Dental Nuggets

Dental Nuggets is your treasure chest of some of the choicest pearls of wisdom – that come from some of the most brilliant and experienced professionals in the field of dentistry.

To achieve your business goals, you don’t really need to reinvent the wheel or rebuild the universe from scratch.

All you need to do is pick up these shining masterpieces of dental wisdom and let them inspire you to create an outstanding dental practice!

All team members need clarity and need to understand their accountability to the team and practice. -Lynne Leggett

Clarity and communication work hand in hand in your practice. -Lynne Leggett

Check your mood at the door; Bad moods need to be left out of the practice and replaced with positivity, not only for your sake but for the sake of the practice and the patients. -Lynne Leggett

You have to have consistency. The team has to be aligned with the doctors and providers and the doctors and providers need to be aligned with the team. -Diana Thompson

Once a process is followed and is standardized and organized, skies the limit! -Diana Thompson

You must have the right person in the right position, if it’s something they aren’t good at, it’s like you’re setting them up to fail. -Diana Thompson

The practice’s follow-up program needs to be structured to where things are done in a timely manner. -Diana Thompson

Information accessed these days has changed the way people do things; from buying a car to going to school to choosing a dentist. There is more information to access than there was a generation ago. -Steve Parker

The way things are done in dentistry today, has changed greatly compared to the simplified way things were done twenty plus years ago. -Steve Parker

Understand business inputs and outputs. Profit fuels growth, growth fuels bigger business worth more money, then turn that effort into a sale for retirement. -Steve Parker

It’s important to communicate with your current CPA or accountant. If they haven’t come to you in a while about ideas to save on taxes, it’s time to reconsider your options. -Craig Cody

You need to have a tax plan for your business, don’t wait till the last minute. -Craig Cody

There are a host of items you can use as deductibles for your business; like equipment, home office, continuing education, marketing and more! -Craig Cody

I can be a hero to these entrepreneurs by making things more simple for them, to help simplify their thinking. -Dan Sullivan

The game changer entrepreneur is operating on a passion that comes from the inside. -Dan Sullivan

Everyone has something in the center of them that makes them unique. -Dan Sullivan

Some people won’t give themselves permission to operate uniquely in the world. Give yourself permission! -Dan Sullivan

Look at your data and see what is working and what is not working, you need to know what information is going to connect with your target market. -Minal Sampat

Find out where your target market is on social media. Focus on that one platform, get good at it then move on to the next platform. -Minal Sampat

You need to be online and have good SEO so that patients and potential patients can see you, it’s important. -Minal Sampat

The most powerful way to bring new patients into your practice is word of mouth. -Minal Sampat

Switch the mindset of the patient by helping them and showing them you care and want to improve their oral health. -Dr. Bilal Saib

Podcasts help create an online presence and give credibility to your name. You also get to talk to and learn from other dentists. -Dr. Bilal Saib

You need to identify who your target market is and then focus your marketing towards your ‘perfect’ patient. -Dr. Bilal Saib

When you work on your strengths, you grow exponentially. -Julia Waller

You can create ‘value’ in what you do when you use your unique ability. -Julia Waller

Use adversity as stepping stones to get to where you want to be and become successful. -Dr. Taylor Clark

There is only one person responsible for your level of success, and that is you! -Dr. Taylor Clark

Sometimes you have to subtract someone to multiply the overall success of your business. -Shannon Waller

When you are really passionate about something, but you’re not good at it, it’s called a hobby. -Shannon Waller

Your people already know when they are connecting well with another human being and when they are not. -Ms. Katherine Eitel Belt

Dentist get wrapped up in forgetting that patients are what ‘feed’ us, they refer their friends and talk about your practice. -Kiera Dent

Don’t be afraid to be your own office, be unique, be yourself. Be YOU. -Kiera Dent

Dentistry is a luxury, patients don’t have to come see you, you have to win them over time and time again. -Kiera Dent

Your patients want to feel educated, regardless of generation, you need to educate them and make sure they understand. When they feel educated they gravitate towards you. -Kiera Dent

The field of dentistry is always changing, it’s important to stay on top of it and stay educated. -Dr. John Montoya

You need to track your marketing to see how much its costing you to bring patients in and see if its cost effective for your practice. -Dr. John Montoya

You need to provide great customer service, before, during and after the appointment. -Dr. John Montoya

It doesn’t cost you anything to go above and beyond when it comes to your patients. -Dr. John Montoya

With insurance taking over the industry, you almost must have a 3rd person specifically doing insurance work. -Amy Deschamps

Build your practice by increasing your productivity, reducing your overheads, improving your systems and processes to create the ideal practice you have in mind. -Amy Deschamps

Why harm other teeth putting in bridges when you can simply replace the missing ones with implants or move them around with Invisalign? -Elijah Desmond

If you don’t have a foundation for your practice, it’s difficult to provide good customer service. -Elijah Desmond

Culture in the office starts with the leader, the one who is showing appreciation to others, the one who is thanking others for their hard work, the one who is leading by example. -Elijah Desmond

Negativity in the office, is why people go to work unhappy. -Elijah Desmond

The Doctor needs to be a leader and take charge of their practice, have a system put in place and identify who the team players are in the practice. -Debbie Seidel-Bittke

Have a morning team huddle, each person on the team should have their own project they discuss and complete. -Debbie Seidel-Bittke

Your team members should be positive, especially in front of the patient. -Debbie Seidel-Bittke

Connect with your patients, get to know them. Even if it’s just for two minutes, before you put the bib on, look them in the eye and give them that connection. -Debbie Seidel-Bittke

Patients love when they get something for free. Bundle the treatments, with information and items they can use at home. -Debbie Seidel-Bittke

The type of people you need in your practice are the ones who want your business to grow. -Debbie Seidel-Bittke

If you can’t pay your bills, you can’t afford your bills. – Mike Michalowicz

The businesses who take the profit first, grow faster than the industry competition. – Mike Michalowicz

Behaviorally, once we possess something we will make more of an effort to retain it. – Mike Michalowicz

Don’t let your business be led by your expenses, let profit drive your business. – Mike Michalowicz

Your unique ability shows up in everything you do whether it’s at work or at home. – Julia Waller

Your talents are hard-wired into your brain, so no one has to ‘manage’ you, you automatically do it on your own. – Julia Waller

Always treat everyone with respect because you never know who it will bring to your practice. – Alex Nottingham

Be a boring practice; go to work, do what you love, enjoy your team, make money, patients love you and they refer people to your practice, go home and enjoy life. No drama… – Alex Nottingham

A Dental practice should be an education center, the dentist should educate the patient on what is going on in their mouth, show them and teach them, before treatment is even discussed. – Dr. Thomas Larkin

Step back and learn how other generations think, so you can understand each other and have a conversation. – Dr. David Rice

Find people who are already successful in doing what you want to do, spend time with them and learn from them. – Dr. David Rice

You should build a practice where you do what you are interested in doing and do something where you are excited to show up for work. – Dr. Erin Elliott

You’re not in competition with everyone else, your competing with yourself and getting better every day. – Naren Arulrajah, Expert in Digital Marketing

When you have great marketing strategies it produces confidence in your customers. – Naren Arulrajah, Expert in Digital Marketing

It starts with the company having a clear understanding of the expectations they want to create in the mind of the audience. – JV Crum III

It’s very difficult to do, but asking for help is probably the smartest thing you could ever do in the dentistry business. – Dr. Don Deems

Having the value of someone who can be a silent partner and be objective with you is truly invaluable. – Dr. Don Deems

You need to understand the importance of the dependence and interdependence you have on your team and your patients. – Dr. David Maloley

You have to employ people who share your vision and your core values. – Dr. Ben Kacos

Patients need to believe that every time the come they’ll have a great, painless experience and walk away saying “That’s my dentist”. – Mr. Kevin Henry

A dental assistant is not just an assistant, they are the heartbeat of the practice. – Mr. Kevin Henry

Set your goals, work hard, take care of your patients, team members and the community around you. Be reasonable and don’t get upset if things don’t work out the way you thought it would be. – Dr. Trent McCord

It’s not about the tactics but setting the intent of what we want to accomplish and why. – Mr. Richard Rierson

It’s about the person at top seeing that his or her team succeeds. When that happens you realize your job is to work yourself out of a job. – Mr. Bob Speil

Before you answer the phone, take a deep breath and smile. This is the first impression the patient or potential patient will have of your practice. – Ms. Laura Hatch

You need to introduce the existing employees to the new millennial employee, establish the seniority of the existing employees and that they know the ins and outs of the practice and that they will be there to help them. – Ms. Claudia Lovato

You need to clarify the goals and get past being friends. We have to work in such a way that I need to be able to trust the doctor to be doing their responsibilities, trust the hygienist to do her responsibilities and trust the administrative team to do their responsibilities. All of this will click when you start with a goal in mind. – Mr. Andre Shirdan

It’s about the people, it’s critical to have a relationship with the patients. – Dr. Peter Evans

Whole body dentistry. You don’t just treat the tooth, you treat the whole person. – Dr. Peter Evans

Take time off, we are guaranteed tomorrow, so enjoy life now. – Dr. Steven L. Hatcher

Questions are key. You lead people with questions on where you want to take them, whether it’s a patient, team member or family member. – Dr. Steven L. Hatcher

Transform who you are, get your personal growth to a higher level and you can build a business that goes to that higher level. – Mr. JV Crum III

Mindset is critical, you cannot accomplish something if you can’t believe that you can achieve the goal. – Mr. JV Crum III

To have a successful practice, you first need to be an entrepreneur. – Mr. JV Crum III

How we interact with each other daily, either motivates us or demotivates us. – Ms. Linda Miles

Life is short, play hard, play more. Creating experiences is more valuable than money. – Dr. Bill Blatchford

Your business doesn’t control your life, your business supports your life. – Kerry Straine

You can’t microwave the development of commitment and people, you gotta put them in the oven and let them bake. – Kerry Straine

95% of the time the dentist can do dentistry knowing his team is managing themselves, they are following the system, they are communicating with each other and they are all trying to achieve the same goal. – Ms. Sandy Baird

One of your biggest returns is always private equity, re-investing back in yourself. – Jurgen Rudolph

If your not answering your telephone and your team is not converting patients into appointments, its kind of like your house in on fire. Wouldn’t you want an alarm to tell you the house is on fire so you can put it out? – Dr. Christopher Phelps

Anchor your callers to the ‘starting at’ price instead of the total amount, because you don’t know what treatment they need until after you do the exam. – Dr. Christopher Phelps

Focus on delivering superior healthcare to one patient, rather than mediocre healthcare to 10 patients. This philosophy allows me to have patients who choose to pay out of pocket for better healthcare. – Dr. Griffin Cole

Create a culture of hospitality at your practice. Treat your patients as guests. A dental practice is not about dentists, it is about patients. – Dr. John Palmer