Dental Drills Bits

Technology can help your dental practice do more—but it shouldn't replace the human experience that keeps patients coming back.

In Part 2 of our conversation with Cory Pinegar, CEO of REACH, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue continue the discussion about the future of the dental team, beginning with the balance between automation, AI, and personal connection.

Cory explains why technology should amplify good people rather than eliminate them and why some responsibilities are perfect candidates for automation while others still require empathy, communication, and human judgment.

The conversation then turns to another major challenge: visibility. How do you know whether your front office is actually succeeding?

Cory shares how REACH establishes clear expectations and measures outcomes so practices and team members can see what success looks like. From there, the discussion gets into some of the biggest opportunities practices routinely struggle to address—missed calls, overdue recare, outstanding insurance, unscheduled treatment, and patient conversion.

In this episode: • How to balance AI and automation with the human patient experience • Why technology should amplify good employees rather than replace them • How clear expectations improve team performance • Why measuring outcomes creates better accountability and coaching • How REACH tracks performance and defines success • Which administrative responsibilities can be supported remotely • Why recare and unscheduled treatment often get pushed aside • The revenue impact of unanswered incoming calls • How AI-powered tools can support call coaching and insurance follow-up • Why continuous training matters long after onboarding • What Cory believes will differentiate the highest-performing dental practices of the future

The takeaway? Growth may already be sitting inside your practice.

Missed calls. Overdue patients. Unscheduled treatment. Insurance follow-up. Better conversion.

The opportunity is there—but practices need the people, systems, visibility, and capacity to act on it.

Learn more about REACH

Visit getreach.co to learn more and schedule a conversation directly with a member of the REACH team.

You can also connect directly with Cory Pinegar on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Part 1 is available now. Start there for our conversation about staffing, remote team integration, training, technology, and creating more capacity for your dental team.

Dental Drill Bits with Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue brings you practical strategies for building a stronger, more productive and profitable dental practice.

What if your staffing problem isn't simply about finding more people?

In Part 1 of this special two-part Dental Drill Bits conversation, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue sit down with Cory Pinegar, CEO of REACH, to explore how dental practices can rethink staffing, training, technology, and the way work gets done.

Cory shares the story behind REACH and explains why practices often have more than a hiring problem. Missed calls, inconsistent follow-up, turnover, limited training, and too many competing responsibilities at the front desk can all create bottlenecks that affect growth and profitability.

The conversation also addresses a concern many dental teams have as remote staffing and AI become more common: Is technology here to replace people? Instead, Dana, Sandy, and Cory discuss how the right support can free team members to focus more of their time on patients, relationships, communication, and the work that requires human judgment.

In this episode: • Why dental practices may need to rethink the traditional staffing model • The connection between missed opportunities, staffing, and profitability • Why simply adding another employee may not solve the real problem • How REACH integrates remote team members into the dental practice • Why remote team members can participate in morning huddles and practice communication • How culture fit, communication style, and soft skills influence hiring • Why AI and outsourcing should support great employees rather than diminish their role • How creating capacity allows your in-office team to focus on higher-value work • Why traditional dental training often falls short • How REACH builds customized, competency-based training around each role

Part 1 lays the foundation for a bigger conversation about how people, systems, and technology can work together inside a modern dental practice.

Part 2 is available now, where we go deeper into AI, the human patient experience, performance tracking, accountability, missed calls, recare, unscheduled treatment, and the opportunities already sitting inside many practices.

Learn more about REACH

Visit getreach.co to learn more and schedule a conversation with a member of the REACH team.

You can also connect directly with Cory Pinegar on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Dental Drill Bits with Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue brings you practical strategies for building a stronger, more productive and profitable dental practice.

What does your staff really cost your dental practice? The answer goes far beyond payroll.

In the Staff portion of our Systems. Staff. Training. series, Sandy and Dana look at staffing as a business investment. Being understaffed can mean missed calls, unfinished follow-up, rushed patient interactions, neglected recall, and opportunities that quietly slip through the cracks. Sometimes what looks like a performance problem is really a capacity problem.

This conversation digs into the real ROI of having enough of the right people, why dental experience shouldn't automatically determine who gets hired, and how desperation can lead practices into costly hiring decisions.

Sandy also shares one of her favorite quality-control metrics for evaluating staffing: collections per full-time-equivalent team member. It gives practice owners another way to look beyond payroll and ask whether their staffing is actually supporting the production and growth of the practice.

And finding great people is only half the equation. Sandy and Dana discuss what happens when practices hold onto the wrong employees too long, how that affects high performers, and why strong systems and documentation make turnover much less disruptive.

In This Episode

• How to recognize when your practice is truly understaffed
• The hidden financial impact of not having enough of the right people
• Sandy's collections-per-full-time-equivalent metric for evaluating staffing
• Why attitude, intelligence, and coachability can matter more than dental experience
• How poor hiring and retention decisions can ultimately cost you your best employees

Key Takeaways:

The goal isn't to have the smallest team possible.

It's to have the right people, in the right roles, with enough capacity to execute the systems that make your practice successful.

If you're focused only on the cost of adding another employee, ask a different question:

What is it costing your practice not to have enough of the right people?

📲 Join the Conversation! *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-testid= "conversation-turn-10" data-turn="assistant">

Where is your biggest staffing challenge right now?

Finding the right people? Having enough capacity? Keeping your best employees? Or knowing when it's time to let someone go?

Join the conversation in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group. We'd love to hear what's happening in your practice and may feature your experience in a future episode.

🎟️ Front Desk Pro Live

Front Desk Pro Live is coming to Dallas on September 18!

Don't let the name fool you. This one-day, in-person training is designed for the entire team and dives into communication, patient objections, phone skills, collections, reactivation, unscheduled treatment, and the overall patient experience.

Use promo code Secret Sauce when registering.

What does your staff really cost your dental practice? The answer goes far beyond payroll.

In the Staff portion of our Systems. Staff. Training. series, Sandy and Dana look at staffing as a business investment. Being understaffed can mean missed calls, unfinished follow-up, rushed patient interactions, neglected recall, and opportunities that quietly slip through the cracks. Sometimes what looks like a performance problem is really a capacity problem.

This conversation digs into the real ROI of having enough of the right people, why dental experience shouldn't automatically determine who gets hired, and how desperation can lead practices into costly hiring decisions.

Sandy also shares one of her favorite quality-control metrics for evaluating staffing: collections per full-time-equivalent team member. It gives practice owners another way to look beyond payroll and ask whether their staffing is actually supporting the production and growth of the practice.

And finding great people is only half the equation. Sandy and Dana discuss what happens when practices hold onto the wrong employees too long, how that affects high performers, and why strong systems and documentation make turnover much less disruptive.

In This Episode

• How to recognize when your practice is truly understaffed
• The hidden financial impact of not having enough of the right people
• Sandy's collections-per-full-time-equivalent metric for evaluating staffing
• Why attitude, intelligence, and coachability can matter more than dental experience
• How poor hiring and retention decisions can ultimately cost you your best employees

Key Takeaways:

The goal isn't to have the smallest team possible.

It's to have the right people, in the right roles, with enough capacity to execute the systems that make your practice successful.

If you're focused only on the cost of adding another employee, ask a different question:

What is it costing your practice not to have enough of the right people?

📲 Join the Conversation!

Where is your biggest staffing challenge right now?

Finding the right people? Having enough capacity? Keeping your best employees? Or knowing when it's time to let someone go?

Join the conversation in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group. We'd love to hear what's happening in your practice and may feature your experience in a future episode.

🎟️ Front Desk Pro Live

Front Desk Pro Live is coming to Dallas on September 18!

Don't let the name fool you. This one-day, in-person training is designed for the entire team and dives into communication, patient objections, phone skills, collections, reactivation, unscheduled treatment, and the overall patient experience.

Use promo code Secret Sauce when registering.

Every dental practice has systems—whether they're written down or not.

In Part One of our special three-part series honoring Dr. Robert Westerman's 90th birthday, Sandy Pardue explores the first leg of Dr. Westerman's timeless philosophy: systems.

Many practice owners believe their biggest challenge is finding better employees. But what if the real problem isn't your people at all? What if your practice depends on knowledge that's locked inside one employee's head?

In this episode, Sandy explains why documented systems create consistency, reduce stress, simplify training, and protect your practice when team members leave. She also introduces the concept of "tribal knowledge"—one of the biggest hidden risks in dentistry.

Whether you're a dentist, office manager, or team member, this conversation will challenge the way you think about leadership and organization.

Key Takeaways:

• Why your hiring process may be costing you great hygienists
• The biggest mistake practices make during hygienist interviews
• Why DISC is a powerful development tool—but a poor screening tool
• Why licensed professionals want to meet the doctor early in the hiring process
• How to remove unnecessary hiring roadblocks and move faster with confidence

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

📣 Identity Dental Marketing – Strategic, ethical, brand-aligned marketing that works.

📊 Practice by Numbers – A unified platform that brings performance, workflows, and insights into one system—creating accountability without pressure and helping practices make smarter, data-driven decisions.

📲 Join the Conversation! *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-testid= "conversation-turn-10" data-turn="assistant">

Have you ever lost a great hygienist during the hiring process?

What's one change you could make this week to remove a roadblock for your next candidate?

Join the conversation in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group. We'd love to hear what's working in your practice—and what hiring lessons you've learned along the way.

Upcoming Event

Front Desk Pro In-Person Seminar 📍 September 18, 2026 – Dallas, Texas

🎟️ Promo Code for $100 Off Tuition: SecretSauce

September has earned a bad reputation in dentistry, but is "Sucktember" really the problem?

In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Sandy and Dana Pardue challenge the idea that a slow September is inevitable. Instead, they look at the systems behind treatment acceptance, unscheduled treatment, and patient follow-up.

Many practices are sitting on hundreds of thousands, or even more than a million dollars, in diagnosed treatment that was never scheduled. The patient owns the decision to move forward, but the diagnosing practice still owns the process. That includes clear communication, assigned responsibility, consistent follow-up, and a system that does not allow patients to quietly disappear into a report.

If your practice is waiting for patients to remember to call, this episode may explain why treatment acceptance is slipping.

Key Takeaways:

• Why your hiring process may be costing you great hygienists
• The biggest mistake practices make during hygienist interviews
• Why DISC is a powerful development tool—but a poor screening tool
• Why licensed professionals want to meet the doctor early in the hiring process
• How to remove unnecessary hiring roadblocks and move faster with confidence

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

📣 Identity Dental Marketing – Strategic, ethical, brand-aligned marketing that works.

📊 Practice by Numbers – A unified platform that brings performance, workflows, and insights into one system—creating accountability without pressure and helping practices make smarter, data-driven decisions.

📲 Join the Conversation! *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-testid= "conversation-turn-10" data-turn="assistant">

Have you ever lost a great hygienist during the hiring process?

What's one change you could make this week to remove a roadblock for your next candidate?

Join the conversation in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group. We'd love to hear what's working in your practice—and what hiring lessons you've learned along the way.

Upcoming Event

Front Desk Pro In-Person Seminar 📍 September 18, 2026 – Dallas, Texas

🎟️ Promo Code for $100 Off Tuition: SecretSauce

Finding a great hygienist is difficult enough in today's market. The last thing your practice needs is a hiring process that unintentionally drives qualified candidates away.

In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Sandy and Dana Pardue challenge one of the most common assumptions in dentistry: that the hygienist shortage is the only reason practices can't fill open positions. While the shortage is real, many practices are creating unnecessary barriers through slow decision-making, gatekeepers, personality assessments, and interview processes that put the doctor—the very person candidates want to meet—at the end of the process instead of the beginning.

If you've ever had a hygienist accept your offer only to disappear before their first day, this episode may explain why.

Key Takeaways:

• Why your hiring process may be costing you great hygienists
• The biggest mistake practices make during hygienist interviews
• Why DISC is a powerful development tool—but a poor screening tool
• Why licensed professionals want to meet the doctor early in the hiring process
• How to remove unnecessary hiring roadblocks and move faster with confidence

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

📣 Identity Dental Marketing – Strategic, ethical, brand-aligned marketing that works.

📊 Practice by Numbers – A unified platform that brings performance, workflows, and insights into one system—creating accountability without pressure and helping practices make smarter, data-driven decisions.

📲 Join the Conversation! *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-testid= "conversation-turn-10" data-turn="assistant">

Have you ever lost a great hygienist during the hiring process?

What's one change you could make this week to remove a roadblock for your next candidate?

Join the conversation in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group. We'd love to hear what's working in your practice—and what hiring lessons you've learned along the way.

Upcoming Event

Front Desk Pro In-Person Seminar 📍 September 18, 2026 – Dallas, Texas

🎟️ Promo Code for $100 Off Tuition: Secret Sauce

Episode Description

Every dental practice wants employees who take ownership, solve problems, and think independently. But what if the biggest obstacle isn't your team—it's the way they're being led?

In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue explore the leadership habits that unintentionally create dependent employees. From constant reminders and answering every question to rescuing projects instead of coaching through them, they explain how well-meaning leaders can accidentally train their teams to wait instead of think.

Learn how clear expectations, documented systems, accountability, and intentional leadership create confident employees who make decisions, solve problems, and help your practice run more efficiently without constant oversight.

Key Takeaways:

• Why constant reminders are a sign of a system problem—not a people problem
• How SOPs and job descriptions create confident, independent employees
• The leadership questions that encourage critical thinking instead of dependency
• Why accountability should be built into every role from day one
• How effective delegation develops stronger teams and better long-term practice performance

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

📣 Identity Dental Marketing – Strategic, ethical, brand-aligned marketing that works.

📊 Practice by Numbers – A unified platform that brings performance, workflows, and insights into one system—creating accountability without pressure and helping practices make smarter, data-driven decisions.

📲 Join the Conversation! *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-testid= "conversation-turn-10" data-turn="assistant">

What's one leadership habit you've changed that helped your team become more independent?

How do you encourage employees to solve problems instead of immediately coming to you for answers?

Join the conversation in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group. We'd love to hear what's working in your practice, and your insight may be featured in a future episode.

Upcoming Event

Front Desk Pro In-Person Seminar 📍 September 18, 2026 – Dallas, Texas

🎟️ Promo Code for $100 Off Tuition: Secret Sauce

Every day, patients leave dental practices knowing they need treatment... yet many never schedule. The result? Health problems worsen, patients disappear, and practices unknowingly leave hundreds of thousands—even millions—of dollars in diagnosed treatment sitting unscheduled.

In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue tackle one of the biggest missed opportunities in dentistry: treatment plan follow-up. Dana also shares her personal health journey and why following through on recommended care made all the difference, creating a powerful reminder of what patients experience after they leave your office.

Discover why simply presenting treatment isn't enough, who should own the follow-up process, and the simple systems every practice can implement to help more patients receive the care they need.

Key Takeaways:

• Why patients delay scheduling treatment after saying "yes"
• Who should own treatment plan follow-up in your practice
• How to build a consistent follow-up system that gets results
• The reports and statistics every practice should be tracking
• Why better communication leads to healthier patients and stronger practices

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

📣 Identity Dental Marketing – Strategic, ethical, brand-aligned marketing that works.

📊 Practice by Numbers – A unified platform that brings performance, workflows, and insights into one system—creating accountability without pressure and helping practices make smarter, data-driven decisions.

📲 Join the Conversation! *]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-turn-id-container= "request-WEB:2f0b811b-53fa-40f2-82df-e70d643f5c53-4" data-testid= "conversation-turn-10" data-turn="assistant">

Who owns treatment plan follow-up in your practice?

What's been the most effective way you've found to reconnect with patients who leave without scheduling?

Join the conversation in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group. We'd love to hear what's working in your practice, and your insight may be featured in a future episode.

Upcoming Event

Front Desk Pro In-Person Seminar 📍 September 18, 2026 – Dallas, Texas

🎟️ Promo Code for $100 Off Tuition: Secret Sauce

Are broken appointments disrupting the flow of your dental practice and impacting your bottom line?

In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Michael and Sandy dive deep into a chronic challenge faced by many dentists: managing broken appointments. Sandy, drawing from her wealth of expertise, sheds light on effective strategies to tackle this issue head-on. She discusses how proper appointment confirmations can make all the difference and shares her sharp observations on recognizing patterns that often lead to last-minute cancellations.

Sandy stresses the imperative of clear and consistent communication as well as the establishment of effective control mechanisms within the practice. She discusses assigning a dedicated scheduler to manage appointments prudently and to ensure patients show up. Sandy shows us actionable verbal techniques, empowering practice owners to see immediate improvements in patient compliance. Wrapping up with key insights, she reminds listeners of the importance of truly understanding patient needs and maintaining well-regulated schedules, offering a roadmap to improved practice efficiency and patient satisfaction.

Key Takeaways:

• Techniques for reducing the rate of broken appointments.
• The impact of proper appointment confirmations on practice workflow.
• How to detect patterns and triggers that lead to cancellations.
• Methods for categorizing different types of patient cancellations.
• The importance of effective communication within your practice.
• How a dedicated scheduler can boost patient adherence.
• Verbal strategies to encourage patients to keep their appointments.

Ready to enhance your practice's efficiency? Tune in now to stop those no-shows!

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

📣 Identity Dental Marketing – Strategic, ethical, brand-aligned marketing that works.

📊 Practice by Numbers – A unified platform that brings performance, workflows, and insights into one system—creating accountability without pressure and helping practices make smarter, data-driven decisions.

📲 Join the Conversation!

What interview question has helped you identify a great team member—or a major red flag?

Have you changed the way you hire in today's workforce environment?

Join the discussion in the Dental Drill Bits Facebook Group—we'd love to hear your experience and may feature it in a future episode.

Upcoming Event

Front Desk Pro In-Person Seminar 📍 September 18, 2026 – Dallas, Texas

🎟️ Promo Code for $100 Off Tuition: Secret Sauce