Dental Practice Heroes

Short Staffed? Here's What to Do


Listen Later

Your dental practice feels like it’s barely surviving, the team is overwhelmed, and the plan sounds logical: “Once we hire one more assistant or one more hygienist, then we’ll fix the systems.” I’m challenging that idea head-on, because waiting doesn’t pause the chaos. It feeds it. When we delay training, accountability, and process improvement, we create the exact environment that drives burnout, frustration, and turnover in a short staffed dental office.

I walk through the cycle I see constantly in dental practice management: we hire someone, we rush onboarding, the new team member is afraid to ask questions, mistakes pile up, coworkers get resentful, and suddenly we’re hiring again. The problem isn’t effort, it’s predictability. That’s why building a systematized dental practice is not a “nice to have.” Clear expectations, simple workflows, and consistent follow-up are powerful staff retention strategies that make the day feel doable and the job worth keeping.

You’ll get a practical leadership playbook for what to do right now: talk to your team with transparency, pick one recurring friction point to fix instead of launching five projects, and protect training even when the schedule is packed. Training isn’t extra work, it’s how we reduce future work and help people feel confident, capable, and loyal.

If you want help building the systems and training that keep great people, head to dentalpracticeheroes.com/slash strategy and set up a call with me. Subscribe, share this with a practice owner who’s stuck in survival mode, and leave a five-star review so more dentists can find the show.

Join our Newest and Best Coaching Program, Click Here for More Information

Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life

We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams.


Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Dental Practice HeroesBy Dr. Paul Etchison

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

145 ratings


More shows like Dental Practice Heroes

View all
The Very Dental Podcast Network by Alan Mead

The Very Dental Podcast Network

392 Listeners

The Dentalpreneur Podcast w/ Dr. Mark Costes by Dental Consulting

The Dentalpreneur Podcast w/ Dr. Mark Costes

301 Listeners

The Dentist Money Show | Financial Planning & Wealth Management by Dentist Advisors - Financial Planning and Investment Management

The Dentist Money Show | Financial Planning & Wealth Management

148 Listeners

Dentistry Made Simple with Dr. Tarun 'TBone' Agarwal by Dr. Tarun Agarwal

Dentistry Made Simple with Dr. Tarun 'TBone' Agarwal

166 Listeners

Shared Practices | Your Dental Roadmap through Practice Ownership by Dr. George Hariri | Shared Practices Network

Shared Practices | Your Dental Roadmap through Practice Ownership

562 Listeners

Bulletproof Dental Practice by Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak

Bulletproof Dental Practice

226 Listeners

The Millennial Dentist by MillennialDentist.com

The Millennial Dentist

98 Listeners

The Productive Dentist Podcast by Dr. Bruce B. Baird: America's Most Productive Dentist

The Productive Dentist Podcast

42 Listeners

Dental A Team Podcast by Dental A Team

Dental A Team Podcast

266 Listeners

The Lifestyle Practice Podcast For Dentists by The Lifestyle Practice Coaches

The Lifestyle Practice Podcast For Dentists

183 Listeners

Dental Unfiltered by Matthew Brown

Dental Unfiltered

123 Listeners

Daily Dental Podcast by Addison Killeen DDS

Daily Dental Podcast

28 Listeners

The Dental Lighthouse with Dr. Jason Tanoory by Jason Tanoory

The Dental Lighthouse with Dr. Jason Tanoory

26 Listeners

Just a Couple of Dentists by Just a Couple of Dentists

Just a Couple of Dentists

12 Listeners

The Dental CEO Podcast by Scott Leune

The Dental CEO Podcast

32 Listeners