Tune-In to the Dental A-Team Podcast!

Listen, Kiera has been around the block with dental practices. She’s seen pretty much all there is. But one thing stood out recently in one of her offices, specifically with the hygienists. When the patient came in, the hygienist asked the following: “Hey (name), I want to know of these four items — cost, longevity, function, or cosmetic — what your main priority is coming to the dentist?”

The answer to that question means the doctor can form a treatment plan according to the patient’s priorities. BOOM, life-changing! Another good question to ask: How would you like to receive your information, in bullet points or paragraphs?

Asking these questions can help your practice cater to your patients’ needs, wants, and priorities. Up goes patient happiness, up goes case acceptance.

Kiera’s challenge for you with this episode is to test out these questions on your patients! Try it for 6 weeks and see how things go. Then, let Kiera know all...

Kiera shares some inspiration on a drive to the airport, talking about how to combat comparison with others who are further down their path of success in life. People are often impressed with Kiera’s prowess and like to ask her how she’s made it so far. Her favorite traits had to do with it — her constant hunger and resourcefulness. To all you listeners, she shares some of her tips to move forward:

• Be hungry for the next level; don’t be satisfied with where you are
• Proximity is power; be around people who inspire you and make you want to be better
• Say yes as often as possible
• Don’t get stuck in the tyranny of how

Need even more inspiration? You’re welcome to reach out to Kiera to pick her brain. It’s those types of choices that move you forward! Start today by emailing hello@thedentalateam.com.

Plus, this episode holds a sneak peek for exciting plans in 2020!

Laura Myers, expert hygienist and practice management coach out of Pennsylvania, gets bloody in this episode. She and Kiera talk through the tendency to perform bloody prophys, ignoring new codes, and getting patients back on track — learning to talk to patients as if they’re your best friend rather than a random stranger you don’t want to anger.

Laura shares three indicators when deciding if the patient has moved from the healthy or gray area stages to the “bad zone”: health, inflammation, and progression of disease.

Kiera finishes off with a challenge to start using new codes, to educate yourself about new codes, and to start being up front with at least one patient each day about moving forward/having a game plan in place.

Listen to Laura’s past episodes, #84: Don’t Snooze- Sleep Apnea from the hygiene side

Laura is a veteran of the dental industry for over 25 years. She holds a degree in dental hygiene from Harrisburg Area Community...

In the latest autopsy of a practice, Kiera is sharing her experience with a small, start-up practice — when she first met them, they were a few months into ownership with one front office person, one assistant, one hygienist, and one doctor. The doctor was fearful of overhead, finances, the amount of payments … he had a scarcity mindset (believing there’d never be enough). Kiera’s autopsy approach: expanding and thinking bigger. And in the two months since she’s worked with them, they’ve doubled their production!

Here’s a few tips on how Kiera coached them, and how she continues to do so:

• Know your numbers
• Hire additional staff or outsource duties (billing, etc.)
• Establish end-of-day huddles, systems, and morning huddles
• Focus on marketing (have two freebie ideas + one cheap one; ideas in the episode!)

This practice now has goals to hire an additional hygienist in the next three months, plus hire a float for set days/times. Practices out...

Jennifer Abshier from episode 123 is back for more tips as a practice administrator. Yikes, sounds like a hefty role, you might think. What does a practice administrator actually do? Jennifer defines her position as representing the practice and leading the team (including doctors!) along. Some tips to do that …

• Have your core values and mission set
• Be intentional with time
• Delegate (and be humble enough to do so)
• Outsource before it’s too late

Jennifer discusses with Kiera the difference between being busy and productive, and how the two don’t necessarily go hand in hand. This is a great episode that’ll inspire you, dear listeners, to be more organized and fruitful in your day-to-day.

As a reminder, Jennifer is the practice administrator for The Dentists at Hillsborough in Omaha, NE, and oversees four different offices. Check out her past episode and tons of others at www.TheDentalATeam.com.

Ask yourself this question: What is the BIGGEST hurdle that’s stopping your practice from scaling up? When Dr. Summer Kassmel and Kiera recently asked themselves this question, the answer was the onboarding/hiring process. In this episode, the two talk about what they’ve done to make that process easier, including ideas you can start implementing TODAY (in fact, Kiera’s going to try one of the ideas Dr. Kassmel shares).

Hiring people can be arduous, but facing the systems and coming up with ways to best teach information might include web-based trainings — something Kiera and Dr. Kassmel discuss. Protect your practice by hiring the right people; this episode will help you do just that.

More, as always, at www.TheDentalATeam.com.

Time to talk reviews! This episode will give you some excellent ideas on how to hold the best team member reviews possible — whether they’re monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. There’s even a tip sheet (check it out below!) for you to get ideas from. Kiera talks with Dr. Summer Kassmel about PDPs, performance development programs — Dr. Kassmel’s title for her reviews.

Curious as to how this works effectively? Dr. Kassmel and Kiera actually do a step-by-step walk-through of what happens based on what ratings are given, comments are made, and challenges are unearthed.

Ultimately, Dr. Kassmel has inspired an honest office, and through thorough check-ins like these, she’s seen her team flourish faster and faster. So go ahead, grab some take-aways from this episode and have an even more successful team! Check out the tip sheet below:

More episode with Dr. Kassmel to enjoy:  017: Goals are lost without Accountability , 066: Teaching...

Remember Friend? He’s a dental student in Kentucky, and he’s been on a few times before to ask Kiera lots of questions about the life of a dentist so he can be the best dentist for his team when he graduates!! YES-- he is looking for his future team now!!

In THIS episode, Kiera and Friend are switching roles — she’s tapping his brain for answers about the world of real estate!

That’s right, as Friend goes through dental school, he’s using real estate to help fund his education and life. The two discuss how real estate can serve as a side cash flow either now or later (hellooooo, retirement), how to find the ideal demographic, and multi-family vs. single-family homes.

The biggest question, of course, is figuring out your WHY. Reverse engineer your goal — what do you want and why do you want to do it? Listen up as Friend answers Kiera’s questions, and keep an eye out for future episodes on this topic!

In the meantime, visit ...

The dazzling Debbie Dodson is back again-- remember, she is Dr. Summer Kassmel’s right-hand woman and regional manager! Debbie breaks down the reality of holding people accountable, specifically department heads.

When it comes to actually selecting who will fill the big shoes of heading departments, Debbie suggests the following tips:

1. Pick people who want it — really, really want it. If you select someone who wants it, they’ll take the necessary steps to get things done successfully.
2. Set clear expectations, and establish them early.
3. Collect reports nightly and weekly
4. Hold monthly department head meetings and monthly team meetings.

Tune in as Kiera and Debbie talk about creating cultures of delegation in your offices, and why this is absolutely fundamental to having a successful practice.

Looking for more from Debbie? Check out episode #119, A Unique Spin to Holding People Accountable.

Happy Thanksgiving! Kiera sits down in this episode to let all of you listeners know that she is incredibly grateful for YOU! Dentistry is the best profession to be able to call a job, and she’s had such a blast getting to know you all in your offices, through email, or just through the airwaves of this podcast.

This Thanksgiving, take time to apply the filter of gratitude to your life. Don’t overlay your day-to-day with frustration or disgust or envy. And when you have that grateful attitude, share it with others! Encourage a team you can gel with and jazz with. Reflect on what you’re thankful for with them.

And, of course, enjoy the food!