The Lifestyle Practice Podcast For Dentists

Hosted by The Lifestyle Practice Coaches

Business Entrepreneurship Health Fitness

Website RSS feed

Episodes

300

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

About the show

The Lifestyle Practice Podcast was created to help dentists obtain their desired life by creating uncommonly successful dental practices. Ready to work with us? Visit thelifestylepractice.com for more information

Listen to episodes

60 recent

September 7, 2026Episode 3258 min

324. The Simplest Dental Team Training That Actually Works

Dr. Steve Van De Graaff hosts an episode on the single most common struggle he hears from dentists: leading and managing a team. His answer isn't a culture overhaul or an offsite — it's a training you can run in fifteen minutes and start using the same afternoon. The handoff has two rules. First, tell the patient what's coming next, so nobody sits in a chair wondering why they're waiting. Second, build up the team member taking over. "Erica's going to take care of you — she does the best cleanings." "Sarah's really good with insurance; she'll find a way to make this work." "Kate's in here with you today, and she's great with kids." Why it works — three effects Patient confidence. Patients stop guessing what happens next. Instead, they see a polished, organized office running a system, and they trust the practice more. Team performance. When you praise a team member in front of the patient, you're really talking to your team member. It's a Dale Carnegie principle: give someone a reputation to live up to, then praise them when they get there. Culture. When people build the habit of saying something good about a co-worker out loud every day, respect and teamwork rise with it. Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

August 31, 2026Episode 3247 min

323. Why "Hire Slow, Fire Fast" Is Terrible Advice for Dental Practice Owners

Firing a team member is one of the most uncomfortable parts of owning a dental practice — and according to Dr. Matt Vogt, most of the advice out there makes it harder, not easier. In this episode, Matt takes apart the popular "hire slow, fire fast" cliché and shares a real coaching conversation with a client who recently acquired a practice. The client inherited a front office where four team members had no clear roles and no defined expectations — including "Kathy," an employee who'd been shuffled from position to position for years without ever being told what a good job actually looked like. When the team pushed for Kathy to be let go, the client's gut said the same. But Matt's coaching reframed the situation: before you fire someone, you owe it to them — and to yourself as a leader — to give your absolute best effort. That means clear roles, clear expectations, real training, and honest accountability. Dr. Matt's core philosophy: people fire themselves. When you've laid everything out on the table, and someone still can't rise to the standard, the decision becomes clear, guilt-free, and fair. And the bonus? The better you get at creating clarity, the less often you'll ever need to fire anyone. Key takeaways: "Hire slow, fire fast" skips the leadership work that actually solves the problem Underperformance is often a symptom of unclear roles, not a bad employee Trust your gut on fit — but do the systems work before deciding Give underperformers a genuine, well-defined chance to succeed Clarity removes the anxiety and second-guessing from firing Systemize your office, and you'll rarely reach the firing point Ready to build a practice — and a team — that runs on clarity? Take the free lifestyle and practice assessment and start a no-pressure conversation with Derek, Matt, Steve, or Raheel. Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

August 24, 2026Episode 32324 min

322. How I Paid Off $300K in Dental School Loans in One Year (The Full Breakdown)

Dr. Derek Williams paid off $300,000 in dental school student loans within twelve months of graduating — then got accused of faking it. In this episode, he addresses every criticism head-on and walks through exactly how it happened. Fresh out of dental school in 2016, Derek bought a practice doing $570K at 50% overhead after evaluating close to 100 practices. In his first year of ownership, he nearly doubled production to $1.3 million — not through one big move, but through hundreds of small operational decisions: fixing the practice's visibility with a digital sign, going comprehensive with patient care, training an underdeveloped team, and bringing extractions, grafting, and implants in-house. He's honest about the cost, too — the emotional weight of a brutal first three-to-six months, dropping his daughter at a new school with no friends or family nearby, and questioning whether he could even do it. Derek also breaks down the tax timing that freed up early cash flow, the psychology behind choosing to pay off debt over investing, and how he rolled the momentum into real estate. The takeaway: paying off the loans wasn't his best investment — learning to build an exceptional practice was. The debt disappearing was just the first visible result. Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

August 17, 2026Episode 3225 min

321. From $800K a Year to Bankrupt: What Went Wrong

In this episode, Dr. Raheel Haider breaks down the exact red flags that turned an $800K practice into a bankruptcy — sky-high rent eating into profit margins, $10,000/month in marketing that wasn't converting, a saturated market with brutal competition, and a seller he didn't trust. This is a real case study in dental practice acquisition, practice due diligence, and the numbers every dentist needs to check before buying a dental practice. If you're a dentist considering practice ownership, a dental student planning your future, or a practice owner trying to figure out why your margins feel this tight — this episode shows you exactly what to look for (and look out for) before you sign. What you'll learn: The 4 red flags Raheel found before walking away from an $800K/year practice Why high fixed costs (especially rent) can quietly sink a profitable-looking practice How to evaluate a seller's marketing spend and patient demographics before buying Why trusting the seller's numbers isn't optional — and how to catch red flags in a P&L The difference between "not defaulting" and actually thriving as a practice owner Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

August 10, 2026Episode 32149 min

320. He Bought a 3-Chair Practice With ZERO Patients on Day 2 — Now It's Doubled | Dr. Eric Palmer

Five and a half years ago, Dr. Eric Palmer bought a three-operatory dental practice about 20 minutes outside one of the most competitive dental markets in the United States. The practice had no insurance verification process, no real treatment plan presentation, and a hard credit check on every new patient. Today, that same practice has doubled its production and collections on the same three chairs, runs on a three- to four-day clinical week, and is being built out to eight operatories to support a future associate hire. In this conversation, Eric and Steve walk through the entire arc: discovering practice ownership through a podcast episode during residency, finding an off-market practice through direct mailers to retiring dentists, navigating a financing gap when a home sale fell through days before closing, fixing broken front-office systems in the first weeks of ownership, and building a billing strategy that profits inside a low-fee-allowable PPO state using CEREC same-day dentistry. Key topics covered: Finding off-market dental practices for sale through direct outreach Bridging a financing gap with seller financing during an acquisition Fixing insurance verification and treatment plan presentation as a new owner Managing staff transitions and turnover after a practice purchase Billing profitably as an in-network PPO practice Using CEREC technology to improve Class II procedure outcomes and reimbursement Planning an 8-operatory build-out for future associate or specialist hires Defining your lifestyle vision before choosing a practice ownership path Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

August 3, 2026Episode 3209 min

319. 2026 Is Halfway Over: Are You Winning or Losing as a Dentist?

2026 is officially halfway over — and if you're a dentist or dental practice owner, that means it's time for an honest mid-year check-in. In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Matt Vogt breaks down the real difference between dentists who are winning in 2026 and dentists who are losing, based on patterns he sees across practice ownership, dental practice management, and everyday life. Dr. Matt shares three signs you're losing this year: being reactive to every up and down in your dental practice, blaming your team or "bad luck" instead of taking ownership, and coasting through your career without intention. Then he flips it — the three signs you're actually winning: staying the course through the ups and downs of practice ownership, taking extreme ownership of your results (including how you handle a tough Google review or patient complaint), and leading your day, your team, and your practice with real intention instead of drifting. Whether you're a general dentist, a specialist, or a practice owner working on treatment acceptance, staffing, or burnout, this episode is a reset for the second half of 2026. If you want to build a practice and a life that actually feel like a win — not just look like one — this one's for you. Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

July 27, 2026Episode 31912 min

318. The 3 Problems Killing Dental Practice Profits in 2026 (And How to Fix Them)

Every dental practice owner is facing the same three problems in 2026: insurance reimbursements that haven't kept up with inflation, a staffing and retention crisis, and overhead that keeps climbing no matter what you cut. In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Derek Williams breaks down why these dental practice management challenges have gotten worse — and more importantly, what the highest-performing practices are doing differently to grow production, protect their margins, and build a team that doesn't leave. You'll learn how one practice increased production by 40% without changing their insurance mix or seeing more patients — just by fixing how they diagnosed, communicated, and followed up with patients. You'll also get a practical framework for improving staff retention (without a bigger payroll budget) and a simple way to tell whether an expense is actually an investment in your practice's growth. If you're a dental practice owner trying to increase profitability, reduce overhead, and build a team that sticks around, this episode gives you three action items you can implement in your practice this week. Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

July 20, 2026Episode 31814 min

317. If I Had to Pay Off $450K in Debt Again, I'd Do These 3 Things Differently

Dr. Matt Vogt is back for another episode of The Lifestyle Practice — and this one gets personal. After a chance dinner conversation with a pre-dental student staring down a $650K tuition bill, Matt found himself revisiting his own $450,000 student loan journey and asking a simple question: if he had to pay it all off again, what would he do differently? In this episode, he breaks it down into three hard-won lessons: 🦷 Start or buy a practice sooner — ownership (in the right opportunity) is one of the biggest drivers of freedom and wealth in dentistry. 📈 Invest more heavily in yourself and your practice early — the CE, the hygienist, the growth moves that compound before life gets busier. 💸 Attack the debt even faster — delay gratification, stay hard-headed, and chase that indescribable moment when the balance hits zero. Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com Grow smarter. Practice better. Live more. #DentalPodcast #PracticeOwnership #DentalStudentLoans #DentistryBusiness #TheLifestylePractice #DentalEntrepreneur #FinancialFreedom

July 13, 2026Episode 3179 min

316. Before You Quit Dentistry, Watch This

82% of dentists report major stress. 60% have considered changing careers or retiring early. If you've felt that way, you're not alone — but selling the practice isn't the only exit. In this episode, Dr. Steve Van De Graaff breaks down a practical framework for beating dental burnout and rediscovering satisfaction in your work, without blowing up everything you've built: Get specific — Burnout isn't one giant issue. It's several small triggers left unresolved. Make the list, then attack them one by one. Fix the team tension — There's usually one person weighing the doctor down. Set expectations, have the conversation, make a plan. Stop doing dentistry you hate — The pediatric appointment that changed everything, and why cutting the work you dread can transform your week. Move away from low-fee dentistry — Renegotiate PPO fees, drop your worst plans, raise out-of-network fees, and stop getting paid nickels on the dollar. Work less — Why dropping to a 3 or 3.5-day week almost never lowers income, and how two clients redesigned their schedules around their lives. You are not trapped. Your practice should support your life — not the other way around. Dentistry is challenging, but it shouldn't be miserable. Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

July 6, 2026Episode 31642 min

315. He Bought a Practice in 6 Months — Meet TLP's Newest Partner

We're thrilled to welcome our newest partner to The Lifestyle Practice — Dr. Raheel Haider! In this episode, Derek Williams, Matt Vogt, and Steve Van De Graaff sit down with Raheel to talk dental practice ownership, financial freedom for dentists, and the mindset shifts that took him from a burned-out associate with imposter syndrome to a confident practice owner growing his dental practice 50% in under a year. Raheel shares his journey from growing up in Dallas, Texas, with immigrant parents who pushed dentistry as "the way out," to discovering personal finance and financial literacy in college after a missed car payment wrecked his credit score. He walks through his dental school strategy at UNLV, why he prioritized clinical volume over grades, how he found and negotiated his first dental practice acquisition, and the exact playbook he used to grow collections without adding new procedures — renegotiating insurance, fixing front desk phone answer rates, and pricing corrections. If you're a dental student, associate dentist, or practice owner interested in dental practice ownership, financial independence for dentists, or scaling a dental practice through better systems (not more chairside hours), this episode is packed with practical lessons. Connect with Dr. Raheel Haider: 📘 FREE EBOOK — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page 🔗 Coaching & TLP Academy → https://thelifestylepractice.com 📩 raheel@thelifestylepractice.com 👥 FB Group: Financial Freedom, Retire Early for Dentists → https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18C1jHTJb6/?mibextid=wwXIfr Connect with us: Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment: https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/ Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get access to TLP Academy: https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/ Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801 Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com