Long in the Tooth: Insights for Age 55+ Dentists

As 2022 wraps up (and so does Season 2 of this podcast), we’ve seen some clear trends that are hurting dentists and their practices as they get ready to sell. 

We want to help you transition into an even richer and more rewarding season of life. So, here is our top 10 list of things you can do to prepare yourself and your practice(s) for a successful transition:

1. Define your expectations
2. Define your timeline
3. Identify the right successor
4. Involve your staff in the process
5. Save for retirement
6. Spruce up the office
7. Evaluate your collections and fees
8. Avoid “skimming”
9. Stay with your PPOs
10. Maintain the status quo

Our guest is Larry Chatterley. Larry has specialized in transitioning dental practices and serving the business and transition needs of dentists throughout the western U.S. for over 26 years since he founded CTC Associates in 1988. He has facilitated the successful transition of over 2,000 practices, and has authored several publications on practice transitions.

For more guidance on transitioning your practice, schedule a call at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

What separates the dentists that struggle from the ones that thrive? What are the common characteristics of a successful dental practice owner?

There are some common keys to success as a dental practice owner. It can be summarized as a mindset that focuses on the "3 Rs" – Relationships, Reputation, and Referrals.

If you don’t understand these 3 Rs, it can mean financial struggle for you and your practice. But if you build these 3 Rs into your mindset, you can take a practice that is doing poorly and turn it around to make it thrive.

Our special guest on this episode is Larry Chatterley. Larry has specialized in transitioning dental practices and serving the business and transition needs of dentists throughout the western U.S. for over 26 years since he founded CTC Associates in 1988. He has facilitated the successful transition of over 2,000 practices, and has authored several publications on practice transitions.

For more guidance on transitioning your practice, schedule a call at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

Should I sell accounts receivable with the practice? Should I buy accounts receivable with the practice? Or should I exclude them and keep them?

We get this question a lot from both practice buyers and sellers.

In this episode, transition specialist, Randon Jenson, discusses the 3 options covering both the advantages and the disadvantages of each so you can decide which is best for you.

Randon Jenson has helped hundreds of dentists with the sale of their practice. For more guidance on transitioning your practice, schedule a call with him at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

It’s a hot topic today. Dental Service Organizations (DSOs) are aggressively marketing to practice owners, soliciting interest in acquiring their practices. Typically, they’ll catch you with a really high number. A number so high you’d be foolish to ignore it. 

But what’s included in their “incredible” offers? Is it the right decision for you?

There are some trends that are cause for concern. So before you sign anything, listen to this episode to understand the three common elements in their offers. 

Remember, DSOs are smart. They are shrewd. And they are in business to make money. Don’t believe they are just being altruistic and generous. Do the math yourself, or get some help assessing the real value of your practice to help you negotiate an even better offer.

Randon Jenson is a practice transition specialist. He’s helped hundreds of dentists with the sale of their practice. For more guidance on transitioning your practice, schedule a call with Randon at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

When you buy a practice, guess what? Now, you’re a business owner. The problem is, not alot of education happens on the business side of dentistry. Unless you got an MBA in addition to your dental degree (if you have both, we salute you), you could be on the path to unnecessary anxiety and frustration by jumping in too quickly.

In this episode, Marney Andes shares some advice her father taught her - “You can do anything you want as long as you know the rules of the game.”

By spending more time upfront educating yourself, asking plenty of questions, and learning from others, you can save yourself from numerous headaches and be positioned for success when you become the owner of your own dental practice.

And who knows, you might even end up becoming Miss America like Marney did by following this advice!

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Marney Andes is a consultant, educator, entrepreneur and author who has dedicated her career to supporting teams and individuals as they develop and grow. Her experience in performance consulting and leadership development spans a wide range of industries, including technology, healthcare, education, and nonprofit. 

In her book, Start with the Give-Me Shots, Marney outlines eight core lessons that her dad taught her through honest storytelling, and simple, real-life examples, so you can experience his advice for yourself.

To learn more about Marney Andes, visit marneyandes.com

For more guidance on managing and transitioning your practice, schedule a call with Marie Chatterley at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

The way you enter a relationship and exit a relationship really matters. Too often in negotiations, we’ve been instructed that it has to be “meeting halfway,” or an equal 50/50 compromise, but that’s not necessarily the case. 

Selling a dental practice isn’t like selling a piece of real estate. It also involves selling goodwill – the doctor is selling their relationship with patients and with their staff. Because of this, there are many delicate components to this negotiation, not just any one right answer, and a host of other options that you might not have considered. 

As Marney Andes shares in this episode, the important thing to do in situations and transitions such as these is to identify from all perspectives, what is a win-win here? 

Here’s how you can break it down:

• What is a win for them? 
• What is a win for me?
• Is the situation we’re in actually conducive to making us both win? 
• And if it isn’t, can we negotiate to find a win-win?

Success—in business and life—doesn’t come without taking advice, learning lessons, and living with intention. In her book, Start with the Give-Me Shots, Marney outlines eight core lessons that her dad taught her through honest storytelling, and simple, real-life examples, so you can experience his advice for yourself.

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Marney Andes is a consultant, educator, entrepreneur and author who has dedicated her career to supporting teams and individuals as they develop and grow. Her experience in performance consulting and leadership development spans a wide range of industries, including technology, healthcare, education, and nonprofit. 

To learn more about Marney Andes, visit marneyandes.com

For more guidance on managing and transitioning your practice, schedule a call with Marie Chatterley at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

Have you identified the things that you’re really, really good at? Too often, we can be so hard on ourselves as practice owners to try to improve in too many areas all at once. We end up neglecting to practice what we love and what we know we do best. 

In this episode, Marney Andes shares one of the valuable life lessons that her dad taught her on the basketball court – start with the give-me shots. 

You don’t need to chase the latest and greatest, or make a gigantic effort to find new success. If you instead focus on practicing what you already love to do, and make time to learn what each of your staff members excels at, you’ll find greater success in playing to your strengths and delegating to theirs.

Marney is a consultant, educator, entrepreneur and author who has dedicated her career to supporting teams and individuals as they develop and grow. Her experience in performance consulting and leadership development spans a wide range of industries, including technology, healthcare, education, and nonprofit. 

Success—in business and life—doesn’t come without taking advice, learning lessons, and living with intention. In her book, Start with the Give-Me Shots, Marney outlines eight core lessons that her dad taught her through honest storytelling, and simple, real-life examples, so you can experience his advice for yourself.

To learn more about Marney Andes, visit marneyandes.com

For more guidance on managing and transitioning your practice, schedule a call with Marie Chatterley at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

Dr. William Vargo was a successful dentist for 35 years. He envisioned himself practicing till he was 68 or 70. But when he was only 65, his health couldn’t tolerate it and his wife’s health started to go downhill. He made the difficult decision to sell his practice earlier than he thought and during the COVID pandemic. 

Selling your practice can be loaded with emotion. In a moment, everything you worked for is turned over to someone else. What will they decide to do with it?

Plus, for so long you’ve gotten a sense of purpose and identity from being a dentist. Now what? What will you do after you’re a “non-dentist”? What will you think about instead?

Dr. William Vargo joins us on this episode to share his honest insights as one who has gone through the transition of selling a practice and stepped into retirement.

• What was the most challenging aspect of selling your practice?
• What was the best part about selling your practice?
• What advice do you have for colleagues who might be considering a transition?

For more guidance on selling your practice and making the transition Dr. Vargo made, schedule a call at: ctc-associates.com

For help finding a dental practice transition specialist in your area, send a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

There reaches a point in the life cycle of most practices where the doctor is as busy as they want to be, or as busy as they can be. 

We call these “S.E.T. points” – Solo Economic Threshold. 

It’s the point where you are working as much as you want to, or you really physically can’t work more without adding days or growing extra arms to do more dentistry.

Usually when you start to feel like “this is more than I can handle,” that’s a good indication to start exploring two options – change up your insurance participation, or add an associate.

For more on changing your insurance participation, listen to our previous conversation with Bill Rossi. In this episode, practice transition specialists, Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley, identify the healthy indicators for a practice to bring on an associate answering key questions such as:

• How far in advance are you booked?
• What’s your active patient count?
• How many new patients are you adding a month?

For help determining if you’re ready to bring on an associate, schedule a call with Randon & Marie at: ctc-associates.com

Find a dental practice transition specialist in your area by sending a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.

“I didn’t know if I was paid what I should be paid.” When you come out of dental school, you’ve been taught how to be a dentist, but you don’t yet know how to run a successful business. Unfortunately, this puts you in a vulnerable position. DSOs can take advantage of you. 

Now, there are pros and certainly some cons of working for a DSO. But you might have few other options as you are first starting out. So if you remember nothing else, hear this: 

In your contract you should have: 1) access to production reports and 2) access to lab invoices. Because how you are being paid shouldn’t be a big mystery to you.

In this episode, Dr. Lori Kemmet shares more tips like this so you aren’t operating blindly. And if it is a dream of yours to one day own your own practice, Dr. Kemmet has plenty to share to encourage you down that path.

Have a question about something you heard? Reach out to Lori directly at: [email protected]

For help transitioning your practice to new ownership, contact Marie Chatterley at: ctc-associates.com

Find a dental practice transition specialist in your area by sending a message to: [email protected]

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Long in the Tooth is hosted by Randon Jenson & Marie Chatterley of CTC Associates. It was founded by Bob Brooks, CBI, CEPA of Practice Endeavors.