The Best Practices Show with Kirk Behrendt

The Key to Calling Out Real Issues

Episode #410 with Jenni Poulos

Don't just band-aid your problems — get to the root of it! And to help you identify and solve the problems in your practice, Kirk Behrendt brings back Jenni Poulos, one of ACT’s lead coaches, to reveal the steps to calling out real issues together with your team. Be proactive in resolving problems so they don't become a crisis! To learn how, listen to Episode 410 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Step back and take a holistic view.

Pause and ask what the real issues are.

Identify the problem behind the problem.  

Get good at asking, “And, what else?”

Prioritize your most important issues.

Fixing the real issues will save time.

Quotes:

“It’s so devastating for doctors and team members to band-aid and patch, and band-aid and patch, and talk about the same things over, and over, and over again. It kills momentum. It kills meetings. It can kill trust too.” (0:56—1:14)

“There's no greater fatigue than mental fatigue. And if you diagnose the mental fatigue, what you're going to find is we’ve got to get to the real issue. And when you get to the real issue and you can diagnose it and do something about it, your life will actually change. It'll change over and over again.” (1:47—2:04)

“Our minds tend to go to all of the obstacles, to all of the reasons that something won't work. And then, we get into this putting-out-fires mode and dealing with one little thing here, and one little thing there, and one little thing here, and we just don't look holistically at things so we can pause, change our thought process, and think about, ‘Okay, what's really affecting this? What is this really going to affect? How do I need to think about change on a whole?’ We just don't step back to look at things in a way that can help us really understand what's going on.” (2:45—3:31)

“The first thing, really, is just to pause. What is the real issue? We talk in circles. Are we run, run, run, run, run about something that we’re frustrated with? And sometimes, just asking a team member, pausing during a team meeting and saying, ‘Okay, let's just take a second here. In one sentence, can we say what is the real issue? Let's try to bring it in a little bit and identify what is the issue, not talk about what are all of the effects that I'm seeing. What are all the things that are circling around here? Let's bring it in. What's the real issue?’ Because it’s easier to work with one thing versus a million things that are going around.” (5:06—5:59)

“Here’s a question that'll add to the real issue. Is this person a good core values fit for your practice? And if the answer is no, there's nothing you're going to say, there's no formula, there's no wisdom, there's no motivation that will ultimately fix this. We just don't care about the same things, and eventually it’s going to fall apart. So, you have to identify the real issue. Because people that fit your core values on your team, they’ll be willing to listen. They understand, and at least they’ll be open to the conversation.” (6:12—6:40)

“The problem is rarely the first thing that is stated. There's always something behind that that's causing it. We’re looking at the symptom. We want to know what's the actual cause. A great and very simple example, I was working with a team and they're like, ‘The data’s wrong! The data’s wrong. We don't know this. We don't know that. We can't figure it out.’ The root cause is they had no idea how to actually use the software. So, the problem wasn't that the data was incorrect. The problem was that they didn't have the training to understand how to use it. So, rather than spending all this time analyzing the data and where it’s wrong, it actually was an inability to use a software. So, a very simple explanation. But so...

Defining Trust in the Art of the Consult

Episode #409 with Dr. Christopher Ramsey

Trust is hard-wired in our DNA. Otherwise, who would ever go to a dentist? Letting a stranger crawl into your mouth would be out of the question! But even while trust is innate, it still must be earned. And to help you effectively gain your patients’ trust, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Christopher Ramsey to explain the four categories of trust so you can understand, define, and apply it to your consult. For secrets to an enthusiastic yes, listen to Episode 409 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Clearly define what reputation and trust means for your practice.

Your patients’ first impressions of your practice are critical.

Apply benevolence, integrity, competence, and predictability.

Genuine trust needs to be earned and will take time.

Strive to understand the people coming into your practice.

Quotes:

“Humans are pretty predictable if you take the time to understand them.” (5:48—5:50)

“One of the best quotes from a book called Mindset is, I cannot see a better ability than taking the time to understand other people. Because if you don't, you will always default to the one thing that you know, which is yourself. And if you have a life where you think, ‘Well, they don't act like me. They don't talk like me. They don't walk like me. They don't do what I would do, so something must be wrong with them,’ that's not good.” (5:50—6:12)

“I would find myself asking the question, ‘What makes your practice unique? Why are people even coming to you?’ You may have bought a practice that's been there for 30 years. Maybe you started from scratch. You're working with your dad. You're working with your mom. Okay, it’s all different. But what's going on? And everyone would say, ‘Well, we have a really good reputation.’ And that would come up all the time, ‘We have a really good reputation.’ ‘Excellent. Great answer. If you don't mind, define reputation for me.’ And then, people would stumble and be like, ‘Well . . .’ And people said, ‘I know it in my head. I just can't get the words out.’ So, I said, ‘Imagine you're that same person now at work. If you can't define it to yourself, how are you defining it to the people around you that you're asking to carry this business?’” (11:33—12:25)

“[Bergland says in The Neuroscience of Trust], we all have a propensity to trust. It’s how we’re wired as humans. It’s in our DNA to want to trust. That's how we’ve evolved as humans. And so, the thing you need to understand about trust is it is innate within us to want to trust. It’s been the key to our survival. So, right off the bat, as humans, we are wired that way to want to trust. I meet somebody and I go, ‘Yes, I'll trust them.’ Because think about if that wasn't wired. No one would go to a dentist for the first time! You have to walk through their door, meet a stranger, and let them crawl inside your mouth, which is in and of itself an intimate experience. That's a lot of trust for a stranger.” (16:16—16:55)

“What we found was, after going through all the literature, there were 23 references of trust in psychology, 23 for management and communication, and then another 19 spread across sociology, economics, and political science. What was really cool was, when it was all said and done, they broke [trust] into four basic categories: benevolence, integrity, competence, and predictability.” (22:02—22:25)

“Predictability, by definition, is important for dentistry because predictability is a person’s actions that are consistent enough to be forecasted in a given situation. Well, what does that mean in dentistry? That means people can look at stuff online and go, ‘Wow, look at all the smiles they’ve created. I see that they’ve done this before. There are some predictable results in what...

The One Habit to Improve Your Future as a Dentist

Episode #408 with Heather Crockett

Why do some dentists produce more per hour, while other dentists struggle? One answer is time — or how you think about time. Successful people take the time to think, and this habit is crucial for your practice. Clarity breaks will improve your future, and Kirk Behrendt brings back Heather Crockett, ACT’s Lead Practice Coach, to share how. If you feel that your practice is running you, not the other way around, it’s time for a clarity break! To learn about its value and the best ways to schedule them, listen to Episode 408 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Clarity breaks are crucial for your practice.

Without clarity, you won't have focus.

Don't just try clarity breaks. Schedule them.  

Work on your business, not in your business.

Take time to “sharpen the saw”.

Less is more when talking about priorities.

Quotes:

“It’s crucial to have that clarity break because we get so lost and focused on the busyness of the day and all of our tasks that sometimes we lose sight of those priorities, or how to improve the business and how to make it better. And the same thing goes with dentistry too. We need to make sure we land the plane, get that clarity, think about how we can improve our day-to-day. It saves us thousands of hours and helps to not only improve the business but the bottom-line profitability.” (5:01—5:35)

“They're called priorities for a reason. We need to focus on what we say is the most important, big, hairy, audacious goal, if you will, for this quarter, and then keep that at the forefront of our minds so that we focus on and work on that the most this quarter. Less is more when you're talking about priorities. If you have five, are they all going to get done and be done well? Probably not.” (5:38—6:05)

“It comes back to your core values and your core purpose, which is something that we do early on in our coaching process before we jump into anything else. We go back and say, ‘Okay, these are our core values and our core purpose that we said are core to us and the foundation of the practice.’ And if we’re saying that we don't have time to get that clarity and decide what our priorities are and to give time to our team members, then we’re saying that these core values and core purpose are null. They don't mean anything.” (8:31—9:03)

“My [Apple] Watch will remind me to have focus time. It will say, ‘Open mindfulness.’ I want to sit and be mindful at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. So, within five, 10 minutes of putting my watch on in the morning, it will pop up and say, ‘Open mindfulness,’ and help to focus. There are so many different options — you don't have to have an Apple Watch. But what I'm saying is it helps me because it reminds me to get in the right frame of mind for my day and helps me to clear out everything else that I'm thinking about, because I'm worried about this, I'm worried about patient X that's coming in at 11:00 that I'm a little bit nervous or anxious about. Helping me to calm down and focus can be very helpful, even on a daily basis.” (12:47—13:40)

“Don't try a clarity break — schedule regular clarity breaks. They're part of who you are. It’s like scheduling sleep. Sleep is not underrated, and it’s not optional. You should actually have scheduled clarity breaks, one of them being with your team every single week. Our highest producers schedule two hours of clarity breaks with their team, because you can work 30 to 32 clinical hours, have a magnificent practice — and trust me, your team will appreciate the fact that you're slowing down the whole business to talk about how we can get better. And it makes everyone happy. You guys are all looking for the secret. There's no...

Providing 5 Star Dentistry in a Discount World (A COVID Conference Favorite)

Episode #407 with Dr. Keith Phillips 

 In a world where dentists are pushed toward valuing quantity over quality, how do you provide the best possible care you can? Dr. Keith Phillips shares his tips for getting better at diagnostics, how to look at the bigger picture, and how to work with integrity. To find out how you can give your patients the five-star care they deserve, listen to Episode 407 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Watching a problem won’t make it better.

 Don’t sacrifice your integrity.

What treatment would you want for your own teeth?

Use all the tools at your disposal to perform a comprehensive diagnostic.

Listen and work with the patient.

Quotes:

“What I want you to be thinking about is how you were trained in dental school to approach a treatment plan, and how long you have been in private practice, and how that has changed. Do you look at patients differently now? Do you look at their treatments differently? And most importantly, do you look at their diagnosis differently?” (00:45—01:06)

“A lot of dentists frequently don’t recognize the incomplete fractures of teeth. They often diagnose them incorrectly, they look at them and they say, ‘They’re there,’ and they use that phrase…’We’ll just watch that.’ And to quote Dr. Pete Dawson…’What the hell are you going to watch it do, if you just watch it?’ And of course, sometimes they’re treated improperly. Do you treat when you don’t need to? Do you leave them alone?” (02:06—02:43)

“We should start treating teeth more conservatively earlier on.” (04:02—04:09)

“I think there’s a lot of cases that we leave untreated that should be treated. There’s a lot of cases that we treat and we should question should it be treated, or at least how you treat it. And we don’t want to be guilty of doing non-conservative treatment. Does every tooth that has a crack in it need a crown? No. But I would contend that if a crack goes into dentin, we certainly want to treat the tooth somehow…It is your decision to make ethically, combined with talking with that patient.” (11:46-12:27)

“You’ve got to find ways to look at these teeth using cameras, using inter-oral cameras, handheld cameras, transillumination, you’ve got to clean the teeth off, you’ve got to dry the teeth, you’ve got look at all those things.” (14:50—15:02)

“You’ve got to look carefully, you need to look at teeth all these different directions, all these different ways, so that you know what you’re looking at.” (16:00—16:07)

“It’s not this tooth, it’s the entire process of the mouth—what’s the pathogenesis of that?” (25:02—25:08)

“I just have to question every time I treatment plan a patient—would I do it on me?” (26:05—26:09)

“The success was putting Danny in a position to prove to himself that he could manage this.” (35:24—35:31)

“I remember talking about Actinomycosis in dental school, but I never put that together, and the key here is you’ve got a cracked tooth. That bug is in your mouth all the time, but unless it can get to a place where it can thrive in an anaerobic environment, it’s not a problem, such as a cracked tooth or an area of decay. It has to have that portal of entry into a tooth.” (43:36—43:57)

“I think if you’re going to practice in a discount world and you want it to be five-star, you owe it to your patients to be better at diagnostics, to be better at conservative restorations, but most importantly, to look at the cause of everything you’re restoring. How did it get there? Why is it there? Do I need to intervene in the occlusion or the type of restoration we...

Leadership, Management, and Team Engagement (A COVID-19 Conference Favorite)

Episode #406 with Josey Sewell

Do you find yourself dreading Mondays? Well, 70% of the working world is with you! Employees are disengaged worldwide, and they are increasing in number. And to help prevent you from having frustrated and disconnected workers, Josey Sewell from Dental Intel shares how to grow better leaders and managers and have better team engagement. If you want to create a healthier, more joyful work environment so you can look forward to Mondays, listen to Episode 406 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Only about 15% of the world’s workers are engaged.

Great managers are critical for worker engagement.

Lack of clarity creates chaos and frustration.

People want to be coached, not managed.

Create vulnerability-based trust with your team.

Don't be afraid of numbers and data.

Quotes:

“People are looking for purpose in work, and it’s up to us to provide them and help them see that purpose. And when you can do that, it’s amazing how your team can support you.” (10:49—11:02)

“[According to a Gallup poll,] just 15% of the world’s workers are engaged at work or appeared to have great jobs. 70% are just not engaged. And what I mean by “not engaged” is that maybe they clock in, and they clock out, and they're not necessarily super excited to be there, but they're not really that miserable. They're just in-between. They just do enough to not get fired. And, unfortunately, 70% of the world’s population is living that. The other 15% are actively disengaged. So, what that means is they are miserable, and they want to commiserate with everybody and make everything difficult for everybody else.” (11:51—12:35)

“One of the things that I learned is that that 70% [who are not engaged], sometimes they were on the fence. And what we found in working with a really large team is that their choice to become the active employee or the disengaged employee often had to do with how we dealt with the 15% of people who were disengaged. Because if they got away with whatever, and there was no accountability, and they made everybody miserable, but it didn't matter that they didn't follow the rules, why on earth should I really put forth a lot of time and effort into this team or into this company? So, make sure that you are consistent with your rules. If you say this is the way that it’s going to be, you stick with it.” (12:36—13:16)

“Gallup says that if we increased even just to 50% of people being actively engaged in work, the world would literally change overnight. Actively engaged employees boom your business, inspire teams, and solve problems instead of creating them. They volunteer in the community, have fewer workplace accidents, have better health and well-being, and make fewer mistakes.” (13:26—13:51)

“The single, most profound, distinct, and clarifying finding ever: 70% of the variance in team engagement is determined solely by the manager. It’s the manager that makes such a difference.” (14:24—14:42)

“Being a great doer of tasks does not always make somebody a great manager. And there's not a lot of training or things that are available for managers, so you have to put an emphasis on helping them lead and manage people.” (15:29—15:43)

“If you're just doing an annual performance review like they used to do decades ago, that is not enough. [Employees] want constant feedback and coaching.” (16:37—16:46)

“People don't want to be managed. People want to be coached. And so, the manager has to turn into being a coach. The coach does not only just provide answers with every question that's asked; they ask good questions to facilitate learning. They're not judgmental. They're supportive. They do not dictate what must be done. They facilitate development and learning....

Mental Health in Dentistry (A COVID-19 Conference Favorite)

Episode #405 with Dr. Joshua Austin

Maybe not everyone needs a therapist — but every dentist needs a therapist. And to highlight the reasons why, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Joshua Austin to this COVID-19 Conference to talk about his personal mental health journey, the stigma around mental health in dentistry, and some sobering statistics you need to know about dentists. It’s okay to not be okay, and it’s time to be okay talking about it. To learn ways to protect your mental health, listen to Episode 405 of The Best Practices Show!

**If you or someone you know — in or out of the dental community — is struggling with depression or is in distress, please reach out today. Resources are linked below.** 

Main Takeaways:

Dentists are at high risk for mental health crises.

Every dentist should have a therapist.

If not a therapist, have someone you can talk to.

Find different ways to bring down your anxiety.

It is okay to not be okay, and to talk about it.

Quotes:

“I saw [Contagion in 2011], and I was in such a dark place in my life that I thought to myself multiple times watching that movie, ‘Wow, this would be great because this would mean I don't have to deal with this stuff anymore, and I wouldn't have to get up to go to work the next day, and I wouldn't have to get up to fake feelings in a relationship that isn't positive for me, and it would be a great answer to the problems of my life.’ And looking back on that now, that is so incredibly tone-deaf that it’s embarrassing to say. But what I think it highlights is that we can end up, as dentists, in dark places mentally and emotionally and it can make us think some thoughts that we’re not comfortable talking about because we are a surgical group.” (3:35—4:24)

“I'm not saying everyone needs a therapist — just every dentist needs a therapist.” (9:29—9:34)

“There's no reason why you couldn't do a video conference with a therapist and spend 30, 45 minutes, an hour — it costs you $150, probably — and be working on ourselves in a way that we should that we generally don't.” (14:21—14:38)

“I became a dentist because of my dad. My dad practiced dentistry for 25 years in Amarillo, Texas, and he taught at the dental school here in San Antonio. And all my life, I wanted to make my dad happy. And honestly, that's what drove me into dentistry. I wanted to make my dad happy, and I wanted to hear my dad say that he was proud of me. There’s a problem with that. My dad died when I was 10 years old. So, no matter what I do in dentistry, I'm never going to hear that he was proud of me. That moment is never going to come. And what led me to realizing I needed a therapist started from that.” (23:26—24:09)

“I come into the office one morning, and there's an email at our desk. It was from a guy named Chris, and it said he was seeking dental care elsewhere. And under “comments” it said, ‘Dr. Austin just seems so angry all the time.’ Which is one of those things that — I thought I was really good at hiding all of that and keeping that in check.” (25:35—25:58)

“I think there are a lot of people out there who are like me that, yes, we all wanted to help people. But the reason they became a dentist was maybe a reason that they can never fully solve, or they can never fully get the validation that they need. And so, it becomes a 2,500 square-foot coffin every day. And I want people to know that the way out of that is not trying to find some MLM solution to sell CBD products or nutritional shakes. It’s not any of that. It’s coming to terms with what's in your brain and what's in your mind and seeking therapy to try to become a human being that copes better with the day-to-day stresses that we all have.” (27:42—28:35)

“You've got...

Why Interdisciplinary Dentistry is Too Hard for Most Dentists

Episode #404 with Dr. Jeff Rouse

Interdisciplinary dentistry is the future. So, why isn't there more buy-in, and why are dentists struggling to give interdisciplinary care? To reveal why it’s so difficult and the steps you can take to get started, Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Jeff Rouse from Spear Education for his thoughts and advice to help you provide the best care for your patients. It’s time to help patients beyond their teeth! To learn how, listen to Episode 404 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Education in interdisciplinary care is lacking.

Don't just focus on structure and biology issues.

Go beyond products and materials to help patients.

Airway is the gateway to comprehensive dentistry.

Join a study club!

Quotes:

“You have to feel confident and competent in doing [dentistry]. So, you have to have the education and spend the time learning it. And there are, unfortunately, very few places to learn that. A majority of the education we have is focused on technique because it’s company-driven, a lot of it. It’s, ‘I want to learn about E-MAX. I want to learn about zirconia systems. I want to learn about composites,’ because you're going to do a procedure. And the thought process is, ‘Show me how to do that thing, and then I'll go back and do that thing and make more money doing that thing.’ So, it’s technique, materials. Or it’s product, ‘Get me a scanner. Get me a milling machine. Get me a laser.’ Things. But once again, it’s materials from a company, your product from a company, driving dentistry. And unfortunately, for us, it also plays into what dental school taught us, which is how to work with materials and how to work with product.” (12:41—14:18)

“When we go through in dental school and put together a treatment plan, all we do is list what's broken, what's diseased, what I'm going to do about it. So, it’s singular. It’s, ‘Tooth number two has a . . . Tooth number 31 has a . . . They have this, and I'm going to use this technique in order to take care of it. This product. This machine.’ And that's not interdisciplinary dentistry at all. So, our education is lacking.” (14:19—15:06)

“Airway gives you the opportunity to get the patient out of the hygiene operatory, whereas talking to them about their teeth are worn, their teeth are in the wrong location, the teeth have the gums covering them; they need to be pushed back, harder conversation to have with people. Much more difficult. Especially wear patients, malocclusions, really difficult conversation because you don't want people, when they're brand-new to your practice, to think you're just after their money.” (17:54—18:27)

“I'm now seeing this increase in younger dentists doing what I'm going to call better dentistry, at least more exciting dentistry, more profitable dentistry, than they ever have before. It’s not because of the way we now teach it at Spear versus how Bill and I taught it; it’s because airway looks at skeletal and dentoalveolar as it relates to the skeleton differently than we ever have. It adds this extra piece.” (22:42—23:17)

“Airway gets people in for comprehensive evaluations, and it gets them to do more complex, comprehensive dentistry than I've ever had opportunities to do before.” (25:01—25:13)

“There are people out there that want to help you be better than what you are right now, and to achieve better than they are. If you're excited enough to be one of the best, there are lots of people that are willing to help you get there.” (27:56—28:12)

“Young dentists need to know that there are people that want to help them. And a study club format is probably the best way to go about doing that. And the two that I've been associated with are Seattle Study Club and Spear Study Club. They both have their...

The Necessity of CBCT & MRI Imaging in Today’s Orthodontic Diagnosis & Treatment Planning

Episode #403 with Dr. Drew McDonald

Without imaging, you're basically guessing treatment plans — and that’s never a good thing! To know the best possible treatment for your patients, you need MRIs and CBCT. And to help you get started, Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Drew McDonald to talk about the pushback with imaging as well as the benefits and value they have for you and your patients. Don't go into treatment blindly! You can have clear images that present the truth. To be a better clinician that changes patients’ lives, listen to Episode 403 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

A clear image will help you see under the surface.

MRIs can show the severity of joint instability.

CBCTs and MRIs are safer than ever before.

Having images can increase case acceptance.

Imaging will lead the way to being better clinicians.

Quotes:

“The biggest thing of why [it’s important], for me, on what we’re talking about with imaging is that it’s the truth. You can't fake that. It’s right there in front of you in the cold, black mirror that you're looking at on that X-ray or that MRI. And ultimately, it tells your patients the truth. But for me, whenever I started going down the road of, ‘Okay, let's see what's under the surface. Let's see why this patient isn't responding the way that I anticipated,’ that really shed a lot of light on what are the true problems here.” (12:07—12:37)

“The other unpleasant conversation that you get to have with patients when [relapse] happens is, ‘Well, I thought this was going to stay. Why didn’t it?’ And it starts to look like you, as the doctor, didn't do your job. Well, no. If you did your job at the front end and diagnosed and said, ‘Hey, we need to take care of not just the teeth but these issues to keep this stable,’ then you really did your job and you're in the clear as a doctor.” (13:09—13:33)

“Right now, in dentistry, the biggest evolving part of this profession is on the imaging side. I think we’re in a huge revolution of how we’re going to do dentistry, where everything is going to be in 3D and people are going to routinely do MRIs, not just TMJ specialists. In my world, I think I'm one of the few orthodontists that do it. But it’s going to be widespread. And honestly, it gives so much value to the patient. We treat them to the highest standard of care possible instead of limiting what we could do.” (15:02—15:35)

“I started looking at my 2D X-rays and then looking at the 3D and saying, ‘Well, I can kind of see this on the 2D.’ On a lateral ceph, you can see adenoids. It’s clear as day. You can see tonsils clear as day. So, you don't necessarily have to be totally in the 3D world, at this moment, to be able to start looking for the things that we should be looking for. I mean, on a pano, you can see turbinates clear as day on a lot of patients and see noses really well. And also, the biggest thing, you can see joints. So, just in our every day, what you take as a general dentist, what you take as an orthodontist, those images are still very valuable if you know where to look besides just the pearly white things in this little area right here.” (17:24—18:09)

“I started saying, ‘Okay, maybe I should be doing [imaging] on a few more patients,’ because I'm starting to see maybe this is part of their problem. But I was recognizing surface issues like narrow palates and things that then I go, ‘Well, maybe I should see if there's something causing this under the surface.’ And then, at that point, you show the patient, and they go, ‘Yeah, let's follow up on that ENT referral.’ I never thought, as a dentist, I'd be writing as many ENT referrals and chiropractic referrals and TMJ stuff that's never thought of as part of your...

Why Dentists Are Scared to Try Anything New

Episode #402 with Dr. Zach Sisler

Change can be daunting. But you owe it to your patients, your team, and yourself to continuously learn and evolve. Dentists are afraid to try new things, and Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Zach Sisler to share three reasons why and how that fear can be conquered. If you give up on trying, that's the end of the game! To get into the mindset of trying something new, listen to Episode 402 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Gain confidence to be willing to try new things.

Seek out knowledge to find a way to succeed.

Don't be afraid of failure and rejection. Just try.

Be objective with rejection. Don't take it personal.

Trying new things leads to self-discovery.

You miss 100% of the shots you never take.

Quotes:

“The reason that this is important is because when I first came out of school, I was super hungry. And I mean I took every course under the sun. I wanted to try everything. I wanted to really ramp my practice up. And then, I think once you get to a point where things are going somewhat smooth and you do have some good systems in place, you almost get on this autopilot. You're like, ‘All right. Well, I could just coast here. I could just relax, ride this out for the rest of my career and be done.’ But realistically, I think we owe it to our patients, we owe it to our teams, and ourselves as well, to not become stagnant.” (7:53—8:33)

“I feel like there were three ways, as I look back, in why I wouldn't try something new, or why when I talked to other dentists, they don't want to try something new. And the first one would be, ‘I don't know how to do that.’ I'm like, ‘Okay. What don't you know?’ ‘I just don't know how to do that. I don't know how to do that procedure, so I refer that procedure out.’ I'm like, ‘Okay. Well, there are courses all over that you could go and actually obtain the knowledge to learn how to do this, and then maybe you keep more stuff in your office.’ Or maybe you decide that, ‘Hey, I tried this and I actually like doing it. Maybe I want to dive deeper into that and find more CE on that and learn more about that, and then apply more of that to my practice.’” (19:32—20:18)

“To me, the knowledge excuse is kind of a cop out. There are plenty of avenues, whether it be a course, whether it be a mentor, whether it be reading out of a textbook or journals or whatever. You can find knowledge to apply. So, that's kind of on you if you're not willing to at least seek out some of this knowledge to find a way to succeed.” (20:19—20:46)

“Reading is very much a weakness for me. I don't enjoy it. I struggle to get “through” books. They really have to capture my attention. And so, I set a goal. I was going to read 12 books last year. I was like, ‘I'm going to read a book a month.’ And that's a lot for me. But as I started reading, I found what I liked, and I found what I didn't like. And I found what captivated me and kept me really engaged, and I found books that like, ‘Ugh. Man, I don't want to pick up another one like this.’ But had I not at least even set the goal, had I not even tried that, I wouldn't have known what I liked and what I wanted to read more of and what I wanted to learn more about.” (22:35—23:19)

“To me, [reading] was starting something new and realizing how to dive into it and really what I liked from it. And I've done the same thing in dentistry too. I did a lot of CE on TMJ and liked it, initially. And then, when I started treating it, I realized it’s a complex onion with many, many layers, and I dove deeper down that route and saw what I wanted to take and what I wanted to utilize. And then, I did airway CE and I learned, ‘Okay. This isn't something I love, but I know people who do, and I'd love to get my patients in their...

How Do I Compensate My Hygienist?

Episode #401 with Dr. Kevin Groth, Dr. Rob Ritter, and Dr. Pat Lillis

You need to hire a hygienist, but they're in short supply. And the ones who apply ask for outlandish salaries! So, what do you do? Do you pay incoming hygienists more and create animosity? Do you raise everyone’s salaries and have high overhead? Or do you just choose to go without hiring? For some insight to help you navigate this dilemma, Kirk Behrendt brings in The Big Three, Dr. Kevin Groth, Dr. Rob Ritter, and Dr. Pat Lillis for ways to fairly compensate your hygienists without losing your mind. For their best practices on finding, hiring, and keeping the best hygienists, listen to Episode 401 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Take emotion out of compensation decisions.

Use metrics to determine your hygienists’ salaries.

Consider giving all your hygienists the same salary.

Quality hygienists exist — you just need to be patient.

Hygienists are not more important than everyone else.

Empower your team to be the best they can be.

Quotes:

“Right now, we hear it all over the country, it’s supply and demand for hygienists to work in your practice. I know there aren't enough hygienists. Either they left the profession, didn't come back, or they're coming back and asking for some of the most unbelievable salaries that I've ever heard in my career. And then, dentists are struggling on how to compensate them.” (10:03—10:23)

“It’s an interesting thing with hygienists. Let's just start it there. I think we’d all agree with that, it’s very interesting. Because remember, they're taught in hygiene schools that they don't work for the dentist, they work with the dentist. They are that mid-level provider. And they want to be compensated because they typically have more education than our clinical assistants or our administrative team. Yet, I don't make emotion-based decisions on how we compensate our hygienists. I don't — I won't. I will not go down that path.” (10:29—10:58)

“When it comes to hygienists, here’s what I do that's pretty simple. I know what I charge for a hygiene prophy for an hour. I take that number times eight — because that's how many patients they're going to see in an hour on a typical day, not including the new patients, not including the scaling and root planings — and then I take 30% of that, and that's what they can make for the day as a starting salary.” (11:29—11:54)

“Most general practices run somewhere between 60% and 70% of overhead. That's what it costs them for overhead. So, I'm not going to compensate them more than that because my overhead is somewhere between 60% and 70%, in most general practices.” (11:58—12:14)

“I've got two ways for [hygienists] to make legitimate bonus money that will increase their hourly rate on things that they do. So, we do a bare-ass minimum, a BAM, and I know how much they need to generate for the day. So, in a general practice, let's just say it’s $1,000. They need to do $1,000 for the day as a BAM. What I do is I give them 10% of anything over $1,000. So, if they did $1,500 for the day — and they get everything, whether they sell a toothbrush or a whitening kit or a fluoride treatment, whatever they sell. I don't care if they sell it. And I know we’re not supposed to use the word “sell” by the practice management consultants, but that's what they're doing. They're marketing, they're selling, whatever you want to call it. So, if the difference is $500, they get 10% of that, $50, and you amortize that out over eight hours, how much is that? That's an extra $4 or $5 an hour on top of their initial amount of money that they're going to get.” (12:26—13:21)

“The second compensation is, when I go in the room and I diagnose a unit, a crown, an onlay, a veneer, an...