If you would have told me five years ago that I would become a private practice owner less than one year out of dental school, I would have thought you were absolutely crazy. Take it from someone who decided to have a baby, learn how to be a dentist, and purchase half of a practice all in the same year; becoming an owner dentist of a private practice can be stressful! Here’s a few ways to survive the whirlwind.
As a dental student, I was constantly daydreaming of the days that I would get to practice “real life” dentistry. However, with that great excitement came a lot of anxiety about what that would look like. If you’re a newer grad like me (especially a grad during the COVID days), you know all the horror stories about the first few years of being a dentist. Luckily, I had incredible mentorship throughout my dental school journey that led me to the practice I now proudly co-own with my biggest dental idol and mentor.
As a dentist who runs a “bread and butter” dental practice, I understand how important it is to buy the right products. Our practice has a reputation for providing both high quality work and high quality experiences for our patients all while remaining a PPO office. Since we are a PPO office, sustaining the balance of quality and cost is absolutely essential. Luckily, my practice has had more than 40 years of experience perfecting this stocking process.
On average, people spend 151 minutes per day on social media. We can finish a whole crown prep appointment in significantly less time than that! Whether you are a big fan of social media or not, you have to accept the fact that it has become a huge part of our world and should become at least a small part of your practice. But how do you get started? First, you must answer these important questions.
How many times in dental school were you told that if you had to pay for marketing then you weren’t running a successful practice? All we need to do is recycle our overdue patients, treat our current patients well and internal marketing will bring the numbers in, right? Wrong! We are in the era of social media. You can be the most incredible dentist, but because someone saw a dentist they liked better on their Instagram they’ll pick them over you, all skills aside. Whether you go big or small, social media needs to become a part of your practice. Here are my top tips on how to be successful in doing that.