Are You Making First-Year Mistakes in Dental Practice Management?

In this solo episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. Andrew Clingan reflects on his three-year anniversary of practice ownership to share exactly what he wishes he knew during his first 90 days. For any dentist stepping into ownership, mastering the fundamentals of dental practice management is far more critical than chasing the latest trends. Andrew warns against the “shiny object syndrome” of immediately investing in 3D printers, mills, or aggressive marketing schemes before securing the foundations of a healthy practice.Sustainable growth in dental practice management comes from doing the predictable, repeatable things right every single day.Here is your playbook for surviving your first year of practice ownership:Play the Long Game: Do not let the pressure of your new practice loan force you into a scarcity mindset. Leave breathing room in your schedule during the first six months so you can focus on building relationships and becoming that patient base’s new trusted dentist.Fix the Leaky Bucket First: Before trying to add new patients, leverage your existing base. Focus on closing the “back door” by drastically improving your reappointment rate, which is the most reliable way to boost your dental practice profitability.Master the Basics Before Specialty: Get highly efficient at everyday quadrant restorative dentistry and patient communication before attempting complex specialty procedures. You cannot successfully sell a high-dollar case if you lack the communication skills to properly educate the patient.Live Like an Associate: While it is tempting to upgrade your lifestyle after closing on your first practice, start conservatively. Live below your means and build up your cash reserves; having liquidity provides you with the flexibility to eventually invest in new CE, equipment, or associate doctors.Move Slowly With Leadership: The hardest skill to master in dental practice management is leading your team. Do not make massive changes immediately. Take time to observe your staff, identify the top performers, and build leaders who will row the boat with you.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of the Shared Practices, host Caitlin Embree sits down with Dr. Aditi Agarwal, co-founder of Practice by Numbers, to discuss how analytics can completely transform your dental practice management. Dr. Agarwal shares how she evolved from pouring over confusing spreadsheets to creating an all-in-one dashboard that allows dentists to instantly diagnose bottlenecks, monitor team performance, and maximize their dental practice profitability.Relying on "gut feelings" is a dangerous way to run a business. Effective In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, host Caitlin Embree sits down with Dr. Aditi Agarwal, co-founder of Practice by Numbers, to discuss how analytics can completely transform your dental practice management. Dr. Agarwal shares how she evolved from pouring over confusing spreadsheets to creating an all-in-one dashboard that allows dentists to instantly diagnose bottlenecks, monitor team performance, and maximize their dental practice profitability.Relying on "gut feelings" is a dangerous way to run a business. Effective dental practice management requires a fact-based approach that empowers your team with clear, actionable metrics rather than overwhelming them with unnecessary data.Here is your guide to using KPIs to drive sustainable dental practice growth:Track the Pre-Appointment Rate: The most holistic indicator of practice health is the percentage of active patients who have a future appointment. Aim for an 80% pre-appointment rate to ensure your retention, scheduling, and case presentation systems are actually working.Balance Your Production: A healthy hygiene department should account for 30% to 35% of your total practice production. If hygiene exceeds that threshold, it reveals a severe breakdown in your doctor-driven restorative diagnosis or case acceptance.Analyze Treatment Rejections: When a patient declines treatment, your team must track the specific reason (e.g., finances, fear, timing). Reviewing this data allows you to tailor your case presentation and better train your financial coordinators to overcome common objections.Master Insurance Metrics: Do not drop a PPO plan based on a single low reimbursement code. Use your insurance dashboards to analyze the overall profitability of each plan and identify patterns in claim denials to drastically reduce your reimbursement cycle.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.requires a fact-based approach that empowers your team with clear, actionable metrics rather than overwhelming them with unnecessary data.

In this episode of Ask George, Dr. George Hariri addresses a critical issue facing the industry: selling your practice early simply because you are tired. While the administrative and HR burdens of modern dental practice ownership drive many doctors to sell to DSOs, doing so prematurely cuts off your greatest wealth-building vehicle. George explains that burnout is not just a qualitative issue—it is a massive quantitative financial threat because the highest return on your investment in dental school comes from operating your cash-flowing practice for the longest possible time.If you are feeling overwhelmed in your current stage of dental practice ownership, you haven't failed—you simply haven't "nailed" the systems required for that level of success yet. By proactively identifying and solving the specific bottlenecks causing your exhaustion, you can secure your equity, reclaim your time, and maximize your income.Here is your guide to extending your career and maximizing the financial return of dental practice ownership:Audit Your Exhaustion: Track exactly what drains your energy over a two-week period, whether it is a specific type of demanding patient, a stressful clinical procedure like surgical extractions, or daily HR headaches.Delegate HR Burdens: If managing staff causes you severe stress, hire an office manager to handle schedule requests and team accountability. The cost of their salary is a small price to pay for the longevity it brings to your career.Design a Sustainable Schedule: Restructure your clinical days to prioritize rest, such as working an alternating three-day week that allows for a six-day weekend every two weeks without dropping your operational hours.Find Outside Outlets: Once your practice stabilizes and no longer needs aggressive growth, channel your entrepreneurial ambition into hobbies or fitness rather than constantly disrupting your business.Protect the Cash Cow: While outside investments like real estate are important, never fund them so aggressively that it ruins your personal lifestyle and causes you to burn out of dentistry.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this rare and highly anticipated episode, Dr. George Hariri sits down for an exclusive roundtable with pre-owners Elijah Dunlap, Ben Vickery, and Josh Ward from the Business-Minded Dentist podcast. If you are a dental student or associate looking to transition into ownership, this conversation is packed with proven dental business strategies to help you avoid the common traps that cause 30% to 40% of new owners to make less money than they did as associates.George unpacks the exact dental business strategies Shared Practices uses to help clients achieve 37% to 39% growth in their first year of ownership. This roundtable with pre-owners dives deep into the realities of the modern dental market and why the days of simply "hanging a shingle" are over.Here is what you will learn from this essential conversation:Target "Neglected" Practices: The most explosive growth happens when you acquire a clinic from a retiring doctor who has underdiagnosed their patient base for years. These established patients essentially become a goldmine of new, high-value treatment needs.Prioritize Facility Size: A single-doctor, three-operatory practice is a dying model. You must buy a facility with at least six (preferably seven to twelve) operatories to successfully implement group dental business strategies.Leverage Access to Care: The easiest way to succeed without spending a fortune on marketing is to open a practice in a rural or semi-rural area where patient demand vastly outweighs the supply of dentists.Master Speed and Specialty: Before buying a practice, use your first four to six months out of dental school to build clinical speed and master endodontics and surgical extractions. Referring these cases out kills your profitability and damages patient goodwill.Don't Fear Staff Turnover: Retaining a legacy team is important, but not if it prevents you from establishing your own modern clinical culture. Establish your expectations on day one and let patient retention fund the transition of staff who refuse to adapt.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.comto learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, host Caitlin Embree interviews Josh Wallace, president of IT Harbor, to discuss why specialized IT support is a critical component of any successful dental organization. Josh shares how IT Harbor naturally transitioned into the dental sector after assisting with new practice builds, choosing to remain vendor-agnostic to provide the best, most future-driven recommendations for their clients.Because modern dental practices rely heavily on nuanced technology—such as 3D modeling, CBCTs, and specialized scanners—relying on a generic IT company can lead to mismanaged data cabling, outdated systems, and massive operational overwhelm. Josh breaks down how a remote-first IT approach can resolve 98% of backend problems before the clinic even notices, while still offering robust, nationwide on-site support.Here is your guide to protecting your practice and leveraging the future of dental technology:Defend Against Phishing: Humans are the biggest vulnerability in any network. Protect your dental practice by utilizing high-end firewalls and conducting ongoing training to prevent staff—and doctors—from clicking on masked emails or fake login prompts.Leverage AI for Productivity: Stop letting your technology gather dust. Implement AI-assisted charting and voice-dictated perio notes to speed up your workflow and save your clinical team hours of administrative frustration.Build Trust With AI Imaging: Patients can sometimes be skeptical of a doctor's treatment plan, but utilizing AI software to analyze radiographs provides an objective second opinion that builds instant patient trust.Prioritize the Patient Experience: The modern consumer expects high-tech, fast, and frictionless service. Failing to update your dental technology over the next five to eight years will likely cause patients to leave for a more advanced, spa-like competitor.Demand Better Support: Ensure your IT provider offers a dedicated engineer (e.g., IT Harbor assigns one engineer per 30 clients) so you are not forced to call a random 1-800 number every time your dental systems crash.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, we explore what it truly means to step into the role of CEO of Your Dental Organization. As a dental provider scaling from a solo operation to a multi-practice group, your leadership leverage increases significantly as you multiply your impact across a larger team. However, elite dental leadership requires shifting your mindset away from strictly clinical work and focusing on three distinct horizons: long-term vision, medium-term strategic planning, and short-term execution.To achieve sustainable dental growth, your business vision must be rooted directly in your personal life goals. Because the CEO of Your Dental Organization ultimately serves the practice owner, every strategic decision should align with your desired income, clinical schedule, and vacation time.Here is your framework for mastering dental business strategy and leading your practice:Design Your Life First: Define your ideal schedule, target income, and preferred dental procedure mix (such as focusing heavily on surgical implants). Let those personal goals dictate your dental practice's long-term destination.Focus on the Bottleneck: Adopt an Elon Musk-style approach to daily dental management by identifying and spending your administrative time solving only the single biggest constraint facing your business each week.Play the "Whac-A-Mole" Game: Understand that solving one dental growth constraint—such as hiring a third hygienist to improve patient flow—will immediately trigger the next bottleneck, like needing to fill that new hygienist's schedule.Translate Vision to the Team: Convert your personal dental ownership goals into a team-centric mission. Emphasize how adding an associate doctor improves patient access to dental care and provides the staff with more flexible schedules.Enforce Core Values: Establish a shared set of actions to define your dental practice culture. Use these core values to ensure your team's behavior stays on course, allowing you to quickly identify and correct toxic team members.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this solo episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. Andrew Clingan tackles one of the most insidious threats to sustainable dental practice growth: a lack of clear vision. Using a real-world example of a highly successful but directionless young practice owner, Andrew explains how relying purely on talent and willpower eventually leads to spinning in circles. When you lack clarity, it becomes impossible to make sound decisions about marketing, PPOs, or multi-practice expansion, ultimately stunting your long-term success.To excel as a dentist today, you must understand that the "floor" has risen; succeeding requires more intentional business strategies than it did a decade ago. Andrew emphasizes that you cannot simultaneously optimize for elite clinical mastery, aggressive scaling, and perfect work-life balance. Achieving sustainable dental practice growth requires picking a path and maintaining a disciplined clarity of vision.Here is your guide to finding focus for your practice:Ignore the Extremes: Do not let social media highlight reels push you into building a 30-practice DSO or becoming an elite cosmetic dentist if those paths do not align with your true desires. The "middle of the road"—such as a profitable group model with two doctors and four hygienists—is often the sweet spot for sustainable dental practice growth.Audit Your Time: Regularly sit down and write out everything you do throughout the week. Identify the tasks you hate (like managing staff drama) and delegate them to leadership, while doubling down on the things that actually fire you up.Build Optionality Early: Be highly conservative with your personal finances early in your career. Living below your means and aggressively investing in your clinical and business skills provides you with the freedom to pivot your career path in your 40s or 50s.Read "Traction": Implement the principles from Gino Wickman's EOS framework to align your team and ensure everyone in the practice is rowing in the exact same direction.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of Ask George, Dr. George Hariri breaks down the pros, cons, and brutal truths of running a fee-for-service dental practice. While dropping insurance is a dream for many in dental practice ownership, George explains why going out-of-network is often like "swimming upstream". It becomes significantly harder to attract new patients and retain existing ones when they face higher out-of-pocket costs.However, if you are committed to this model, it can be incredibly rewarding when executed correctly. To achieve sustainable dental practice growth without relying on PPOs, you must deliver an experience that justifies the premium price tag.Here is your blueprint for operating a successful fee-for-service dental practice:Simulate the In-Network Experience: The best out-of-network offices are extremely insurance-friendly. You must submit claims on behalf of the patient and avoid charging extra for preventative care whenever possible to reduce friction.Leverage Rural Markets: The most predictable path to fee-for-service success is in rural or underserved areas. When there is a severe lack of access to care, patients have no choice but to tolerate out-of-network fees.Create a Unique Value Proposition: If you are operating in a highly competitive, urban market, your patient experience—from the doctor-patient relationship to the physical office environment—must be undeniably superior to the in-network clinic down the street.Transition Slowly: If you are acquiring an in-network clinic, do not abruptly transition into a fee-for-service dental practice. Build your patient base first, establish goodwill, and then gradually drop the lowest-paying plans one at a time.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of Coach's Corner, Caitlin Embree interviews Paul Lowry, co-founder of Dental Menu, to solve one of the biggest bottlenecks in dental practice management: failing in-house membership plans. While dropping insurance is a common goal, data shows that unmanaged cash-pay patients only have a 12% retention rate over five years, compared to 64% for insured patients.To achieve sustainable dental practice growth, practice owners must treat their membership programs like true subscriptions (e.g., Netflix or Amazon Prime) rather than one-off "Groupon" discount bundles that cause renewal gaps. Poorly administered plans not only create massive administrative headaches but also artificially lower your practice valuation by forcing you to zero out production or write off massive adjustments.Here is your blueprint for upgrading your dental practice management through a properly structured membership plan:Stop the "Discount" Mindset: Shift from selling a bundled package of cleanings to an auto-renewing subscription model to prevent patients from lapsing for months at a time.Fix Your Accounting: Stop adjusting membership preventative care to $0, as it destroys your KPIs. Dental Menu uses a separate bank account to process monthly fees and generate internal EOBs so production flawlessly matches collections.Protect Provider Pay: Proper dental practice management requires accurate ledgers so associate dentists and hygienists receive their correct collection-based bonuses when treating membership patients.Incentivize Your Team: Drive dental practice profitability by offering your front office staff bonuses (e.g., $25 per sign-up) to consistently present the membership plan to cash-pay patients.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. George Hariri answers listener requests to strip away group practice bias and focus entirely on elite solo dental practice management. Many practitioners mistakenly believe that a multi-provider clinic is the only route to high-level profitability, but optimizing a solo model can create an incredibly low-stress, high-income asset. George outlines the precision growth pathways and details how transitioning from a standard solo dentist to a "productive solo" or "smart solo" can elevate your take-home pay to $400,000 and beyond.To break out of the low-revenue trap, you must learn how to manipulate the core levers of dental practice management.Implement these critical solo growth metrics and systems in your practice:Build the 2-2-2 Operational Balance: Scale your patient base to seamlessly support two full-time hygienists, two front office team members, and two dental assistants to perfectly balance your diagnostic and administrative workflow.Master Hygiene Benchmarks: Understand that there are roughly 200 active patients per day of hygiene. Target a base of 1,600 active patients to completely fill two full columns of hygiene working four days a week.Hit Case Acceptance Targets: Elevate your presentation style to consistently achieve an 80% patient acceptance rate (patients saying yes to at least one treatment item) and a 30% to 40% total dollar value treatment acceptance rate.Lock In Diagnostic Consistency: Develop clear, research-backed clinical diagnostic protocols so your hygiene team can confidently co-diagnose and tee up treatment plans before you even enter the room.Maximize Time Efficiency: Unlike group practices that focus heavily on analytical data points, a solo practitioner must treat their personal clinical time as the most valuable asset in the building by delegating every legally allowed task to auxiliaries.Transforming your solo office requires moving past basic survival and adopting highly intentional dental practice management strategies.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.