Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Corporate Profile: Productive Dentist Academy Chelsea Patten, Staff Writer, Dentaltown Magazine

View Comments (2) More by this author (18)
by Chelsea Patten, staff writer, Dentaltown Magazine

Dentists know better than anyone, cavities aren't always visible from the surface. In fact unless there is evident pain, most times, they take an expert to detect. Cavities in a practice are just the same. Productive Dentist Academy (PDA), a seminar and coaching company, is an expert in helping dentists identify and fill the cavities within their practices. By finding the holes in production, PDA helps dentists increase their revenue.

PDA's numbers speak for themselves. It guarantees an increase in production of $300 per hour or your money back. That's a tall order by most standards, but with more than 600 practices graduated from its program, the clout behind its name is undeniable.

The company's short but vibrant history began with a dentist- only seminar in 2004. For the first meeting, Dr. Bruce Baird addressed eight doctors. In 2006, Baird, a practicing dentist, and Vicki McManus, who has a background in both dental hygiene and business and marketing, partnered to create Productive Dentist Academy. It has since grown; now typically involving 30 or more doctors and their teams (around 150 people per conference). However, despite its growth it has continued to feel more "living room" than "stuffy institute," McManus comments.

PDA found that about one-third of its seminar attendees wanted professional support beyond the three-day seminar, and because PDA is customer-driven, it adopted consulting services as one of its offerings as well. But first, let's take a trip to Dallas…

Dentists and their teams fly into Dallas/Fort Worth Airport from every direction – as far away as New Zealand and Dubai – and as of this writing, have come from 39 of the United States. PDA conferences are offered four times a year – January, April, July and September – and are always in Dallas, Texas, because of the city's centrality and convenience. Participants meet at the Marriott Dallas/Plano Hotel at Legacy Town Center, a beautiful accommodation with well-equipped conference rooms and amenities to boot. Thursday evening kicks off with a casual cocktail party where dentists and their teams can mingle, meet and socialize. The mixer ends at 6:30 p.m., giving participants a breather from traveling, and the only free time they will have during the jam-packed seminar.

Friday morning, the smell of coffee wafts through the hotel as participants emerge from their rooms for the continental breakfast set up just outside the meeting room. Part of Friday and Saturday are spent as a group and are the basis of the Productivity Workshop. The PDA team teaches the "productivity pearls" and targets subjects like solutions for practice management problems, setting goals and helping staff feel like part of the team, as well as how to run a business, and how to track and control overhead. One of PDA's goals is to reduce stress. "If you're stressed, you're not being productive," says Baird.

PDA focuses on relationships and teaching ways for dentists to connect with their patients. Many dentists have the tendency to explain problems and treatment planning to patients in a technical and unidentifiable way. During the seminar, Baird details an entire examination process with the dentists to show them how to create a comfortable environment for the patient to say yes to treatment. "If you're just trying to sell patients stuff, you're going to be very unproductive," McManus says. Teaching dentists to be more relatable is not about changing them though. "We help you discover your best self and how to communicate well with others."

The attendees split into breakout groups (doctors separate from their teams) for a few hours on Friday. Baird's group talks about overhead, bonuses and other doctor-exclusive topics. McManus' group discusses co-diagnosis, scheduling and focusing on procedures rather than time. This idea of scheduling around production instead of time is typically a "180-degree change in philosophy," says Baird. These breakout sessions are not meant to divide teams but rather to focus on what each person can do individually to help the team be more productive.

In addition to these topics, needs change with time. PDA decides what issues to address based on what members ask for. Because they want specific feedback, the leaders of PDA make themselves available via phone call, text, e-mail and on Dentaltown.com. "Recently we've had a lot of requests for a course on transitioning," says McManus. She also mentions the emerging trend of the convergence between marketing and management. PDA incorporates these suggested topics into its seminar curriculum. It is AGD CERP-certified and a seminar weekend will earn you 20 CE credits.

Relationships are deeply emphasized in the workshops. One of the most useful tips for dentists, according to Baird and McManus, is not to micromanage staff. In order to cultivate a team dynamic, staff need to know the dentist trusts and has confidence in their abilities. Also, relationships with staff and patients require honesty and communication. This means showing vulnerability sometimes. Referring to continuing relationships with patients, Baird says, "The better we care for our patients, the more the revenue takes care of itself."

Friday evening, doctors and their staff are invited to graduation and to enjoy some Texas hospitality. For the January 2011 meeting, participants learned the Texas two-step. Since much of the seminar's content focuses on relationships between staff, patients and the dentist, dinner is a time for teams to bond without office stresses or work-related chatter. "We have a blast," Baird says, emphasizing the importance of balancing work and fun.

PDA conferences don't have exhibit halls, so dentists are not inundated to buy stuff like they often are at dental shows. "We don't receive endorsements for selling products either," says McManus. "We have a few vendors at our programs, but no one pays us to speak about anything. We only present bona fide 'in-the- trenches' solutions that will lead to a surge in production." Baird and McManus have taken this mentality one step further. "We don't teach anything that we don't do," McManus continues. "People will ask about different materials and products; they're probably great products, but if we don't have hands-on experience with it, we don't talk about it."

Dentists and their teams leave the conferences rejuvenated, energized and brimming with stimulating information which they can put into practice as soon as they return. As mentioned before, PDA also offers consulting services per the request of PDA seminar attendees. Typically with consulting, the information you receive is only as good as that one person's knowledge. Baird and McManus believe consulting services shouldn't be limited to just one person's knowledge, and the team dynamic they have built is what sets them apart.

Between Baird's 30 years of practice in dentistry and McManus' marketing connections, they built a consulting team. "We cherry-picked the best of the best," says Baird. PDA has consultants in the areas of hygiene, public relations, marketing, insurance/PPO and other major areas in dentistry. "The coaches have readied resources and if they don't know the answer, they can get it for you," says Baird.

"Coaching services help practices perform at higher levels through better decisions and a dedication to change and growth," McManus says. "That growth comes from one-on- one leadership coaching, staff training, access to PDA Training Academy and an opportunity to work on your business – not just in it." She explains the coaching services mostly take place on a dentist's home turf, ameliorating the trouble of travel and adding the advantage of learning in a familiar environment.

Baird compares his team of coaching to a football team – an individual person cannot play every position. By extracting knowledge from several different people of expertise, they are able to provide dentists with specific information and valid advice, and PDA has the impressive numbers to prove it.

By guaranteeing program participants a $300-per-hour increase in production, PDA promises (based on a 1,600-hour work year) a $480,000 increase in gross income. PDA was the first consulting firm to put a specific number on such a guarantee, and of more than 600 practices that have attended PDA's seminars, only three have requested refunds, which they received without hassle.

A doctor can attend the three-day seminar for $3,995, and staff can attend for $995 each, excluding travel and accommodation. The initial expense might make a dentist a little wary, however Baird justifies, "Even if you spend $12,000 to bring your office, with PDA's guarantee, you'll pay for it in a week."



Baird jokes that teaching the PDA seminars have actually helped his office's productivity. He has doubled his production, from $1,250 per hour to $2,400 per hour since he began teaching, and he currently enjoys practicing only two days a week.

Coaching recipients can also take advantage of member benefits like the reunions, Webinars and marketing summits. They have access to a vast virtual library which includes team training videos, documents and spreadsheets, and also four "mastermind" sessions offered each month. PDA is currently working on five Webinars which will soon be available to the public. "We are better described as a community relationship, rather than a consulting one. We want to help doctors identify the systems that are working well in their practices and leave them alone, and then focus on the things that are not working so well for them," McManus says.

"We're very personalized," she continues regarding the individualized consulting services PDA offers. "When dentists come to us, we ask them to frame what they would like their career to be like." By asking open-ended questions like what do you want your net income to be? How many days a week do you want to produce? And, when do you want to cut back or retire? PDA can gauge in what direction dentists want to proceed. PDA is distinguished by its ability to view the big picture, use systematic strategies to accomplish goals and still be laid back and approachable (and make time to learn the Texas two-step).

Baird and McManus want to meet dentists where they're at. In fact, since they frequently start conversations with prospective clients with the broad question "What is your dream?" they sometimes get big answers. One dentist wanted to spend a year in Italy with his wife and daughter because he felt it would enhance his quality of life. His plan was to shut his doors and come back in a year. Instead, PDA helped him develop a two-year plan. The first year they put away cash reserves. The second, they started an aggressive campaign to find and train an associate. The whole team went through the PDA program and the office manager went through intensive training.

Throughout his stint in Italy, PDA and the dentist had weekly Skype meetings. Every Monday morning they would discuss the goings-on of the practice through online video chat.

The dentist was making $750 an hour before he left. The associate raised that number to $850. "He was actually making more while he was gone than when he was here," McManus lightheartedly comments. When he came back it took him two months to raise his personal production to $1,000 an hour.

Dreams don't have a size restriction though. "PDA isn't designed simply for those über-aggressive people with big, big dreams. It's designed to give you choice," says McManus. She mentions goals as simple as not working on Fridays, or spending more time with family as valid ambitions and great reasons for consulting PDA for help.

"A few years ago there was a shrink to greatness movement," explains Baird. This movement encouraged dentists to kick out insurance plans, raise fees and cut patient bases in half. "We don't teach people to do that," he says. There are no extremes with PDA – just an organized compilation of well-planned and implemented changes to better your practice.

"Our goal is to create choice," McManus says. "Bottom line, we're a group that helps you grow your practice and fulfill your dreams." For more information, visit www.productivedentist.com or call 800-757-6077.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
Dentaltown Magazine September 2025 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie Perks
Townie® Poll
Who or what do you turn to for most financial advice regarding your practice?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds Dental News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
Sally Gross, Member Services Specialist
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: sally@farranmedia.com
©2025 Dentaltown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450