Time & Money Secrets from One of the Best Dentists in the U.S.

Episode #353 with Dr. Kevin Groth & Dr. Bob Margeas

Working four days a week is hard work. But you can be just as productive working three — if you know how! And to share a few time and money secrets from the best dentists, Kirk Behrendt brings in two of his heroes in dentistry, Dr. Bob Margeas and Dr. Kevin Groth. You can't grow money, but you can grow your practice! To learn how to be profitable without sacrificing time and energy, listen to Episode 353 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Find a mentor, ASAP.

It is possible to work less days yet earn more.  

Pack your scheduled days to increase production.

Stick to doing high-production procedures to stay profitable.

Don't push patients. It’s their mouth, time, and money.

Treat people well, and patients will flock to your practice.

Dentistry is a competition with yourself, not other dentists.

Quotes:

“You get just as much done working three days, three-and-a-half days a week as you do four. And four days a week is hard work.” (13:00—13:08)

“People think, ‘Oh, you're crazy.’ Well, you know what? People come in when you're there. They schedule for production. I'm much more efficient, and patients don't miss their appointments. Because now, if they miss an appointment, they don't get in for eight weeks. Because when you only work four days on, 10 days off, or eight days a month, everybody’s busy. You're packed. Is it easy work? It’s not easy. I can't say it’s easy. But knowing you have 10 days off, pretty darn nice.” (13:24—13:54)

“I never look at the schedule — ever. Ever. Ever. Read my lips. I am against — this is just my own thing. I don't like to know what's going on, because I don't want it to ruin my day. But I know what they tell me. When I'm on Sunday, I say, ‘Hey, what time do I start tomorrow?’ And she always will text me. And she’ll say, ‘Okay, you start at 7:00.’ So, I know I have something productive. If I'm starting at 8:00, it doesn't bother me because I don't have anything that I was going to be doing anyway.” (17:56—18:26)

“My production, per se, has not really gone down, even though I went from 12 days to nine days, to eight days. Why? Because it’s packed in. I may be double-booked at times. But I feel like if I can go four days hard knowing I have 10 days off, wow.” (19:03—19:23)

“Now, where am I losing? I lose on posterior composites, because it takes you a half-hour to do it, and you're getting $200-some. I try to make my associate do those. I honestly do. I say, ‘When I'm in my office, I'm only here eight days a month. I've got to be profitable.’” (30:30—30:47)

“Most of my production is high-production items. Like, the most profitable thing, 100%, in my office, is a posterior single-tooth implant. Why? Because it only takes you five minutes, take the healing cap off, make an impression or scan, and send them home.” (31:16—31:34)

“I'm also at the point now where I'm like, ‘I don't want to do these posterior composites,’ because they do take up a lot of time. So, my conundrum is the fact that patients want to see me. I don't know how to say, ‘You need this work, but I'm not going to do it.’ So, we’re working on that and those type of systems.” (32:40—32:59)

“Do I have a shared production goal with my staff? No. But I know in my head that it takes me $100,000 or $120,000 to pay the bills, or whatever it is. I kind of know what I have to do. I don't want you to think that I don't have a goal. But I think it’s really difficult to say, ‘Okay, we need to do $200,000 this month,’ or to get a bonus, or this and that. Because then, sometimes people feel pressured to talk patients into having things to hit their goal.” (37:05—37:34)

“Sometimes, people will say,...