Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020

CLASS OF 2021 | FALL ISSUE

Jordan Brown, DDS

My Story

Laura Schwindt, DDS

How to Attract and Retain Your Ideal Patient on a Budget Uche Odiatu, DMD

Wellness: A Value-Added Advantage

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Welcome

CLASS OF 2020 FALL ISSUE VOLUME 1

Welcome to the craziest fall season ever!

Fall 2020 VOLUME 23, ISSUE 1 Editor & Publisher Anne M. Duffy RDH Assistant Editor Michael Duffy JoAnn Schutte Susan Beatty Production Curative Group Editorial Board Dr. Dirk Fleischman Dr. Gene Heller Dr. Harold Sturner Dr. Ryan Dulde Dr. Earl Douglas Rachel Teel Wall, RDH, BS Dr. Tom Snyder Derek Champange Dr. David Rice Layout and Design Brian Rummel Cover Photography Dr. Jordan Brown Class of 2020 Contributors Dr. Jordan Brown Dr. Earl Douglas Kim McCleskey Holly Anne Mitchell Dr. Uche Odiatu Dr. David Rice Dr. Laura Schwindt Dr. Lucas Shapiro Dr. John A. Wilde

Wouldn’t you agree? It’s wild to think that the Covid-19 pandemic is still affecting our families, our education, our mental state, our daily routines, and of course, our health in September of 2020.

But here we are. And we must continue to move forward, even if we must make adjustments to keep ourselves sane and our neighbors safe.

I’m hoping that this issue of Dental Entrepreneur: Business Beyond the Classroom reassures you that with a little help, we’ll all be OK, and when we come out of this pandemic, we will be better for it. After all, it’s not what we get, it’s how we handle what we get. I already feel a bit of inspiration after going through what all of our authors have contributed to this edition of the magazine.

As a dentist, you are faced with challenges every day by every patient and every decision you make. This is the career path you have chosen, the path you were trained for and a path offering unlimited success. As you read these pages, I believe you’ll feel the same inspiration I did. Your future is bright!

We begin with Dr. Jordan Brown, a shining star who is a testament to what is possible if you keep the faith and relentlessly pursue your dreams. His is a story of never surrendering, even in the face of adversity. And you know what? He’s You no different from you. Throughout his career, he just never quit, and now he’s one of the most recognized faces in dentistry. We cannot wait to follow his career as he impacts our profession.

I also loved reading Dr. Luke Shapiro’s feature on Aaleeyah Alim, the dentist behind the popular IGTV series Tooth Tuesdays. Dr. Alim (known on Instagram as @smile.leey) is committed to demystifying questions about dentistry that the average person may not consider. What’s more, she wants her page to serve as an inspiration to anyone who can identify with her, namely anyone who is Black, a woman or of a visible religious minority. You’ll learn a lot by giving her a follow!

And as we face the uncertainties that the pandemic has brought to finding a job, purchasing a practice or dealing with lenders, we brought back dental transitions expert Earl Douglas to provide a roadmap for navigating these challenges. If you have any of these decisions looming on the horizon, I would definitely suggest turning to Page 12.

The dental community must remain united, and we here at DE want to continue to be a resource that helps ease your professional journey. I’d encourage you to support our generous sponsors and reach out to our authors, because we’re all in this together.

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Dental Entrepreneur Magazine 8334 Pineville Matthews Road Ste. 103-201 Charlotte, NC 28226 When you have finished enjoying this magazine pass it along to a friend and PLEASE RECYCLE Copyright 2020 Dental Entrepreneur, Charlotte, NC Material herein may not be reproduced, copied or reprinted without prior written consent of the publisher.

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As our back-page columnist David Rice likes to say, “You got this!”

Contents PROLOGUE

6 My Story

Jordan Brown, DDS

10 Weighing in With Dr. Luke Shapiro Lucas Shapiro, DDS

GETTING STARTED

12 Now What?

Earl Douglas, DDS, MBA, BVAL

16 How to Attract and Retain

Your Ideal Patient on a Budget Laura Schwindt, DDS

BUSINESS FUNDAMENTALS

18 Be Your Own Consultant Holly Anne Mitchell

22 3-Step Process to Ensure Financial Accountability and Prevent Embezzlement in Your Practice Kim McCleskey

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

26 Wellness: A Value-Added Advantage Uche Odiatu, DMD

THE POWER TO SUCCEED

28 If You Must Speak, Ask a Question John A. Wilde, DDS 30 How To Survive Your New Covid Curriculum David Rice, DDS

Prologue

My Story Jordan Brown, DDS

M

y name is Dr. Jordan Brown (Instagram @drjordanbrown), and I grew up as a gawky, shy and overweight kid with teeth two sizes too big for my face. My classmates maliciously teased me about my “SpongeBob teeth,” and consequently, I began to habitually blanket my smile with my hands when laughing. I didn’t know it then, but this lackluster period of my adolescence was the inspiration that fueled my motivation to become a dentist.

Fast-forward several years, and my smile had undergone an extensive orthodontic transformation. My newfound smile helped replace a previously despondent identity with a charismatic persona. For the first time in my life, I proudly displayed my teeth to the world. My metamorphosis awarded me the self-confidence I needed to speak to other people. I became a dentist to grant that same transformative image of self-confidence to others.

I was a humble kid with a dream, but I didn’t know the steps required to become a dentist; I desperately needed a mentor. No one in my family was a dentist, so I was navigating untraveled roads. To aid in my transition to college, I enrolled in an intensive summer program designed to prepare high school graduates for the rigorous science courses of post-secondary education. Midway through the program, I was struggling to understand fundamental concepts, and I was embarrassingly far behind. My demeanor was saturated with self-doubt, and I questioned my ability to take future advanced courses like biochemistry and physiology. I didn’t believe I was smart enough to become a dentist.

Toward the end of the summer program, a well-known cosmetic dentist gave an influential presentation that altered my reality.

One segment of his presentation inculcated within my young mind and transcended my outlook on education. He said, “Look around the room … every person here is smart enough to become a doctor! Becoming a doctor is not about intelligence, it’s about

6 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

the degree to which you are willing to work.” As a struggling biology student with at least eight years of coursework ahead of me, this felt like a lifeline. He was the first dentist to tell me that I held the ability to achieve my ultimate aspiration.

The lecture was an unexpected revelation and changed my outlook on the pathway to dental licensure. Before this moment, I believed students had fixed qualities and abilities that couldn’t be improved upon. However, I now understood that intelligence and talent can be developed through continuous effort. From this point forward, I knew I had the capability to become a dentist.

I began to treat school like a full-time job by adopting an earlymorning routine, I began sitting in the front row of my classes, and I regularly made appointments with tutors.

During my first semester at Morehouse College, I began earning grades at the top of my class. I adopted an attitude dedicated to high-level effort and consistency. As a child, my father worked nearly every Christmas and my mother established her small business from the ground-up. Their exemplary efforts fortified my understanding of “To whom much is given, much will be required.” I graduated with a 3.80 GPA and was accepted into the prominent University of Michigan School of Dentistry. I’m not listing these accomplishments to be ostentatious, but to inspire and motivate. A single message revised my ethos and liberated my academic uncertainty.

Along the way, I found generous mentors like Dr. Todd Ester at the University of Michigan, and he mentored me through dental school. At this time, Instagram just started to gain popularity, but dentists on the platform were uncommon. When I began dental school, I remembered the difficulty of finding mentors, so I started publicly sharing my experience as a dental student to assist others with similar aspirations. I began by coaching others on the dental school selection process, the application cycle, and naviDentalEntrepreneur.com

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Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 7

When I began dental school, I remembered the difficulty of finding mentors, so I started publicly sharing my experience as a dental student to assist others with similar aspirations. gating the other myriad of issues plaguing the dental community.

The largest concern for nearly all dental students and new dentists is the rising cost of tuition, increasingly high student loan interest rates and financial uncertainty. Student loans are like dental plaque: both debilitating and nearly everyone has some.

From this perspective, I created an educational eBook series called Plaque Masters Academy to teach students how I financed my professional education via the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program (NHSC SP). The NHSC SP is a federally funded program, which awards full scholarships to students pursuing dentistry, medicine, physician-assistant or nurse practitioner training. This scholarship program was created in response to healthcare deserts, which left thousands of people with the inability to access healthcare services. The aim of this first eBook was to provide guidance and understanding into the scholarship program and how it can alleviate financial concerns. I do believe it is the best non-military scholarship for dental school because you choose the location where you fulfill your commitment. They have qualifying clinics in major areas like Atlanta, Tampa, Los Angeles, etc. From this, I birthed two subsequent eBooks in the Plaque Masters Academy Series: Volume 1: National Health Service Corps Scholarship Guide olume 2: Residency Guide, which was a collaborative eBook V written for students considering specialty training. We provided guidance into pediatric dentistry programs, orthodontics, prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, AEGDs, and GPRs. We even distributed an Excel sheet comparing nearly 40 AEGDs/GPRs to assist students with their program selection. olume 3: Patient Communication for Dental Students. The V objective was to help dental students navigate difficult conversations with patients and actionable steps to become their patient’s favorite dental student.

I wrote the eBooks in the Plaque Masters Academy Series as a dental student, and the distribution of these eBooks established my reputation on Instagram. Today, social media is instrumental to building a successful personal brand and connecting with

8 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

people across the globe. The utilization of Instagram can recruit patients, build your network of likeminded individuals and can establish your presence as a dental expert in your community. The partnerships I established via Instagram have connected me to the top minds in the field of dentistry.

After dental school, I continued my education in an Advanced Education in General Dentistry Program to remarkably increase my skillset. I aspired to receive advanced training in cosmetic dentistry, advanced prosthetics and complex treatment planning.

I also wanted to better prepare myself for the challenges that will be present in rural and underserved communities. After my NHSC contract, I will then transition into private practice, where I’ll focus on providing comprehensive dental care. I hope to stay within Florida, but am also open to any opportunities across the United States.

We often underestimate our capabilities and play it safe for fear of embarrassment and failure. For the dentists and soon-to-be dentists, understand that fear and failure is instrumental to the process of success and is only affirmation that you are working in the correct direction. When I started writing eBooks, I wasn’t a professional writer. When I started my Instagram, I didn’t know anything about photography or videography; I just had ideas that needed to be shared. Sometimes, you just need to pursue an ambition on a leap of faith and figure it out as you go.

Jordan Brown, DDS is a 2020 graduate of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. He distinguished himself in dental school by being the only student in his graduating class to be selected for the highly competitive National Health Service Corps Scholarship. Dr. Brown believes every person deserves the opportunity to have a healthy smile. On his off days, he enjoys lifting weights, audiobooks and food!

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Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 9

Prologue

Weighing in With Dr. Luke Shapiro Lucas Shapiro, DDS

M

eet Dr. Aaleeyah Alim! She is the creator of Tooth Tuesdays on IGTV that gets thousands of views each week. She’s from Miami, attended University of North Florida for college and then Midwestern University in Illinois for dental school. She graduated this year and will start work August 1st in Chicago through the National Health Service Core.

So how does one become a dental influencer? It’s not an easy task by any means – requiring hours upon hours of hard work and dedication. For Dr. Alim, known as @smile.leey, it wasn’t her goal at the beginning. She started Instagram as a personal account, initially posting about food and life. She was then accepted into dental school and started posting about that. “I then slowly started to see a rise in followers, and it was interesting because I wasn’t trying to be a dental influencer in any shape or form,” she said. But then around the third year of dental school,l when things started to slow down (relatively, because it was after having finished boards), she started spending more time on Instagram to build something and saw what it could become. Dr. Alim believed it could be a real source of inspiration, especially for people that could identify with her – anyone who is Black, a woman or a visibly religious minority. She said, “there would be moments when I would think about not posting on Instagram, but then I would get inspiring messages. That’s what kept me going” Her account now has over 13.5K followers. She has worked with major players in the industry, such as Pronamel and FIGs. Her most popular content is Tooth Tuesdays, which started in February 2019. It started from a conversation with a friend – a bright, educated, grown woman who doesn’t floss, let alone even own floss. After that conversation, it dawned on her that there are so many intelligent people that don’t know key things about oral health. From there, she started a weekly video about flossing,

10 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

mouthwash, Invisalign vs. braces, etc. Most recently, she had a Tooth Tuesday video entitled “We Need You.” It garnered over 27,000 views, as she recounted her experience with racism while also stressing the importance of having Black providers in medicine. “It’s very important that as providers we check our biases – like why don’t you believe a patient when they say something?” she said. “That extra step can help you discover and see where those feelings comes from.”

Dr. Alim is very excited to enter public health dentistry and help a community that needs it the most. Unlike Instagram, public health doesn’t get a lot of glitz and glamour. A lot of it is the bare bones of dentistry. She encourages providers to give a day or week or whatever possible to help these communities.

Luke Shapiro, DDS, received his undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis with a major in Spanish. He then went to dental school at Stony Brook and graduated in May 2018. He is now an orthodontics resident at Tufts in Boston.

In dental school, Luke did research, focusing on 3D imaging, with his most recent project on the application of iPad 3D imaging technology. He was also very involved in the aesthetics club and ASDA. Luke is the leader of the dental student section of IgniteDDS. He is also the founder of @futuredentists Lucas.shapiro@ignitedds.com

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Getting Started

Now What?

Earl Douglas, DDS, MBA, BVAL

B

oy, talk about being dealt a bad hand, and that’s definitely an understatement. Who could imagine that just as I’m finishing an eight-year journey to becoming a licensed dentist that the country would experience the direst pandemic it has seen in over a century and a recession as severe as this country has ever seen? We now find ourselves battered by this perfect storm of adversity.

As we seek guidance from our best experts, we discover that they are no more clairvoyant than anyone else. Our search for medical, political and economic insights results in more confusion than clarity. Then there are the friendly and helpful advisors that have great confidence in their predictions and how they can help you avoid failure and achieve success. Be careful with this group, as they are probably trying to engage you for their profit at your cost.

However, convincing they may be, they are no more accurate in their predictions than the next person.

I realize that up to this point, I haven’t said anything that would give you any optimism. But we need this reality check to build some hypotheses to help create the best road map for survival and ultimate success. I don’t have a crystal ball though, and anything I say, other than relaying actual observation of things I have actually seen, may be absolutely wrong.

What am I seeing? First, I’m seeing a little uptick in the number of practices going on the market. I’ve been told by many buyers that the market will soon be flooded with many practices sellers will practically give away. I understand the wishful thinking behind this prophesy, but I have yet to see any evidence of that happening.

Sellers still want to get as much for their practices as they can.

Many dentists have seen substantial losses in their retirement funds due to the recession. I don’t expect them to sell their prac-

12 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

tices, but rather expect they will keep on practicing in order to earn and save money and restore their savings. That’s what I saw happen in the 2008 recession. The takeaway is don’t expect to see huge numbers of practices for sale at bargain basement prices.

Another observation I’m seeing is an increasing number of associate dentists deciding to buy and own their own practices.

They have discovered in the past months that their positions are quite vulnerable. One dentist I spoke with described the layoff of dentists in the clinic where she works. Associate dentists are concerned they’ll lose their jobs and are beginning to realize that the solution to that danger is to own their own practice. That way, they’ll be the last man or woman standing – not the first to fall. They realize that even if a practice drops in productivity and profitability, owning is still a better alternative than being fired from a job and having no income at all.

A third observation is how practice acquisition lenders are dealing with this dilemma. The dental-specific lenders I work with have all drawn back somewhat, since they are unsure of the immediate future of dental practice economics. While you might think it’s risky on your part to buy a practice now, consider that it is the lenders who are putting up 110 percent of the money for a purchase. That is where the risk really lies.

Different dental lenders have a widely varying approach to current approval and funding. Each lender is grappling with deciding what additional information they need and what to do with that information in order to come up with good credit decisions. Currently, they want to see how the first quarter of 2020 compares to the first quarter of 2019. They realize that many states had virtually closed practice operations during March and April, and now they are looking at production and collection reports for May and June of 2020 to see how practices are recovering from the shutdown.

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Our search for medical, political and economic insights results in more confusion than clarity.

Obviously, this puts a lot of strain on sellers and their accountants to prepare more statements and reports, and this will consequently slow down the borrowing process. At present time, several lenders are suspending their lending operations, while others are still approving and funding loans for purchasers.

Most lenders are now offering interest-only payments for the first six months of the payback, making buyers’ initial practice cash flow much better. When the pandemic started turning the profession upside down, lenders were quick to abate payments in order to lower cash flow pressure for new buyers. This was not only generous on their part, but also a measure of self-preservation. Dental acquisition loans are based on the buyer’s cash flow ability to pay their overhead, pay their loan payments (debt service) and pay themselves a good living wage. The lenders did not want to be the reason for a buyer’s, and subsequently their own, failure.

Dental practice loans are not collateralized anywhere near the value of the loan, since the greatest part of the practice price is for goodwill, which is intangible. It’s impossible for lenders to collateralize the goodwill of the practice, HIPAA regulations being what they are. The bottom line is that lenders are depending on the success of the borrower to be repaid, and they will go to any length to prevent a foreclosure that would preclude repayment. Lenders have done whatever it takes to help buyers survive and be successful rather than take a loss on a loan. The takeaway here is don’t be afraid of your lender, because your lender is dependent on your success for their survival and will do whatever they can to help get you through this and any other crisis.

Now you might ask me, “What would you do if you were in my shoes?” Well, here’s the process I would follow, as much as reality allows.

I would immediately start lining up a job, even if I hadn’t taken my boards yet. I would avoid signing an employment contract that cannot be terminated with 30- or 60-days’ notice if possible, and particularly avoid signing a covenant not to compete, particularly if the job were in an area where I would like to practice in the future. You would be wise to seek the aid of a qualified consultant in reviewing such contracts.

DentalEntrepreneur.com

I would immediately start a search for a practice to purchase, even if I hadn’t yet taken my boards.

I would get to know the practice brokers who handled sales in my preferred area and literally beg them to notify me first of any and all opportunities.

I would pull my credit report and if there were any issues pulling my score down, I would get help in getting my score as high as possible.

I would pray for a miracle that a practice would come available when and where I wanted it.

If that ideal practice were to come available I would instantly do whatever it took to tie it down. Finding what you want, where you want it and when you want it is exceedingly difficult, and it’s doubtful that you’ll see many such opportunities. Brokers remember prospects who don’t follow through when offered the perfect practice, and those buyers may slip in priority when new listings appear.

This is the same advice I gave myself and followed when I got out of the US Army Dental Corps, so I consider it to be as sincere and valuable as any you will ever receive. I have shared some trade secrets in this article, and in these times you will need all the critical facts that you can get. Now, I just wish you good luck, health and success.

Earl Douglas, DDS, MBA, principle of ADS South, LLC, began his dental career in 1971 and began his dental transition career in 1982. In 1996 he founded ADS Transitions, a national association of practice brokers. His company, ADS South, LLC, performs dental practice consulting, transition services and valuations throughout the Southeast. He can be reached at earl@adssouth. com or 770-664-1982.

Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 13

Getting Started

How to Attract and Retain Your Ideal Patient on a Budget Laura Schwindt, DDS

D

uring dental school, running became my outlet. It was a simple way to get outside, move my body and refresh my mind. The miles would speed by, and I would forget about all the studying and lab work that awaited me upon my return.

Fast-forward to 11 years after graduation. Running was still a big outlet I enjoyed. However, I added three small kids and building a solo dental practice from scratch to my schedule. The only opportunity I had to run was at 4:30 in the morning. Because it was dark, the treadmill became my new best (and worst) friend.

I loved my treadmill and the fact that it allowed me to attempt to keep in shape during those busy years. Even so, I longed for the freedom of getting outside and breathing the fresh air. I missed being able to choose different routes and change up the scenery.

You may be wondering what running has to do with attracting and retaining more ideal patients on a budget!

The average American dentist’s overhead is 73 percent. If my Norwegian Grandpa were still alive and I told him this fact, his reply would be simple: “Uff-da.”

Once you’ve investigated your expenses, there is an additional path you can choose to run down. It’s a path that requires you to slow your pace to scrutinize your form’s finer points.

When you decide to train for a marathon, each time you lace up your shoes for a run, the vision of your goal should propel you forward. The same is true in your dental career.

Unfortunately for many, the focus may turn to just looking at the numbers, including increasing only the number of patients.

Because lack of vision with who you want to attract into your practice, dentists often try to be everything to everyone. This scenario can chain you to the treadmill, lead to overwhelmingly chaotic days and burnout.

It’s often beneficial to let up your pace for a drink of water and to refuel during a run. If you stop to take a look at your days in the office, can you say you are treating your ideal patient? Have you ever slowed down long enough to figure out who your ideal patient is?

There are three main characteristics of an ideal patient: 1. A patient that you love to see in your chair.

High overhead chains you to the treadmill and limits your choices.

Burnout is just one of the negative consequences of not being able to get off the treadmill.

2. A patient that you have the expertise to help.

3. A patient that can pay you and is eager to get started.

The standard solution to tackle a dental practice with high overhead is to cut expenses. I believe it’s valuable to take a “long run” into your costs and explore if there are ways to improve your percentages.

14 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

Slow down your sprint pace and spend one of your runs zoning in on who your ideal patient is. You will likely add a few details to the above list that fit your personality. Please take a moment and imagine how rewarding (and productive) your weeks at work DentalEntrepreneur.com

would be if your schedule was full of your ideal patient.

Email Attraction Marketing

Once you’ve determined who your ideal patient is, take the next step and ask yourself these three questions:

1. Record a short informational video on any procedure you love to do and want to do more at your office. You can do this or have one of your team members do it.

1. What is their main pain point with dentistry?

2. What do they desire most from dentistry?

2. Post your video on your social media channels (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or LinkedIn).

3. What are the most significant obstacles they have to getting the dentistry they desire?

3. Run a report on your software to determine if there are patients with that particular procedure currently not scheduled.

And now, ask yourself, “How can YOU help them with the above three questions?”

4. Draft a friendly email reminding them of their unscheduled treatment plan and include a link to your video.

Congratulations! If you’ve made it this far, you have successfully put in the majority of long runs (preparation) in your training. It’s now time for the FUN to begin, and you are ready for the big race!

5. Invite them to call you or a valued team member to discuss any questions they may have about the video or set up a consultation/appointment.

When you take the time to prepare and develop a vision of who your ideal patient is, the path of marketing to your ideal patient becomes very clear.

6. You can also send this link to any new patient after an initial phone call OR use it in a CTA (see below for CTA) Local Publications/News Channels

It’s a little bit like mapping out your training runs and races to qualify for a marathon. You’ve put in the work, and now you get to enjoy the experience! Now you can focus all of your marketing towards attracting your ideal patient.

Sadly, when most dentists hear the word “marketing,” they tend to associate it with significant and sometimes expensive campaigns. I sat through several marketing presentations, and I understand why you make this assumption. As dentists, we also are not trained in marketing, and so it can feel like we should pay someone else to do it for us.

If the word marketing gives you an instant side-ache, I want to tell you; it’s not your fault. I want to present to you a remedy for your side-ache called attraction marketing.

Attraction marketing is a process of providing valuable information to your ideal patients (both new and existing) that helps create brand loyalty and a desire for the treatment you provide.

When you bring together your ideal patient homework, attraction marketing, and the digital world, you have set yourself up for a fantastic run. Add to that the fact that you can accomplish this yourself on a small budget, and you’ve just won the race!

Next, I’ll outline four inexpensive (if not free!) ways to apply attraction marketing to attract and retain more ideal patients on a budget.

Contact your local news publications and media channels to inquire if they have opportunities for educational spots.

Newspapers often have an “Ask the Expert” section that they publish on a regular rotation. Writing a short article that is published consistently goes a long way to establish your authority and help patients get to know you. (Make sure to include a professional headshot!)

Local media channels are always looking for stories. Showing up with educational pieces or feel-good stories of how you help the community with dental health or donated time is a beautiful way that helps patients get to know you as a genuine human being. The more they see you, the more your KLT (Know, Like, Trust) factor will increase and attract them to your practice.

Patient Challenges Developing and running a simple patient challenge is a fun way to dive into attraction marketing.

1. Educate patients on the importance of good oral health.

2. Highlight procedures in your practice that can improve their oral health.

3. Increase interaction and engagement with you and your team, which increases your KLT Factor!

4. They provide an opportunity to get the word out on proce-

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Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 15

dures patients may not know you offer.

5. Bring more awareness for patients who may be unsure if they are candidates for specific procedures.

6. Allow you to create excitement about the procedures you want to do more of in your practice!

Call to Action The Call to Action (CTA) is a simple tool that is under-used! The best news about the CTA is it’s free to apply to your marketing.

Everything you put out online should have something for your patient/future patient to do.

Make sure that there is a simple and obvious next step.

Examples of CTAs: 1. Click here to schedule an appointment

Laura Schwindt, DDS is a retired dentist whose mission now is to help other women dental professionals enjoy a more balanced life. She believes women really can have it all as long as they take care of their most valuable asset; their health.

Dr. Schwindt graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in 1997 and spent the first half of her career as an associate in many different practice models. Her experiences in these different settings gave her valuable inspiration to go out on her own. The highlight of her career came when Dr. Schwindt opened her dream solo practice from scratch.

During the height of her career, Dr. Schwindt suffered from a significant bout of dental burnout. It nearly destroyed her health, her family and her practice.

Miraculously, with the help of a coach, she began to add a daily practice of self-care into her morning routine. Adding this simple act, woke Dr. Schwindt up to a level of health that she had been ignoring most of her adult life.

2. Click here to contact us 3. Click here to pay your bill 4. Click here to learn more about...

5. Click here for a free consult 6. Click here to visit our website 7. Click here to read our blog post 8. Click here to view our video CTAs should be on everything you send electronically. CTAs should be on every page and section of your website. CTAs should be all over your social media pages and posts.

Dr. Schwindt introduced some of the same principles that had improved her personal life into her business. She credits this with transforming her practice into a healthier, more holistic, and more balanced dental home that became a place she loved to work in again.

Dr. Schwindt lives life to the fullest with her husband, Mitchel, and three very active teenagers. She enjoys hiking, mountain and Peloton biking, gardening, vegan cooking, and playing with her dog. Dr. Schwindt is passionate about holistic health and works to inspire and empower other women to live a balanced life. She hosts a Facebook Group where she advocates a less is more life/work philosophy and encourages women in dentistry to get back to the basics of what their real purpose is.

You can find Dr. Schwindt at www.lauraschwindt.net

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Amazing! You’ve gone from lacing up your shoes to finishing your marathon. I hope you enjoyed this running adventure on the “Attracting and Retaining More Ideal Patients on a Budget” path!

16 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

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Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 17

Business Fundamentals

Be Your Own Consultant Holly Anne Mitchell

T

his article might put me out of a job and single me out amongst my colleagues as a dental practice management consultant. But if my goal is to help as many dentists and teams as possible, I feel it’s important for me to pull back the curtain on the how-to of consulting. The process is simple, albeit not easy, but if you’re on a budget, you can get results quickly by following a six-step formula that’s going to feel very familiar to you. Hint: if you can fix a broken tooth, you can fix a broken system.

problem the most important problem to solve right now? Is there a specialist with whom we can consult to speed our results?

To think like a consultant is to think like a general dentist and examine all the factors that may be contributing to the practice’s pain. If we can alleviate the symptom and solve the root causes (performance, resources, process, process management, culture and vision/strategy), we’ll be able to solve not only the current problem, but prevent future ones from happening. Now that’s good dentistry.

Before we begin …

1. Let’s Begin with a Comprehensive Exam Treating the System Rather Than the Symptom Put your loupes on, you can’t see it yet When your practice is experiencing a problem (low new patient volume, high rates of cancellation or inability to meet production/ collection goals for example), it’s important to recognize that the presenting symptom is one piece of an entire system. It’s just like a broken tooth may be one symptom of a host of interconnected problems: poor occlusion, clenching and grinding, carries risk, oral hygiene, and diet, etc. The same is true for the symptoms that present in the form of a struggling metric, such as a low new patient number. It may be tempting to do a quick fix (large composite style) to alleviate the symptom — i.e. spend more money on marketing — but if we can look at the symptom as part of a system, what are the other contributing factors to the problem?

How does our capacity contribute to the problem? Is it our phones, our digital presence, our brand, our new patient experience, our attractability and payor mix in relationship to the patient population we serve? Who is responsible for this number and are they the right person for that role? Do they have the skills, time, budget, data, technology and resources to meet the expectation?

What habits and behaviors exist to support the desired outcome?

What processes need to be repaired or designed? Is solving this

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If I were to give you one task that would transform your practice, it would be to do a silent meditation walking through your practice. I know this might sound strange, but the first time I did this, I experienced a total transformation in my life and my work.

I was 29 years old and beyond burned out; I was ashes. I should have been on top of the world. I was running a successful group practice in New York City and flying around the country on my days off to coach dentists and their teams how to scale. Though I was making a lot of money, underneath my smiles and vibrant personality, I had a secret: I suffered from anxiety, depression, and panic attacks, and my body was racked with symptoms of chronic stress and fatigue. A friend of mine invited me to a weekend digital detox retreat at a summer camp for adults. Having had fond memories of my camp experiences as a kid in North Florida, I agreed to take some much needed time off and surrendered to a protocol of no technology and absolutely no talking about work.

It took about 24 hours for my nervous system to remember what it was like to be a kid again, and my heart exploded with joy. I remembered who I was, who I used to be and who I wanted to be, DentalEntrepreneur.com

and I understood that other people would like me for something other than my career accomplishments and relentless busy-ness.

And then it happened: a moment in the woods of upstate New York that would change my life forever.

It was the first time I ever meditated. I always thought that meditating was for hippies, or Buddhists, or yoga people, but definitely not for me. I didn’t sit still to eat, let alone indulge an hour completely void of productivity. But I was here, surrendering to this human experiment of deep presence and childlike wonder, and so I went. The challenge was simple: spend an hour alone in silence walking in the woods carrying an envelope. Open the envelope when the time is right.

I am sitting on a mossy rock in the cool of the late afternoon, and a few social fireflies are already blinking their buggy-morse-code, updating their relationship status and sending calendar invites for the dusk’s most happening party. A rustle in the brush reminds me that I’m not alone, even as I’m companioned by a gentle gnaw of loneliness, and I feel like an intruder in a sacred space that belongs to ancient trees who will still be here long after I’ve gone.

The sound of a brook is all around me as it bounces from tree to tree, deceiving me in its bubbly misdirection, and I can’t help but notice the rock that supports me, beckoning me to become it, to disappear inside stony stillness, where maybe I can remember the parts of me that I’d forgotten. “It’s time,” the wind whispers, and I open the envelope. “What do you need to let go of?” the tiny slip of paper says, like a fortune cookie if a fortune cookie could punch you in the stomach. And as I cough instead of breathe I see my life flash before my eyes, a future life, 5 years, 10 years down the road where nothing changes, and the soft parts of me, the joyful, the loving, the curious, harden and break under the weight of my own oppression. I knew in that moment, if I didn’t change everything right now and choose to be happy and healthy above anything else, that the childlike camper in me would die, and be replaced by someone I didn’t know or want to hang out with. Two days later I went back to New York, broke up with my boyfriend after 8 and a half years, became a vegan, got a life coach, started doing yoga, moved out of my apartment and took three weeks off of work to enroll in an NLP course that changed my brain, changed my life and changed my impact.

Stop, look, listen. To your life, to your business, to your relationships. When you’re in it, you can’t see it and all the parts that require care and restoration. This is your exam: a four hour walkthrough of your practice in silence, observing first as a patient, as a team member and as the leader of your business and notice the patterns that exist. What will happen if nothing changes? What do you need to let go of?

How to do a silent meditation in your business: Tell your team to imagine you’re invisible for half a day, allowing you to walk through and observe without acknowledgment or DentalEntrepreneur.com

eye contact so that you can be available to receive information through all your senses. Listen to the conversations, to the phone calls, to every patient and employee interaction. Pull charts, pull reports. Make a list of symptoms. Observe the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, non-verbals, tone, vibe, flow, pace, transitions, language and data, and take notes while you do. Observe how you feel in your own body observing them, and stay detached and curious, as if you’ve never been here before.

2. Now, It’s Time for a Full Set of X-Rays A consultant’s best tool is their ability to ask great questions.

Once you’ve identified the system you’d like to solve, ask as many diagnostic questions as you can to see what’s going on inside and around the problem. Who can you interview to better understand the system, both patients and staff? Ask journalistic questions: who, what, where, when, how and sometimes why.

Here are some prompts to get you started …

X-ray Questions How can I …

How can we …

How does this work …

How do we replicate and scale …

Why do we …

Why is it that …

Why don’t we …

What’s successful here …

What could we change in order to …

What’s important here ….

What’s missing …

Who is responsible for …

Who benefits from …

Who could help with …

Where are we with …

Where can we improve the …

Where can we speed up the …

Where are we wasting …

When should we …

When did we stop …

When can we start …

When will we …

3. Diagnosis: The Real Challenge Here Is …

Now that you’ve identified the problem, you’ve observed and asked questions, it’s time to diagnose what’s really going on.

If the symptom is low new patient volume, what systemic and environmental conditions exist at the level of people and process which are contributing to the problem? Most problems are process related rather than people related. Good people who lack processes, resources, training and management will struggle to maintain performance as patient flow increases and will eventually become poor performers or leave.

Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 19

Diagnose the issue across all levels

5. Prep/Temp/Impression: Doing the Work

Performance issue (wrong person, wrong seat, training issue)

Now it’s time to implement the plan! Anticipate bumps along the journey; this is why you have scheduled project meetings and updates. Use a project management tool or a simple spreadsheet to keep track of each step and each person’s responsibilities and progress.

Resource issue (time, capacity, supplies, budget, people, technology) Process issue (complicated process, no process documented, wrong process)

6. Insert/Delivery: Does It Fit? Management issue (process not followed, no measurables, no oversight/accountability, no buy-in, misaligned incentives) Culture issue (communication breakdowns, defiance and power plays, different values/standards, lack of transparent and consistent leadership) Vision/strategy issue (problem is misaligned or irrelevant to the values and vision, problem is misaligned or irrelevant to current strategic goals of the company) 4. Treatment Plan: How Do You Plan to Fix It and Make Sure It Stays Fixed?

A great solution without a change management plan is like beautiful bonding without a night guard. You’re going to spend more time repairing it later, and you might end up throwing in the towel or undermining others’ trust in your ability to implement change effectively. Here are the elements of an effective change management plan …

Designing an effective change management plan What: Define the proposed solution and the desired outcomes of the solution

At your checkpoint meetings, follow up, measure progress and see how well you’ve done! If the problem has not been repaired, modify the treatment plan/solution, re-impress/re-implement and follow up again to test that you’ve arrived at your desired outcome.

High Friction, High Value If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. But it’s worth it when you choose the right problems to solve. Practice owners who are able to effectively delegate items of low value and low friction (meaning changes that are relatively easy to implement) will free themselves up to focus on items of high friction, and high value to the growth of the business. Just as certain procedures take priority over others like gum disease to veneers, choosing which areas of your business to focus on to get the biggest return on investment of your time and energy, is just as important as deciding what areas are not a priority to fix right now. Once you’ve generated a positive return from your efforts, you may want to consider bringing on a coach who can help you identify other areas of potential, and assist you in developing and executing an effective practice treatment plan. The best consultants will design an alignment plan that benefits the practice, the team and the patient and deliver the healthiest outcome for all.

Where: Illustrate the destination of where we’re going and the measurable milestones of success Why: Gain buy-in from the team by designing a communication plan. Include how this change will impact them positively and negatively, and why this is in alignment with our vision, values, and strategy.

How: Design an action plan that includes training, resource gathering and allocation, and make sure incentives are aligned appropriately (monetary and non-monetary).

Who/What/by When: Ask individuals for their support, approach people 1-on-1 if you anticipate a great deal of friction, assign a task force or person to implement the changes, schedule project meetings and checkpoint follow-ups for project updates.

20 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

Known as “The Tony Robbins of Teeth:” Holly is the Founder and Chief Empathy Officer of the LeadWell Network, a certified hypnotist, keynote speaker, master practitioner in Neurolinguistic Programming, life and business coach in the dental industry. Holly trains dentists and their teams on hypnotic sales, compassionate leadership, stress management, and culture transformation to double their revenue and cut their stress in half.

DentalEntrepreneur.com

The DeW Life 2020 Retreat November 12 & 14 Hilton Garden Inn Charlotte Waverly Charlotte, NC We are so thrilled to be able to present these amazing and accomplished DeW Extraordinaire's as our speakers this year:

Anne Duffy JoAn Majors Valerie Menzel Leanne Burnett Stephanie Baker Dr. Sharon Parsons Dr. Joy Void-Holmes Jennifer Green Lennie Cox Anita Siriani This year we will be providing virtual access for those who cannot make it. For info on registration and special student rates, go to www.dewliferetreats.com

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Business Fundamentals

3-Step Process to Ensure Financial Accountability and Prevent Embezzlement in Your Practice Kim McCleskey

E

xperts agree that it isn’t a matter of if you get embezzled from, it’s a matter of when. One of those experts is Susan Gunn of Susan Gunn Solutions. As a Certified Fraud Examiner working exclusively with dentists, Susan says that “if a dentist owns a practice for 30 years, some team member in those 30 years will steal. The degree of theft is dependent upon the oversight of the doctor and the brazen determination of the team member!” I couldn’t agree more! I will share why oversight is so important and how to provide it.

My first experience with embezzlement was before we had the kind of resources and information we have now, and it wrecked me. I took it personally. How could I hire someone with such a lack of integrity and character? How can someone repeatedly steal and yet show up for work without a care in the world? It happens every day, folks. And they’re getting away with it!

I had spent years dialing down how to hire for character, doing assessments, involving the team in the process. I had a pretty good track record and was proud of it. While that’s all good, it’s not good enough. There were three problems I had. The first was I didn’t listen to my gut, I knew we shouldn’t hire her (her answers were inconsistent and she wavered on ethics questions, but the team felt desperate for help and wanted her). The second was I never thought someone would steal from us (I don’t have the mind of the thief and was way too naïve, no longer). The third problem was I didn’t have a system to prevent what happened.

At that time I was the Director of Operations for a small group that was rapidly growing through acquisition. This practice was

22 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

the first to be acquired, and because of what happened I immediately set out to develop daily and monthly systems of accountably that would position leadership in such a way that we projected a sense of tight cohesiveness in every aspect of the businesses. This is very important for everyone in the office to see, as perception is powerful and it sends a very strong message that we have an eagle eye on the business. That alone will cause someone to rethink stealing from you.

Before we acquired the second practice, I had created processes needed to facilitate a Monthly Financial Accountability Meeting.

Along with the owner doctors and office managers, we made it a priority to set the monthly meetings in advance, we never missed a month. I brought the financials and other reports from QuickBooks, and the managers brought all coordinating reports so we could make sure the money in the bank matched what was in our practice management software, and that patients’ accounts were correct. Also, each manager had a “manager’s monthly practice update” that covered all KPIs of the practice. They gave an account of their practice, and feedback and direction were given. There are plenty of companies out there that will extract KPIs for you, and that’s great, but nothing can replace sitting down to review the numbers, creating a plan and having accountability for execution.

These meetings are powerful to unify the leadership team in ways that you would never imagine.

I left that organization to start my own company doing dental start-ups and transition consulting. I trained every doc I worked with during that time to understand the importance of these systems and how to create a culture of accountability within the pracDentalEntrepreneur.com

tice from the very start. I’ve stayed in touch with so many of them and they all have continued to hold monthly financial meetings.

✓ No-shows/rescheduling ✓ Same-day treatment added

I ended up merging my company with the Avitus Group to start Avitus Dental Management Solutions. While I was with ADMS I had the opportunity to travel the country speaking to dentists about embezzlement and sharing my story, as well as giving them a three-step process to ensure financial accountability in their practices. I’ve heard stories of embezzlement from doctors across this country, and most never prosecute. Worst of all, they don’t tell their colleagues that they were embezzled from and these thieves move on to their next victim. The worst case a doc shared with me was a manager who stole more than $150,000 from him. He described her as a loyal friend of the family, hardworking, always at the office, never took a vacation, very protective of who posted insurance, because of course, no one could do it as well as she did. This is a common description of an embezzler. The doctor prosecuted and the manager went to jail – finally some justice!

2. Computer Reports ✓ Day Sheet by provider ✓ Adjustments Day Sheet ✓ Number of new patients scheduled that day and noting how they were referred ✓ Deposit slip that shows each type of payment ✓ Bank deposit slip prepared listing check totals, cash totals, credit card totals and third party totals ✓ Insurance Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) posted that day

The following three-step process is meant to be a guideline. The goal for me is to share anything that may help prevent embezzlement, bring awareness to the problem, and provide practical processes that build strong business leaders and teams.

3-Step Process to Ensure Financial Accountability in Your Practice Step One – Recruitment & Employee Retention Hire correctly, don’t just hire for skill, hire primarily for character.

Contact me for interview questions that help you understand how to hire for character.

Vet every applicant with background checks and team involvement. Don’t settle – listen to your gut.

3. Refund Request ✓ Patient and insurance refund request with a copy of EOB and ledger printout indicating the reason for the refund. The doctor will review for accuracy and deliver to the bookkeeper to issue a refund. ✓ Attach the Patient Refund Request form. Once the bookkeeper has issued the check, the refund request form is returned to the front desk to make the adjustment in the dental software. ✓ The refund will be reconciled during month-end balancing.

4. Print Patient Care Call/Callback List for Dr. ✓ Most impactful when doc calls. Internal marketing at its finest!

Develop team agreements that will support the culture you desire to create. Share with all new hires.

Show appreciation to the team. Seventy-nine percent of employees who quit their jobs cite a lack of appreciation. Sixty-five percent of employees report that they received no recognition or appreciation at their workplace in the past year.

Have your training process established and in writing by using timelines to train.

Step Two – Daily Accountability to Ensure Accuracy of Treatment Documentation and Insurance Submission Accuracy.

✓ Include patient phone and email contact information.

5. Print the List of NP Due Tomorrow ✓ Doc to call, introduce themselves, thank them for choosing your office and note they are looking forward to meeting them.

Internal marketing for the WIN! ✓ Include phone number and reason for the visit and any other important information that will be helpful for the doctor to know.

Reviewing Instructions for Provider

At the end of each day, the folder is placed on the doctor’s desk with the contents from the following checklist.

1. Master Schedule ✓ Noting cancellation/rescheduling DentalEntrepreneur.com

1. Production Review the Day Sheet by provider with the master schedule. Look for any discrepancies, errors or changes that need to be made to completed procedure entries. Flag any changes.

Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 23

lab fees (5-9 percent), office supplies (.4 percent), marketing (4-10 percent), rent (10 percent)

If no changes are necessary each provider initials their production totals on the Day Sheet.

✓ Managers Monthly Accountability Worksheet (contact me for sample)

2. Adjustment Review Adjustment Day Sheet for any mislabeled or unusual looking adjustments. Inquire about such items. Use insurance EOBs when necessary to confirm proper insurance posting practices.

✓ Proof of QuickBooks Reconciliation Report and the bank statement ending balance match. Request a copy of the reconciliation report from the accountant and download a copy of the bank statement to compare.

3. Refunds and Credits Balances Refunds to patients and insurance companies must be shown on the Adjustment Day Sheet. Refunds must be documented and the evidence approved by the doctor. Reminder – accounts must be reconciled with the EOBs before issuing a refund.

4. Wrap Up Return the folder to the administrative desk after review. If no revisions are necessary the doctor signs off with a checkmark. If revisions are necessary updated copies are returned to the doctor’s desk in the folder for final review. The folder must include the original document as a reference. Documents are then filed by day and month in a three-inch binder or scanned to a folder.

Step Three – Preparing for the Monthly Accountability Meeting After the bookkeeper has balanced the previous month’s bank statement, have the bookkeeper run the following reports from QuickBooks. Make sure to give the accountant or bookkeeper a due date so you stay on schedule with your monthly meeting.

The front desk will run corresponding reports from dental software. Manager to review all reports before the meeting to be sure you know that you are balanced between QB/the bank and your dental software.

Please note: Accountants and bookkeepers may not be tracking fees according to vendor type, as in Care Credit, Merchant Credit Card, etc. Simply request they create a sub-account under “bank fees” so you can easily confirm the fees are reconciling with your monthly statements from the vendor.

For questions or to request any of the forms mentioned please contact me at kim@professionaltransition.com

Kim McCleskey has worked in dentistry for the last 30 years. She spent those early years managing and leading large dental practices.

Kim eventually served as Director of Operations overseeing multiple dental practices and specialized in the pre and post-acquisition process, until forming her own company, True North Dental Solutions. At True North, Kim focused on practice start-ups, practice management, and continued consulting through the pre and post-acquisition process. Kim went on to merge her company with the Avitus Group to start Avitus Dental Management Solutions, a full service dental consulting firm to include building a successful in-house virtual dental billing company. Currently she is a Practice Transition Consultant with Professional Transition Strategies. Kim is a Certified Professional Business Coach and holds memberships with ADMC, DEN, and AADOM.

✓ Patient Collection Report – do both reports match? ✓ Patient Refund Report – do both reports match? ✓ Insurance Refund Report – do both reports match? ✓ Care Credit/or Other Third-Party Fee Report – does it match the statement? ✓ Merchant Credit Card Fee Report – does it match the statement? ✓ Previous months P&L showing percentages of expenses and a separate detailed P&L for the bookkeeper only. Review all expenses and percentages, keeping a close eye on the following expenses: wages (22-25 percent), dental supplies (4-6 percent),

24 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

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Health & Wellness

Wellness: A Value-Added Advantage Uche Odiatu, DMD, NSCA

F

orget trying to lose weight for the next selfie on Instagram – get healthy and fit to boost productivity and mental clarity. Get healthy and fit so you understand the language of nutrition and lifestyle and enjoy a high energy dental team. You can talk with confidence chairside about nutrition, patient sleep issues, stress and immunity with your patients.

You see, being physically fit has major physiological benefits that go far beyond fitting into your skinny jeans. Exercise scientists have demonstrated a fit body supports boundless energy, a more robust immune system, an improved memory, lower anxiety and boost your ability to do every aspect of a dental professional’s job.

1. Combat “sitting disease.” The demands of a dental office are enormous. However we spend a good deal of the time seating down. Sitting for long periods of time has now been linked to a wide variety of illnesses and disease (Christine Friedenreich, Senior Epidemiologist at Alberta Health Services). Numerous studies in the American College of Sports Medicine’s journal have reported on the immense negative impact of sedentary living and its major ability to decondition the human body.

Sitting has been called “the new smoking.” Harsh words for the couch potato. Seventy percent of our waking time is spent sitting on our largest muscle. We have never sat this much in thousands of years of human history, and it’s shrinking our postural muscles and melting our joints away. The entire weight of our upper body teeter totters on our lower spine.

Physiologists are now seeing that sitting all day has negative implications on breathing, core strength, lymphatic drainage and blood pressure. The improvement of our breathing would be one of the largest benefits. The fight or flight sympathetic nervous system is switched over to the rest and digest parasympathetic system. Managing the stress of patients, dealing with challenging team issues and the new Covid culture demand a powerful reset. Incorporating core exercise and resistance training into your exercise program would be an ideal way to strengthen your postural muscles and decrease the odds of a career-ending injury. Taking time to do some nasal breathing behind our N95 masks also supports enhanced blood flow through our thousands of blood vessels and harmonizes

26 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

neurotransmitters.

2. Lower your overall disease risk. “The most powerful way to reduce your inflammatory factors (a leading cause of chronic disease, i.e. heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, metabolic syndrome) is to lose excess weight,” noted Walter Willett, PhD Chair of the Nutrition Dept at the Harvard School of Public Health. Excess adipose tissue or body fat spews out 20 or more inflammatory chemicals 24 hours a day 365 days a year. If you have noticed that many serious diseases (cellulitis, encephalitis, colitis, pancreatitis, arthritis, osteomyelitis, meningitis, esophagitis, appendicitis, hepatitis, periodontitis, etc.) have chronic inflammation at their core, we might all be motivated to maybe lose that last 5-10 pounds. Dental hygienists who see our patients for up to an hour at a time, two to four times a year, could very well be the patient’s top role model for healthy living. They have the opportunity to talk prevention at every appointment. The removal of calculus and disruption of the biofilm lowers the reduction of the patient’s inflammatory burden.

With our extended amount of patient contact time, it would be easy to make a difference in someone’s life by gently sharing our own experience getting in shape. And why not make it a gentle journey to getting fit? It’s well within our scope of practice to talk healthy eating with patients. For example, suggesting to patients to add more whole foods (fruits and vegetables) to their diet. Reducing body fat is not about eating less. The new science says it’s about eating right.

Once your body is getting the foods that it craves, such as essential fats, fiber, high quality proteins, it dials down hunger cravings. This is much easier than simply cutting calories.

As dental industry professionals, we can lead the way.

John Quincy Adams’ words keep ringing in my ears: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, than you are a leader.”

3. Lower anxiety and stabilize emotions. Studies have shown that an inactive lifestyle is associated with a higher risk of depressive symptoms. Depression is one of the most debilitating mental disorders and the leading cause of disability in the western world (American College of Sports Medicine Feb. 2012). Depression is associated with poor sleep, disrupted digestion and chemical disruption of the brain. We aren’t DentalEntrepreneur.com

talking occasional sadness. We are referring to immobilizing chronic depression. It’s linked to heart disease and cognitive decline. Did you know that many UK physicians recommend a regular walking regimen for patients with mild depression? The benefits are mood boosting endorphins and serotonin. Being a healthcare provider is rewarding, but the daunting nature of our daily duties can overwhelm the reserves of the best intentions. Throw in a global pandemic and we have a prescription for a tsunami of mental disorders.

people’s mitochondria are no longer functioning at capacity.

Hence the lack of drive, vitality and mojo. According to the Medicine and Science of Sport and Exercise journal, it is reported that active people can epigenetically turn back on tired dysfunctional mitochondria and increase their size and number. Can you think of the benefits in your clinic life?

More exercise-fueled energy means added ability to see that extra patient or act authentically with enthusiasm vs. faking it with coffee or energy drinks.

4. Get FIT, get SMARTER! Exercise scientists and neuroscientists have shown being physically active improves brain function. This little-known fact is an insider strategy of people enjoying higher cognitive functioning. And the better your brain works the more you will earn. One way to increase your mental powers is to get more degrees. Another way is to increase neuroplasticity. Norm Doidge, author of The Brain that Changes Itself, wrote that being fit boosts the brain’s ability to make new stem cells, neuroplasticity and therefore its ability to remain youthful. Harvard professor of psychiatry and the author of the groundbreaking book, Spark, John Ratey showed that a regular exercise habit boosts the amount of the neurotransmitter Brain-DerivedNeurotrophic-Factor (BDNF), which acts like Miracle Gro in your brain, increasing communication between our 100 billion neurons. A review of 900 papers over 50 years has provided strong evidence of the benefit of physical activity on your brain. Afraid of aging and the diseases that go along with advancing years? Regular exercise can sharpen brain function and reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease by nearly 40 percent (Ontario Brain Institute 2013). A better functioning brain will support every aspect of the healthcare provider’s professional and personal life.

7. Slay the Stress Dragon. Regular exercise trains your nervous system to be less reactive to stress: reducing oxidative stress, blood pressure swings and the immunosuppression that is associated with extended stress exposure (American College of Sports Medicine, 2005). The body under siege from a threat focuses all its reserves on the enemy at hand. The global angst experienced during the 2020 pandemic challenged humanity’s nervous, hormonal and immune system.

It only added to the everyday stresses of modern dental practice. Dental professionals are well aware of tight scheduling, working on anxious patients, challenging team relations and family commitments. Not having a successful stress management strategy is a prescription for emotional disaster. In the March 2012 Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, there was a powerful article showing the ability of a single session of exercise to improve one’s mood and decrease anxiety. How valuable would this tool be at the end of a hectic clinic day before you head home to spend time with your family?

5. Create a body that is an impenetrable fortress against disease. As we get older, our immune systems get cluttered from fighting a lifetime of infections. An overcrowded immune system lowers our ability to fight infection. Exercise DE-clutters and makes space in an older immune system (Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, Jan. 2011). The metaphor I use is defragging your laptop of old software or programs you no longer use. By doing so your laptop works better. Isn’t this enough to make you want you to keep up your Orange Theory or Zumba classes?

6. Improve your ability to take in oxygen and be energetic. Oxygen is the most valuable resource on the planet.

Mitochondria are valuable organelles and they need oxygen and glucose to make ATP. The human body makes over 145 pounds of these energy packets a day. Why don’t we gain 145 pounds a day? Because we use every one of those energy packets to beat our hearts 86,000 times a day, inhale 12,000 times a day, prep those crowns, collect that account receivable and scale hundreds of teeth each day. We have loads of these energy factories as kids but with age they start falling into disrepair. In Michael Colgan’s book, Saving Your Brain, he wrote that with mitochondria failing with age, so does our ability to generate energy. By age 50, almost half of most

Every dental professional would love to be the kind of leader that inspires their team to have a bigger vision for their jobs and their lives. For those who have a challenge lighting the torch of leadership in their offices, here is an interesting point: People are more likely to listen to and follow people who are energetic and healthy. This was written about in the book Why Some People Lead, Why Others Follow and Why it Matters by Mark van Vugt. I will see you in the gym, on the walking trails or in that yoga class Dr. Uche Odiatu has a DMD Doctor of Dental Medicine. He is a professional member of the ACSM American College of Sports Medicine, a Certified Personal Trainer (National Strength & Conditioning Association) NSCA and the Canadian Association of Fitness Professionals CanFitPro. He is the co-author of the Miracle of Health (c) 2009 John Wiley (hardcover) & (c) 2015 Harper Collins & has lectured in Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, the UK and Europe. An invited guest on over 400 TV and radio shows from ABC 20/20, Canada CTV AM, Breakfast TV to Magic Sunday Drum FM in Texas. This high energy health care professional has done over 450 lectures in seven countries over the last 15 years. http://www.druche.com

Power to Succeed

If You Must Speak, Ask A Question John A. Wilde, DDS

I

t’s neat to image a tooth and prepare a crown while the patient waits. But anyone else willing to spend money can do that, too. Except for me having to figure out how something else works, there’s nothing wrong with high tech, nothing at all.

But I contend that any dentist who believes the key to outstanding achievement is having the latest gewgaws is journeying down a primrose path leading to debt and disappointment.

Overlook this quintessential fact at your peril. Dental success is and always has been, dependent upon creating positive relationships.

Plus, working with and on people you like, who appreciate you in return, makes practicing more pleasant and productive.

Critical to achieving the excellent communication skills that forge these interpersonal bonds is understanding that: “If you must speak, ask a question.” Active listening is paramount, but queries allow one to direct and control a conversation while avoiding the potential misunderstandings and conflict that declarative statements can create.

Although for weal or woe, dentists must eventually speak. When it comes to patient interactions, staff members are more important than doctors, if for no other reason than they outnumber us. So focusing on our teammates, let’s have the first illustration of this concept involving the peculiar situation that is the job interview.

My practice asked applicants to hand-deliver resumes. Whoever greeted the applicant filled out a standardized form describing the potential employee in a situation which - unlike a formal interview where everyone is well dressed, on their best behavior and frantically searching for the answers they think you want to hear. The person is relaxed and unaware of scrutiny. Appearance, smile, friendliness, use of language are all evaluated; the final inquiry being, “Would you recommend hiring this individual?” Several times the message

28 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

has been, “You don’t need to know why, but we don’t want them here.”

Not trained in the art of hiring, few dentists become optimally prepared, choosing to trust their instincts or fly by the seat of their pants. Nothing is more foundational to practice triumph than surrounding oneself with the right people. The interview is where that blessed event occurs. Thus, becoming educated and fully prepared for these opportunities becomes a priority for those driven to succeed. (Few circumstances are more fraught with peril than when one believes that because he or she knows a lot about one thing, like dentistry, they understand everything. Proverbs warn that “Pride goeth before destruction,” and lists of victims of financial fraud incidents are usually replete with doctors’ names.)

Interviews tend to be awkward for both parties, and since few are comfortable with silence, doctors can tend to babble. But the point of this exercise is to evaluate and identify the best candidate, and their communication ability is an essential component. So, peruse the resume and ask what you must to clarify, but you already know what you think, so bene nota: shut up and encourage them to talk by controlling and directing the conversation with questions.

My 20-question form, developed decades ago, is continually updated, in part because of changing labor laws. Along with recording responses, I note smile, ease of discourse, vocabulary, tone and energy. Usually forced to interview after work or on my day off, the hiring process can spread out, so I summarize my impressions as soon as an applicant leaves. I’m loath to depend on memory, and recency bias does exist.

Despite being time-consuming, I always held semiannual individual performance assessments for which the employee and I DentalEntrepreneur.com

Not trained in the art of hiring, few dentists become optimally prepared, choosing to trust their instincts or fly by the seat of their pants.

completed identical forms in advance. After exchanging papers and discussing our comments, we’d agree on one goal for them to accomplish over the following six months and record it on the report. We’d both sign the document, place it in the employee’s file and review it in six months.

This alone is a valuable undertaking, but meeting one-on-one behind closed doors creates a tremendous opportunity for dentists wise enough to ask questions. How do they perceive the state of the office? Are problems developing? Are there personal concerns? Suggestions? The doctor who can limit comments to, “I see, uh-huh, tell me more,” may discover what everyone has been whispering about and interdict a problem. Often teammates had wished to address these issues but lacked a private, safe and receptive venue.

Asking questions is particularly important when dealing with a disgruntled patient. The nature of our work is such that even clinical perfection (if such exists) does not guarantee the desired outcome, so disappointments are unavoidable. Imagine (or more likely remember) a scenario where you’d placed a deep restoration.

Near midnight the patient awoke in great pain. After trying everything to gain relief, they called your office at 5 a.m. and related their tale of woe.

(The closest I ever came to getting punched occurred during a similar situation. The patient was furious that we hadn’t returned his 5 a.m. call until 8 a.m. Perhaps I was a bit flippant when I said our office policy stated that when no one was here, we didn’t answer the phone. Anyway, if worst had come to worst, I’m almost positive my chairside could have taken him.)

talking, and you’ll get a turn. Assume this patient is a real white knuckler who hadn’t seen a dentist in years and proved extremely challenging to treat. You didn’t cause the tooth to break down.

You’d shown him on the x-ray how close the damage was to the nerve. But these are declarative statements, and although they may be as accurate, they sound like excuses, which can lead to contention and blame. Don’t risk it. Instead, ask whatever clinical question necessary to clarify the problem, then assure the sufferer that you are on their side and will stop the pain.

Why dentists graduate unprepared in skills essential to economic survival, let alone triumph, is a topic that has perplexed me for decades. But one must understand and accept this reality. Every practitioner who wishes to excel must identify and correct these crucial deficiencies, of which lacking communication excellence is but one. So, after enduring a near-decade of expensive and arduous education, the bad news is that you still aren’t done. The good news is that this is merely the finishing kick at the end of a marathon, and the bounty available to the warriors determined to battle to the end is extraordinary. Chuang Tzu opined, “Great truths do not take hold of the masses.” Sadly, there won’t be a crowd at the finish line as few will complete this vital effort.

To those who do, I wish you Godspeed.

Dr. John A. Wilde practiced dentistry for forty years in that Midwest Mecca of fine dentistry, Keokuk, IA. He is now blissfully retired. He has had six dental books and over 200 magazine articles published.

Listen to the patient’s story. Take notes, offer concerned looks and head nods as you let them fully vent. They will eventually quit DentalEntrepreneur.com

Dental Entrepreneur Fall 2020 29

Power to Succeed

How to Survive Your New Covid Curriculum David Rice, DDS

A

s if dental school wasn’t hard enough …

You now get to add a hefty dose of virtual learning to your day-to-day. You still get to pay top-dollar to do it. Super fun!

Or is it?

Guys, whether you call it perspective or mindset, you and I can’t stop the Covid Wave … but we sure can learn to surf. The challenge is this: Some of us inherently see the glass half full.

Some of us inherently see the glass half empty.

Now, if you’re inherently that half-full dental student, celebrate.

This is going to be easier for you. If, on the other hand, you’re inherently a half-empty student, here’s a thought…

It doesn’t matter if the glass is half full or half empty at all.

YOU, have the power to refill it.

Mindset is a muscle. It has to be worked routinely. It needs to endurance train for the four-year haul. It needs to strength train for exam week bursts. So just like you hit the gym, the pavement or yoga class, you and I need to constantly break a mental sweat.

That said, even though we know staying physically fit for some is genetically easier, we also know that elite athletes constantly work out in the gym and in the kitchen.

They fuel their success!

• The obvious Covid precautions. Yes you need to blow off steam.

Use your head as you do.

• Get your Zzzs in. It’s a performance multiplier every great athlete knows.

• Build a daily routine and stick to it. Make sure within it, you have time to work your mindset.

• How do I do that?

• After you finish this article, jot down three things that get you fired up.

• Tell two friends what they are and the daily you want to implement.

• Ask them to join you, or simply check on you and hold you accountable.

• Set a daily alarm in your phone to remind you.

• Start your day with one of those three.

• Miss a day, but don’t miss a week.

• If you’re a gunner, end your day with one of those three. You cannot overwork this muscle.

• Repeat I know dental school can be a grind. I also know dental school can be four of the best years of your life. What you get out is all about what you put in. Wake up every day and choose your mindset.

Our minds are no different. So ... let’s talk neuroscience. The science on surviving this new Covid curriculum looks just like the science on leveling up your mindset for anything.

30 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

DentalEntrepreneur.com

David Rice, DDS, is on a mission to improve our profession by leading the next generation of dentists to grow successful lives and practices. The founder of igniteDDS, Dr. Rice speaks to over 35 dental schools and residency programs a year on practice building, team building and wealth building. Dr. Rice is a private practitioner, educator, author and mentor who connects students, young dentists and professionals from diverse dental-related businesses - “fueling passion beyond the classroom.” https://ignitedds.com/user/david_rice/

CLASS OF 2020 | SPRING ISSUE

Summer 2020

Celebrating Women in Dentistry Angela Martinez and Heather Colicchio

My Unconventional Path to Serving as President of the Chicago Dental Society Dr. Terri Tiersky

How Do You Know You’ve Arrived, If You Don’t Have a Clear Vision?

Kristin Pelletier

I Don’t Want It to Be Me Anne Rice

Building Racial Equity In Our Businesses Jasmin Haley

DeW Summer 2020

Bianca Velayo,DMD

My Story Today, in Real Time Laura Mach, DDS

5 Ways to Improve Your Mindset as a New Dentist Kyle Bogan, DMD

Responsible Business Growth is Rooted in a Thriving Office Culture DE Spring 2020

Index of Advertisers ADS Dental Transitions South…………………………………………………………….......................... 17 America’s Tooth Fairy................................................................................................................... 25 Benco Dental.............................................................................................................................. 11 Henry Schein Nationwide ............................................................................................................ 33 Patterson Dental........................................................................................................................ 2,3 Patterson Dental........................................................................................................................... 9 Pulpdent..................................................................................................................................... 17 Zirc.............................................................................................................................................. 9

32 Fall 2020 Dental Entrepreneur

DentalEntrepreneur.com

TOP 10 LIST

HOW TO GET AN EXCEPTIONAL DENTAL ASSOCIATESHIP!

PREPARE TO FIND AN EXCEPTIONAL DENTAL ASSOCIATESHIP! Our top 10 recommendations for a successful search: 1.

Determine your goals, objectives, and priorities (e.g., What are your financial needs? Do you want a practice ownership opportunity?)

2.

Start early (i.e., Start 6 months to 1 year prior to availability.)

3.

Prepare a professional curriculum vitae and cover letter (Check spelling and grammar)

4.

Reach out to potential references (i.e., Ask their permission, confirm contact information)

5.

Before an interview, research the practice and owners/principals (e.g., Social media, website)

6.

Prepare questions for the interview (i.e., You are interviewing them too, you want to show interest)

7.

Make sure the practice is ready for an associate (e.g., Do they have the space, equipment, support staff, and a sufficient number of patients?)

8.

Ask for next steps and timing at the end of the interview

9.

Send a “Thank You” after the interview! (Mailing a personal note is best.)

10.

Align your resources. Be ready for an opportunity. (i.e., Find an attorney for employment agreement review)

To find the best dental opportunities, contact: HENRY SCHEIN NATIONWIDE DENTAL OPPORTUNITIES

866-409-3001 or NDO@henryschein.com Nationwide Dental Opportunities service is 100% FREE to candidates (job seekers)! www.dentalopportunities.com

1-866-409-3001

© 2020 Henry Schein, Inc.

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