PODCAST · business
Dental Practice Heroes
by Dr. Paul Etchison
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 stresses, drains, or relies on you for every little thing, we will teach you how and share stories of other dentists who have done it!
Episodes
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The $1.5M Trap that Can Break a Practice Owner
Your dental practice can be profitable and still feel like it’s slowly breaking you. That’s the reality for many solo dentists sitting in the $1.2M to $1.7M range: the schedule is packed, the team is busy, and yet problems keep slipping through the cracks. Patients fall off the follow-up list,...
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Think You’re Ready for an Associate? Look at These Numbers First
Bringing on an associate is supposed to buy back your time. So why do so many owners end up regretting the decision? Brian Hanks, dental accountant and author of How to Buy a Dental Practice, works with dentists at every stage of ownership and has noticed one blind spot that derails…
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Two Paths To A Dental Practice That Runs Without You
If you have been grinding to “improve the practice” but your days still feel the same, you are not alone and you are not lazy. We dig into a hard truth: you can spend an entire year fixing what is broken and still end up with almost the exact same dental practice, the same pressure, and the same...
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When Your Strengths Create Dependence
Being the most capable person in your dental practice can feel like a superpower, right up until it becomes the reason everything still depends on you. I’m Dr. Paul Etchison, and I see this pattern constantly with dental practice owners: we’re great at hiring, interviewing, running meetings,...
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Why You Still Haven’t Cut Back a Clinical Day
You can have a solid team, good new patient flow, and real culture momentum and still feel weirdly stuck. That’s the trap we dig into today: the belief that you should wait until you feel 100% ready before making a big move in your dental practice, like dropping from four clinical days to three.…
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The Dangerous Part About Having a Good Practice
Your practice is finally in a good place. The schedule is full, the money is good, and you actually like your team. This episode is about what happens when this comfort turns into complacency. The DPH coaches explain why thinking "things are good" can be dangerous, the difference between healthy...
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Your Team Isn’t Resisting the Change. They’re Resisting This
That uncomfortable moment when you roll out a new system and your team goes quiet isn’t about the system at all. It’s about what they think it means. We’re talking about one of the most common breakdowns in dental practice leadership: we introduce training, new workflows, or higher standards with...
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You Might Be Wrong About Your Worst Team Member
"They're lazy." "They don't care." "This person is the problem." You probably said something like this the last time you got annoyed at the office. In this episode, the DPH coaches break down what to do the next time someone on your team drops the ball. You'll learn the difference between being...
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Retiring Early in Dentistry and the Freedom Trap
You can do everything “right” and still feel stuck: work harder, save more, invest earlier, chase a retirement number… then wake up the next day and realize nothing changed. That moment is what we’re unpacking, especially for dentists who are high achievers, practice owners, and the kind of…
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Why Your Team Only Follows Systems When You’re Watching (How to Fix It) w/ Dr. Gina Dorfman
Your team does the right things when you're in the building. Turn your back and... maybe not. Dr. Gina Dorfman has spent over 20 years building practices around culture, and knows exactly what makes a team follow through without being reminded. She explains what has to come first, the test...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Why You Can't Leave Your Work Stress at the Office w/ Neo Positivity
Feeling lost? The biggest thing holding your practice probably isn't your team, your overhead, or the economy — it’s the stories you’re telling yourself. In this episode, Neo Positivity, creator of the Thoughts Become Things movement and author of Your ATM, explains how the brain's "algorithm"…
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You're Busy, So Why Isn't Your Practice Growing?
If your days feel jam-packed but your dental practice still isn’t improving, the problem usually isn’t effort. It’s urgency. The loudest problems in a practice always win, and they trick us into believing we’ll work on systems, leadership, and growth “once things slow down.” They don’t slow down,...
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The One Conversation That Raises the Standard in Your Dental Practice w/ Katherine Eitel Belt
What's one thing you've been avoiding in your practice? Maybe it's a slipping standard or a team member no longer pulling their weight — and every week you wait, your practice feels it a little more. In this episode, Katherine Eitel Belt is back to help you finally have these conversations…
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The Owners Guide to Creating a Team Full of Victims
If you’ve ever reached the end of a packed clinic day wondering why every single problem somehow finds its way back to you, you’re not alone and you’re not broken. I’m Dr. Paul Etchison, and I’m talking about a leadership pattern that quietly traps dental practice owners: the rescuer trap. It…
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Your Team Doesn't Want More Money (They Want This) with Bree Groff
The best practices aren't built on systems and numbers — they're built on something that's easy to forget. In this episode, Bree Groff breaks down why people are the backbone of a practice and how leaders can bring out their team's best. Working with teams at Google, Microsoft, and Pfizer, she's...
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The Question Every Dentist Is Asking About w/ Dr. Alan Mead
Technology in dentistry is moving faster than ever, and it's easy to feel like you're falling behind. AI is writing chart notes, robots are helping place implants, and there's a new company pitching you every day. In this episode, Dr. Alan Mead and Paul discuss where dentistry is really headed,...
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Have you Ever Asked, "Why Am I the Only One Who Cares?"
If you’ve ever looked around your dental office and thought, “Why am I the only one who cares?”, you’re not alone and you’re not crazy. We’ve felt that same disconnect between the emotional weight of practice ownership and a team that seems able to clock out and leave it all behind. That gap can...
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The Most Expensive Report You're Not Looking At
The most expensive report in your practice is the one you're not opening: the AR report. This episode unpacks why your old AR keeps piling up and how to clean it up without losing patients or overwhelming the front desk. You'll learn how to collect what you're owed (and when to let go), spot...
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The Real Reason Your New Hires Fall Short
Your new hire isn’t “bad” after three days, they’re lost in your system. When we throw someone into a busy dental office with a login, a quick tour, and a vague “just ask questions,” we create office survival training. That is not onboarding, and it is one of the fastest paths to turnover,...
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When Great Employees Become Bad Leaders
Your great employee just became a bad leader... what happened? This episode unpacks why even the best employees aren't fit for leadership and how to tell if you've promoted the wrong person. From the traits that make a good lead to awkward demotions, you'll learn how to avoid expensive mistakes...
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5 Things Missing From Your Life: Why Successful Dentists Still Aren’t Happy with Corey Keyes
Successful, functioning, but secretly miserable? There's a name for what you're feeling, and it isn't burnout. In this episode, Dr. Corey Keyes, sociologist and author of Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down, breaks down what's really happening when life looks good…
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How to Talk About Dollars and Numbers and Not Sound Greedy
You’re alone in your office after hours, staring at the numbers, and you can feel it: the practice has more potential. The hard part isn’t the math. The hard part is saying “production goals” out loud without feeling like you’ve betrayed patient care or turned into a salesperson. We’ve been…
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The New Patient Goldmine Most Practice Owners Ignore with Michael Arias
One strategy. An almost infinite ceiling. And most of your competitors aren't willing to do it. In this episode, founder of The Dental Marketer Michael Arias breaks down the no-cost strategy he calls ground marketing. You'll learn what it actually takes to get results, from the exact scripts to…
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KPIs That Run the $5M Dental Practice
Most practices are either tracking nothing, tracking everything, or tracking the wrong things entirely — and the result looks the same: a busy practice you can't fully control. This episode will tell you what metrics actually matter and what they're telling you about your practice. Learn how to...
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Stop the Bleeding: How Cancellations Quietly Destroy Profit with Carrie Webber
Cancellations are up, no-shows are almost expected — and most owners are handling it the wrong way. In this episode, Carrie Webber of Jameson Group walks through what every person in your practice can start doing today to keep patients on the schedule. You’ll learn exactly what to say to patients...
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Delegation Dilemma: Why Your Leadership Team Isn't Freeing You Up
There's one thing standing between you and a practice that runs without you: delegation. And you're probably doing it wrong — even if you have a leadership team in place. In this episode, the DPH coaches break down the mistakes most owners make when they delegate and how to actually start getting...
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Adding Evening Hours Without Killing Your Culture
Your practice feels maxed out, but you’re not ready to build more operatories or move locations. So what’s the lever most owners ignore? Hours. We talk through why adding evenings or Saturdays sparks instant fear in dental teams, and how to lead that change without breaking trust, creating…
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$1M Per Chair… and Barely Any Marketing with Lior Tamir
Don't let all your marketing dollars go to waste… Because if you're chasing patients instead of focusing on their experience inside your practice, they may be. Dr. Lior Tamir has built a practice doing close to $1M per chair while spending under $3K/month on marketing. In this episode, he shares...
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The Fastest Way to Know What Actually Works in Your Practice
Tired of strong opinions and weak evidence running your schedule? We put everyday practice debates under the microscope and share simple experiments that turn gut feelings into clear decisions. From no-shows to network choices, we break down quick tests you can run this month to cut waste…
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Resist Your Growing Admin Payroll, Fix This First
We break down why a “slammed” front desk is often a symptom of broken systems, not true patient volume. We show how tighter first conversations, better phone control, and clearer financial expectations eliminate repeat work and reduce burnout. • redundant admin work as the hidden killer of...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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 stresses, drains, or relies on you for every little thing, we will teach you how and share stories of other dentists who have done it!
HOSTED BY
Dr. Paul Etchison
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Dental Practice Heroes have?
Dental Practice Heroes currently has 709 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Dental Practice Heroes about?
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...
How often does Dental Practice Heroes release new episodes?
Dental Practice Heroes releases new episodes frequently with a large back catalog of 709 episodes. Check the episode list for recent publication dates.
Where can I listen to Dental Practice Heroes?
You can listen to Dental Practice Heroes on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Dental Practice Heroes?
Dental Practice Heroes is created and hosted by Dr. Paul Etchison.
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