, and I think we're getting into that cycle where from when we started, we're seeing the six month, you know, group coming back through and they're like, you know, we had so much turnover that every time they came, it was a different person. And now there, there's like, I get to the same person again. And, and so, you know, that's a, that's a good feeling for them too. And, you know, I think that that would be the limitation on a hygienist is one, no one, you know, Kiera Dent (25:42.889) I believe it. Stephanie (25:59.533) you Mike Walton (26:09.994) If I could guarantee that they would be here long term, absolutely. Or if the market were to change to where there was a surplus that you felt like that was gonna drive them to stay for a long time, I think that's where the change would come in that perspective. Kiera Dent (26:31.582) Wow. I'm so intrigued and I'm sure listeners are just beyond intrigued by this. It is fun to know about the numbers. It's fun to hear. And I remember Mike in our mastermind that we were chatting, you literally said like, I wouldn't go back. You're like, it was the best thing we ever did. And I'm like, we're getting on the podcast because it's such a anomaly. think it's, it shows your guys's grit. It shows your determination. I love Stephanie, you pushing to think outside the box. So I'm just curious, like with this. Stephanie (26:52.164) . Kiera Dent (27:00.202) What would you say are like the best benefits? mean, Mike, I've heard a few come through from you benefits and Stephanie, you just said them. So I'll list a few and see if there's anything I might have missed was something I love that you said they get consistency with the, with the doctor, like they're seeing Mike, they're seeing him more often. Um, I think Mike, for you not having to get the, we're ready for a check. We're ready for a check. Like you feel like you can just get in and almost like do your thing every single day. I also heard the assistants have been able to rise up. You've been able to probably pay them more than they would normally make, which also then retains your assistance and makes them more sticky to you, I would presume. But any other things that you've seen that have been positives of moving to a hygiene-less model? Stephanie (27:38.747) Well, I want to speak to that because the team is so much more unified because and they're candid with us because everybody feels like they're on the same level. Kiera Dent (27:44.681) Interesting. Stephanie (27:48.192) Like there's no hierarchy in the office. The back office people are candid with the front office people and telling us how we can schedule more efficiently. The front office people are telling the back office people you need to document this so we're getting paid quicker. It's like the barriers have been broken down. Like everybody's on the same level and that has unified the team, I think, like we didn't anticipate. Kiera Dent (28:17.574) I wouldn't have thought that either. I could see like some divides, but I also think when you go through quote unquote hard times, which you were, you were losing hygienists consistently. We're having to pick up the slack. That's stressful. We've got all these columns of hygiene. It does bring people together when they go through that. And I bet this team is pretty rock solid sticky with you for quite some time going through this, which I think is awesome. Mike, anything you've seen that you want to add to that or Stephanie, either one of you. Mike Walton (28:40.738) you know, I think those are the big highlights. you know, it's, it's, it seemed like there was always tension before and we don't have that. Like Stephanie said, it's, you know, that, that unifying of the team and it's because everybody's, you know, pulling, you know, a very important role in the office and making it work and everybody's establishing that relationship and Stephanie (29:09.907) All right. Mike Walton (29:10.817) It's kind of like not your right hand talking to your left hand. It's like having one big hand and it's all just working together. And I did look up while you all were talking a minute ago, I pulled up the other presentation I had with the profitability. So this was when we were four months into it. Our payroll overhead was falling between 15 and 18%. Stephanie (29:18.016) Okay. Kiera Dent (29:18.58) Yeah. Stephanie (29:25.633) Okay. Kiera Dent (29:26.89) Oh yeah, I wanna know these. I love numbers. Mike Walton (29:37.284) because we lost the payroll for the hygienist. Our average overhead for that four months was 48%. And then our overall production was steady, but our profitability was up 27 % over the same four month period the year before. So. Kiera Dent (29:38.504) Wow. Kiera Dent (29:47.306) amazing. Kiera Dent (29:56.854) That's insane. And to hear payroll numbers coming in at, you know, 15, 18 % when right now people are struggling to keep it at 30, 34, 35%. Everything's rising up. And so that had to just feel good to, I mean, I don't know, Mike, I saw both, I saw you for many months. And I just remember the stress, like so many think tanks, you're like, can't find a hygienist, we just lost a hygienist. And I feel like the stress and the angst that you are going through and watching you two tonight, you just seem like, yep, we have a plan and I'm wondering if there's now, do you feel more certainty? And I think Stephanie will come to you on this one. Is there more certainty that like your success, your future's in your hands or does it feel like there's more stress because now it's all on you? has it, has it freed you up? Has it created more stress? What do you feel Stephanie from your perspective? Stephanie (30:46.206) think making this change has recreated more stress at all. I enjoy this. I worry about it being physically hard on him, but I enjoy the team being a lot happier when they come in and them feeling fulfilled. And I think that decreases our worry. And I think a lot of people that own practices are worried that people, if you rub them the wrong way, they're just going to leave. If you ask them to do one more thing, they're just going to leave. And that was a constant stress for us. And I don't feel like that with this group. So, you know, I don't know if it's going to be a long-term option because, you know, I worry about the wear and tear on him, but they seem to really care about each other. it's... Kiera Dent (31:15.604) Right? Mike Walton (31:15.811) Thank Kiera Dent (31:18.442) Mm-hmm. Stephanie (31:39.249) Yeah, it's working for now and we just need to watch trends and see if it's going to continue to work or if we need to pivot. Kiera Dent (31:48.212) Sure, I love that. Mike, what about for you? Mike Walton (31:49.637) you know, I think, I think the excess of stress is kind of what pushed us to make the change. And I would say that definitely the, you know, since we've made it just with the demeanor and the whole office and, and the, the lack of the headache of constantly replacing somebody is, I mean, that's taken mountains of stress away. And, and, you know, I mean, I think that was the most valuable thing that we've done is relieving that stress because it was taken as toll. It was pretty hard on us. Kiera Dent (32:31.006) believe it. How does it feel Mike for you being like Stephanie was saying you are now the hygienist and the dentist and so like those two hands I always told my dentist every night I'm like hey keep those hands good because that's my job I tell him like when you walk through the crosswalk put your hands up so in case like the car hits you like they just take your body out but your hands are still good but truly I was like you are my job Mike how is that for you like you are the hygienist you are the dentist it is you in that practice Stephanie (32:35.292) . Kiera Dent (32:58.524) Is there stress on you feeling that or is like, well, I'm to do what I can do. And Hey, worst case scenario, I'm going to find someone to replace me if I have to. What, does that feel? Stephanie (33:05.843) So I think that was something that was really eating at him. And then we sat down with Matt at the dental advisors. And once we got the disability insurance in place and everything was, we have a contingency plan. So if the works were to happen, for whatever that the team is provided for for a little while, and then we have. Kiera Dent (33:16.446) Mm. Kiera Dent (33:21.712) Tell Stephanie (33:30.649) And I think that's, and Mike, you need to speak to this. I think that made him feel a whole lot better because there was a lot of responsibility on his shoulders is just having those contingency plans if something bad were to happen. Mike Walton (33:44.404) Right and like what she was saying, you you kind of carry that load of everything is dependent on me and what happens and You know, I think that's just seeing the numbers, you know once you see the numbers just like anything that it Relieves you a little bit and you know that hey, you know, you don't want the worst to happen but if it does you know things are provided for you know, as far as Kiera Dent (33:45.224) For sure. Stephanie (34:10.606) you Mike Walton (34:11.42) you know, hands and things go, you know, I see lots of people that go through years of work and I think if anything, my hands are good. It was my back that I was worried about, but you know, I think just repositioning and kind of paying attention and listening to your body too that, you know, I, I've had hygienists that only hand scale and you know, and I'm like, use the use of ultrasonic, you know, that's what it's there for. It's meant to save your hands. And so Kiera Dent (34:22.472) you Kiera Dent (34:38.833) Exactly. Stephanie (34:40.133) . Mike Walton (34:40.315) You know, I do most everything ultrasonic and if I can't get to ultrasonic, I hand scale and like I said, it's not, you know, I don't pay a whole lot of attention to that wear and tear, you know, because it's so minimal. But, you know, it's one of those things that, you know, at first I thought I wasn't going to like, but I've always been the talker with the patients too. And it's like, now I've got a little extra time to talk, you know? Kiera Dent (35:07.751) Yeah. Mike Walton (35:10.746) I think it's been a good change. Kiera Dent (35:11.058) I bet. Kiera Dent (35:14.842) It's such a fun thing and I'm so grateful you guys were willing to come on and share and definitely love you guys as clients, love seeing your success, love seeing the change. love just you sharing your experience. It's really fun. So just super appreciative of you coming on. And of course my mind's thinking like, well, if you guys are gonna stay this model, you might as well go fee for service. Like you've already got a huge tether to these patients, make more, it can do less. bring on another doctor that could swap you out. Hi Jenna. So really fun past for you in the future. I'm just curious as we wrap up tonight, like so appreciative. Any last thoughts, maybe things I didn't ask that I should have asked or things that you're like, Kiera, this would be really helpful for practice thinking about doing this. Stephanie, I'll pivot to you first and then we'll wrap with you, Mike. Anything I maybe didn't ask or something you want to add as we wrap up tonight. Stephanie (36:00.993) So it probably helps us tremendously that we do not have contracts with any insurance. So we're not straight up fee for service, but we do get full fee now. So that probably makes it a little bit more doable for us, but it also adds a little bit of stress on our wonderful front desk people because they're having those hard conversations. Kiera Dent (36:10.398) Yes. Stephanie (36:20.951) And then another barrier was there are only so many hygiene spots that we could fit in a calendar year. So we could literally with only one doctor see probably 2300 hygiene appointments in a year. And so we had probably 4,000 active patients when this was going on. And so we were like, what do we do? And Mike said, you know, a little bit of health issues. And so we wanted to decrease the stress. We're at a point where we could do that. And so Kiera Dent (36:38.376) Yeah, the big cut. Stephanie (36:50.006) we had to like downsize some patients and I bet every office would like to downsize some patients. And we just started with the people that gave him the highest stress or didn't value keeping their appointments. And we enacted a super strict cancellation policy, which is a little bit of a hard conversation for the front desk, but it's a little work upfront that pays off in spades and... Kiera Dent (36:55.946) Hahaha Stephanie (37:17.353) And it's kind of like people are coming to the understanding that this more of a specialist type office. If they truly value coming to see Dr. Walton, which they love seeing him because of that relationship, you know, they're going to keep that appointment. They're going to book it far out. And so we got to kind of let some people go that didn't respect, you know, his time or we didn't enjoy seeing necessarily. So, you know, I think that was, you know, something that was hard that we didn't anticipate. But I think it's kind of a good thing in the long run. Kiera Dent (37:53.596) Yeah, no, and you're right, that is a big downsize, but it's also an upgrade in life and fulfillment and happiness. And I tell a lot of offices, like the best gift, there was one dentist I worked with and they said every year for the holidays, the gift they gave was like, the employees could go through the list of patients of which ones give us the heartache, which ones are the ones that like we just grown, and we're going to dismiss them and we're going to actually like fire them as patients in a very respectful way, send them to another office. But elevating that, like it's crazy how much that can do for your morale. I only work with clients that I like. That's part of the Dental A Teams model. Like, yes, I understand that there'll be some tricky ones, but we really only, we like to work with our clients. love, and I love the name, my day is full of all the clients that I love working with. And I know Tip feels the same way. So I can only imagine giving yourself that life upgrade was incredible. So thanks for that. That's a, that's also a good, think, key point, cause you're right. Limited space. What do we do with that? And based on where you are in your career path, It makes sense to possibly downsize. Who knows how much longer we want to practice, but I think if you're really early on in your practice, that'd be something to really consider because downsizing a practice and then if you ever bring in doctors, you're going to need to re-increase that. think that's something that was a wise decision based on where you are. So Mike, anything for you you wanted to add or highlight? Mike Walton (39:07.389) Well, I think the only thing that Stephanie didn't mention, I'm going blank here now, but it was... What was I going to say? Kiera Dent (39:23.624) I chatted too long for you, Mike. Mike Walton (39:23.896) Caught me off guard there. Oh, I know, was when we made that change, one of the other difficult things was, you had six months of hygiene people that you had to reschedule to the days that you were seeing hygiene. And so that was a tremendous load on the front desk as well to move all of those patients and get them lined up on the days that we deemed as the hygiene days. But that was for... six months and we've made it through that and you know that's a huge load off of their shoulders now and yeah yeah. Stephanie (39:58.002) . Shout out to Jessica. Kiera Dent (40:01.93) Right. It is something where I think you guys have really painted a picture of it's short-term pain for long-term gain. Yes, those are annoying. Yes, those things are just obnoxious. And I think a lot of people aren't willing to do the short-term pain. So they stay in long-term pain thinking that that's easier. And so it is annoying as a front office to move patients, but it's what the benefit going to be. Like we have a pediatric practice that I worked with and we got the doctor where she has We work just ops in the morning and then we do all hygiene in the afternoon. So it's a similar, it's just split days for them. And she's so much happier, but they had to move. I mean, we're talking pediatrics. That's just like so many little appointments in a day. But that team, hunkered in just like your team did. And it's amazing at how happy this team has become, how much happier the patients are, how much more efficient they are with their time. So mad kudos to you and your team. Yes. Stephanie (40:55.583) And add those hard conversations about that. that's what people, a lot of people don't want to do is have those hard conversations to have the long-term benefit. Mike Walton (40:57.526) All Stephanie (41:06.927) That's what we've experienced is they just, even the doctors, they just avoid those hard conversations, tell them what they want to hear and just get out and. Kiera Dent (41:16.604) Yeah, and then here we are. So I'm so proud of you. I know Tiff has been proud of you. I know she's been a huge instrumental part to help you guys navigate through this and just work with it and just like really I think the tenacity, the grit and the love that you have is just so incredible. So thank you. I know it's late for you. You guys are East Coast. I'm West Coast. So thank you for taking time. You had a full day today. But really, just thanks for sharing your experience. And I think for offices listening, I think think outside the box like Stephanie and I Mike and go through those the pains, you will, it's the pain, the pain of holding on and like having that constant replacement, or is the pain of let's figure this out so we're not there. And I'm so excited, like, thanks for letting me, you know, eat my popcorn on the sideline of your life and watch to see how this unfolds. I think you have so many fun things to see how does this year shake out? Is this something we want to do long term? Or is it something where no, maybe we might go back to a more traditional, maybe we do a hybrid of what we've done and what we used to do. I'm really excited to see the future and I think it's bright and Mike Walton (42:03.859) Yes, thanks. Kiera Dent (42:13.588) hallelujah, you're not in the hygiene debacle anymore for now. We'll see what changes in the future, but mad appreciation to both of you. Stephanie (42:20.239) Thank you for letting us share our story. Kiera Dent (42:23.58) Of course. All right, you guys, that wraps it up. And for all of you listening, thank you for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

#949: Add Back $600K-$1M to Your Practice

practice reach uber ivf scheduling guaranteed offices phenomenal cancellations 600k hygienists kiera dent

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025 14:30

Did you know you're losing $600,000 to $1 million by having open time in your schedule? Kiera talks about what is likely impacting your schedule and how to fix it (without working overtime). Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Join Dental A-Team Consulting Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.974) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today is just a great day and I hope you're having a great day. I hope that you remember you are changing people's lives through dentistry. Like what you're doing, know billing, hygiene, hygiene checks, dentistry, doing the exams, doing the numbers, looking at the profitability, running the business doesn't feel like you're changing lives, but you are. You're giving people the confidence of their smiles and their healthy mouths. You're helping them have long-term systemic health. You're saving them from period disease. You're helping them have like preventing the risk of cardiovascular disease. You are doing such a great service in this world and you're also helping more people smile more confidently, changing their lives exponentially. And just remember you're doing so much good. So let's keep it up. And I'm here to give you all the tactical practical tips, infusing your world with positivity and changing this world in the greatest way possible. If you love the podcast, leave us a review, share it with a friend, do something of goodness today. You guys just stay here and listen on your own. Share with someone, send it to a doctor, send it to a team member, send it to a colleague, whomever it is, put it in a Facebook group, tag me. I'd love to see a picture of you where you're at. Tag us. It makes me so happy to get to know you instead of just talking to you. So share, I'd love to hear from you. And thank you for being a part of our family. Make sure that you guys are sharing though. keeps us at the top of the list. And my goal is to bring you massive value that you naturally want to be sharing. And so today my massive value is... how to give you back like 600 to a million dollars to your practice. You on board with that? Does that sound dreamy enough for you to share with someone to listen in to take some notes? I hope so because Tiff and I were actually talking the other day and she was like, Kiera, it's so interesting. I talked to practices and like, I'm not hitting my numbers. I can't afford these things. I can't do this. And the answer is that's true. But there's a simple, simple, simple solution. And then we're going to, I'll give you two. That's actually helping you. miss this money and it's so simple and yet we look at over all the time and it's your schedule being open. I know, I know. I took you to the top and brought you down to the bottom. What, Kiera, you want to tell me that? Yes, your schedule being open because if we take your hourly production and your hygiene's hourly production and we go and look at your open time in your schedule, if you just filled your schedule, it's like we calculated it. It's 600 to a million dollars in most practices by just having open time in their schedule. Kiera Dent (02:24.216) which then you're like, well, I can't afford these things. can't do it. Well, yeah, because your schedule's open. And so I want to give you some tips. Like I said, it seems kind of like, gosh, OK, we're going to do this. We are going to do this because 600 to a million just with an open schedule. So what impacts our schedule being open? Cancellations, not closing treatment, not getting patients to schedule, not reappointing our patients, not having a cancellation policy within our practice. Those things create open schedules. And then also I'm going to lovingly and directly say not having our team focused and obsessed on filling the schedule. Offices who are obsessed with filling the schedule, meaning we have it to 90 to 95 % to goal every single day are the offices that are freaking killing it. The other offices are like, we tried our best. See you later. It's five. No. As a front office team member, the expectation and the agreement we made was I was not allowed to leave for the day. unless my schedule for the next day was full. Now people tell me, Kiera, we fill our schedule, it's full at the end of the day and I come in in the morning and I have voicemails canceling my whole day out. Well, phenomenal, you don't have a cancellation policy. Number one, don't let them leave a voicemail to cancel. It's way too easy to break up with someone on a voicemail. So let's eliminate that. On your voicemail, can say, thank you for calling, if you have an emergency here, this is. Also, we do require. Kiera Dent (03:56.866) Also, we do require a 48 hour notice for any appointment changes and we do not accept those via voicemail. Give us a call back during normal business hours to move your appointment or reappoint your appointment. That was really, really clunky. Call back during business hours to reappoint or reschedule your dental appointment. Also, text messages, I do not accept them via text message. I tell them, hey, thank you for reaching out. We can't take any appointment changes via text. Give me a quick call and I'll help you get this taken care of. Amazing. They text you. So we don't have to worry about that. My dermatologist literally has no voicemail. I kid you not, there is no way for me to leave them a voicemail after hours for cancellation. They don't have it and they have a policy that if we don't have a 48 hour notice that we have a credit card on file and it's a hundred dollar fee, you can choose whatever you want. I'm not here to advocate that you should charge fees. I'm not here to say you should have a credit card on file, but I am saying you need to have a policy that your whole team is behind. I'm very big on you are a specialist, you are a doctor's office and patients should value your time. So whether we're having them leave you on, they put a deposit down, there's a credit card on file, but every specialist, I'm talking IVF, dermatologists, doctors, like everybody in healthcare has a credit card on file. And if you choose not to show for that appointment and you don't give them a 48 hour notice, there is a deposit that's non-refundable that they do take. Now you don't have to do that, but you do have to have a policy. Some offices, if you choose to cancel or reschedule your appointment, I never use the word cancel, they just reschedule because I have no one who cancels on me. They reschedule their appointment. If they choose not to do it within 48 hours, that's okay. We push them out six weeks or 12 weeks, whatever it is, and then we move them forward after they've waited for about four weeks. If they continue to do it, so it's a three strike policy for me, if they choose to continue to do that, then they actually get put on what's called our walk-in. list like, Hey, care, it sounds like you're super, super busy. We're actually not going to reschedule this appointment for you. just give me a call and you'll be on a same day walk in, that we'll be able to get you in if we have availability that day. but either way, there's a set policy and we're going to start to train our patients. So our patients stop canceling off of our schedules because remember 600 to a million, just by having open schedules is something we need to stop. And so looking at this, you can also have them sign that they understand that these things are happening, but really Kiera Dent (06:18.958) getting super clear on what our cancellation policy is, having everybody follow through on it and making sure, and you're not being a jerk. You're just saying like, these are the rules of our game. We want you to play the game with us. These are the rules. Do we agree that we're both going to play by them? Absolutely. Yes. Phenomenal. Come to our practice. We're going to be on time for you. We're going to get you back and we're going to make sure that we see you and we have the adequate time for you. That's how we play the rules of the game. So number one, keeping our schedules full. We don't take those cancellations. We make sure that at the end of the day, our schedules are always filled, filled up to goal. We call, you guys, I used to call all the time and I got so good when patients called to cancel and I'm like, my gosh, Mrs. Jones, tell me what's going on. like, I hope you're doing okay. Tell me what's going on. And I find out what her problem is and then I find the solution. Mrs. Jones, doctor was so excited to see you today. I understand you have a work meeting. Like thank you for letting me know. We do require a 48 hour notice for any appointment changes. Let's see, I could actually like if we could get you in and out by two o'clock today, does that work for you? Yep, that works great. Amazing. Mrs. Jones is in my schedule. I just move her time. We move along. There's so many ways that we can keep patients on the schedule. We can let them know like, hey, like I have people that like I can't make it send an Uber. If they're a big case, send an Uber to the patient. But you've got to have some solutions for them to where patients are staying on our schedule. And I feel like this is where if you own and your friend office owns that the schedule will be full and that's what their agreement with you is. Excellent. Hold them to that level. And people are like, but Kiera, patients are canceling for sure. Let's count for a 10 % cancellation. Like that's normal, but guess what? We've still got to keep 90 % of it full. We still have to go through that open time. Hygienist not hitting their goals. does it do to open time? Anytime we have open time on the schedule or if we like finish with a patient on time or like, let's say it's an hour and we finish at 45 minutes. For every 15 minute increments, let's have people make five phone calls. So we've got outbound calls going all the time to make sure our schedule is always getting full with people coming in. This is how we keep our schedules full. This is how we own it. This is how. And then the next thing is doctors needs to be diagnosing. I shouldn't share our secrets. We have a question for consultants interviewing for our company, and I'm always looking to see if they can catch it. It's the hardest one for them to catch. It's the schedule is so busy, but we're not hitting goal. Kiera Dent (08:42.052) Well, usually that's because doctors not diagnosing enough. So let's check at that. And doctors, this is not me saying you're doing anything wrong. But what I am going to say is, we being comprehensive and are we diagnosing comprehensively for that patient? Are we doing quad dentistry or are we like watching a lot of things because we don't want to have the conversations of treatments needed? That's a question you get to answer. I'm not your dentist. I'm not a doctor. You get to tell me that. I'm just here to ask you the question. So when we look at that, if we're not able to hit goal and we don't have these schedules filled, Is it because we're not presenting enough treatment? Is it because we're not closing enough treatment? And are we not calibrated between hygiene for an office and doctors to make sure that all of us are actually on the same page with each other and that we're closing all these cases? Are we reviewing our cases together? Are we looking to see what's going on with these cases? Are we looking to find out why is it not closing? We presented it this way. Are we recording ourselves and listening to them back to find out what are we saying that's not having these cases closed? Because patients are the dentist. They want dentistry. And I want you to remember that. There's an office that I coach in there. team is incredible. We have added so much to their practice and helped so many more patients. And one of their treatment coordinators, says, she's like, Kiera, when people come to the dentist, they want to do dentistry. So they want to do dentistry. My job is to make sure that they get the dentistry done. Like they're here. And I was like, that is the most beautiful way to think about this because you're right. They're at the dentist. They're here. They're giving up their time to be here. Let's make sure that we're giving them the information that they need. We're helping them. We're guiding them. And we're actually helping them have good, clean, healthy mouths. That's what we're here for. And so for you guys looking to see these are easy ways for us to actually add money to our schedule. We can afford things, but money is being lost because the team's not unified. So if all of us know no one gets to leave, it's not just the front office. No one leaves until our schedule is full. Well, hygienist, reappoint. You should be at 98 % reappointment. Let's not ask like, Hey, Kiera, do you want to schedule back? It's Kiera, we're going to schedule your six months. I've got you on May 5th at 8 a.m. same time as now. Can't wait to see you in May and then I'm gonna walk you up to the front if May 5th doesn't work for me I'm going to let you know we always remind them like we do require 48-hour notice for any appointment changes 48 hours and then I also really big on unconfirmed appointments because the schedule can look totally full But if they're not confirmed, they're probably not gonna show and so what's our policy for that? I do have some offices where we call the patients and say hey I've got to hear from you today If not, I am going to need to reschedule your appointment. They scooch off the appointment Kiera Dent (11:07.914) we fill it with someone who's guaranteed to come. If that patient comes, I get to have the fun conversation with them. Notice it's fun. Hey, awesome. Again, these are the rules of our game. We called you, we told you we needed to hear from you. And because we didn't hear from you, we did pull you off the schedule. If I have time that day, I'm going to scoot them in. I'm not going to do the whole thing. If I don't, I'm going to say like, I am going to reschedule you. Let's get you back at this time. I do need you to confirm your appointments because we have, we have so many patients that we want to see that every patient does need to confirm their appointment. Great. They know the rules of the game. You can even tell your patients new year, new start. This is what we require. So patients do need to give a confirmation. Otherwise we will be moving you off the schedule. It's totally fine. But these little areas and people are like, gosh, Keira, is it really worth it? To me, 600 to a million is definitely worth it. I'm not working any extra days. I'm not working any extra hours. I'm literally working the exact same time. I'm just making sure my schedule is full every day. If you wanted to change one thing in 2025, Keep your schedule full and have the entire team unified on this. I guarantee you, you will see results. Guaranteed. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Guaranteed. You can have it there. But it's a whole team effort. And I promise you, goals will be hit easier. Your team will do better. You'll serve more patients, and you will work less. People are like, Kiera, how do you cut down from five days to four days? You have full schedules. You're able to do it. we're and we're better with our block scheduling and we map it out. So we're super productive every time. So doctors are diagnosing treatment, treatment coordinators are closing cases. Hygienists are reappointing and schedulers are filling the schedule. The whole team is ticking together and we can actually consolidate. can expand whatever your goals and dreams and desires are. And we have good block schedules in there to fill it full. Then if we can't fill a block with what we're supposed to, we have a 24 hour hold on that. And then if we can't, fill it with something that's going to be productive for it, whether it's an emergency. We also schedule emergency times in our schedule. Scheduling is so clutch in a practice. And yet I feel like we just haphazardly oftentimes do it. It's so easy. It's so easy to add production to offices, schedules, and consulting because we work on this. We train the team. We watch it. We see it. We make sure they're productive. And then from there, we're able to help offices grow exponentially. So go look to see how to add $600 to a million to your practice. And if we can help you. Kiera Dent (13:28.056) We're experts at this. We're really, really good at it. We're really good at helping your team with the verbiage. We're good at helping them understand like how we change the voicemail and what do we do with the upset patients and how do we handle this? Reach out. It's easier to do it with a buddy. So reach out. Hello @ TheDentalATeam.com And as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Transforming a School Project into a Business Idea with Carl Demadema

Dentistry Uncensored with Howard Farran

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2025 34:22

Register for "A Night with Teacher Tina" on January 28th at 7:00 pm CT HERE!!I love sharing stories of dental hygienists who have carved out a new path in this profession for themselves. Carl Demadema, CEO of Dente Media, shares his amazing story of attending oral hygiene school in South Africa where he was assigned a school project assignment and ended up founding Dente Magazine! This really unique story is a great one and he also offers some invaluable advice for dental hygiene students.Submit your application for the DHB Scholarship HERE! Transcripts are available on Apple or by request. Slide into my DMs HERE: Instagram: @dentalhygienebasics Facebook: Dental Hygiene Basics Twitter: @DH_Basics Email:DHBasics@protonmail.com. Want a question answered on the show? Fill out the DHB Questionnaire HERE.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(10:30) Carl's Oral Health Program(15:12) Jobs for Hygienists in South Africa(16:58) Paying for Hygiene School(22:22) The Rigors of Carl's Program(26:59) Three Pearls of Wisdom Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ceo apple school project night south africa jobs transforming register paying fill acast slide business ideas hygienists

Howard Speaks: How Do You Compensate Your Hygienists?

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2025 4:50

People are complex and unique, so there's no blanket statement that works universally about the “right” way to treat your employees. Read more on the Dentaltown website: https://www.dentaltown.com/ Follow Dentaltown on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dentaltown/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farran-media-llc/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dentaltown/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/dentaltown

compensate hygienists dentaltown

What Hygienists Regret Most in Retirement!

retirement regret hygienists

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 8:43

Hygienists are terrible at planning for retirement. In this episode, Andrew talks about the top regrets people have during retirement and what things you should be thinking about NOW to avoid the regret later. Andrew@ataleoftwohygienists.com

What Hygienists Regret Most in Retirement!

retirement regret hygienists

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 8:43

The Key Role of Industrial Hygienists in Restoration: A Discussion with Dr. Alex LeBeau

The Restoration & Remediation Ask the Expert Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2025 50:11

In this episode of Ask the Expert, Dr. Alex LeBeau discusses the critical role industrial hygienists play in restoration. From evolving protections to addressing hidden dangers in disaster response, gain valuable insights into how these experts ensure safe and effective practices.

restoration expert industrial hygienists lebeau

Chasing unicorns: Finding the perfect hygienist-doctor fit

doctors ms chasing unicorns hygienists

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2024 11:19

It's up to all dentists and hygienists to work together to create a harmonious profession. This RDH sees both sides' outlooks and suggests how they can work better together. Miranda Beeson, MS, BSDH Read by Jackie Sanders Article Link: https://www.rdhmag.com/career-profession/inspiration/article/55139232/chasing-unicorns-finding-the-perfect-hygienist-doctor-fit

Navigating the Hygienist Shortage: Hiring, Retention, and Pay

The Dental Practice Heroes Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2024 24:13 Transcription Available

The problem: an ongoing hygienist shortage leaving practices overwhelmed and patients waiting. The solution: Find out in today's episode as we dive into this crisis and proactive solutions to address these challenges in your practice. From hiring and retention strategies to navigating rising wage demands, learn how to keep your team productive and revenue steady during the hygienist shortage. Tune in now!Topics discussed in this episode:The impact of the hygienist shortageHow to address the shortage in your practiceBalancing wage demands and practice growthThe pros and cons of temp hygienistsText us your feedback! (please note: we cannot respond through this channel))Join our 2025 OmniPractice Group Cohort Kicking off in January at www.dentalpracticeheroes.com/omnipractice I teach dentists how to make more money, work less, and create a team driven practice that runs itself. Join the DPH Hero Collective to Learn every single dental practice management tool you need to do it. You will get: ✓Comprehensive Training to increase profit and engagement in your practice✓Live Monthly Webinars to teach you how to run your practice✓Live Question and Answer Sessions to get you help when you need it✓A Community of practice owners to support and cheer you on✓System and Protocol Documents to Edit, to standardize your operations Visit www.DPHPod.com to Learn more.

community navigating system hiring shortage retention dentistry practice management growththe hygienists

237. How Many Hygienists Do You Need?

TLP Podcast For Dentists

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2024 19:40

Matt follows up on episodes #231 and #234 to talk about how many hygienists you need in your office. He speaks from his own experience (and mistake) about how to know when to hire that next hygienist and how to grow an effective hygiene program in your office. Connect with us: • Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching • Get access to TLP Academy • Suscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast • Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com • Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com • Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

hygienists

Audio Article: Researchers Compare Dentists' and Hygienists' Awareness and Clinical Management of Xerostomia

researchers compare dentists hygienists rdh clinical management xerostomia

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 5:10

Researchers Compare Dentists' and Hygienists' Awareness and Clinical Management of Xerostomia By Today's RDH Research Original article published on Today's RDH: https://www.todaysrdh.com/researchers-compare-dentists-and-hygienists-awareness-and-clinical-management-of-xerostomia/ 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/

466 Why Your Hygienist Hates You, A Dentistry Unmasked Feature Episode!

hates feature drs dentistry unmasked hygienists david rice

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2024 35:27

Are you ready for some honest conversations about the dentist-hygienist dynamic? Tune in to this week's episode of our podcast, where Drs. David Rice and Pam Maragliano-Muniz sit down with dental hygienists Danielle Avila and Laura Bettencourt for a candid discussion. Let's face it, frustrations can arise on both sides of the dental chair, but it's time to address them head-on. Together, we'll explore the common peeves that hygienists have about dentists, and vice versa, while offering insights on fostering a more collaborative and harmonious work environment. Whether you're a dentist or a hygienist, this episode promises to shed light on ways we can better understand and support each other in providing top-notch dental care. So grab your headphones and join us for an enlightening and entertaining conversation! Resources: https://endeavor.swoogo.com/awardofdistinction25

Audio Article: Life as a Lefty - Perspective From a Left-Handed Hygienist

lefty left handed hygienists rdh

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2024 10:54

Life as a Lefty: Perspective From a Left-Handed Hygienist By Hannah Neumann, RDH Original article published on Today's RDH: https://www.todaysrdh.com/life-as-a-lefty-perspective-from-a-left-handed-hygienist/ 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/

Effective Hygienist Retention: The Connect, Measure, Coach Framework Explained | Josey Sewell | MME

The Dental Marketer

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2024

‍Imagine a dental practice where team well-being takes center stage, resulting in enhanced patient care!In this Monday Morning Episode, Josey Sewell reveals groundbreaking dental practice management strategies, particularly focusing on effective recruitment and retention of hygienists. Emphasizing that the team's wellness is as crucial as patient care, Josey shares how attending to the needs of your dental staff can transform your practice. We get an insider's view into the common pitfalls in leadership that often drive valuable employees away and discover Josey's transformative "Connect, Measure, Coach" framework designed to uplift leadership and engagement.Dive deeper as Josey introduces her comprehensive five Ps framework—Purpose, People, Power, Prosperity, and Performance—where each facet plays a pivotal role in creating a thriving work environment. By setting and tracking goals within these realms, leaders can mitigate burnout and boost workplace satisfaction. Josey also shares valuable insights on how the delicate balance between vulnerability and authority can cultivate trust among the team. This episode empowers dental leaders with practical tools to enhance their leadership skills and build a dedicated, satisfied dental team.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Innovative strategies for enhancing dental practice management.Key leadership mistakes that lead to high employee turnover.Insights on the "Connect, Measure, Coach" framework.An introduction to the five Ps framework for improved engagement.Techniques for reducing burnout and boosting workplace satisfaction.The role of balancing vulnerability with authority to foster trust.Dive into today's episode to learn more about team growth and the team-centered approach!‍‍You can reach out to Josey Sewell here:Instagram: instagram.com/joseysewellEmail: josey@joseysewell.comOther Mentions and Links:‍People:Simon SinekJohn C. MaxwellBenjamin HardyDan Sullivan‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Episodes, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey, Josie. So talk to us. What's one piece of advice you can give us this Monday morning? Josey: Oh, I'm so excited about this. My piece of advice is that your number one customer is absolutely your team. Over your patients. And I know a lot of dentists probably panic when I say that, but we spend a ton of time and effort and energy on marketing and taking great care of our patients.But when we take great care of our team, that's going to translate to great patient care. And today I'd actually like to talk in particular about recruiting and retention of hygienists. Having been a hygienist myself, been a hygiene director, I've been a COO of a dental group. And what I will tell you now as a coach helping people across the country is that every single one of the clients that I work with, they are struggling with finding and retaining dental hygienists.And what I find is that a lot of people typically use COVID as an excuse. They'll say, Oh, COVID happened. It shut the world down. And we saw hygienists leave the profession. And we know that about 10 percent of hygienists did leave the field. And I think that that's really unfortunate. But now what we hear is that people just say, there's just not any hygienists available.They just don't want to work. They don't want to be in clinic. And what I would say from being a hygienist and being in the hygiene community is actually that hygienists do want to work. They do love clinical, but the reason that we've seen some of them leave the field and the reason that we see a lot of hygienists who have chosen A permanent job as temping is because we have a leadership crisis.And what I mean by that is hygienists are choosing not to work in your company because you're not leading them in a way that is meaningful to them. Michael: Okay. Gotcha. So then what specific leadership behaviors have you observed that push Hygienist and team members to leave and how can practice owners correct these behaviors before losing valuable staff?Josey: Yeah So I have a very simple framework That I find works really well for you to remember when you're thinking about leading and that is connect measure coach and so what I mean by that is to connect with people in a meaningful way and I mean trying to get to know them as a human being understand what's going on in their life even You Taking time to find out what their dreams and their goals and their aspirations are.So that's connect. Measure is how do we appropriately measure success. And that includes utilizing key performance indicators or KPIs. But with hygienists in particular, sometimes they're afraid of numbers and metrics. So they feel like if a practice is asking me to be a high producer or to track my numbers, that means that they care more about money than about patient care.And so what you have to do in helping hygienists understand metrics is you have to connect Those metrics to patient outcomes and to clinical care. And you also have to teach them a little bit about the business of dentistry, because when they have a greater understanding and they know how these numbers fit in, they absolutely will engage and appreciate those numbers.So there's a special nuance into introducing numbers and metrics. And the last one is coach. I love the quote by Dan Sullivan, that he says, people don't want to be managed. People want to be coached. our team members, whether they are hygienist or not, have a very different expectation in what they want from us as employers and in our work environment.And they want to be coached. It is not just about their job. It is about their life. And so we need to coach people up into a position. So maybe I'm a front office person and I'm growing into a manager position or I'm a hygienist and I'm going into a hygiene lead.That's up in my position is primarily what we do in dentistry is we're helping people achieve mastery over time. But so many hygienists feel like there's a very short ceiling to their career. I will tell you, I left clinical because I thought there's nowhere for me to grow. And yet I was motivated and excited about advancing what I did as a clinician, but I felt limited because my doctors did not actually engage in the same CE or passion that I had.for prevention or treating periodontal disease. So providing a pathway to grow. And then sometimes, Michael, we have to coach people out of our business. Because sometimes our business outgrows our people and sometimes our people outgrow our business. For those of you who are especially getting started in dentistry, some of you have this expectation that I'll graduate from dental school.I'll have my practice and I'll find this amazing team. And this amazing team is going to be with me forever. However, lifelong employment is a thing of the past. And a lot of people don't. grow up as a little girl or a little boy dreaming about answering the phone at her front office. And so we have to just know and recognize that people are going to come and go in our business and our relationships don't have to be dependent on an employment agreement.So again, connect in meaningful ways, measure performance, be very clear what your expectations are, and then coach people up in or out knowing that sometimes it is better for them in their life to move on. And that doesn't mean we can't still remain friends. Hmm. Michael: How would you connect in meaningful ways?Josey: Great question. So we actually have a framework that we've developed after working with literally thousands of employees and helping hundreds of managers grow. we call it the five Ps, and that is the various different parts of their life where we will have people.Take a look at these five important critical areas of their life and challenge them to set a vision for themselves and then also to set 90 day goals. So a very specific example is we have one of them that's called power and power is my physical, mental, and spiritual health. And it's encouraging people to have healthy habits for how they take care of themselves.In dentistry in particular, one of the saddest things that I see is when clinical careers are cut short due to different musculoskeletal things or injuries, and so Are we encouraging our people to have regular habits of exercise or mindfulness or whatever that is? And so we have a framework that we have people fill out what their goals are.And we sit down within the first 90 days of employment and we go through that and we just get to know our people in a meaningful way. And then we check in on them occasionally about every 90 days on their goals. So some people, it makes them feel really uncomfortable to think am I really going to ask?My people about their personal goals. And the answer is yes, you are because they are a person with dreams and goals and aspirations. And the more that you understand who they are and what's important to them, the more that you can connect those goals to what the business goals are. And then we can win together.Michael: So you said there's five P's, right? Josey: Yeah. You want me to go through all five? Michael: Yeah. Real quick. That'd be Josey: great. So the first P is purpose. And that is like your personal Y or your personal core values. And so this one is probably the toughest one for to define a vision for themselves or their 90 day goals.But what I have seen after working with so many incredible entrepreneurs, and I'll speak to you as the owner dentist for just a second. Is dentists have been successful their whole life. They probably did well in high school and got great grades. They got them into college and then they did well in college and they got into dental school and then they get out and they buy a practice.And so often I see people attach their personal worth. To their practice and yet the practice is going to struggle. Not if it's going to struggle, it's when it's going to struggle. So things like struggling to make payroll or having a team walk out or not being able to fix, you know, marketing, your practice is going to struggle and you have to have a purpose in your life beyond what your practice is.So that's what we help people do in purpose. The next one is people. So people is about relationships. And our relationships really are the greatest indicator of longevity and health. And what you will find is that when you're struggling in your relationships, whether it's with a spouse or a partner or with kids, or your people are, they're not going to show up as a 10 at work.And so how can we encourage people to take care of the people that they love and to have positive relationships. Number three is power, which is physical, mental, and spiritual health. The fourth P is prosperity. And so prosperity is going to be, it might be wealth, especially for you as a practice owner, but for some of your team, prosperity might be more autonomy of their time, or it might be saving for something like a house or a car, or, preparing for something in their life.And then the last one is performance. And that's what connects this personal stuff to the professional stuff. So performance is how are we doing in our job? How are we performing in our position? And that is a critical part of having this whole life. We talk about how everybody has one life space.And if we're not minding those five different areas, we will struggle. Now I'll quickly say, we hear a lot about burnout. We hear a lot about overwhelm and most people are blaming that burnout and their overwhelm on work on what they do on a day to day basis and they're quitting their job and they're hopping around searching for greater work life balance, which is the lie.right? There's no work life balance. It's work life harmony. And what I find is actually that burnout may not be happening from what we do every day in the dental office. It may be because I'm not minding my relationships or I'm not taking care of my physical health I'm not in alignment with my personal values.So what I find is as you utilize these five P's and helping people set goals, Long term and short term, you might find that there's decreased overwhelm and burnout because they're actually taking better care of something that's going on in their life. Michael: Interesting. So I feel like that's so complex though, Josie.every 90 days, do you follow up and be like, where are we deficient on which P Cause I feel like it would always change, right? every level. Josey: absolutely changes. So first of all, if you are a manager or a practice owner, it is not your job to ensure that your employees are checking off the boxes and achieving their goals.So you're not going to like, Hey, you set a goal of saying, saving 5, 000. Why are you still getting Starbucks every day? That is not what we're going to do. It's actually just about creating a safe place where people can verbally share their goals and feel as though they're seen as a human being. And so I do it once a year.I'll really just dig deep into their goals and I'll ask them questions. Then every 90 days, I recommend doing what we call a quarterly check in. That is a structured conversation where we use this idea of connect, measure, coach, and on that connect part, I just simply say, how are you doing on your goals?You know, How are your five P's? You said last quarter you were going to call your mom once a week. How's that going? So I check in so that they feel heard and seen, but it's not my job to track. To manage, to ensure that they get it done. It's really just about seeing and knowing who they are. And it's incredible.The experience that the employee has, I've had many people come back and say, I was shocked, Josie, how many tears there were. And not that it was tears of sadness or discomfort. It was that nobody had ever asked them what their vision for their life was. Michael: Yeah. Now that's interesting. I like that a lot. it opens the door a little bit more, So Josie, in your experience, how do leadership blind spots practice owners contribute to team frustration and disengagement and how can owners uncover and address these blind spots? Would it be? doing this? Josey: This is one great way to absolutely uncover those blind spots.I think that in many ways if we're a dentist and a practice owner, so much of what is happening is about achieving our goals. The practice is mine. This is, my business, my dream, and everybody's helping me. And that's actually not what most employees are excited about is helping you build your dreams.They want to build their own dreams too. they want to help you win, but they also want to win. So I think that that is a blind spot that sometimes we can be very self centered as an entrepreneur. And that is not shame or judgment. I am an entrepreneur myself and totally know. But the other blind spot that I would say is that we just don't have a good system for this and you need a good system for leadership.And so I'm sure if you're listening to this podcast, you're probably also a pretty avid. Reader or listener to other podcasts and there's incredible people who talk about leadership like Simon Sinek or John Maxwell or, Ben Hardy. There's all of these authors that we love, but how do we take the idea of what it means to be a leader and how do we actually execute on it?And that's where you need a system. And I think that's what I've seen. spent the better part of the last 10 years of my career doing is how to create a systematic leadership approach, meaning how do I do this connect measure coach, but how often should I be meeting with my employees? What should we be talking about?How do we have difficult conversations and how do we align with what I need in the business and what you want with your life? So I think that one of the blind spots is there's not a good system or there hasn't been a good system. And that's what we're trying really hard to build. Michael: I like that. I like how you mentioned how can I, ask these difficult questions, talk to them, play like, just for example, when you're approaching them and asking them about, did you call your mom this week?Kind of a thing, right? It's kind of weird asking your employee, right? So I guess, how can owners or leaders, right? Balance vulnerability with authority to foster a culture of trust and support, especially during times of high stress or change. Josey: Yes, I love that. That is the constant need of how we do. I love that you called it out vulnerability and authority.what I share is that I want to help you create an environment of high love and high accountability. a lot of people think those are two things on the opposite end of a spectrum. spectrum, but we can't have high love and high accountability. Now there is absolutely an important nuance and that is that I can love and care for you as a human being without being your buddy, where it's like not appropriate for us to go out on the weekends together or us to go on vacation together or, doing things like that.There absolutely has to be a professional line in how much we're sharing our life, but I do think that vulnerability. allows other people to be vulnerable. So a specific example is where business owners or managers feel like I have to have all of the answers and I can't tell people that I'm struggling.And yet, when you're real about the struggle or real about the fact that you don't have the answers, it actually gives your team permission to do the same. And we create an environment where it's a greater partnership and we work together. So, There is absolutely a nuance in understanding who people are and what motivates them and not getting like too involved in their lives, right?Not inserting ourself or feeling like we know too much or ask too many questions. Michael: Awesome. Josie. I appreciate your time. And if anyone has further questions, you can definitely find her on the dental marketer society, Facebook group, or where can they reach out to you directly? Josey: So my email is just Josie at Josie Sewell.com. Make sure you spell it right. j O S E Y S E W E L L. And then on any social media platform, you'll find me at Josie Sewell. Really happy to answer any questions that you might have on how to create a healthy, happy team. Michael: Nice. So that's going to be in the show notes below. And Josie, thank you so much for being with me on this Monday morning episode.Josey: Thank you.

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How Hygienists Drive Success: Secrets to a Profitable Practice | Dr. Bill Trout & Tiffany Wuebben | 532

The Dental Marketer

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2024

‍How can a well-managed hygiene department skyrocket production in your practice?Today we're diving into a conversation with Dr. Bill Trout and consultant Tiffany Wuebben to unravel the often underestimated but crucial role of hygiene departments in dental practice success. Dr. Trout, a veteran in managing multiple practice locations, shares how his operations thrive through strategic organization and empowered leadership. He brings to light the indispensable contribution of his wife, and his hygiene team lead, illustrating a well-oiled machine where each part enhances the other. Tiffany complements this by detailing how she has collaborated with Dr. Trout to significantly elevate the practice's hygiene department through focused analytics and the innovative use of CareStack's customized scorecards.Continuing the discussion, Tiffany emphasizes the significance of consistent training and comprehensive metrics in enhancing dental hygiene performance. The duo shares practical strategies for transitioning from a micromanagement style to one where responsibility is effectively delegated, allowing for a harmonious office environment. As they wrap up, Dr. Trout and Tiffany provide actionable advice for dental practice owners looking to strengthen their hygiene operations. This episode is a treasure trove of insights on building a system that champions leadership, patient care, and operational excellence, with Tiffany offering additional resources and guidance for those keen on further exploration.What You'll Learn in This Episode:The hidden importance of hygiene departments in dental practice success.How to use metrics and analytics to boost performance.Strategies for effective leadership and delegation within dental practices.The benefits of ongoing training to keep the team engaged and skilled.Innovative tools to increase productivity, such as CareStack's scorecards.Practical steps to enhance hospitality-based patient care.A roadmap to achieving cohesion and motivation among team members.Tune in now to discover how to empower your hygiene department!‍‍Sponsors:‍CareStack: Modern, Secure, Cloud-Based Dental Software for Growing Your Practice! With state-of-the-art features including Online Appointments, Integrated Payments, Text Reminders and more. Click the link here for a special offer: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/carestack/‍Guest: Dr. Bill Trout & Tiffany WuebbenPractice Name: Dental Wellness Centers of GeorgiaCheck out Bill and Tiffany's Media:Dr. Trout's Practices: dentalwellnessga.comDr. Trout's Email: troutTCD@msn.comDr. Trout's Phone: 912-665-2792Tiffany's Website: thehygienepreneur.comTiffany's Email: tiffany@thehygienepreneur.comGrab a Free Copy of Tiffany's Book!Other Mentions and Links:‍Patient Benefit Organizations:CareingtonConnection DentalDentemaxEducation:The University of GeorgiaPeople:Nick Saban - Alabama Football CoachBusinesses/Brands:McDonald'sBurger KingHardee'sIn-N-Out Burger‍Host: Michael Arias‍Website: The Dental Marketer Join my newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/‍Join this podcast's Facebook Group: The Dental Marketer Society‍Please don't forget to share with us on Instagram when you are listening to the podcast AND if you are really wanting to show us love, then please leave a 5 star review on iTunes! [Click here to leave a review on iTunes]‍p.s. Some links are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that we have experience with these products/ company, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions we make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money unless you feel you need them or that they will help you with your goals.

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#924: 2025: Getting Creative For Your Practice

confidence practice reach 3d confident historically kpis phenomenal getting creative hygienists kiera dent

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2024 14:49

Kiera lays out a ton of ideas on how practices should be looking ahead to 2025, including the right percentage growth to aim for, why you actually can take time off for vacation, and more. Episode resources: Reach out to Kiera Tune Into DAT's Monthly Webinar Practice Momentum Group Consulting Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Become Dental A-Team Platinum! Review the podcast Transcript: Kiera Dent (00:00.994) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I hope today is such a magical day for you. I hope that you are having such a fun time and I hope that you are wrapping up 2024, getting ready for 2025. I am so excited for you guys as you're wrapping up the year. And I just wanted to take a minute of let's not forget how to maximize and optimize our schedules for 2025. I know it can sound funny, but really if we take the time now, to project out, prepare for our year. You are gonna have such a better year in 2025. So welcome to projections with the Dental A Team podcast. As always, if this podcast has changed your way, your life in any way, if it's shaped you, if it's molded you, if it's helped you, please leave us a review. Please share this podcast with someone because my goal is to have this podcast in the hands of every single dental practice to be able to positively impact and influence giving tactical practical skills and solutions for free. So that way we can rise and elevate the world of dentistry. And that's my mission and my goal. And I can only do it with your help and your support. So leave those reviews, share it with somebody and let's make the world of dentistry realize how incredible it is that we're a part of it and give you practical tactical skills to take your practice to the new, to the next level. All right. So as you guys are preparing for production, the big thing you guys need to be doing right now, and I'm hoping that you do this before end of year, that would be optimal. is let's start building out our schedule for next year. And that means we're looking at the number of providers we have, the number of providers we might be adding in, number of hygienists. And then also let's look at our vacation time we want off. So often I hear, Kiera, I just can't take time off of my practice. And I just say, that's actually not true. You totally can. We just need to plan and prepare for it. And then we need to set our goals accordingly. So you need to be looking at your practice now and it needs to be a minimum of a 10 % growth. So we did a million this year, we should be doing 1.1 next year. So once we know that, we then go through our schedule, we figure out, all right, how many providers, how many hygienists, how many days off, how many holidays, let's look at all of that. Also, I would strongly recommend that you are actually looking at trends. And doctors and office managers, this is a phenomenal exercise to do together. So what we wanna do is you wanna look at trends. Historically, is our February always low? Kiera Dent (02:19.648) And I usually look two or three years back, you can make spreadsheets about that. That's how we do it. So we can historically look, all right, how was our December? How was our September? Was it slam dunk timber or was it suck timber? What about our February? Was that low? Was it high? What about our December's? Historically, how are those doing? And once you can get the trends, we can also make our goals and our, like everything way more realistic for us. So then you're gonna wanna look through, and we actually have spreadsheets for this for our clients where you go through and it's going to be, all right, in January, how many? days do we have available? How many days are we going to be off? What is our doctor out hourly? How many hours are they working? How many columns do they have? What about for our hygienist? And then it actually spits out a monthly goal for you based on the number of providers you have, doctor and hygienist based on what their hourly trends have been, which you can look back three to six months to see what have their, what are they historically doing? Then we can increase that. So maybe if our doctors are producing 500 an hour, maybe we bump them to 525 or to 550. But really figuring this out so that way we can make sure all of them are hitting the levels that they need to be hitting that then projects you your monthly goal because based on the number of days providers that hourly we're able to do that. Hygienist as you know should be doing at least three times their hourly. Hygienist that's the standard across the board. I know insurances can be tricky and that's where we also look to see, okay, what do we need to add to our appointments? Are we doing our fluoride? Are we doing our laser? What about our FMXs? Are there things that we could be doing because guess what? So many practices are able to hit this. And so I know that you're able to do it as well. It also means we've got to work on keeping the schedule full so we're not having as many cancellations. So we look at that. And then we also figure out we're going to take vacations in September because historically that's a really junk month for us. So let's do it there. We're also going to take them in February. Let's maximize the time where it's already slow. And if we can do that, we're actually going to do a lot better. And once you get all this data, it's going to spit out a number for you. And it's going to tell you, OK. based on everything you put in, based on the hourly, based on the providers, based on the days off that we're having between holidays and vacations, you are gonna produce, let's say, one million. Well, we know we need to be at 1.1 because that's our growth. So then we look back and we say, okay, what could we do? Do we need to increase our hourly? Do we maybe need to bring in another provider? Do we need to look at how many days we're closed? Do we need to open up a few others? Do we need to increase our daily goal so that way we're hitting it? What does that equate to? Kiera Dent (04:43.554) Oftentimes I'll look in offices like we need to produce 20,000 more. Well, a lot of offices are actually working 16 days a month. So if we need 20,000 and we've got 16 days a month, that's 1250 per day that we would need to add in. And then I love to take it to teams and I like to ask, all right, what is 1250 worth of dentistry? That's like literally one crown. That's a couple of fluorides, it's quad of fillings. Like it's a few night guards, a few like whitening. And we start to get really creative. If we know that I love to break it down and then that becomes your new daily goal for your team. And this is how we're able to take vacations, we're able to hit our goals with ease and we're able to maximize and actually set effective goals for every single month rather than just arbitrary. Cause most people would say, Kiera, that's way too hard. And I used to be this person where I would take, if we need to do 10 % growth, I'll just take 1.1 divided by 12, bada bing, bada boom. We need to do 92,000 per month. Well, That's great, but what about our low months? What about the months we're taking vacations? Like, are we just expected to produce a lot more? What happens if we have a hygienist that goes out on maternity leave? What happens if we have a doctor that goes out on vacations? Like, that becomes very hard. So if in the month of December, we're only open two weeks, well, I don't think that that month should be equally weighted as maybe August, where we've got five weeks in that month. So what this does is it really helps you actually maximize, optimize, take vacations, and make sure that we're able to hit our goals with ease. I love this model. I geek out about it. I work with my clients on this. We work in our consulting with this because I think this is something that sometimes can feel daunting. And it's just stuff that we just don't want to do. I'm building out my projections. And then what I look at next is, okay, if that's what we're producing as a practice, what are our costs for next year? And are there costs that we're going to need to bring in of maybe hiring new people or doing different things? And do we actually like is 1.1 or that 10 % growth? actually going to support and sustain the practice like we need it to do? Or do we need to get more creative? Being more creative, like could we add in other services? Could we do ortho? Could we do sleep? Could we do implants? Like what do we need to do in our practice? What things do we already have that maybe we're not doing? Like I have offices right now that are doing a whitening competition. That's easy ways to add in production on our schedule that we're already doing that we're just not maximizing. What if we've got a 3D printer? Could we look for night guards and could we do that? Kiera Dent (07:06.332) What about sports teams in the area? Could we do those? Like this is where we start to get into our creative world to really truly grow our practices with ease. And so this is where I wanted to come and just kind of give you guys a quick snippet of how you can actually build these out. And the reason why we do this is like I said, so we're actually able to maximize and optimize and be able to hit our goals with ease. Now things that might come up as a tricky piece is like, well, should I be doing CE? And the answer is, Like I'm all for CE, I'm all for doctors doing CE, I'm all for all of that. But I also wanna make sure that we're not being CE overload to where we're actually not implementing. So what I say is if you're gonna go to CE, there needs to be a complete action plan for you when you do come back of we're gonna do X number of cases. So if we go to sleep within the next quarter, our team's gonna set some goals around it and we're gonna try and actually accomplish doing, I don't know, 20 cases, okay? So what do we need to do for 20 cases? How do we track this? How do we monitor this? So whenever we go to CE, the CE is actually being implemented into our practice and it becomes a habit as opposed to a fleeting thought. This is what happens with ortho doing, I heard an office and they do a sip and scan and they bring all their patients in and they have like a fun wine night and they just scan and then they present ortho cases. There's software out there that can show patients their smile transforming right before their eyes to be able to do it. So there's so many opportunities for you. to get creative when you know what the goals need to be to sustain the practice as a business. So we go through, we figure out our provider amounts, we figure out what our goals should be, we figure out what we should be estimated for our production based on years prior, and we set our goals accordingly. And then we make sure what we're going to spend actually is in align with what we're producing. And then if it's not, we get creative and we figure out, should we do CE? Should we not do CE? What things could we do? What can we do to boost our months? If we know September is always low, What could we be doing in June, July and August to make sure that it's higher? Like, could we go back and for implant cases, look at all of our patients that are denture patients and send them a special letter. Like, there's so many opportunities and this is why I love to consult practices is because we help you think outside the box. We help you figure out how are we gonna be able to get to the goals we want, but do it with maximum ease and efficiency. How do we look and use our numbers as levers and dial that in? Kiera Dent (09:29.058) rather than just assuming like, well, it is what it is. Let's hope and a wish. No goals and numbers and projections don't need to be a hope and a wish. They can actually be built upon mathematical things. Looking back at trends of where we should be and then increasing based on where it should be. Also your 5 % increase on fee schedule should be in place too. So like that's where it's very easy to be hitting this growth with minimal effort. We just need to make sure that we're all doing it. And so I just really would encourage you to be looking at this, to be looking ahead, to figure out where we can take our vacations, to be able to take our vacations with ease, to be able to maximize our doctor's schedules and our hygienist schedules, to be able to set realistic goals that are truly achievable, to make our bonuses based on that, knowing what we're spending on the practice of all the numbers, and then being able to roll that out to our team. If this feels daunting, high five. Welcome, welcome to the world of business ownership. where these things might feel daunting, but just know it doesn't have to be hard. I have a practice where we started working on this and they were so nervous because they were like, Kiera, we're doing an expansion. We don't know how we're going to be able to do this. And so what I did was I took it with them and we did a very conservative projections and we did a high-end projections. And what's crazy is they actually hit the high ends. But by knowing what we needed to produce, they were then able to go set the goals and the KPIs with their team. They were able to easily track their metrics all the way along. And you put it in the spreadsheet. Where were we at based on where we projected? Why was it this way? We looked back at the trends. What were the low months? And what's crazy about doing this is it gives you confidence. Confidence you can pay the bills. Confidence that you're going to be able to pay for your team. Confidence that you know what to set your goals at and they're not just arbitrary. Confident that you can take vacations and not let the practice plummet. So many doctors tell me, Kiera, I had a terrible December. And I'm like, well, that's because you didn't plan. You didn't plan out to take two weeks of vacation. And then we were trying to cram in $100,000, $200,000 worth of production into two weeks. Well, that can be tricky. Also, if you know this, we can strategically start planning in October, November, December, making block schedules where we know what production we're going to be bringing in when people's benefits are coming due and we're trying to get a bunch of treatment in. Like, let's not be chaotic. Let's be strategic of what we're doing and putting into our schedule so it's easy. Kiera Dent (11:45.442) We're able to help the most amount of patients and we're able to just get to our goals with ease. This is the type of stuff that lights me up. This is the type of stuff where I'm like, we can do this together. And that office this year, they're celebrating hitting their highest growth and they took off the most amount of time that they've ever taken off. And they were able to help more patients and bring on more team members. And all those decisions were very confident because they knew exactly what they needed to do. So I... think everyone needs to do this. And if you need help, reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com We have so many options available for you for consulting where it's online, where it's kind of like a systems and you go through all the 12 systems and you have a group that we every single week. And sometimes you're even getting one-on-one help to where you can add one-on-one calls and you can get individualized help, or you are in our full level platinum with us where you're actually coming to masterminds and leadership retreats. And we're working with your team one-on-one, whatever it is, there's, there's options for you. So Reach out, but do this. I make all my offices do this. I work on it with them because I know if they've got the numbers, they're going to make much smarter decisions, better projections. And if you're like, Kiera, that's so hard. Phenomenal reach out because you're not meant to know how to run a business. You're meant to know how to do dentistry. And my job is to teach you how to do the business and to teach your team to do the business and teach you how to look at those numbers with confidence. So you're able to make decisions that you're confident about making. That's why I have the job I do. I literally am obsessed and passionate about helping business owners learn their numbers, to be able to make smarter decisions, to be able to feel confident in their business, that it's not just a question of will I be profitable? Will I make money? Will I not make money? That's terrifying. You are an amazing clinician. Let's now make you an amazing business owner. Reach out Hello@TheDentalATeam.com Get your projections there. Know what you need to do for next year. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Audio Article: A Hygienists' Overview of Halitosis and Taste Alteration

patients treating pediatric hygienists other podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2024 7:37

A Hygienists' Overview of Halitosis and Taste Alteration By Sahar Attari, MS.Ed., BSDH, RDH Original article published on Today's RDH: https://www.todaysrdh.com/a-hygienists-overview-of-halitosis-and-taste-alteration/ 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/

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#267 Zara the Hygienist — Zara Shirvani

Dental Leaders Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2024 89:59

Hygienist Zara Shirvani discusses her unconventional journey from genetics via acting to dental hygiene.Zara geeks out on guided biofilm therapy and discusses her unique approach to patient care. She shares insights on the importance of dental teams working together, her experience across multiple practices, and her views on evolving hygiene techniques. The conversation also explores her Iranian heritage, future career aspirations, including facial aesthetics, and her perspectives on professional development in dentistry.In This Episode00:01:00 - Introduction and backstory00:14:30 - Studying at Eastman00:18:30 - The hygienist's experience00:26:30 - Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT)00:36:30 - Iran00:41:35 - Working with dental nurses and practice dynamics00:51:50 - Blackbox thinking01:11:35 - Patient education and oral hygiene01:19:55 - Future career plans01:24:10 - Career and people skills01:26:15 - Fantasy dinner party guests and adviceAbout Zara ShirvaniZara Shirvani is a London-based dental hygienist who graduated from the Eastman Dental Institute in 2019 after studying genetics at Swansea University. She works across multiple private practices, is an ambassador for guided biofilm therapy, and is currently pursuing training in facial aesthetics.

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Why Patients May Benefit from the No-Hygienist Model | Dr. Ron Schefdore | MME

The Dental Marketer

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2024

‍Can a dental practice function on a NO-hygienist model? In this Monday Morning Episode, I sit down with Dr. Ron Schefdore, a trailblazing dentist who dared to challenge the conventional hygienist-dependent model and hasn't looked back since. He bravely shares his transformative journey, detailing the hurdles and victories of running a practice without hygienists. By prioritizing time with patients and refining diagnostic capabilities, Dr. Schefdore not only enhanced patient care but unveiled significant financial benefits. He offers a candid look into the operational dynamics of his practice, demonstrating how a focus on customer relationships can complement financial growth in the dental industry.Further into the conversation, Dr. Schefdore delves into practical strategies for managing the shift, particularly in scenarios involving the exit of hygienists. His methodical approach includes a gradual dropping of insurances to attract and maintain loyal and high-quality patients, while emphasizing the pivotal role of training and teamwork. Ron passionately challenges the traditional mindsets that dominate dental practices and invites you to do the same!What You'll Learn in This Episode:The compelling advantages of a no-hygienist dental practice model.Steps to overcoming operational challenges without hygienists.Financial benefits of spending more time on patient diagnostics.How to navigate network transitions for retaining top-tier patients.The critical role of training and teamwork in a restructured practice.Strategies to shift the mindset of traditional dental practices.Tune in now to explore the no-hygienist model with Dr. Ron Schefdore!‍‍Sponsors:‍CareStack: Modern, Secure, Cloud-Based Dental Software for Growing Your Practice! With state-of-the-art features including Online Appointments, Integrated Payments, Text Reminders and more. Click the link here for a special offer: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/carestack/‍You can reach out to Dr. Ron Schefdore here:Website: https://www.pharmaden.net/Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dentalcoachingsystems/‍Mentions and Links: ‍Education:Loma Linda University‍If you want your questions answered on Monday Morning Episodes, ask me on these platforms:My Newsletter: https://thedentalmarketer.lpages.co/newsletter/The Dental Marketer Society Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2031814726927041‍Episode Transcript (Auto-Generated - Please Excuse Errors)‍Michael: Hey Ron. So talk to us. What's one piece of advice you can give us this Monday morning? Ron: Don't worry about not finding a hygienist or having hygienist issues because I did a no hygienist model very successfully for decades. And I teach that to dentists now and how to do the same thing.Michael: Interesting. Okay. So if you can a little bit expand on, how did you first transition to the no hygienist model and what were the biggest operational challenges you faced? Ron: The first 17 years in practice, we built three practices. I owned the three buildings. Staff of 36 associates out of network financially.It was fantastic. It was like every dentist's dream, right? And what I realized after that long of managing people that that is not my forte drove me nuts somebody offered me some stupid money and I took it And thank God because it gave me an opportunity to grow up now being a dentist and say, you know, what do I really want to do?Why am I here? What excites me? And for me, it was spending more patient time, which a lot of doctors want to do. So I says, if I want to spend more doctor time, and I really want to help people with their perio, get them cure basically of perio, get them to look better, the things that excited me and the work I wanted to do, that means that I can't be chair hopping.Forget the chair hopping. I don't know a dentist that likes it. I mean, There is some weirdos that like it, but who the hell wants to keep jumping from chair to chair? This never excited me, never interested me. And not getting paid, they're all joining these cut rate insurances.Why you went to all the schools, spent all this money and you're an expert. Why are you doing that? I never bought into that and I had, a bunch of money. So I didn't really need to worry about the money when I opened up the second practice of a new hygienist model. we figured it out and very quickly in today's dollars, we got up to doing a million dollars and bringing home ham and I did that for a couple of.and I had six weeks vacation, sometimes a little bit more, took a month off. A lot of times, it was the best of all worlds. And so once I retired the second time, five years ago from clinical dentistry, I started getting on Facebook and just telling dentists, Hey, you guys could still have it all.It works out really good. You're having so many hygienist issues. You don't need those anymore. Hygienists are valuable. However, they're getting theirselves. Out of the market, they're pricing themselves out of the market. They have quite an attitude. So many of them think they're doctors and it's like, no, you're an employee.You might be a colleague, but you're still an employee. So let's not cross that line, it's just a weird dynamic. Now, I've met hygienists that are awesome. I'd hire them in a second. That's 5 or 10 percent of them that I've met. And this is a real problem with most dentists that I've talked to.Don't do a hygienist model. Get out of network or minimize the PPOs. Keep just the best ones. You only need 400 active patients. For this. That's it. If we all only had 400 active patients, there's plenty of patients to go around. All these dentists are fighting over. I need 1, 000. I need 2, 000. I need 3, 000 patients.That's crazy. No, you don't. You know, just, Just stop the nonsense already. So that's my advice. Michael: Okay. Okay. So then when you apply this or what systems or workflows did you have to adjust to maintain or improve your patient care without a hygienist? Ron: One column, see one patient at a time, minimize the amount of re cares that you do, and it's assisted hygiene.No, it would be stupid for a doctor to do hygiene all day long. Get that out of your brain. Oh, I'd rather do something else where I make more money. I could prove to you, any dentist can make six to seven hundred dollars an hour doing a re care visit. I've done this on dozens of practices.How many doctors are making 700 an hour without even breaking a sweat? I mean, That is about the easiest appointment you could do. Why not have some appointments during the day that are easy on us both emotionally and physically? There's nothing wrong with that. So, you know, 800 an hour and you get a 50 percent overhead, that's a million a year and bringing home 450, 000 pace.Why do we need a hygienist? Most dentists, if they made a half a million dollars a year take home, they would be very, very happy with that. I did that for decades, took six weeks off, and it was, dentistry's still hard, but you know, I only had three cross trained staff. So when you're doing hygiene, you minimize the amount of re care that you do, and you use a great cross trained assistant with you.That's all you need to do, and you fit those half hour appointments, it's half hour doctor time, half hour assistant time on the recare, that time that you spend with them is so much more fun, and it's relaxing in between all the hard work that we have to do, look, I don't have any physical problems, it didn't burn me out, it was so much easier than what dentists are doing.Please do this, please look at this. Michael: Gotcha. Yeah. if we are already, we have a hygienist our new patients are coming in, we're pretty bustling office, right? And then right now our hygienist left. We're listening to this episode and we're thinking, man I, I want to do this, but we just have too many patients at this time.would you recommend in that situation? Ron: That's when you strategically over 18 months get out of network and half the patients will fall off, which is fantastic because the ones that stay will stay pay and refer because they like your service, but you got to change the mentality of a PPO doctor to an out of network doctor.It's a big change and you need some coaching on it. If it's not me, get a successful other network doctor to talk to you on how to treat, how to present treatment to patients, how to make the appointments in your schedule. It's. It's way different than a PPO. You can't expect a network patients to get the care that they receive in a PPO setting.It's much different. So you gotta learn that. Michael: Okay, interesting. So then, how have the dentists you've taught responded to the model? Like What are the most common difficulties or misconceptions they have when transitioning? Ron: Number one, oh, it's going to cost me money to do a recare visit because I could make so much more money by going and doing blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.And that's their belief. And I say, well, why are you making half the income that I am? And I'm seeing half the patients. I had to change their belief system. And it's the common belief with dentistry that they miss. The biggest reason they missed that is because. Where do we make our money in dentistry?Every dentist misses this. It's the diagnosing. The PPO doctor spends two minutes diagnosing. Why would you do that when I could spend 30 with the patient? If I spent 30 minutes with the patient and you spend two, who's going to diagnose more work? Who's going to get more acceptance? Who's going to do bigger cases?Me, all day long. the thing that makes dentists the most income and the most fun is the diagnosing and helping the patient get through that process. They're not doing that. So when you get the hygienist out of that, and the doctor does more of that, it's great. Keep your hygienist. Keep her doing the scalings.Most of the office I see, 16 percent to 10 percent of their patients are going through scaling and replanting, or less. Where 50 percent of the public has periodontal disease. If you don't have at least 30 percent of your practice going through scaling and replanting, there's a lot of bloody profits being done.It's just a fact. And your two minute exams, I'll fly anywhere in the country. I'll follow you around, doctor, after you do the exam, and I'll find five to fifty thousand dollars worth of treatment every week that you didn't even diagnose or talk to the patient about. So don't give me that bullshit.Thirty seven years, I can't be bullshitted. There isn't nothing you're going to tell me that I haven't seen in dentistry in thirty seven years. I challenge any doctor at that one. I've done this already. Michael: Yeah. Okay. So then how has the dynamic when this happened your team changed the removal of a hygienist?Like, did you need to train your dental assistants differently? And how does this affect the efficiency? Ron: Yeah. I mean, You have to spend time with the hygienist, which was a lot of fun teaching them dentistry. My assistants knew almost as much as I did, and technically with their hands, geez, I had two assistants.They were better with their hands than mine. You should see their temporaries. Their were awesome. They were very good with their hands. So you might be surprised that one of your team members might be just as good, if not better than you. And they're quick. they come up with ways to make things more efficient.So you just spend time with them, nurture them. And there are a lot of smart people that really appreciate that can really help you, but yeah, you have to train them and be patient. It's like a child. You know, If you're at home, what are you going to do? Scream at them all day? You got to be very patient.Michael: Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. So then, did you communicate the change to your patients? Or, like, did you face any resistance? if so, how did you overcome that? Ron: At first I did, there's always remarks and dentists, this is one of the things the challenges they have is the patients will mentioned something about the hygienist and most dentists look like, oh, you're doing so bad that you can't even get the hygienist.I flipped that around. I said, look, I spent eight years in school. Would you rather have somebody clean your teeth that's been in school for eight years or somebody that's been in school for two years for the same money? And I had to shut up. Every patient then laughed and says of course, eight years.I go, good. Then you win me today. All right, let's go. And that was the end of it. You built more of a concierge service and a better service. It's like, holy cow, no doctor in this community spends this kind of time with their patients. That's what made us unique. And those are the kind of patients that you're willing to attract, that are willing to pay your fees.Most of my patients were not rich. They were middle class America, but they were looking for better service and they found the money or payment plans in doing a treatment in stages. Michael: I like that. So then is there any fear, Ron, where it's Oh man, I don't ever have time off almost a thing, right?Like I'm going to be called for emergencies for any little thing, for cleanings, all these stuff. It's too much on me. I want to start delegating these things that I kind of don't like like pro fees and stuff like that Where does that mentality go? Ron: Okay. The mentality is Doctor do you like to make money?Well, Of course Well, then you better find a way on how to do a recare and do part of the pro fee You're not doing the full pro fee you're doing part of it. So my sonic cleaner I thought of it as a perioprobe, it just wiggles up and down, because I go through every pocket and look at every tooth and take pictures along the way.To me it was a diagnostic tool. So doctors, it's how you look at things, I looked at it as this has given me an opportunity to find the work that I want to do. All of a sudden I'm doing cases I want to do. So it's the bad attitude that they have, the belief that they have. you got a lemon, make lemonade out of it.It was great. I'm lemonade all day long like this. I was in such a saturated market in Chicago that there was like 15 doctors within walking distance. I was always busy. I made more income. I took more time off and they all were doing the opposite of what I was. And when I told him about it, I go, no, that'll never work.Okay. You keep doing what you're doing, because others clean up here. Michael: Yeah, Ron: works. It works every time. You just have to change your belief system and I'll prove it to him. I've been doing this for so long. Michael: Yeah, no, that's wonderful. Now, real quick. One of the last questions is this model.Cause you mentioned where you were at in the location. Is it scalable for practices in different settings, like urban, rural, large or small, what adjustments would need to be made? Ron: It's easier to do in the rural area because you're the only one there. And if you give better service than any dentist, within 30 miles, 40 miles around, holy cow, they immediately drop all the insurance.They can't believe it. I can give you a bunch of names of a bunch of doctors that haven't to in urban areas where there's a lot of competition. New York City, Chicago, big cities that are wealthier. This is perfect because you don't need a lot of patients. There's patients that want good service in urban areas, period.you don't need a lot of them because it's so condensed. It's not that difficult to find 400 patients. you gotta get a really good marketer, but you gotta learn how to answer the phone. the doctor has to present treatment and treat people well.You have to learn those leadership skills and those presentation skills too. Michael: Awesome, Ron. Thank you so much for this. I appreciate your time. And if anyone has further questions, you can definitely find them on the Dental Marketer Society Facebook group, or where can they reach out to you directly? Ron: Okay.DRS Coaching Systems, Facebook page. Just go there. You'll hear what a bunch of doctors are saying about the coaching. And go to make an appointment with me at pharmaden. net. That's P H A R M A D E N dot net. Yep, at my calendar. that's my nutraceutical company. we figured out at Loma Linda, we did a double blind test and figured out the periodontal disease.If you give them a certain nutraceutical during treatment the outcomes are much better. The bleeding pocket depth was much better. We created that 20 years ago, used that on so many patients. go to there, go to the website, go to the calendar, make an appointment. I'll talk to anybody for free.I'm not an expert, I'm just going to tell you what worked in our office. what worked really well and what we achieved, most dentists are trying to achieve. So I'm not saying I'm some guru, I'm just going to tell you what worked for me. and I'd be happy to show you exactly the same way.I got no special skills. If I could do it, you guys could do it. Michael: Nice. Awesome. So that information is going to be in the show notes below and Ron, thank you so much for being with me on this Monday morning episode. Ron: Thank you very much for inviting me.

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86. Unbreakable: Emotional Resilience in Dental Hygiene School

BrushwithBritt

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2024 30:48

In this episode of the BrushwithBritt podcast, Jessica and I discuss the vital role of Hygiene Edge in supporting dental hygienists at all stages of their careers. We explore the challenges faced by dental hygiene students, emphasizing the importance of emotional resilience, competency over perfection, and the necessity of lifelong learning. Jessica shares her insights on advocating for patient care standards and creating a supportive work environment, encouraging new hygienists to find their path and embrace their professional growth. You don't want to miss this episode!

#180: Treating the Pediatric Patient

The Happy Flosser RDH

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2024 16:12

As a dental Hygienist we are tasked with learning how to manage patients of all ages and with many special restrictions and needs. In this episode, we will go over some of the primary considerations when treating the pediatric patient in the clinical setting. Additional resources: Study Sheets: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thehappyflosserrdh.etsy.com/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Specialized Course: How to be successful in Dental Hygiene School ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://billie-lunt-s-school.teachable.com/p/how-to-be-successful-in-dental-hygiene-school⁠⁠⁠⁠ Other Podcasts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠blog.feedspot.com/dental_hygiene_podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Take a look at a recent product I have tried and recommend. ⁠⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/thehappyflosser ⁠⁠⁠⁠promo code: HAPPYFLOSSER Email Me: ⁠⁠⁠⁠HappyflosserRDH@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dental Dilemma: Navigating the High Cost of Hygienists

The Millionaire Dentist

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 19:59

Dental hygienist wages are soaring, and many are still looking to jump ship. Casey and Jarrod discuss the factors driving this trend and offer practical strategies to manage employee compensation effectively without sacrificing your practice's financial health.Interested in more info on how to: Earn More, Save More, and Retire EarlyUpcoming Tour Dates: Go to our EVENTS page for infoFacebook: Four Quadrants AdvisoryInstagram: @fourquadrantsadvisoryLinkedIn: Four Quadrants Advisory

Episode 46 - Hygienist Hiring & Retention

Dental unfiltered

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2024 25:45

Join Matt Brown and Dr. Andrew Vallo in this episode of Dental Unfiltered as they tackle the hot topic of hiring and keeping dental hygienists in today's post-COVID world. They dive into the challenges dental practices face, share effective hiring tips, and highlight the importance of leadership and team culture for a happy, motivated workforce. Tune in for insights on creating a positive work environment that helps retain your best staff!

covid-19 hiring retention hygienists

The Aligned Hygienist and Her Passion for Ergonomics

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2024 33:22

If you're interested in working in the field of dental hygiene, I'm sure you know that prevention is KEY to maintaining oral health. Caitlin from @thealignedhygienist makes a great point in this episode when she says that dental professionals can apply this principle to their careers by preventing physical injuries to our bodies. She is an ergonomics consultant and yoga instructor who shares great advice for incoming hygiene students that you don't want to miss out on! Want a question answered on the show? Fill out the DHB Questionnaire HERE. Transcripts are available on Apple or by request. Slide into my DMs HERE: Instagram: @dentalhygienebasics Facebook: Dental Hygiene Basics Twitter: @DH_Basics Email:DHBasics@protonmail.com Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:05) Caitlin's RDH Origin Story(12:34) Her Tips for a Healthy Career(17:28) Paying Student Debt (29:34) Clinic in Hygiene School(31:45) Words of Advice for Students Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Audio Article: Tori and Exostoses - A Hygienists' Review and Removal Methods

methods removal hygienists rdh

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2024 7:52

Tori and Exostoses: A Hygienists' Review and Removal Methods By Brooke Sergent, RDH, BS Original article published on Today's RDH: https://www.todaysrdh.com/tori-and-exostoses-a-hygienists-review-and-removal-methods/ 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/⁠

Audio Article: Scaling Burnout - A Hygienist's Experience of Overcoming Burnout and Authoring a Book

overcoming burnout scaling authoring hygienists rdh

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2024 12:26

Scaling Burnout: A Hygienist's Experience of Overcoming Burnout and Authoring a Book By Kristin Maxwell, RDH Original article published on Today's RDH: https://www.todaysrdh.com/scaling-burnout-a-hygienists-experience-of-overcoming-burnout-and-authoring-a-book/ 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/⁠

How Periodontists and Hygienists Work Together for Patient Health with Dr. Mia Geisinger! BONUS

health patients work together hygienists geisinger

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2024 30:29

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Mia Geisinger at RDH Under One Roof to talk about her recommendations for patient care and how hygienists play a part. Dr. Geisinger believes that we each have a role in patient education and delivery of care, but that we all need to communicate and act as a team. It was a great episode and amazing opportunity to learn from one of the foremost periodontists we have today! We have a great partner in this episode in Therabreath and we talk a little bit towards the end about what role the right mouthrise plays in patient prevention. If you wanted to learn more, be sure to head over to https://www.oralcarepro.com/therabreath/. There, you will find a phone number to request a free sample! If you wanted to reach out to Dr. Mia, you can find her on social media @miagdds or #periodocinheels or find her email on her website Miageisinger.com

#886: Hygiene Handoffs: Up Your Case Acceptance!

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2024 12:41

Rereleasing one of DAT's most popular episodes! Did you know there's a direct correlation between a perfect handoff and your case acceptance? Kiera explains in this episode, sharing perspectives from both doctors and hygienists. Remember the ICRP method? She touches on that, and gives pro tips on upping that case acceptance through handoffs. Episode resources: Reach out to Kiera Tune Into DAT's Monthly Webinar Practice Momentum Group Consulting Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Become Dental A-Team Platinum! Review the podcast Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:05.806) 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, filler, 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. The Dental A Team (00:51.246) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and you guys. Happy day to you. I hope it's a great day. I hope you're having a ton of fun. I just hope you're loving life. I really do. And if it's a rough day, just know I'm giving you a virtual hug. It's going to be all right. Things always work out. I had somebody ask me the other day, said, Kiera, why is life so hard? I said, life is hard because we're not willing to accept that maybe our life looks different than what we were planning on it looking like. It's hard because we're resisting what's actually happening. I've had that. I've had my whole identity shaken. I've had just some rough, rough things in life. And I think all of us have. I think that that's what makes us human. But I think at the end of the day, when you can look at life and say, you know what? I choose to love life. I choose to be happy. I choose to see the best in this. I choose to accept that life is happening for me and not to me. That's when a perspective changes and all of us have that opportunity. So I hope. I hope that today is just a good day for you. hope that you choose that perspective to see that life is happening for you and not to you. It's growing you where you ultimately want to grow. It's pushing you. might not feel great, but it's pushing you where you ultimately want to go. All right. That's Kiera just a little like, hey, sending you some love in this world. So today's topic is nothing to do with that. all about hygiene handoffs and why they're important to case acceptance. Yep. Super sexy, exciting. I hope you're ready. I hope you're just like, yep, let's do this. but hygiene handoffs guys, don't think we realize how much the hygiene department impacts case acceptance. Hi, Jenis, you are awesome. You help us so much. I, you guys, we've done quite a few podcasts around the hygiene department. So today we're going to dive into the hygiene department even more so. And with this hygiene department, first of all, we've done, what would doctor do? And I just had somebody reach out and ask me, how do we really get this? What would doctor do? We just did a podcast on it. you've got to block it in your schedule. I recommend doing it for four weeks and I recommend doing it case study wise. So round Robin. And if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, go listen to that podcast, but that's just kind of a follow -up. Somebody reached out, asked me how to do this and then make sure that your doctors. Doctors, I've got to give you a huge tip on this. Please don't try to make our life hard like you did in dental school. The Dental A Team (03:06.19) We understand that every FMX has about 75 ,000 different treatment plans that you all dentists will create. We understand that. What we need to know in this, what would doctor do exercise is what you normally will diagnose. I understand that that tooth might be a filling. It might be a crown. It might be a root canal. It might be an implant and it might be a bridge. I'm well aware of that, but please doctors for everything lovely and awesome in life, just tell us. one simple thing that you normally will diagnose. understand you might go rogue. I understand it won't always be perfect and I'm not expecting you to be perfect. What I'm asking is that you give the hygienist and the clinical team an opportunity to feel confident teeing treatment up for you because that's most of the time what you're going to diagnose. We're going to give you a five to 10 % change. That's fine. You still have that, but please, like I said, for everything, holy, lovely, and good in this life, just choose one diagnosis for us. That's your general go -to diagnosis. We're not putting you in dental school. You're not being graded on the boards. We just need your basic one so we can win and we can teach treatment up for you. Otherwise, if you make it too hard, we say, forget it. We don't want to do this. It's too hard. They're always going to change their treatment plan. They're never going to treatment plan what they, what we think they're going to. So forget it. They can do it all on their exam time. Your case acceptance will be lower. Your patient experience will be lower and doctors, you don't have any help. So that's just my. I got on a little soap box for you, but I'm advocating for our teams and advocating for our doctors on this one. see both perspectives. So doctors just give us your normal go -to on that FMX. That way we can start to win and help you out as well. So then next is this handoff. We've talked about the I crap handoff. So when doctors come in, we introduce the patient, let them know if they've met them or not. Compliment the patient. They're doing great on their flossing. We give a recap of the treatment we've already discussed. Hashtag teed up. And we do a personal note. We do it in that exact order as well. Reason being, if I say something personal, the doctor can then pick that up and they have an immediate connection with the patient. Exam time drastically reduces. So those are all things that we've already discussed on other podcasts. Again, if you haven't heard them, go listen to them. Alex is amazing. She links all these in the show notes so you guys can just quickly click on those other podcasts. Shout out to Alex. She's amazing. She's the wizard behind. The Dental A Team (05:25.994) the keyboard for us that makes all of our show notes amazing and she makes your guys' life real easy. So with that said, next up is going to be these handoffs. So Hygienist giving that really awesome iCrap handoff, sorry it's the worst acronym but you won't forget it, to your doctor when they enter the room. Now some doctors are like, so Hygienist you gotta be on it. I hope you hear me snapping in the background. like, as soon as they walk through that door, you roll into your handoff. A lot of people say, but cure, I want to go tell my doctor outside of the room. Fine. That's totally fine. You can team up outside of the room, but in front of the patient, you've got to have this handoff. Otherwise doctors got to go through the whole spiel. they've also did with something missed. That patient doesn't know what was being discussed. It brings the patient into the conversation versus the patient just watching the movie versus being an active participant in it. Get your patient to actively be engaged, get them involved in. Like call your perio numbers out or your probing numbers out, help them co -diagnose with you. Have them look at x -rays with you. Have that patient be an active participant in the procedure versus a passive participant in the visit, if you will. So then doctors and hygienists, two pro tips that we've discussed before is getting them to say yes to you before we even present treatment. So, hey, can I put your bib on? Yes. Can I lean you back? Yes. Getting them to do it versus saying, okay, now I'll lean you back. Having that patient have autonomy and getting them to say yes throughout your procedure is actually teeing them up to want to say yes for treatment. Psychological guys, I had my whole undergrad in psychology and I love it. And I had a hygienist email me and she's like, Kiera, I tried this. My floor at acceptance is a hundred percent. Rock on. Shout out to you. You know who you are. You emailed me and I loved hearing it. It was so cool. So with that, Now doctors in the room, we do the treatment plan. Doctor gives a perfect handoff back to the hygienist. All right, it's Kiera. We want to get you back. So doctor is talking to the patient while giving the information to the hygienist. Do you see that triangle? I hope you do. Doctor talks to the patient. That way the hygienist hears what needs to happen. Patient is an active participant versus being just a silent listener. This way we have a perfect handoff. So then doctor gives the perfect handoff. Hey, all right, Kiera. So it looks like we've got some treatment that we want to get done. The Dental A Team (07:49.762) The great news is you're in good hands and we're going to get your mouth healthy. We're going to do this really easy for you. Doctors, tee up some, some confidence there. Okay. I'd like to get you back in about two weeks. We'll start on that upper right. We'll get that crown and that filling done. I know that was your biggest concern. Don't worry. We'll get that taken care of that way. You can eat again. I'd like to see you back in about two weeks and I'll need about two hours for that appointment. What questions do you have for me? I didn't say, you have questions? I said, what questions do you have for me? nothing. think I'm good. Fantastic. I can't wait to see you back. You're in great hands. Rachel, are your hygienist? She's going to take great care of you, get you scheduled back for that. Beautiful. Doctor, you did so many great things on that. You told us what they're coming back for. You gave us a timeframe of when they're coming back for it. You told us how much time they need. You edified the hygienist and you gave them confidence that you are a rock star dentist and they're in great hands. High five docs. That is something we need from you. Then we loop. Hygienist, you've just been edified. You've been given the information. Your job now is to take that information and either schedule right then if you're, if that's your practice protocol or take them upfront with that exact information. This handoff is paramount. I can't tell you when I'm in offices, I sit as a little fly on the wall watching everything go on. I hear this awesome handoff from doctor. I see our hygienist write it down on the route slip or wherever you choose to write it, message it, whatever you choose to do in your practice. I'm big on having something that has to be filled in so we don't miss these boxes. Then we walk up front and we're like, okay, front desk. Here we go. Cure is ready to go. We'll see you later. Cause you're busy and you're behind and you don't even say anything that doctor just said to you. Darn it. We just lost an opportunity right there. So now the front office is like, okay, we'll see you later. And then they're like, did you get them scheduled back? No, I didn't even know they had treatment. So this handoff hygienist is crucial and you guys are the best of the best of the best at it. or you're the worst of the worst. It's one of the two. So let's get you to be the best of the best at this. So that's why I like a route slip. That's why I like something that's written. I don't care how you do it. You can use a reusable route slip. You can use a blue note message. I don't care, but it has to be a template of those items. Otherwise it gets messy and sloshy. The goal should be that this patient knows exactly what they're coming back for, when they should come back and how much time they need to come back for. I promise you, if you will do this handoff. The Dental A Team (10:13.42) and make it your own, that's fine. I don't care how you do it. I don't care. I just care that you get these key pieces in it. If you will do this, your case acceptance will be increased. We won't have patients slipping through the crack and we'll be able to give them the best dental care possible. So then going up front, you literally say exactly what, what doctor said, Hey friend office, this is Kiera. So doctor did find some treatment on her and the great news is she's an awesome hands and doctor's going to do amazing work with her. Doctor would like to get her back for the upper right for that crown and that filling. That's what she was mostly concerned about. Doctor would like to see her in two weeks for about two hours. I've already got her cleaning scheduled. And Kiera, what questions do you have for me? I've got nothing. Thanks so much. Awesome, Kiera. You are in great hands with the front office. Say their name. They're going to take amazing care of you. And I can't wait to see you back at your next cleaning. Hi, Jenice. You take off and right there front office. Just got the handoff to pick it up to schedule perfectly from there. So hygienists do this, you edified the front office, you told them that they're great. So you left this patient in great hands. You also re -edified our doctor, reminding them that they're at the best place possible and you gave all the information. So now it's easy to schedule. Hygienists, you are a pivotal piece. You are like a cornerstone in this formula. You're the one who gets the information from the patient to hand off to the doctor. You're the one who gets the information from the doctor to hand off to the front office. You are literally this hinge between doctor, front office, doctor and patient. you hinge into areas that are pivotal to the patient experience and the patient success. So try it out. Listen back to this podcast, deep dive on it, role play. I can't wait to hear it. You guys are going to do incredible. Hi, Janice. You are paramount and so, so, so valuable in these handoffs. So try it out. Let us know how it goes. And if you guys need help, we do this in practices. We role play it with you guys via zoom or in person and help you guys really dial this verbage in because at the end of the day, I believe great case acceptance comes from great verbiage. It's all about our confidence and it's about the way we say things, making it easy for patients to say yes. All right guys, as always, thanks for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast. The Dental A Team (12:22.505) 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.

rock doctors reach patients cure vip fantastic reason psychological hashtags hygiene exam compliment darn jenis hygienists fmx case acceptance handoffs jenice kiera dent icrp

#883: Read the Schedule Like a Pro

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2024 24:32

Britt and Tiff talk about how to look outside your department's corner of the schedule, including the power of X's and slashes and why this method will set your practice up for success. Episode resources: Reach out to Tiff and Britt Tune Into DAT's Monthly Webinar Practice Momentum Group Consulting Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Become Dental A-Team Platinum! Review the podcast Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:07.502) Hello, Dental A Team. I am so excited today. I normally bring you Dana. She is my tried and true like can grab you in a pinch podcaster. And today I'm so excited. I am podcasting with the one and only, no BS, Britt. Brittany Stone is here with us today. Britt, thank you so much for being open to this. I know I like last minute through it on our schedule this week. Totally appreciate you. How are you? Welcome back to the podcasting world. How are you? Britt (00:39.891) I it's been a little while. I've done like some book club, but it's been a while since I've been on with consultants. So I'm excited to be here doing good. I mean, it's always fun. Whenever you get to spend some time with Tiff, it's a good time. The Dental A Team (00:50.061) Well, thank you. Thank you very much. I totally agree with you on that. I love spending time with you. And I remember way back when we started doing the video ones, we were in Zoom and I was like, you and I were trying to figure it out. And I like, this is so cool because we get to hang out. But then also I have to make sure my hair is done. So like, there's that aspect to it. But I'm excited you're here. Thank you, Dana. Thanks to you. We did a ton of podcasts the other day. Britt (00:52.945) you Britt (01:09.967) Thank Britt (01:14.866) you The Dental A Team (01:17.727) And we like we went on this one that gosh guys, it's so good. So go back and listen to all of the ones that have that have released this month because it was really good. But we went a little long and so I was like, shoot, we got this one more we got to do. So let me shift it over to Britt. It was perfect. And today, it's actually perfect as well because I know you've got your hygiene background, which I love to pull in from you and Dana, I've got my assisting background, but you also have HR management, you've done like health management, you've done, obviously you've ran practices, you've ran multiple multiple practices, you've done all these pieces. And what I wanted to talk about today was really learning how to read the schedule like a pro. And I think you have seen the schedule in so many different aspects as a provider, as a manager, as a scheduling coordinator, treatment coordinator, all of those places that it'll be really cool to see and hear your thoughts on that. So I'm excited to bring that in. And I think To start us off reading the schedule like a pro, I really, really want to hear from you, Britt, what your thoughts are from a hygiene perspective on sitting in a hygiene chair, you've got your hygiene schedule, and then the rest of the schedule, right? There's the rest of the practice has a schedule. What is it like as a hygienist sitting in that chair, reading the schedule, your own schedule and looking around? Is that something that like hygienists are trained to look for? Are they prone to look at the other spaces and see where is my doctor? What is that like? Cause I've, I've not sat in that chair before, so I'm personally intrigued. Britt (02:52.39) Tiff's the assistant chair that is like, what I'm watching like three chairs at once and you've got one. So I mean, with hygiene, it's easy for hygienists, I think, to get siloed, whether we're running a single column or we're running like an accelerated hygiene and running two columns. It's really easy for us to just get stuck in what we have for the day and not always take a look out at the schedule and see what's going on as a whole. So I'll encourage all the hygienists out there to The Dental A Team (02:56.393) Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly. The Dental A Team (03:13.311) Yeah. Britt (03:20.498) look outside of just your column. think morning huddles help big time because that allows us to see, right, I can see what I have going on in my day. Assistance doc can flag things that they have going on in their day. If there's a time that's super crazy that I can be aware of around 10, like if I happen to have some time, let me go check in on them and see what's going on. Or if we have open time, is there anybody in my schedule that might have treatment that we can convert over to same day treatment to help look at the schedule as a whole? So for hygiene, it's super easy for us to get siloed in our little column and just take care of our little world over there and not always be aware of what's going on. I think assistants can do it too, if it's a multiple doctor practice that they just get stuck in their one doctor and we're not looking out at everybody else, but definitely encouraged, look at the schedule as a whole. And if you have an idea in the morning of what's going on and if the team communicates really well, like whatever we're using messaging wise, if something changes in the schedule and we make sure everybody knows, especially if it's something that I can help out with, then keep that communication open, because I think that helps us all work the schedule together. The Dental A Team (04:17.618) Yeah. The Dental A Team (04:23.24) I love that. love that. Okay, I was just curious. I was like, gosh, reading the schedule is not it's not easy. First of all, like it's not easy learning how to read the schedule when you've got a ton of providers or you've got I've got some doctors who love a single column and they love to work out of one column with one or two assistants and like they've got it. But then I've got other doctors who are like, give me three or four three or four hygiene plus at least three rooms dedicated to me and I want patients across the board. I'm like, okay, that's where it gets a little wild. So I always wonder for those practices, either direction, like, is it easy from that space to look across the board for a hygienist to say, this is where my doctor's at, or this is why he's not here yet. So thank you for that perspective. I think so I say when I was younger, my younger years, I used to say that the schedule was like a game of Tetris. Britt (04:51.082) huh. The Dental A Team (05:18.545) And I was like, it's a game, it's Tetris and I love Tetris and it's like putting it all together. And then as I grew into dentistry and I learned some more, I realized it's not actually Tetris, right? Because Tetris is like, where do things just fit together? And if we build a schedule like Tetris, those are the days when our providers, our doctors and our assistants even are like, what did you do to my schedule? So those are, I think of the Tetris schedulers. Britt (05:18.748) That's it. The Dental A Team (05:48.078) as the no white space. They're like, well, you see a space, fill a space. It doesn't matter what's there. It doesn't matter what goes there or who goes there, whatever else is happening. So, Tetris is the no white space game. Sudoku is the schedule game. Because you've got this little box and you've got one to nine numbers that need to go into this one box. But then you've got other boxes that one to nine also has. And you have to look in all of these different directions. So, you're looking up, down, across, diagonal. Britt (05:50.96) Thanks. The Dental A Team (06:16.589) and you can't have a repeated number in any of those spaces. So when I'm putting an appointment on a schedule, and if I'm gonna sit here and say you're gonna learn how to read a schedule like a pro, you need to go learn how to do Sudoku first. So if you know how to do Sudoku, you know how to look at the schedule because if I'm an appointment on the schedule, I'm looking across at all of those different spaces because sometimes what might be diagonal from me, from this space, might not be the same exact time, but diagonal. Britt (06:27.189) Hahaha. The Dental A Team (06:42.807) maybe my doctor is still in a new patient exam over in hygiene and I've discredited that not realizing it because I didn't look at all of the different angles. So when I'm putting an appointment on the schedule, I'm looking at it like Sudoku from whatever chair, even hygiene. If I'm putting an appointment in hygiene, I'm looking across the board to see, can my doctor get over and do the exam? Is this a good space for a new patient or is my doctor? in the sedation, right? How many times do practices have that? They're like, tip, I'm literally the sedation provider. I'm the only doctor in the practice and they've got new patients over here on the, on the hygiene schedule. And I'm like, my gosh, we did not look across the board. So I love to think of Sudoku and then adding that factor, which I know Britt you love and probably loved as a hygienist as well, the X's and slashes. So we can Sudoku it and then put those X's and slashes in there. Now, Britt, you even in hygiene, Britt (07:22.527) Yeah. The Dental A Team (07:40.034) You can just look at the doctor schedule and know where he or she is. I love X's and slashes. I know we talk about it a lot. We talk about blocks to simplify. That's another aspect, but Brit, tell me implementing, you consult, you've consulted for years. You have a handful of clients still that are near and dear to your heart. Hello to all of you. She loves you. And you've implemented X's and slashes. Britt (07:44.636) Mm -hmm. Britt (08:00.912) Yeah. The Dental A Team (08:06.527) and how to read a schedule in a lot of those practices, not all of them. So when I say Xs and slashes, number one, mean, Xs are doctor time, slashes are assistant time in most cases. Some of your programs, think, Eagle, soft and open, then I'll do like colors or blocks or whatever, but it's the same theory. Just switch it out. How did you, Britt, and how do you help teams to implement the Xs and slashes? within the clients that you work with, because you do work with a lot of teams and how do you find is the easiest way to implement those X's and slashes and gain the understanding on. Britt (08:42.928) Yeah, Xs and slashes. So two things that help us to be able to at least set us up for success with a schedule a little better. Block scheduling, because it's something like we've had a chance to review, we create our blocks. So in general, in general, we're creating kind of an ideal day with our block scheduling. And then our Xs and slashes implementing those is just all right, by the appointment, let's say it's a crown appointment. How much time at the beginning is assistant time? How much at the end is assistant time? And it's doctor time in the middle. So it's just breaking down truly for an appointment, which as you do this and as you think about it, I would just go through all our procedures. How much time is doctor time? How much time is assistant time? It's also a chance for some of you to evaluate how efficient we are with some of our appointments. Because I've definitely sat there with some clients and it's like, well, after this, well, then they might just sit there for like 10, 15 minutes. And it's like, all right, well. The Dental A Team (09:29.685) I love that. The Dental A Team (09:36.79) huh. Britt (09:38.876) Just sitting there is an efficient use of patient's time, nor our time. So how can we tighten it up, get it more efficient by looking at those Xs and slashes? And that's really it is seeing breaking down the time. How does it break down most systems? You can pre -program those things. not, you combine treatment. It's not always going to come up perfect. So reevaluate it. And there's ways to communicate those Xs and slashes from the doctor to the scheduler. So we make sure we get them set up right. The Dental A Team (10:04.242) Thank you. Britt (10:06.14) but it's really just planning it out, seeing how much time it's gonna take. And then between your blocks and your Xs and slashes, just remember it's not always gonna be an automatic like plug and play. Like we still wanna look at the schedule as a whole and confirm that like, yep, everything looks good there. That makes sense with where I'm putting it. I think it's kind of like a scenario where it's like. Great, go put the box on the table. But I forgot there's something else on the table. And if you put that box on there, it's going to fall off. But someone's like, well, I put it on the table and it fell off. But you told me to put it on the table. So look at the whole schedule. some common sense. Make sure it makes sense when you actually put that appointment in the schedule when you're using your block scheduling and your x's and slashes. The Dental A Team (10:51.291) I love that. That's so much good information. So reading the schedule like a pro, we're thinking about it like Sudoku rather than Tetris, but then we're adding that aspect of the blocks and the Xs and slashes to enable us to read it. So Xs and slashes taking what you just said, Britt, right? We're going to time probably time journal, right? You said let's make sure that we're efficiently using our time. And I think to bringing reality so that we can schedule it that way. Britt (11:19.665) Mm -hmm. The Dental A Team (11:20.061) When it comes to that, I find with a lot of my clients that number one, one of the first things I hear from my clients is it's never the same. It's always different because every patient is different. And I'm like, totally. I do not discredit that we are not working on robots. We are working on human beings a hundred percent, but there is a trend. There is a commonality somewhere. And when we start doing what Brett's talking about, where we're really looking at the amount of time that we're using, that's where you find those trends. So you're going to find spaces where you're like, holy cow, this takes me way longer than I thought it did. I need to like be more efficient and use this time more wisely. And then there's going to be spaces where you're like, wow, this is the same every single time you're finding the average time per procedure. And then you're allocating where was my assistant time? Where was my doctor time? The reason that I love access and flashes for it is because a lot of practices forget to Britt (11:55.739) Mm -hmm. The Dental A Team (12:17.341) they forget to remember that the assistant needs that time. so doctors oftentimes will be like, yeah, well, we'll get you in for that crown. It'll be like, my time's like 40 minutes max. Your time is 40 minutes max, right? But it's an hour to an hour and a half appointment, depending on the time, the assistant, like all of those pieces. And we forget those in what we're saying. So then we come back to a schedule and The assistants are like, what the heck did you do? And then like, doctor said 40 minutes. Well, yeah, but our assistant's new time. So the X's and slashes ensure that that gets in there. And then building the blocks based off of your average time helps to make sure that it's easy to schedule. So when we're reading the schedule, if we already have these pieces allocated in our system to make it easy, now reading the schedule like a pro isn't an issue. Britt (12:59.474) Mm The Dental A Team (13:12.484) It's when we over complicate things, we forget that there are systems to make things easier and more efficient, we over complicate it. And then we're like, gosh, they don't understand it. They don't know how to schedule. just don't. They're not intuitive enough to understand what the schedule needs to be. Take that out. Like don't require people to be intuitive. That's crazy. Don't require people to just know, put things in place that makes it so that anyone can build and read a schedule. like you're asking them to. So that's my soapbox for the day. Sudoku reading. If you don't know what Sudoku is or you've never done it, go do it at least once. It's not super easy. They have like an easy version. That's my favorite. But just kind of see what it's like. I think it just makes, I it challenges your brain to look in different ways. So treat the schedule like Sudoku. Britt (13:46.46) Yes. Britt (13:57.906) Thank The Dental A Team (14:06.026) Utilize your X's and slashes in your block. So go time journal if you don't know what it is or if you haven't time journaled in a while Britt, how often do you have doctors time journal? What are you? What's your cadence for that? Like I don't have a set where I'm like always like, it's time to time journal But when do you think that pops back up because I have a lot of doctors listening right now They're like, I did that. I don't need to do that again. When do you think that pops back up for people? Britt (14:31.11) Well, I think that yearly is not a bad idea, but if we're struggling with our schedule, either running late or having extra time, it's time to do it because we need to reevaluate where our appointments are. So if you're like, what we did a few years ago, but we're having this struggle, well, guess what? If you're having a struggle, it's time to do it again because we need to dial in or adjust those times, right? And sometimes, a lot of times it's doctors getting quicker on things, right? That's a lot of times what it is. The Dental A Team (14:49.476) Yeah. Britt (14:58.298) Sometimes it's that we start jamming too much in together. They're running a million places and an appointment that really should, like it's still taking them the same amount of time if they went and sat in one spot, but we've got them jumping around. So we need a reality now of how long does it take now with how we have the schedule set up. The Dental A Team (15:15.609) I love that you said that. Yes, because things change. It's kind of like expecting your patients to never have a medical history change or like your patients that came in with the laundry list of medications two years ago that they're still on the same laundry list of medications. Like there's either added ones or they've changed. So to think that our schedule is the same as it was the last time we did it is just crazy talk to me, even if you're using block scheduling. your new patients have fluctuated, your team size has fluctuated. If you've added providers, hygiene or doctor, if you've added assistance, front office, like anything that's changed within the practice, it's like expecting people's mouths to be the same every time, but they've changed medications or they've changed the type of food that they're eating. You guys know what gut health does. Like all of those things change the body. All of those aspects of life change the practice. So doing your time journaling and just checking yourself every I think once a year is fantastic. Absolutely. And then every time you see like, something's changed. like to say, if it's not easy, it's not working. It's not that life is so easy. You don't have to work. It's that if you're pounding your head against a wall and something is hard, continuously difficult, and you're like, gosh, I'm just like running uphill. That's the universe saying something's not working. So take a step back, look at it from a different view and make sure that those Britt (16:13.98) you Britt (16:20.454) The Dental A Team (16:40.919) times that your calibration is actually in place correctly, and maybe go back and recalibrate your appointment. So time journaling, figuring out those X's and slashes, implementing block scheduling, and then looking at the schedule like Sudoku, even if you have the blocks in there, still look you guys like the blocks and the X's and slashes are meant to take some of the thinking out to make it a little bit easier because it makes it so it's not so hard. But it doesn't mean that it's a perfect system. Sometimes things pop in there sometimes things change and you have to still look at everything like Sudoku So you're looking at it from every different angle time journal X's and slashes Blocks to simplify the scheduling and then learn how to play Sudoku in real life and with your schedule you guys those are the biggest tips I have on reading the schedule like a pro now Brit real quick to wrap up from sitting in a hygiene perspective because that's gonna be dental assistant inside or mostly from office utilizing those those aspects and those tips from a hygiene perspective. How how do you think would be easy? Like what's an easy way you could tell them to be able to see the full schedule? Maybe you know, three columns on doctor and we've got four hygiene or something from their chair, like how are they able to look at it? And what do you suggest for your hygienist when you have these conversations? Britt (18:05.776) Yeah, my biggest thing is make sure that you look at the schedule in the morning, right? So you know what the day is going to be and you're not just looking at your schedule. Look at if you've got multiple hygiene, right? Look at hygiene team and look at doctor side and look at your day and see if there's anything that you can do to help that schedule run smoother. And sometimes even you guys know, right? Hygienist, sometimes you'll see something in the schedule that it's like, that's That's going to be a rough time and sometimes other team members may not notice it. And that's where we work together as a team. So I will plug huddle all day long and walking out of huddle, I will tell my teams walking out of huddle, you should feel like we have a plan to win the day. The day should run smooth. If you're walking out of huddle saying, well, we'll figure it out. You're setting yourself up for failure and a really rough day. So work together in the morning, make sure we review it, make sure we've got a plan for the day. And then my other plug will be for the entire team is then communicate. So like if you need help with something in this schedule or if something changes that's going to impact someone, I think all clinical Tiff, you could probably even like chime in on this, will appreciate if something changes in the schedule, whether it falls off the schedule or you've added something. It's good for me to know even if I'm trying to keep an eye on it, because we're thinking, we might be with a patient, we're thinking of the next thing. And if I'm rushing because I have that next patient and that next patient just fell off the schedule, which means I can be a little more present with this current one, it's really helpful for the team to communicate it so we know what's going on and we can make those little pivots or adjustments. Or if I don't think I have something and you add something and I'm kind of not to lollygag, but I'm like, I've got some time, spend a couple of extra minutes with that patient. but then I realize I've got someone else that I didn't see there before, it's good for me to know so I can better manage time. The Dental A Team (20:01.683) Yeah, I love that. I've done that to my hygienist before and they were like, I had no idea and I'm like, well, now we're 10 minutes behind. then everybody sat. So everybody sat each other's throat. So I always say over communicate those types of situations like tell people even if you feel like they knew or they saw the schedule that comes like over communicate. So I love that. So morning huddles, make sure that you guys are talking about the schedule and morning huddles. And that means like reading the schedule, right? Not like we're doing five fillings on this patient, but Britt (20:07.013) Exactly. Britt (20:11.8) Hello? The Dental A Team (20:29.423) really looking at the schedule and what those aspects are. Look at the schedule like Sudoku. Over communicate you guys when there's changes or things that you need. And then to make it super easy, utilize those X's and slashes on the block scheduling and time journal frequently to ensure that those are spot on, especially if you feel like you're hitting a wall. Brit, I love your perspective. I love that I can pull the hygiene side out of there. So thank you for that. I loved having you here today. This was so much fun. Thank you for being here. Thank you for all of your tips and for your hygiene aspect there. I truly value what you're able to do for all of our clients and all of our listeners. So thank you. Britt (21:08.7) I mean, thanks for having me. I love the hygiene assistant duo. Like it really is the best. It's so much fun. And maybe it's coming from being around assistants so much, but I love the assistant brain and I appreciate that our brains work a little different. And so it's fun to come together on these things. The Dental A Team (21:12.185) Yeah. The Dental A Team (21:22.096) Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I have to tell you, my sister this morning is like, have all this laundry to do. And I'm like, I would just do it. And I'm like going through the process of how I would do her 16 loads of laundry. And she was like, I just look at it and think I have laundry all day and you look at it as how can I make this the most efficient? And I literally said, I think it's from assisting for so many years that I'm like, Britt (21:36.397) Hahaha The Dental A Team (21:46.788) just like weave in and out and fit things where they go. But thank you for that. I appreciate it. We could, we can build a beautiful life together. Britt (21:51.954) Thank Britt (21:55.218) Assistants are the master multitaskers to make it as easy as possible and Tiff truly is ease. Tiff will look at anything which is the great thing about her and say how can we make this easy? The Dental A Team (21:59.779) my god, yes. Thank you. The Dental A Team (22:05.711) Yeah, thank you. Thank you. I don't like stress. I hate being stressed out. So if it's stressful, and it's not easy, it's not for me. And that means it needs to be changed. So I appreciate that. But thank you so much for being here. You guys. This was an amazing podcast. I hope you're taking notes if you were driving, then stop take some notes when you get to where you're going. We listen to this, you can speed it up. You know, you probably have us on like 1 .75 already. But you can speed us up. re listen, take the notes, reach out when you need to reach out. Britt (22:08.69) Let's not. The Dental A Team (22:34.958) We're here Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. We love chatting with you guys clients. Now future clients, just a listener like whatever you are, we love to hear from you. So please don't hesitate to reach out and as always drop us a five star review below. Helps us know that this content was super beneficial for you. And also as you're in there, you can give your own tips and tricks and telling you people do listen to that or read them excuse me while they're listening here. They do read them and so they are taking away your tips and they are understanding that this is a valuable podcast. So thank you so much you guys and we'll catch you next time.

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