Accelerate My Practice Blog

How many times do you catch yourself or staff members saying "I'm just a dentist," "I'm just a hygeinst," "I'm just a dental assistant"? Well STOP! Everyone in your dental office is more than just a... Bring confidence back to your dental team!


I'm just a: mom, a dad, a hygienist an assistant, I'm just in the front office. This statement is an indication of self-limitation. It's a reflection of the insecurities that we all carry around inside of us. Obvious to some and seemingly contradictory to others, success is found by those who are willing to fail. There are countless examples in history of failure being a common prelude to success. Over and over again people start conversations or respond to compliments with, "Oh"

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he succeeded. It's no surprise that failure is not celebrated like a perfectly implemented and successful plan. When you fail at something, it isn't fun. If you are not willing to fail then you will have no opportunity to fail. Security comes with the drawback of closed doors; failure is an essential pert of any ambitious path. With failure comes great opportunity for learning. If you are not failing then you probably are not taking enough risks.

Now that we've talked about the importance of understanding and familiarizing your dental practice with the psychology of dental case acceptance, lets go one step further. Follow along to see how to utilize staff and how to handle a smaller case in dental case acceptance! 



The first 15 minutes of every hygiene visit should be dedicated to knowing your patient and updating all diagnostics.  As we know the hygienist is not allowed to make a diagnosis but we certainly can share our concerns.  Creating value and understanding comes not only from building a relationship but also educating the patient.  One way to create value is using co discovery with the patient. During that first 15 minutes while using the intra-oral camera or reviewing the x-Rays the hygienist can let the patient know of any areas of concern.

“Mrs. Peterson I’d want to show you this picture or X-Ray of your tooth on the upper left side. Do you see this large silver filling and how around the edges it appears to be broken? . I know the Dr. will be concerned about it as well, often times we will find decay around those margins."

Scripting and role playing are powerful tools in overcoming cash flow issues in your dental practice, Often we shy away from scripting because it is so uncomfortable and can seem so forced when we read a script word for word. When in reality reading a script is not the correct way and certainly not the most effective way. Scripting in the dental office is about knowing what to say and when to say it and even when to pause. Effective scripting in the practice it should never be reading off written lines to the patient. What you say needs to be real and natural to you. Using scripts in your office should give you the tools to build a relationship and create a favorable outcome. The delivery has to come through your personality, it has to be authentic for you or it will sound fake and hollow and you won't get your message across. It's also important to remember that sometimes less is more. The natural pauses that happen in conversation are a good thing it allows the patent to think about what you are presenting. It's an important part of the script to become comfortable with, and learn not to try fill every silent moment.

In a practice that requires a down payment for the procedures or to have the patient pay in full before the time of their procedure. It's important to emphasize that payment is collected prior because their appointment time is reserved exclusively for them. Emphasize that the Dr is committed to proving highest quality of care, uses the highest quality material and so a down payment ensures that an appointment time can be reserved exclusively for them and the procedure they are having done.

How much does dental insurance impact your dental practice today? Specifically what impact are you allowing PPO"s to have on your practice? When you look back into the history of dental insurance 10 or 15 years ago PPO's didn't even exist. In todays dental market many practices feel they need to sign up for every PPO out there so they will have patients.

Unfortunately many dentists today have lost the mindset that if they are providing the very best care possible and providing the very best patient experience their practices will thrive. Ten to years or so ago in dentistry our mindset about how patients paid for care was very different. Before the economic crisis of 2008 dentist focused on their cash patient's and or that patients would pay for services that insurance did not cover.

What is the foundation of our own personal philosophy? How will this impact your Dental Office? Success is the result of a strong foundation, weather it is personal success or success in your practice. It all begins with the attention to the small details of your everyday life. It begins with how you think, all those small little things, all those small decisions effect every area of our life. All the small actions and decisions make a massive impact on the details of your life. And it all starts with how we begin our day. Do you start by asking limiting questions? Do you begin your day by saying:

I didn't get enough rest.
I don't have enough time.
I don't have enough money.