Dental Practice Heroes

byDr. Paul Etchison

BusinessEntrepreneurshipManagementHealthFitnessMedicine

Where dentists learn how to cut clinical days while increasing profits - without sacrificing patient care, cutting corners, or cranking volume. We teach you how to grow a scalable practice through communication, leadership, and effective management. Hosted by Dr. Paul Etchison, author of two books on dental practice management, dental coach, and owner of a $6M collections group practice in the south suburbs of Chicago, we provide actionable advice for practice owners who want to intentionally create more time to enjoy their families, wealth, and deep personal fulfillment. If you want to build a scalable practice framework that no longer str...

Episodes(40 episodes)

Your Practice Will Never Give You Freedom Until Your Leaders Can Do This

If your leadership meeting turns up “no problems,” we think you should be nervous. Silence can feel like health, but it often signals something else: people are checked out, nobody is looking closely, or your team doesn’t feel safe enough to tell the truth. We unpack why great dental practices don’t win by eliminating problems, they win by getting brutally good at seeing problems early, talking about them clearly, and using them to sharpen systems, service, and team culture.We share a core mindset we teach inside our office manager mastery training: problems are good because...

Published: Sep 9, 2026Duration: 16m 49s

You're Spending Time On the Wrong Thing...Focus on This Instead w/ Dr. George Hariri

Whatever is holding your practice back is probably not the thing you worked on this week.Dr. George Hariri, co-founder of Shared Practices and author of Dental Moneyball, went from one practice to nearly 50 and stopped practicing dentistry entirely — and the practice he left behind is performing better now than when he was in it. In this episode, he walks through where you should be spending your time as CEO and the growth lever already in your practice.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:25) From one group practice to nearly 50(07:03) The decision to...

Published: Sep 8, 2026Duration: 42m 27s

Stop Talking Your Patients Out of the Best Treatment

That split second after a patient asks “Can’t you just fill it?” can quietly decide the whole case. If you hesitate, even with good intentions, you can accidentally turn your best clinical recommendation into an “upgrade” and make the compromised option feel like the default. We dig into why that happens and how to communicate treatment plans with calm confidence, so your patients feel informed instead of sold. We unpack the difference between what you technically could do and what you would actually recommend, using a simple analogy that makes the point stick. From crown vs filling con...

Published: Sep 2, 2026Duration: 17m 47s

Simple Ways to Turn Patient Objections Into a Yes

Cost, timing, pain, insurance. These objections don't mean a patient is saying "no."In this episode, the DPH coaches share how they handle the most common patient objections and turn them into a "yes." You'll learn how to present treatment plans big and small — with confidence, and without being salesy or putting patients on the defensive.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(01:51) Why even obvious treatment gets turned down(04:42) Defining an objection (and why they happen)(06:47) Handling cost objections without getting defensive(13:10) When an objection stops you cold...

Published: Aug 31, 2026Duration: 32m 16s

The Subtle Trap Undermining Your Practice's Success

Your front desk can look busy all day and still leak production, profit, and patience. When phones, check-ins, insurance questions, and balance collections are treated like one giant job, “urgency” wins every time. The ringing phone gets answered, the insurance fire gets put out, and the real growth work quietly disappears: filling tomorrow’s hole, following up on that $10,000 treatment plan, and building systems that keep the practice steady even when someone is out.We walk through a cleaner way to think about dental practice management by creating levels inside your admin department. Foundational front desk skills can be...

Published: Aug 27, 2026Duration: 24m 9s

Implementation Usually Fails in 1 of These 3 Areas

We break down why the same operational problems keep resurfacing even after everyone “agrees” in a meeting. We share a simple leadership framework that turns talk into implementation so our dental practice keeps improving without constant reminders. • the hidden cost of repeated meetings and drifting systems • why agreement feels good but fails without a system • a real crown charting conflict that fuels resentment • involving the team through autonomy and a clear why • making a decision without chasing the perfect solution • setting a defined trial period so everyone tests together • building revisit habits with agend...

Published: Aug 25, 2026Duration: 18m 47s

How to Train the Assistant Every Other Dentist Wants w/ Kevin Henry

Every dentist wants an assistant who anticipates their needs without being asked. Almost nobody does what it takes to get there.Kevin Henry, dental journalist and founder of Dental Assistant Nation, has spent 21 years advocating for dental assistants. In this episode, he shares what makes them disengage, what a good day actually looks like for them, and how to train them the right way.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(03:52) Why your dental assistants aren't engaged(06:13) The skills to instill in every assistant(10:44) Dental assistant schools post-COVID(11:51) The...

Published: Aug 20, 2026Duration: 42m 25s

Your Future Practice Won't Materialize Without Protecting This

We describe the moment every practice owner knows: you block CEO time to build better systems, then lose it to nonstop interruptions and tiny fires. We share how protecting leadership time, setting clear availability rules, and focusing on KPIs turns you from the bottleneck into the builder of a practice that runs without you. • why CEO time disappears faster than clinical time • protecting leadership time like production time • the difference between reacting all day and creating real growth • a simple closed-door boundary for uninterrupted work • what to do when CEO work feels uncomfortable <...

Published: Aug 18, 2026Duration: 16m 34s

The Hidden Reason Your Practice Feels So Hard to Run w/ David Maloley

Eight out of ten employees show up disengaged. The other two are doing all the work in your practice.In this episode, Dr. David Maloley explains what's really driving attrition and why a paycheck doesn't cut it anymore. You'll find out which outside forces are quietly commoditizing your practice, the burnout triggers already built in, and how to create an employee experience that holds your practice together.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(03:19) David’s dream practice that turned into a nightmare(06:29) What hiring an office manager can't fix (09:18) The for...

Published: Aug 12, 2026Duration: 48m 53s

Don't Try to Scale Your Practice Until You See This In Your Numbers

Hire another associate, open a second location, drop insurance — or maybe change nothing at all? The truth is, just because your practice can grow doesn't mean it should.In this episode, the DPH coaches will help you figure out what kind of practice actually fits the life you want. You'll hear the mistake that almost buried one of them, the steps you should take before scaling, and the honest questions that reveal whether a bigger practice is right for you.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:26) How to make your own decision(06:45) Th...

Published: Aug 10, 2026Duration: 32m 15s

3 Conversations that Will Keep You from Repeating Yourself

You know the moment: you’re having the same conversation again, trying to stay calm, trying to protect psychological safety, but quietly wondering why the message still isn’t landing. When a team member keeps missing a checklist step, showing up late, skipping a pre-collect, or sending patients up front with the wrong codes, it stops feeling like a one-off mistake and starts feeling like a culture problem. That’s where accountability either strengthens your dental team or slowly erodes it.We break down a powerful tool from Crucial Accountability called CPR: Content, Pattern, Relationship. First we talk a...

Published: Aug 5, 2026Duration: 17m 2s

5 Levers That Decide How Much Your Practice Produces

"I just need to get more patients into the office." It's something almost every owner tells themselves, but it's rarely what their practice needs.In this episode, you'll learn the five levers that decide how much your practice actually produces. The DPH coaches share their own experiences of freezing in front of patients, getting honest feedback from their teams, and coaching associates who want a raise.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(03:02) What to do when an associate wants more money(06:29) Why chasing new patients keeps you stuck(08:13) Are you...

Published: Aug 3, 2026Duration: 33m 35s

The Doctor-Hygienist Partnership That Drives Case Acceptance w/ Janet Hagerman

Your hygienist spends more time with your patients than you do. That makes them one of the biggest case acceptance drivers you have.This episode shows you how to unlock that potential with the right systems, language, and a true doctor-hygienist partnership. Hygiene consultant Janet Hagerman breaks down how to train your team to talk about treatment, the meeting you should be having every month, and the five steps to the perfect handoff.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:08) From hygienist to fractional hygiene officer (05:47) Why hygiene is the bedrock of your p...

Published: Jul 30, 2026Duration: 39m 36s

Stop Hoping and Praying for Your Dream Team, Build Them

If you walked into your dental practice right now and asked one random team member what they’re actively trying to get better at, would they have a real answer or a long pause? That moment tells you almost everything about your culture, your leadership, and why “good people” sometimes slowly turn into disengaged people. We believe most team members don’t drift toward excellence on their own, they drift toward comfort, and it’s our job to make growth the default. We unpack why ongoing team training is one of the highest-ROI investments in dental practice management...

Published: Jul 27, 2026Duration: 17m 57s

Short Staffed? Here's What to Do

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

Published: Jul 23, 2026Duration: 18m 50s

What Your Front Desk Wishes the Clinical Team Understood (And Vice Versa)

Front desk versus clinical: every practice has this quiet rivalry, but it doesn't have to be that way.In this episode, the DPH coaches break down why these two sides of the office resent each other and how you as the owner might be making it worse. They share exactly what you can do to create cohesion in the office, from an exercise that breaks tension and gets people talking to an easy fix for the most common source of conflict.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:43) What causes front and back office drama<...

Published: Jul 20, 2026Duration: 37m 44s

Stop Hiring People to Solve This Problem

Your dental practice can feel like it’s drowning even when you’re fully staffed and the schedule looks reasonable on paper. The real culprit is often smaller and harder to spot: tiny steps in your systems that get skipped, “just this once,” and then explode into bigger problems for the next person downstream. I’m breaking down how that ripple effect creates the daily feeling of chaos, backlog, and burnout and what to do about it as the leader. We walk through concrete dental practice management examples that every team recognises. First, pre-collecting patient copays for larger appo...

Published: Jul 16, 2026Duration: 18m 38s

How to Hire a Hygienist Fast in a Tough Job Market

Where did all the good hygienists go? You may be asking yourself this question, but the truth is they're out there. They're just choosing someone else.In this episode, you’ll learn how to become the office people want to work at (and stay). The DPH coaches share how one of them out-recruited six offices for a single hygienist, why your job posting is costing you good candidates, and the interview red flags you can’t ignore — even when you're desperate.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:45) Landing a hygienist every office wanted(07...

Published: Jul 13, 2026Duration: 34m 51s

How to Fill Your Schedule Without a Single New Patient w/ Dr. Spencer Greer

What does it take to be a better producer? For Dr. Spencer Greer, it's not about chasing new patients or pushing treatment.In this episode, he shares the exact language he uses to present treatment without sounding greedy, losing trust, or pressuring anyone into a "yes." You'll learn where most dentists drop the ball on case acceptance and the traits that turn a surprising hire into a top producer.The best part: the growth you're after is already sitting in your schedule.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:03) From salesman to dentist<...

Published: Jul 9, 2026Duration: 44m 38s

Efficiency vs. Speed: What Actually Keeps You on Schedule

Slow doesn't mean careful. Fast doesn't mean sloppy. Most dentists think efficiency comes at the cost of quality — but this episode will show you it's actually the key to managing a busy schedule.The DPH coaches break down how to get through your procedures faster without cutting corners. You'll hear their tips on how to speed up everyday procedures, the three things that let you run a 5-minute exam, and where your day quietly loses the most time.Topics discussed:(00:00) Introduction(02:24) Why efficiency starts with data(04:46) How to learn fro...

Published: Jul 6, 2026Duration: 34m 54s