I got married two weeks before I became a dentist. While I never thought about divorcing my husband, I have thought about divorcing dentistry. How about you? Have you ever daydreamed about having a different career? Ever looked at your accountant or sales rep and wished you were them? Just like not all marriages work out, … Read more
The why: Background story An orthodontic clinic built on friendship, vision, and compassion has opened in the heart of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec. Flex Orthodontistes is the creation of Dr. Gaston Federico Coutsiers Morell and Dr. Anthony Rossi, two longtime friends who met during their orthodontic specialty training at the University of Alberta. Their story began before classes … Read more
“The most important thing in evaluating businesses is figuring out how big the moat is around the business… I want to know how big the castle is on the inside and then I want to know how big the moat is around it.”— Warren Buffett What no one tells you until it’s too late Most … Read more
It’s probably not a question you’ve asked yourself before. After all, you’re a dentist. Your focus is the mouth. So how could menopause possibly influence the work you do—or the way your practice runs? The reality is menopause and oral health have been widely overlooked. We still know far too little about menopause as a … Read more
A patient wakes up with a toothache. The first thing they do isn’t flip through a phonebook or wait for a flyer in the mail, they grab their phone, open Google, and type in “dentist near me.” Within seconds, they’re comparing local practices, reading reviews, and deciding who to call. This is how most patients … Read more
Picture this: you’re scrolling through your phone at 11 PM after a brutal 12-hour day, and another headline screams about AI taking over healthcare jobs. Your stomach drops. You spent eight years becoming a dentist, not a tech expert, and now everyone’s talking about robots doing root canals. Here’s the thing though—that fear you’re feeling? … Read more
Running a dental practice isn’t just about perfecting smiles—it’s also about managing people, mitigating risk, and ensuring your business can thrive without unexpected legal pitfalls. Few people understand this better than Dirk de Lint, partner at MBC Legal, a firm specializing in employment law for dental and healthcare practices. With over 13 years in employment … Read more
Giving feedback the traditional way is dead; feedforward opportunities support the long life of your practice You know the importance of feedback from your patients. Regularly assessing how patients feel about your care and their personal experiences at your office is highly valuable. Otherwise, you do not know where you “stand” with those individuals who … Read more
A lawyer wouldn’t dream of giving away their time—so why do dentists keep doing it? Discover the overlooked strategy that makes every consultation count—and pay. A dentist and a lawyer were chatting at a party. Their conversation kept getting interrupted by people asking the dentist for free dental advice and describing their various ailments. After … Read more
The best performers incorporate the most components of previous setbacks into their efforts.The worst performers start completely from scratch and do not incorporate any components of failed attempts into later tries.Successful groups solicit and incorporate feedback from outside of their organization.Success are based on specific insights and lessons learned from past mistakes.
With the federal government investing $13 billion over five years — starting in the 2023 fiscal year — and $4.4 billion annually thereafter into the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP), some dentists might assume practice values are poised to rise. The reasoning is straightforward: more people will seek treatment, and those who previously paid out … Read more
For many general dentists, “success” looks a lot like burnout. Your schedule’s full. Hygiene is booked weeks out. You’re staying late, working through lunch, and grinding through procedures day after day. From the outside, your practice looks healthy. But when you sit down to check your numbers, the profit margins tell a different story. Despite … Read more
Consider how many times you have checked your email today. In all likelihood, you have at least viewed several emails by now, if not crafted and sent several of your own messages. Email remains a powerful communication tool in our personal and professional lives, driving an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent. In … Read more
Look, here’s something nobody tells you when you’re drowning in missed calls and double-booked appointments: that shiny new dental marketing strategy your consultant sold you? It’s worthless if patients can’t actually reach you when they try to book. You’re spending thousands on SEO, Google ads, and social media to drive traffic to your practice. But … Read more
You might be overlooking a key piece of the puzzle. In last month’s blog, I wrote about the growing need for team members to embrace ongoing skill upgrades. As I stated, there are estimates predicting that up to 65% of skills could turn over every 18 months. That’s a massive shift. We mentioned the risk … Read more
Unless you’ve been living under a fluoride rock, you’ve probably heard about the now-infamous Tea app. Touted as a women-only platform for anonymously reviewing men they’ve dated, Tea surged to No. 1 in the App Store earlier this year. It promised to promote dating safety and empower women to warn others about red-flag behaviour. It … Read more
We are getting this question more often from our dental clientele—why aren’t we posting to Instagram and TikTok? It’s a fair question and it’s easy to get swept up into the hype of social media today. So here is how we respond: Do you want to be flashy or do you want to have a … Read more
On the surface, the federal Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) seems simple: uninsured Canadians earning under $90,000 gain access to dental care and dentists gain new patients.However, it’s not that simple, as the CDCP creates scenarios with nuances. Bernard Dolansky, senior national partner, transition consultant and salesperson, and Bill Henderson, broker and senior transition sales … Read more
Imagine stepping out of dental school, full of clinical knowledge, but you’re going into the operatory alone for the first time. The transition from academia to real-world dentistry is thrilling yet daunting, filled with unforeseen challenges in patient management, practice administration, and clinical decision-making. This critical phase, if unsupported, can overwhelm even the most promising … Read more
GET SMART As we step into the summer season, it’s a great time to reflect and set fresh goals. However, some methods of setting goals are better positioned for success than others. This is similar to how you may find some techniques or methodologies in your day-to-day practice consistently bear fruit, whereas others wither on … Read more