Who's Serving Who?

The "Calling" of Dentistry

Whether you're a dentist, hygienist, assistant, receptionist, billing specialist, or an office manager, you didn't end up in dentistry by accident. Even if you're not where you want to be, you're there on purpose, whether it's to learn something, guide someone, or grow individually. But without a question or doubt, there is a reason, and it's your job to uncover it.

Let's be real: the dental field is one of the greatest career fields known to mankind. Okay, so maybe I'm a bit biased, but what's better than a 4-day work week and a mostly calm work environment? I can't think of any. And while we'd all love to make it big, retire young, and enjoy life to the fullest, we're all called to work hard, serve others, and honor God.

The question is: Is your office doing this?

Who Is Your Practice Serving?

When I visit dental practices, it doesn't take long to determine an office's primary focus. And although I am in tune with what to look for in dental offices, patients very much pick up on these things, too. However, patients often base their visits on a feeling, or a hunch, that something is off. This looks a lot like:

• New patients who do not schedule their next follow-up (or never return).

• Long-term patients who request their records or leave the practice without explanation.

• Unhappy employees.

• Burnout.

  
  

Now, to be fair, your office can be doing everything right and still experience these situations, but it is still worth evaluating your entire practice before assuming it's not you, it's them.
Here's what to look for:

1. Identifiable Mission
   If you don't already have an office mission statement, ask your team what they feel your mission is and how that is being portrayed.

2. Patient Experience
   From the initial phone conversation to the billing statement mailed to their home address, every element of the patient experience matters.

3. Feedback
   If your office relies on raffles and giveaways to ask and receive practice reviews, this one is for you. Honest patient (and staff) feedback should be prioritized. Too often, reviews are being treated as a marketing tactic and therefore, are not a genuine reflection of your practice.

And if reading any of these made you slightly uncomfortable, don't beat yourself up. Be grateful to have a sense of awareness. The thing about awareness, though, is that once something is brought to your attention, it is now your responsibility to address it. You are no longer in the dark about who your practice is serving.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

We've all heard the saying, "You're only as good as your weakest link." I'd just like to follow that up with, it's better to strengthen the weakest link than to make it even weaker.

Talking badly about an employee, employer, or coworker only weakens the team more. Don't get me wrong, I've fallen into this trap myself. It's incredibly easy to, especially when you're feeling burnt out, overworked, and underappreciated. But learning to tame those thoughts before they exit the mouth will take you further than any complaint ever will.

To combat this, take a moment to decompress, confront the situation, and develop a game plan to overcome it. Too often, dental practice owners and office managers will sweep this under the rug or simply state that drama is not tolerated, but by not addressing it or pretending it doesn't exist, you only prolong the catastrophic moment when it all resurfaces.

Practical Steps for Integrating Faith, Integrity, and Kindness in Your Dental Practice

Integrating faith, integrity, and kindness into a dental practice requires deliberate efforts and commitment by every team member in the office. This is the pivotal moment in managing a dental practice when one fully comprehends the age-old advice of being able to teach skills, not character. And most importantly, this begins at the top with the dentist or practice owner leading by example.

Speaking of examples, I love to share real-life experiences of what this looks like in the office.

1. The Lazy Receptionist
   Before you start calling your receptionist lazy, let's backtrack to see where improvements can be made. Employees can come to you with impressive resumes and countless years of experience, but if trained improperly, those years may not mean much. However, if this team member has experience in dentistry (knows tooth numbers), understands impactful scheduling, phone etiquette, and procedures, then adopt a new mindset and train this receptionist (or hire someone to).

2. The Money-Hungry Hygienist
   There are guidelines in place for SRPs for a reason—not every patient needs one. Similarly, not every patient needs fluoride or arestin. Could some benefit from it? Absolutely. But the important factor here is that your hygienist is doing what benefits your patients, not their pockets. This is where things get tricky for offering your hygienist a commission for providing these services. But before we run to take down our highest-producing hygienist, let's confirm they understand the office mission, provide insight/awareness, and create an opportunity to demonstrate change.

3. The Agitated Assistant
   Dental assistants are among the most valuable elements of a dental practice. As their name suggests, they are a direct extension of the dentist and must not only honor their dentist's requests but also advocate for the patient. A dental assistant who becomes easily annoyed or distracted can pull the practice down single-handedly, but removing them from your practice without an attempt to discover the disconnect doesn't help either of you.

The Antidote?
Faith, integrity, and kindness.

Faith
Believing there is good in patients and team members, and knowing that even when issues or drama arise, it is an opportunity to evaluate your practice and grow, not to be seen as a threat that needs to be taken down.

Integrity
Choosing the right thing over money, influence, or ego.
(Are you serving your patients, or are they serving your money, influence, or ego?)

Kindness
Leading by example, not emotion. Being slow to anger and wise with words.

A Note From the Author

I just want to thank you for taking the time to read my blog and support a small business; it truly means the world. Although I grew up knowing I wanted to have a career in dentistry, I really struggled to find my place in the dental world. And after experiencing several practices that were placing money, influence, and ego over patients, I decided to shift my focus to bringing faith, integrity, and kindness back, with the hope of inspiring more dental professionals to do the same.