Dental Practice Heroes

Hosted by Dr. Paul Etchison

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698

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Aug 2026

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About the 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!

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60 recent

September 30, 2026Episode 70714 min

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. I share a recent coaching conversation with a practice owner who has all the ingredients to cut a day right now, yet keeps postponing it for “sometime this year,” and we unpack what’s really going on beneath that word. We break down why certainty is rarely a prerequisite for smart dental practice management. Fear is sneaky, and it often disguises itself as being responsible: “I’ll do it when the schedule is cleaner,” “when the systems are tighter,” “when savings are higher.” But those goalposts keep moving. The cost of waiting is not just lost production, it’s lost CEO time, lost energy, lost family time, and another year of operating the same way. Confidence doesn’t arrive first; it shows up after you commit, execute, and prove you can handle what comes up. Then we get tactical. I explain why putting a date in stone changes everything, how to plan backwards from that date, and why you should expect problems after the jump instead of treating them as evidence you made the wrong call. We also talk through the financial fear of losing production and why reducing clinical days can actually push better scheduling, delegation, assistant utilisation, and higher production per hour, while freeing up time to work on the business like a true CEO dentist. If you’re ready to stop living in “someday,” subscribe, share this with a practice owner who needs it, and leave a review. And if you want help picking a date and building the plan, book a strategy call at dentalpracticeheroes.com/strategy. If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 28, 2026Episode 70629 min

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 comfort and complacency, and how to tell if you're building the practice you actually want. Topics discussed: 00:00 Introduction 01:59 Why good practices stop trying to improve 06:12 Fixing problems vs. designing the practice you want 07:24 What happens when you stop innovating 10:17 The frustration and clarity exercise 11:32 How to tell if you’re comfortable or complacent 15:20 The one question every practice owner should answer 16:07 The future-you test for your practice 22:42 When to keep pushing and when to take a break This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com Use the same marketing company as Dr. Etch! Get your free demo with Relevance Marketing by Clicking Here If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 23, 2026Episode 70516 min

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 good intentions, and our team hears an accusation. I share a real example from my own practice after we dropped Delta and saw a decrease in new patients. I pushed case presentation training and treatment coordinator training to improve case acceptance, help more patients say yes, and reduce financial pressure. Months later, I walked into a lead meeting and could feel the tension, then heard the hard truth: the team felt like I blamed them for everything wrong in the office. From there, we unpack the core idea: your team often isn’t resisting change, they’re resisting the story they created about why you’re implementing it. You’ll learn how to make your intentions visible, how to build a culture where training and feedback are normal, and how to diagnose resistance with curiosity instead of defending yourself on instinct. If you’re working on dental practice systems, team communication, and leadership habits that let the practice improve without constant battles, this one will land. If you want help applying this to your practice, book a free strategy call at dentalpracticeheroes.com/slash strategy. And if this helps you lead with more clarity and less stress, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more practice owners can find it. If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 22, 2026Episode 70428 min

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 decisive and being judgmental, when to act immediately or take a pause and get curious, and how to address problems without putting anyone on the defensive. Topics discussed: 00:00 Introduction 02:11 The mistake most owners make 05:26 How your team labels you too 06:23 When acting fast backfires 10:52 Judgmental, patient, or decisive — how to tell 13:40 The question that works better than "why" 16:16 Why you're really annoyed 17:03 Why addressing it now helps you later 19:07 Building your practice's constitution This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com Use the same marketing company as Dr. Etch! Get your free demo with Relevance Marketing by Clicking Here If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 16, 2026Episode 70321 min

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 people who won’t be happy staring at the ocean for 30 years. We walk through the core problem with traditional retirement planning for dentists: it treats your younger years like they only exist for production, and it assumes your future income drops to zero on some arbitrary date. I share why that thinking quietly creates burnout and postponement, how the goalposts keep moving, and what I learned after hitting my retirement target at 39 and feeling no real freedom. We also talk candidly about a painful money loss and why it forced a healthier relationship with wealth, security, and fulfillment. Then we make it practical. We cover how to define “enough,” set a realistic retirement target, and stop treating every dollar you don’t save as a mistake. We explore why assuming some future income (part-time dentistry, consulting, teaching, coaching, business) can change your entire plan, and how intentional spending can buy back time, reduce stress, and make ordinary Tuesdays better. Finally, we connect it to dental practice management: leadership, systems, and associates that reduce owner dependence so you can cut clinical days without your practice collapsing. If you want a retirement strategy built around optionality, flexibility, and a practice that supports your life, listen now. Then subscribe, share this with a dentist friend, and leave a review so more practice owners can find the show. Use the same marketing company as Dr. Etch! Get your free demo with Relevance Marketing by Clicking Here If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 14, 2026Episode 70247 min

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 candidates don't know they're taking, and what to do about a strong performer who's dragging the team down. Plus, hear her message to any woman who's been called difficult for holding her team to a standard. Topics discussed: (00:00) Introduction (02:17) Running pediatric and general under one roof (10:43) What your team needs before SOPs will stick (16:13) Getting the right people in the right seats (21:57) Gina’s crumpled paper interview test (23:32) What to do with a high performer who hurts culture (25:58) Why the best hire may have no experience (28:44) How far to take standardization in your practice (34:09) Advice for female leaders in dentistry Learn more about Yapi: https://yapiapp.com/ Connect with Dr. Gina Dorfman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gina-dorfman-dds/ https://www.instagram.com/drginad/ This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com Use the same marketing company as Dr. Etch! Get your free demo with Relevance Marketing by Clicking Here If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 9, 2026Episode 70114 min

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 don’t win by eliminating problems, they win by getting brutally good at seeing problems early, talking about them clearly, and using them to sharpen systems, service, and team culture. We share a core mindset we teach inside our office manager mastery training: problems are good because they create improvement. That includes the dreaded upset patient. The loud complaint is often the only version of a problem you get to hear, while quieter patients simply disappear or stay unhappy in silence. We also explain why an “empty problem list” is rarely a victory, and how leaders can normalize surfacing issues by celebrating the courage it takes to speak up. Then we tackle the tension most practices feel between psychological safety and accountability. Safety does not mean nobody gets corrected, and accountability does not require shame. We break down how to correct without humiliating, how to avoid refereeing who’s right or wrong, and how to create a practice where ideas, questions, concerns, and mistakes are visible instead of hidden. If you’re serious about dental practice leadership and practice growth, build leaders around you so you can finally stop being the bottleneck. Subscribe, share this with a practice owner who needs it, leave a review, and book a free strategy call at dentalpracticeheroes.com/slash strategy. If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 8, 2026Episode 70039 min

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 better now than when he was in it. In this episode, he walks through where you should be spending your time as CEO and the growth lever already in your practice. Topics discussed: (00:00) Introduction (02:25) From one group practice to nearly 50 (07:03) The decision to go non-clinical (11:14) Dental Moneyball : the most underused growth lever (14:38) What makes a practice worth buying (17:57) Splitting your week between clinical and owner time (19:26) The biggest opportunity owners keep missing (21:51) How to find what's actually holding you back (23:58) KPIs, people, and culture (27:48) Why the hygiene shortage is just getting started This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com Use the same marketing company as Dr. Etch! Get your free demo with Relevance Marketing by Clicking Here If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

September 2, 2026Episode 69915 min

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 happens and how to communicate treatment plans with calm confidence, so your patients feel informed instead of sold. We unpack the difference between what you technically could do and what you would actually recommend, using a simple analogy that makes the point stick. From crown vs filling conversations to new patient exams, we talk about the trap of negotiating against your own diagnosis, and why trying to keep everyone happy can chip away at your authority, your case acceptance, and your enjoyment of dentistry. We also get practical about objections. “Just a filling” is often a placeholder for something else: fear, mistrust, confusion, low perceived value, or money. You’ll hear how to stop diagnosing the patient’s wallet, ask better questions, and give real patient autonomy by presenting the ideal plan clearly, then letting them choose with full understanding of risks, benefits, and alternatives. If you want better communication, stronger trust, and a practice that runs smoother without you feeling slimy, this is for you. Subscribe for more dentistry practice management strategies, share this with a dentist who needs it, and leave a quick review so more practice owners can find the show. If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.

August 31, 2026Episode 69829 min

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 salesy or putting patients on the defensive. Topics discussed: (00:00) Introduction (01:51) Why even obvious treatment gets turned down (04:42) Defining an objection (and why they happen) (06:47) Handling cost objections without getting defensive (13:10) When an objection stops you cold (16:54) What happens when you're not confident in your diagnosis (20:24) How to respond to 'I need to talk to my spouse' (23:49) The wrong way to uncover objections This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com Use the same marketing company as Dr. Etch! Get your free demo with Relevance Marketing by Clicking Here If you are ready to increase your new patients and start growing your practice, visit www.relevanceonlinemarketing.com and see what you've been missing with your current company. Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams. Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.