Is dentistry a business or is your business dentsitry?

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Permalink Reply by Fran Pangakis on February 20, 2009 at 5:18pm

Well put Susan. As a leadership coach to dental teams the challenge is being able to balance the health care aspect of what we do with the understanding that a dental office is considered a "small business" entity and therefore the business side needs to be kept in focus. When I was a member of the team I too certainly had some great stories about how financially successful the office was and yet not really knowing the business side. Now I've crossed over to the other side, some might say the "dark" side, I hope I can educate team members about the business of dentistry as well as keeping our commitment to health. Fran

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Permalink Reply by Susan Garcia Clark on February 20, 2009 at 5:35pm

Thank you for your perspective, Fran. Although our first concern is to the health and well-being of our dental patients, dentistry IS a business and the dentist is in the business of dentistry to make money. Let's not fool ourselves. Since the hygienist is the team member who sees the dental patient 2-3 times a year more than the patient sees the dentist, the hygienist is the team member who can build the patient relationship and make case presentation and case acceptance possible. The hygineist is the key element to the success or failure of a dental practice.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Jane RDH BS on December 19, 2009 at 4:42pm

Spell check on hygienist , please.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Garcia Clark on December 19, 2009 at 9:43pm

oops! HYGIENIST. thank you for your keen observation. I am only human, but should have spell checked.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Jane RDH BS on December 20, 2009 at 9:14am

You are a hygienist and yes, that makes us oh so human. but when you represent us as a whole, we have a reputation as detail people. That is all I meant.

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Permalink Reply by Jorel Jenious on March 8, 2009 at 10:34am

I am not a dental practice owner. I have worked with dentist to buy and sell them, on the funding side. I have helped most either not pay too much, or not receive too little. I just say that not to toot my own horn at all, just to share my perspective.

Dentistry is not a business. Not in and of itself. There are components that are financial in nature.

Owning a dental office is a business. That is the business of dentistry. This is the aspect that is too much of a secondary ideal.

Dentist can stand to look at the area of their practice where income is generated and make investments or reductions based on the real production.

That's at least a great start.

The hygienist really needs to be seen as an income generator. If done well, their interactions can be a growth agent. If done poorly, then, you probably know where I'm going with that.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Jane RDH BS on December 19, 2009 at 4:41pm

I generate a tremendous amount of business; this has been proven over and over. But Bill and I do not see our practice as a business per se..since we are solvent and growing all the time, we figure we are doing something right.

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