#20: The Build-Up Weekly

Author

Trevor Kimball
August 04, 2023

*Welcome to the 20th edition of The Build-Up, where we deliver weekly insights and inspiration for dentists on every stage of the private practice journey. If this email was forwarded to you, you can click here to subscribe.

Dear friends and colleagues,

Happy Friday!

Here’s what I have lined up for this week’s newsletter:

  • 12 Good Decisions

  • Last Opportunity to Take the Survey

  • Maximizing Hygiene Openings

Let’s get started!

12 Good Decisions

What can account for the success of a behemoth like Berkshire Hathaway?

Well, according to Warren, it was a mere handful of decisions.

Here he is from a recent shareholder letter:

One decision every five years. Wow.

It really makes you think.

What are the major decisions that affect the trajectory of our lives?

There are the important ones, like who we marry and where we live.

Buying or selling a dental practice is also one of those huge decisions.

Don’t miss out on a decision that will contribute to your success.

Last Chance to Take the Survey

We want to hear from you.

I’m conducting a survey as a part of a market report I’m assembling, and I’d love to hear from dentists.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking to buy or sell or neither.

It just takes 2 - 3 minutes, and I’d greatly appreciate it.

Plus, if you take the survey, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a $350 Southwest Airlines gift card. The survey will be live for one more week, and then we’ll announce the winner.

I appreciate it!

Maximizing Hygiene Openings

Ok, so obviously we don’t want openings in hygiene.

In fact, your front office probably works super hard to fill any cancellations and keep the schedule full.

Still, the average hygiene schedule has .8 openings per day per column.

This is not the ideal - this is the average.

I’ve seen as low as .16 and as high as 3 openings per day.

You might be thinking - my hygiene schedule is completely full!

I hope you’re right, but you must look backward to check. Count the number of openings over the last thirty columns of hygiene and divide the number by thirty (or however many columns you look at). This will give you the average openings per column.

I will be doing a short series on hygiene, including how hygienists can contribute to the restorative schedule, talking with patients about perio disease, and the timing and choreography of the hygiene appointment.

But today, I wanted to encourage everyone to use the occasional hygiene opening (at least, I hope they’re occasional) to plan ahead and look for opportunities to serve patients better.

Have your hygienist look through the charts of the upcoming patients.

They can take notes to ensure that the patient receives thoughtful health counseling and set the doctor up for a thorough patient exam.

A template for hygiene notes could look like this:

Monitoring teeth #s: 4,15DO

Monitoring gums: 16,17,18

Discuss: occlusal guard and invisalign

Preferences: fluoride every time, doc once a year, no cavitron

Next visit: bitewings, PA #7 and 14

This is how you maximize hygiene openings.

We don’t want openings, but - if you’re going to have one - use the time wisely.

Take time to prepare, and you will not only add production to the practice (though you will do that, too), but you will take better care of your patients.

And with that, I hope you enjoyed the 20th edition of The Build-Up Weekly.

Please consider using the link below to share our newsletter. 🙂 

With best wishes to you and your families,

Trevor Kimball, PhD

These Six Mistakes Can Cost You Six Figures

You can download it for free here. It’s material that I’ve covered in this newsletter before, but - if you’re contemplating a practice sale - the advice in this guide is crucial.

And if you’re ready to have a conversation with a practice sales professional, get connected with your local Integrity Practice Sales broker here.

It’s worth having a conversation no matter your current transition plans. You never know what you’ll discover together.