Life Adapts – Can We?
Death Valley is one of the last places in the world where we would expect life to flourish. Temperatures can exceed 120 degrees, the soil is full of salt, and the wind… Continue On +
More Than Just Coins in a Jar
How many years of your life have felt like “just another year?” I contemplated this at a recent meeting of Toastmasters—a public speaking organization—where we were challenged to pick a coin from… Continue On +
What Are You Really Saying to Dental Patients
If you want to create stronger connections with your patients and have more people accept your recommendations for dental treatment, consider becoming fluent in body language. Most of our communication occurs non-verbally. … Continue On +
Putting on Your Game Face: Dental Practice Morning Huddle
Why would a dental practice want to have a morning huddle? It seems like the thing to do, but what does the huddle really accomplish? The most effective morning huddles I have… Continue On +
Coaching a Struggling Dental Team Member
How do you effectively coach someone who is making mistakes? Consider when a dental procedure that is running behind, where everything is going wrong, and a new, struggling assistant misplaces yet another… Continue On +
Knowing When to Say When with Staff
One of the biggest challenges dentists have with managing staff conflict is knowing when to say when. Dentists are empathetic by nature, which means they often tolerate an intolerable situation for too… Continue On +
The Best of All Possible Worlds
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist fears this is true.” James Branch Cabell Which outlook do you prefer, that of the optimist… Continue On +
Why Can’t You Charge Your Full Fee?
If you are a PPO provider and place porcelain crowns for cosmetic reasons—meaning the insurance company will not provide a benefit for the service—can you charge your non-PPO fees for the crowns? … Continue On +
Employee Manuals – Don’t Put a Target on Your Back
Dental staff management starts with an effective employee manual. Unfortunately, a number of doctors place a target on their back when they hand out employee manuals that are poorly written and outdated. … Continue On +
Leaders Are Not Critics
When doctors work on becoming stronger leaders, they inevitably revisit two important lessons of dental practice management. First, critics do not motivate teams. Regular criticism makes your team believe you are against… Continue On +
Dental Marketing – The First Question
Wouldn’t it be nice if by simply opening your door wider you attracted more new patients? Unfortunately, people are not gathering outside your door like they do a donut shop, eager for… Continue On +
When Your Hygiene Team Fears Being Wrong
Through my years of dental practice consulting, I have helped a lot of hygiene teams overcome barriers related to discussing treatment with patients. In almost every situation, the doctor felt the hygienists… Continue On +