The Business of Dentistry

Concise yet comprehensive overview of business management principles tailored for dental practices, with strategies to apply the core concepts to achieve success Rather than presenting a rote checklist of steps for success, Business Basics for Dentists, Second Edition describes business, economic, marketing, and management principles and explains how to apply them to dental practice. Now fully updated throughout, this book provides the essential elements of a business course--management principles, economics, business finance, and financial analysis--without getting bogged down in too much detail. Dental students and new practitioners will learn how to use the core strategic and operational business philosophies to develop an effective dental practice. The business management principles are related to various aspects of running and managing a dental practice, including office communications, billing, inventory, and marketing. All aspects of practice transition are approached, including career opportunities, buying a practice, starting a new practice, multi-practitioner arrangements, practice valuation, and planning and developing a practice. The book also covers personal financial planning to ensure that the dentist is also planning for their finances and retirement beyond the bounds of the practice. Business Basics for Dentists, Second Edition covers: Personal money management and insurance needs, reducing the personal tax burden, estate planning, and securing financing Business entities, basic economics, the legal environment of the dental practice, financial statements, and business taxes and tax planning Management principles, planning the dental practice, financial analysis, and control in the dental office, maintaining production and collections, and gaining case acceptance Generating patients for the practice, controlling costs, promoting staff effectiveness, and maintaining daily operations Focusing on the transition period from a dental student, through corporate employee, to ownership, Business Basics for Dentists is a valuable tool for dental students and professionals seeking to further their career path through actionable advice from experts in the field.

Are you thinking about starting your own dental practice and want to get it right the first time?

For the enterprising dentist The Simple Guide to Starting a Dental Practice and Getting it Right the First Time is an invaluable resource. Starting a practice from scratch in today's competitive market can be a scary proposition, but The Simple Guide will walk you through the steps to turn your dream into a reality. With practical advice for every step along the way, to-do lists and templates, this guide can help you ensure that your practice is set up for long-term success. In this book, you'll learn:
- How to find the ideal location with patients that are perfect for your practice
- How to build a comprehensive business plan and arrange financing
- How to design and staff your new practice
and more...

Preparation is key for a successful practice start-up. The work you do now will lay the foundation of your practice, and with the advice in this guide, you can make sure that foundation is one that will lead to long-term career and financial success.

What's your practice personality? From "Squirrels" to "Scrooges", every dental practice falls into (at least) one of nine potential dental practice personality styles. Financial or emotional frustrations, inconsistent productivity, and team drama are just symptoms of a much deeper practice personality disorder. As with any health struggle, it's important to treat the root cause, instead of constantly masking the symptoms - or worse yet, ignoring them entirely. This book will help you transform limiting trajectories into long-term success as you discover:? How to diagnose your practice's personality by using the dental practice personality model ? The nine practice personality disorders that may be sabotaging your success? Practical solutions to overcome these obstacles ? How to recognize the key elements of the ideal dental practice? Most importantly, how to create YOUR ideal dental practice!You have spent a lot of time, money, and effort to get where you are today. Don't let your practice personality get in the way of the vision you've been working so hard to create. Start building your dental utopia today!

Are you a dentist who dreams of creating your own practice instead of working for someone else? How long have you been dreaming of that kind of freedom? 84% of associate dentists say they want their own practice, but very few ever achieve that dream. Many who try to do it on their own don't even make it to opening day. The fulfilling career you've always wanted--what you've been imagining since dental school--can actually happen. Just like it's happened for hundreds of our clients who now own successful startups. Doctors who were once frustrated associates, now experience the excitement of driving into the parking lots of their own practices each morning. They're building a future for their families, a future that makes them proud. They have the control to practice their own way, according to their own vision. And they're making an impact on people's lives based on their values. Follow along as Stephen Trutter (CEO of Ideal Practices), who's helped launch over 800 startup dental practices, pulls back the curtain to reveal the exact process that you'll need to create the profitable and fulfilling career you've been dreaming of. You will receive practical tools, unfiltered advice from professionals who've been doing this for decades, and read success stories from thriving dentists who were just in your shoes. In this book you'll learn: How the startup process really works and how to eliminate the risks, How to reverse-engineer a practice that matches your exact vision, How to negotiate the ins and outs of financing your startup (even if you have student loans!), Our proven 13-Stage process that has successfully opened over 800 startup dental practices, And so much more!

"Written by practicing emergency physician and founder of The White Coat Investor, Guide for Students is specifically targeted at medical and dental students and addresses their specific financial concerns.Many professional students feel guilty about living on student loans while simultaneously worrying that they may never be able to pay them off. This book will lift the burden of guilt while providing insight into the financial consequences of the major decisions you will face during school and residency training. Assuming no prior knowledge of personal finance and investing, the book is filled with straight talk and clear explanations. Let Dr. Dahle be the financial mentor you didn't even know you needed." -- Amazon.com

This issue of Dental Clinics of North America focuses on The Journey to Excellence in Esthetic Dentistry and is edited by Drs. Yair Whiteman and David Wagner. Articles will include: Becoming an Expert in Minimally-Invasive Esthetic Dentistry: The Road Map; Building your Brand in Esthetic Dentistry: Developing your Style, Reputation, and Marketing; Photography: The Complete Guide and Workflow for Esthetic Dentistry; Dentist-Ceramist Communication: Building an Effective Esthetic Treatment Team; Training your Eye to Understand SHAPE--the Ultimate Determiner of Esthetic Dentistry Success; Implementing Digital Dentistry into your Esthetic Dental Practice; Review of the Latest Adhesive Materials and Techniques for Esthetic Dentistry in the Minimally-Invasive Age; Review of the Latest Restorative Materials and Techniques for Esthetic Dentistry in the Minimally-Invasive Age; Orthodontic-Restorative Multidisciplinary Cases: A Communication Guide; and more!

Dental school prepares students for the clinical aspects of dentistry, but not for the business of dentistry itself. As students and residents alike, we graduate with massive debt and must act as our own small business entities without knowing how to begin structuring our financial lives. Contracts, loans, insurances and retirement options are languages we don't speak yet are critical to our success. The result is that dental professionals are left to figure it all out on their own and "learn the hard way." Until now. The Financial Survival Guide for Dentists reviews the crucial details of all the essential factors needed to create the foundation for our careers as we get started. The business of dentistry is no different than anything else; given the right guidance, we can set ourselves on a path for success. So let's take control back and begin the journey on our terms. This is everything you needed to learn, but were never taught, in dental school

For years, Dr. Jerry Lanier, DDS, has wanted to write a book for dentists about exiting their dental businesses rich. And now that he has become an eminently successful entrepreneur, he has fulfilled that wish with the publication of The Entrepreneur Dentist. Dr. Lanier's book is for every dentist whose ideas of retirement have less to do with downsizing and more to do with travel and living the good life--with absolutely no concerns about money. Aspiring dental entrepreneurs will find Dr. Lanier's book thorough, accessible, and informative. The Entrepreneur Dentist contains everything successful dentists with big dreams need to know about building a dental business and exiting with wealth. Dr. Lanier shows how the future you've dreamed for yourself and your family can become reality--because you've planned for that future with advice from this exceptional entrepreneur. In 1994, Dr. Jerry Lanier opened his first Kids Dental Kare office, and by 2017, he had 14 offices, employed close to 150 employees, twenty-five associate dentists, and was generating $20 million per year in revenue. When he sold that business, he was on the way to living the life of his dreams. He wants to show you how to plan ahead so you can do the same with your dental practice. This strategy-and-tactics field manual shows future dental entrepreneurs how to take the right steps so you can carve out successful enterprises over the long term. Dr. Lanier covers the ins and outs of building a thriving dental business, both from macro and micro perspectives, and includes practical steps you should take and pitfalls you can avoid.  This valuable book will take you from being an aspiring dental entrepreneur with a sole proprietorship to business ownership--and finally, to a lucrative exit to the life of your dreams.

This book provides practical strategies for dentists to effectively and confidently communicate with many dental insurance issues, as well as with their patients and members of their staff.  Providing real-world examples and sample letters, the book includes specific guidance on how to handle common communication scenarios to avoid being caught off-guard or unprepared.  Leadership and Communication in Dentistry begins with a unique section discussing communications with insurance companies, including negotiations, PPO contract issues, appeals letters, and more. It then includes chapters on communicating with patients, addressing how to listen to their concerns and motivate them, and staff, emphasizing how to be a better leader and institute office policies. The final section explores how dentists can use leadership and communication skills to improve their practice of dentistry.  Provides concrete guidance on how dentists can confidently take the lead on conversations with dental insurance companies, their staff, and their patients Includes real-world examples of how to lead through communications Divided into sections covering communications with insurance companies, dental patients, and staff members Teaches that being mindful of proper communication and leadership skills will create a true balance for the successful dentist leader to become successful at living  Leadership and Communication in Dentistry is a must-have resource for any dentist or dental student wishing to improve their communication skills.

Turn your Dental Practice into a Successful Business - the Gabriel Asulin method" is a practical guide for managing and marketing dental practices. This bestselling book offers practical and effective solutions that can be easily applied to any dental practice and quickly increase sales and profitability, and that includes yours. The unique management and marketing methods unveiled in this book are successfully used by thousands of dental practices around the world and have proven to significantly improve sales and profitability.

Join Dr. Justin Short (The Lifestyle Practice) and Dr. David Maloley (The Relentless Dentist) as they seek answers to big questions from some of Dentistry's Titans. In a quest to discover what separates top performers from the average dental practitioner, Dr. Short and Dr. Maloley interview the biggest and best in the industry. Learn the best business advice Dr. Bill Blatchford (Blatchford Solutions) ever received; Howard Farran's (Dentaltown) morning routine and Dr. Bruce Baird's (Granbury Dental Center, Productive Dentist Academy, Compassionate Finance) insights on the traits and skills most important to running an uncommon practice. Each of the 39 interviews is jam packed with the secrets to success from real dentists. Titans of Dentistry will teach you how the top performers think and act differently so you can too.

Turn Your Practice into a Powerful and Purposeful Business Managing a dental practice can be challenging. With so many variables and moving parts, it's easy to lose sight of the business end of dental offices and miss opportunities for growth and improvement. But for a business so deeply rooted in patient care, smooth and reliable office management is essential. In Responsible Dental Ownership, Alex Zlatin explores the best business practices for dental owners, starting with determining your purpose and your practice's defining ethical intentions. In this book, you'll learn everything it takes to become a responsible dental owner. From the importance of human resources to the main drivers of dental practices, Zlatin covers everything you wish you had learned in dental school. Backed by eleven years of management experience and five years of working alongside dentists, Zlatin understands that many new and experienced dentists are unaware of how to properly run their businesses. Responsible Dental Ownership is perfect for new dental owners or anyone in need of a business management refresher. Don't let your practice fall behind because of irresponsible business management.

While there is encouragement for ethical conduct within the dental profession, there is still relatively little assistance available to dentists and dental students for judging what conduct is ethically best in concrete situations. For many years David Ozar's Dental Ethics at Chairside has served as an invaluable resource for tens of thousands of dentists and dentistry students, and this third edition of the gold standard in the field is thoroughly revised an updated. In addition to exploring ongoing and critical issues such as the patient-professional relationship, patients with compromised capacity, confidentiality, justice and health care systems, and dentistry as a business, this third edition addresses emerging ethical issues related to conflicts of interest, dental professionalism, advertising and social media, the serious indebtedness of graduating dental students, bad outcomes and bad work, the explosion of aesthetic dentistry, acquiring new skills and new technology, the impact of the market on the professional-patient relationship, and many others. The book includes fourteen entertaining cases and commentary about dilemmas in dentistry, as well as online resources for further research and study.
Contents:
The dental profession and professional ethics
Professional ethics, professionalism, and patient trust
The questions of professional ethics
The relationship between patient and professional case
The central practice values of dental practice
Ethical decision-making and conflicting obligations
Patients with compromised capacity
Working together
Bad outcomes and bad work
Managing an ethical dental practice
Society's health care resources and access to oral health care
Caring for patients v. third-party payers and other bureaucracies
The wrong message and why it matters
The obligations of dentistry's professional organizations
Self-formation and dentistry's future: professionalism or commercialism.

"Dr. Etchison is not your average dentist. A visionary leader, he combines marketing and business knowledge, clinical excellence, and leadership to create a thriving growing practice. And he wants to share this special knowledge with you. It's time to set off on a quest to implement systems that take your practice to the next level inspire your team to greatness and help you become the visionary leader who can transform your practice and your life."--Back cover

Key strategies to a successful dental practice / by Allen M. Schiff
The eight biggest practice management mistakes that dentists make / by Kevin C. Henry
How to build a profitable practice from the ground up / by Roger P. Levin
Overview of dental partnerships / by Patrick J. Wood
How do you forge a relationship with a bank? / by Larry W. Gibson
Secrets of negotiating a great office lease : what the landlord does not want you to know / by Steven D. Caudill
Protect your assets with internal controls / by Elaine A. Pesavento
Ethics and state law / by Suzanne U. Stucki-McCormick
What does your future hold : vision statements to policy and procedure manuals / by Sunny N. Stewart, and Suzanne U. Stucki-McCormick
How to start a solo practice / by Lilia Larin
Forensic hiring : put applicants under the microscope and solve "the mystery of the revolving door" / by Janice Keller
Utilizing the dental team : state laws, investing in team training / by Tija Hunter
Technology in dentistry / by Paul Feuerstein
Path to paperless / by Dayna Johnson
Successful online strategies / by Brad Newman
Dental benefits : will you or won't you? patient billing and dental benefit company relations / by Sheri B. Doniger
Dental coding / by Patti DiGangi
Dentistry as a niche business / by Jean Furuyama
Dentistry working with manufacturers and industry / by Michael McCarthy
Practice transitions / by Sarah K. Lynch.

Dental Practice Transition: A Practical Guide to Management, Second Edition, helps readers navigate through options such as starting a practice, associateships, and buying an existing practice with helpful information on business systems, marketing, staffing, and money management. Unique comprehensive guide for the newly qualified dentist  Covers key aspects of practice management and the transition into private practice  Experienced editorial team provides a fresh, balanced and in-depth look at this vitally important subject New and expanded chapters on dental insurance, patient communication, personal finance, associateships, embezzlement, and dental service organizations 

Proven techniques for providing an outstanding dental patient experience. Covers informed consent, referrals, patient reactivation and retention, and patient dismissal.

How can dentists stay competitive in an online world where patients seek and share information faster than ever before? In short: by being remarkable. Fred Joyal, author of “Everything is Marketing,” co-founder of 1-800-DENTIST® and the industry’s leading authority on dental practice marketing, reveals how dentists can adapt and thrive by understanding—and embracing—recent shifts in patient behavior, new technology, and the economy of the industry. Drawing on thirty years of expertise, Fred explains how to take a hard look at your practice to assess what’s working, adjust what’s not, and create a practice experience patients can’t help but rave about.

A large percentage of skilled dental professionals lack the tools and comfort level required to market themselves and their dental implant practices effectively  As a consequence, these dental professionals miss several opportunities to help patients and grow their business. Even those who recognize the need for marketing often don't have the experience or training to do so effectively. Marketing Implant Dentistry meets this need by giving dentists the tools to better market and promote their practices and to gain case acceptance. Marketing Implant Dentistry presents proven approaches for attracting dental implant patients and demonstrates the use of successful communication skills, including verbal and visual aids. This book details multiple examples of patient friendly and professional letters for use in targeting both new implant patients and professional referral sources. Readers will learn the benefits of adopting non-traditional approaches such as hosting patient education seminars, as well as cultivating professional relationships with the medical community (physicians) for the purposes of generating untapped referral relationships. Best practices in internet and social media marketing, specific to implant dentistry, are also demonstrated so practices can make the most out of these low-cost opportunities.

Explains marketing options unique to dental practices. Covers SEO, keywords, and algorithms in digital marketing, choosing the right social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube, Yelp, Google+ and other social media sites, managing positive and negative online reviews, developing social media content, and hiring a web designer or online marketing professional.

What happens when the dream finally comes true? Enduring years and years of careful planning and hard work to become a dentist and small business owner, you finish school, pass the boards, and feel ready to conquer the world. Eager to provide quality care and help patients, you create your dream practice. You build it, so the patients will come. Right? Finding yourself in the school of hard knocks and learning by trial and error, you quickly realize that you do not have a clue about running a business! No one warned you it would be like this! Written by a dentist, 100 Things I HATE/Love About Dentistry is the culmination of years in private practice and utilizes real life situations to provide the answers to questions you never knew to ask. Dr. Samuel cleverly uses sarcasm and humor to deliver pearls of wisdom that benefit any small business owner!.

Dr. David Willis combines his experience as a practicing dentist, educator, MBA, and certified financial planner in this breakthrough text about managing a dental business. Rather than a checklist of steps for success, Business Basics for Dentists describes business, economic, marketing, and management principles and explains how to apply them to the dental practice. Dental students and new practitioners will learn how to use the core strategic and operational business philosophies to develop an effective dental practice. He provides the essential elements of a business course--management principles, economics, business finance, and financial analysis--without bogged down in too much detail. These are then related specifically to various aspects of running and managing a dental practice, including office communications, billing, inventory, and marketing the practice. All aspects of practice transition are approached: career opportunities, buying a practice, starting a new practice, multi-practitioner arrangements, practice valuation, and planning and developing a practice. Last, Willis included personal financial planning to ensure that the dentist is also planning for his own finances and retirement beyond the bounds of the practice.