Your team is your enabler. They enable you to reach your goals, to do what you do best, and that is to love and heal patients. To become a consistent $10,000 dentist, you need a stable full of “10’s” on your team: cross-trained partners who know how to convert patients from hygiene to restorative, new patient exam to big ticket dentistry, all the while doing all that they can because you, the dentist, delegate duties well.
The ideal number of team members per dentist is six: two business assistants, two dental assistants and two hygienists. The more productive the dentist, the more likely they will employ an additional business assistant and an additional dental assistant. One dental assistant is necessary per $4000 - 5000 of production per day in a very productive practice. Currently I have thee dental assistants and average $15,000 a day in my three operatories. That does not count the dental hygienists on our team or the other dentists in our office. The patient treatment coordinator position on the team performs 98% of the consults for the doctors. The dental concierge answers the initial phone calls, is the check-in station and greets all patients as they enter. The concierge station is situated away from the checkout counter where scheduling and financial matters are discussed. As the number of doctors in a practice increases, there is increasing specialization in business assistant positions.
In the photo above you can see the dental team we took to Kenya on our first trip there for dental and Jesus film missions in 2001. Leaning on the go, we worked with flashlights after dark (no battery operated headlamps), no portable drills or suction, no running water and no electricity. Extractions from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. in a remote village called Olmekenyu. We returned there 10 times between 2001 and 2012 and built a clinic, a school, a water system, a church, and housing for the people of the clinic. Dental teams that play at 100% are a dentist's most valuable asset.
Bill Williams, DMD, MAGD, MICCMO
Founder: SuwaneeDental.com
Founder: SolsticeDentalAdvisors.com
Director: 5M Masters Academy
Author: Marketing The Million Dollar Practice