Dental Practice Heroes
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…
Recent Episodes
Retiring Early in Dentistry and the Freedom Trap
Sep 16, 2026Dr. Paul Edison, host of Dental Practice Heroes, shares his personal journey of hitting his retirement number at 39 only to discover that achieving financial independence did not deliver the expected freedom or fulfillment. He explores why traditional retirement planning creates burnout and postponement, recounts losing significant money in Ponzi schemes, and reframes retirement as a gradual transition where work becomes optional rather than a hard stop. The episode covers practical strategies for defining "enough," assuming future income streams, and intentionally spending money to improve life now while building practice systems that reduce owner dependence.
Why Your Team Only Follows Systems When You’re Watching (How to Fix It) w/ Dr. Gina Dorfman
Sep 14, 2026Dr. Gina Dorfman, a practicing dentist and co-founder of Yappi Communications, discusses why dental teams often only follow systems when the owner is present and what leaders should do to fix it. She covers the importance of vivid vision, hiring for values over experience, the bus model of organizational culture, and her practical interview techniques like the crumpled paper test. Dorfman also addresses the unique challenges female leaders face in dentistry and how to balance assertiveness with compassion.
Your Practice Will Never Give You Freedom Until Your Leaders Can Do This
Sep 9, 2026This episode features the show host delivering a masterclass on dental practice leadership, specifically on creating psychological safety, surfacing problems early, and building a leadership team that doesn't depend on the owner. The host discusses how great practices don't win by eliminating problems but by seeing them clearly, discussing them openly, and using them to improve systems and culture. A key segment includes a clip from an office manager mastery training session that teaches leaders to celebrate problems as opportunities for improvement and to balance psychological safety with accountability.
You're Spending Time On the Wrong Thing...Focus on This Instead w/ Dr. George Hariri
Sep 8, 2026Dr. George Hariri, co-founder of Shared Practices and author of Dental Moneyball and Dental Moneyball Zero, discusses his journey from operating a single group practice to being involved in nearly 50 practices across the country. He explains why he transitioned from clinical dentistry to focus entirely on practice management and scaling, and introduces the concept of hygiene-led growth as a predictable lever for practice expansion. Hariri emphasizes the critical importance of identifying your practice's true bottleneck before spending time and energy on solutions, arguing that most dentists waste their limited management time on urgent but non-critical tasks rather than strategic priorities.
Stop Talking Your Patients Out of the Best Treatment
Sep 2, 2026Dr. Paul Hutchison explores why dentists hesitate when patients question treatment recommendations and how this undermines both clinical outcomes and practice profitability. The episode breaks down the difference between what's technically possible and what's professionally recommended, using the analogy of car brake maintenance to illustrate decision-making. Hutchison covers how to diagnose real patient objections, maintain clinical confidence, and give patients true autonomy by presenting the ideal treatment plan clearly rather than negotiating against your own diagnosis.
Simple Ways to Turn Patient Objections Into a Yes
Aug 31, 2026Dr. Stephen Markowitz, owner of six dental practices in the Boston area, joins host Dr. Paul Edgison to discuss how dentists can handle patient objections and turn them into treatment acceptances. The episode covers common objections around cost, timing, pain, and spousal consultation, explaining why objections signal patient needs for clarity rather than outright rejection. The coaches share practical scripts and communication strategies to help dentists present treatment plans confidently while genuinely believing in their recommendations.
The Subtle Trap Undermining Your Practice's Success
Aug 27, 2026Dr. Paul Etchison, a practicing dentist and dental business coach, discusses how dental practice front desk and administrative problems are typically structural rather than people-related issues. He outlines a framework for creating distinct levels of responsibility in the admin department—from foundational skills like check-in and scheduling to specialized roles in insurance and treatment coordination—and emphasizes the critical importance of the office manager role as a true leadership position rather than a title-only promotion. The episode covers how intentional role design, redundancy, and career pathways prevent practices from depending on single "superhero" employees and free up top talent for high-value, proactive work.
Implementation Usually Fails in 1 of These 3 Areas
Aug 25, 2026Dr. Paul Edison discusses why operational improvements in dental practices fail to stick despite team agreement in meetings. He presents a framework—Discuss, Decide, Try, Revisit—that addresses the three critical gaps in implementation: lack of team autonomy in solution design, failure to commit to a decision, and absence of systematic follow-up to ensure change takes hold.
How to Train the Assistant Every Other Dentist Wants w/ Kevin Henry
Aug 20, 2026Kevin Henry, dental journalist and founder of Dental Assistant Nation, discusses strategies for training, engaging, and retaining high-performing dental assistants. He shares insights from 21 years advocating for dental assistants, covering topics including skill development, state-specific legal scope of practice, common training mistakes, and the three things assistants actually care about: money, respect, and having a good day at work.
Your Future Practice Won't Materialize Without Protecting This
Aug 18, 2026Dr. Paul Etchison, a dental practice owner and coach, discusses why protecting CEO time is critical for practice growth and systematization. He explains how dental practice owners sacrifice leadership and strategic planning time to reactive tasks, preventing their businesses from evolving. The episode covers practical strategies for blocking uninterrupted CEO time, setting boundaries with team members, identifying systems gaps through KPIs and problem lists, and training teams to make decisions independently rather than creating a bottleneck around the owner.
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