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The Technology Evangelist Podcast
The Technology Evangelist Podcast
Hosted by Dr. John Flucke, this weekly podcast delivers practical insights & expert conversations on the latest dental technologies - from AI and digital workflows to 3D printing & practice innovation - helping clinicians elevate care & efficiency.
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Medidenta Dental Solutions
Medidenta Dental Solutions

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Episode 57: Dr. Jen Derse on Dental Business Strategy & Practice Leadership

Episode 57: Dr. Jen Derse on Dental Business Strategy & Practice Leadership

9/29/2026 9:00:00 AM   |   Comments: 0   |   Views: 67
Running a successful dental practice requires more than clinical skill. Leadership, communication, team culture, technology adoption, and the patient experience all play a role in how a practice operates and grows.

On this episode of The Technology Evangelist Podcast, host Dr. John Flucke talks with Dr. Jen Derse, co-founder of Espire Dental, former Chief Clinical Director, and founder of Derse Dental Strategy. With more than two decades of experience in dentistry and practice leadership, Dr. Derse shares lessons from building and leading dental organizations and now coaching dentists and their teams.

The conversation explores what happens when clinical expertise is combined with intentional leadership—and why many of the challenges practice owners face have less to do with dentistry and more to do with people.

This episode is brought to you by Medidenta Digital Solutions, sponsor of The Technology Evangelist Podcast.

From Clinician to Practice Leader
Dr. Derse's path into dentistry was not completely straightforward. She describes a childhood and education that included music, tennis, pre-med studies, and eventually a dental appointment that helped convince her that dentistry was the right career.

What attracted her to dentistry was not simply the clinical side of the profession. She saw a career that combined science, relationships, problem-solving, and the opportunity to build a meaningful professional life.

Her career eventually expanded beyond the operatory.

Dr. Derse co-founded Espire Dental and helped grow the organization from a single practice to 39 locations and more than 500 team members. As Chief Clinical Director, she worked with clinicians and teams across the organization while also dealing with the operational and leadership challenges that accompany growth.

That experience ultimately led her to create Derse Dental Strategy, where she works with dental practices on leadership, communication, clinical systems, team development, and practice strategy.

Communication Is a Form of Leadership
One of Dr. Derse's central leadership philosophies is that communication and clarity are forms of kindness.

In a dental practice, avoiding difficult conversations can seem easier in the short term. A doctor may hesitate to correct a team member because they do not want to create conflict or damage the relationship.

But avoiding the conversation can create a different problem.

When employees do not receive clear feedback, they may not understand what needs to change or how they can improve. Dr. Derse encourages practice leaders to approach feedback from a position of genuine belief in the team member and a desire to help them succeed.

The goal is not simply to point out mistakes. It is to create an environment where people understand expectations and feel supported in meeting them.

She also emphasizes the importance of recognizing team members for what they are doing well rather than allowing most doctor-to-employee interactions to occur only when something goes wrong.

When Practice Culture Becomes a Clinical Issue
Dr. Derse and Dr. Flucke discuss examples of difficult workplace environments and the effect poor leadership can have on a dental team.

One example involves a doctor who reportedly became so frustrated that instruments were thrown across the operatory. While the behavior obviously affects the people working around the doctor, the consequences can extend beyond the team.

Patients notice what happens in the operatory.

They can sense tension between team members, recognize when staff are uncomfortable, and pick up on the overall atmosphere of a practice.

That makes culture more than an administrative concern. The environment created by the doctor and team can influence the patient's perception of safety, trust, and professionalism.

For practice owners, the lesson is straightforward: leadership behavior is visible to both employees and patients.

AI and the Importance of Human Connection
Artificial intelligence is another major topic of conversation, but Dr. Derse and Dr. Flucke approach AI from an interesting perspective.

Rather than viewing automation solely as a way to reduce labor or increase efficiency, they discuss how technology can potentially give dental teams more time to focus on people.

Front desk employees often spend significant portions of their day handling repetitive administrative responsibilities:

  • Insurance verification

  • Appointment confirmations

  • Scheduling and rescheduling

  • Telephone calls

  • Patient follow-ups

  • Administrative questions

These tasks are necessary, but they can also create constant interruptions.

When technology can handle some of these processes, team members may have more time to interact directly with patients.

That could mean greeting patients by name, answering questions in person, helping someone who is nervous, or simply creating a more welcoming environment.

For Dr. Derse and Dr. Flucke, this is one of the most important opportunities presented by AI: using technology to create more opportunities for human interaction rather than eliminating it.

Hiring for the Patient Experience
Dr. Derse shares a memorable story about a front desk team member she originally encountered while shopping at Nordstrom.

The employee successfully convinced Dr. Derse to purchase a cosmetic product she had not planned to buy. Rather than focusing only on the sales interaction, Dr. Derse recognized something else—the employee had a natural ability to connect with people.

She eventually hired her for the dental practice.

That employee became known for creating an exceptional patient experience. She welcomed patients enthusiastically, offered hospitality, made introductions, and helped people feel comfortable from the moment they entered the office.

Even after she eventually left the practice, patients continued asking about her.

For Dr. Derse, the story illustrates an important hiring principle: not every valuable employee is defined by technical skills.

Some people bring an ability to create relationships, build trust, and positively influence the atmosphere of an entire practice.

Those qualities can have a significant impact on the patient experience.

Getting the Team Involved in Technology Adoption
Dental technology can dramatically change workflows, but introducing new technology is not simply a purchasing decision.

Dr. Flucke describes his approach to technology implementation: involve the team before the technology arrives.

Rather than presenting a new system as a decision that has already been made, he brings the team together, explains what is changing, and gives different departments an opportunity to consider how the technology will affect their workflows.

Team members can raise concerns, ask questions, and identify potential challenges before implementation.

This approach can also create ownership.

When employees understand why a technology is being introduced and have an opportunity to participate in the process, they may be more willing to embrace the change.

Dr. Derse points out that resistance is often less about the technology itself and more about how the change is introduced. People are more likely to struggle with a system when they feel that something is being done to them rather than implemented with them.

Finding the Balance Between Digital and In-Person Education
Despite being strong advocates for technology, both Dr. Derse and Dr. Flucke emphasize that digital education does not necessarily replace hands-on learning.

Online courses, webinars, digital resources, and other technology-based educational tools can make information more accessible and allow clinicians to continue learning between live events.

But in-person education provides something different.

Hands-on courses create opportunities to work directly with other clinicians, ask questions in real time, observe techniques, and build professional relationships.

Dr. Derse describes many of those relationships as long-term professional resources. The colleague you meet during a continuing education course may eventually become the person you call when you encounter a difficult clinical situation.

The opportunity may be a hybrid model: use digital technology to extend education while continuing to recognize the value of hands-on clinical training and face-to-face relationships.

The Value of Keeping a Clinical Journal
The conversation also turns to a surprisingly low-tech tool: a handwritten clinical journal.

Dr. Flucke describes keeping notes about challenging cases and experiences earlier in his career. Rather than simply moving from one patient to the next, he would take time to document what he learned.

Those observations created a personal record of clinical experiences that could be revisited later.

The concept connects to a broader leadership and practice-management principle: practices improve when they develop ways to capture knowledge.

That knowledge does not always need to come from a software platform or formal database. It can come from documenting difficult cases, discussing mistakes, recording successful workflows, and sharing lessons learned among team members.

The important part is creating a system that prevents valuable experience from disappearing when the day ends.

Leadership as a Practice-Building Skill
A recurring theme throughout the episode is that successful dental practices are built around more than dentistry.

Clinical excellence is essential, but practice owners also have to lead people, communicate expectations, manage change, develop systems, and create an environment where employees can perform at their best.

Dr. Derse's experience building a large dental organization and now working with practice owners provides a perspective that connects clinical dentistry with the business and human side of practice ownership.

For dentists looking to grow a practice, improve team performance, introduce new technology, or create a better patient experience, the discussion offers practical ideas that can be applied regardless of practice size.

Ultimately, the conversation between Dr. Derse and Dr. Flucke reinforces a simple concept: technology and systems can help a practice operate more efficiently, but leadership and relationships determine how those tools are used.

To learn more about Dr. Jen Derse and Derse Dental Strategy, visit dersedentalstrategy.com or follow @jenderse_dds on Instagram.
Category: CAD-CAM, Ethics, Jurisprudence and Malpractice, Financial Planning and Investments, Marketing, Paradental and Infection Control
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