Shared Practices | Your Dental Roadmap through Practice Ownership

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. Andrew Clingan sits down with Steve Steinbrunner from Provide, Inc. to map out the financial realities of dental practice acquisitions and long-term dental practice ownership. Understanding exactly how a bank evaluates your risk profile is a critical piece of dental practice management, whether you are buying your first clinic or investing in a multi-doctor commercial real estate project.Master Your Initial FinancingDo not aggressively pay down your student loans at the expense of your personal savings.Banks care significantly more about your liquidity—your cash on hand minus any revolving credit card debt—than your total student loan balance when funding dental practice acquisitions.General dentists should aim for at least six months of associate experience to prove clinical production capability, though specialists can often secure funding immediately out of residency.Include consulting or advisory fees in your initial loan request. Banks view professional business coaching as a core part of your dental business strategies that reduces risk, and they will gladly finance it.Leverage "Ready to Grow" ClinicsIf a target practice is underperforming and lacks traditional cash flow, ask your lender about a jumpstart loan to drive sustainable dental practice growth.These unique loans treat the acquisition like a slow-growth startup, potentially offering up to $500,000 for the purchase alongside additional working capital and interest-only periods to boost early dental practice profitability.Scale with Commercial Real EstateNever prioritize owning the real estate over the health and location of the actual business during early dental practice acquisitions.Once your practice is established, you can leverage the equity built up in the business to secure 100% financing for commercial real estate or ground-up construction without needing a massive cash down payment.Navigating the complexities of dental practice ownership requires a specialized team. Surround yourself with dental-specific lenders, attorneys, CPAs, and advisors to ensure you make objective, data-driven decisions at every stage of your career.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.Disclaimer: Provide, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fifth Third Bank, National Association. All opinions expressed by the Provide employee participant are solely their current opinions and do not reflect the opinions of Provide, its affiliates, or Fifth Third Bank. The Provide employee participant’s opinions are based on information they consider reliable, but neither Provide, its affiliates nor Fifth Third Bank warrants their completeness or accuracy, and they should not be relied upon as such. This content is for informational purposes and does not constitute the rendering of legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice, or other professional services by Provide or any of its affiliates. Please consult with appropriate professionals regarding your individual circumstances. All lending is subject to review and approval. https://www.getprovide.com/Are you currently focused on building liquidity for your first acquisition, or are you exploring real estate expansion for an existing practice?

In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. George Hariri interviews Dr. Paul Etchison, founder of Dental Practice Heroes, to uncover the secrets of elite dental practice ownership. Dr. Paul shares his incredible journey of growing a 2012 startup into a highly efficient dental practice, hitting $3.34 million in revenue out of just five operatories by 2017. He achieved this by mastering schedule efficiency and identifying the ultimate rate-limiting step in his dental practice: himself.As your dental practice scales, relying purely on clinical hustle becomes a liability. Dr. Paul explains how dropping down to three clinical days a week allowed him to step into the CEO role, eventually expanding his dental practice to 11 operatories and building a business that thrives while he only sees patients two days a month.Here are the crucial strategies to optimize your dental practice ownership journey:Implement Split-Shifting: Maximize ROI and lower fixed costs by keeping your dental practice open 13 hours a day with staggered provider shifts.Prioritize Proactive Leadership: Effective dental practice management requires freeing your office manager from reactive daily fires so they have the time to proactively solve team issues before they escalate.Use the CVI Method: Address dental practice team friction by getting Curious about the problem, offering Validation for their perspective, and extending an Invitation to collaborate on solutions.Don’t Fear Turnover: Never let toxic attitudes run your dental practice; confidently let go of legacy staff who refuse to align with your core values.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this solo episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, Dr. Andrew Clingan reflects on his three-year anniversary of practice ownership to share exactly what he wishes he knew during his first 90 days. For any dentist stepping into ownership, mastering the fundamentals of dental practice management is far more critical than chasing the latest trends. Andrew warns against the “shiny object syndrome” of immediately investing in 3D printers, mills, or aggressive marketing schemes before securing the foundations of a healthy practice.Sustainable growth in dental practice management comes from doing the predictable, repeatable things right every single day.Here is your playbook for surviving your first year of practice ownership:Play the Long Game: Do not let the pressure of your new practice loan force you into a scarcity mindset. Leave breathing room in your schedule during the first six months so you can focus on building relationships and becoming that patient base’s new trusted dentist.Fix the Leaky Bucket First: Before trying to add new patients, leverage your existing base. Focus on closing the “back door” by drastically improving your reappointment rate, which is the most reliable way to boost your dental practice profitability.Master the Basics Before Specialty: Get highly efficient at everyday quadrant restorative dentistry and patient communication before attempting complex specialty procedures. You cannot successfully sell a high-dollar case if you lack the communication skills to properly educate the patient.Live Like an Associate: While it is tempting to upgrade your lifestyle after closing on your first practice, start conservatively. Live below your means and build up your cash reserves; having liquidity provides you with the flexibility to eventually invest in new CE, equipment, or associate doctors.Move Slowly With Leadership: The hardest skill to master in dental practice management is leading your team. Do not make massive changes immediately. Take time to observe your staff, identify the top performers, and build leaders who will row the boat with you.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of Ask George, Dr. George Hariri tackles one of the most common questions from listeners: Is coaching right for me? If you are an ambitious dentist trying to master dental practice management alone, you are likely hitting a severe bottleneck. George breaks down the fatal flaw of the DIY mentality: an owner typically has only four hours a week to manage the business, while their team clocks in 240 labor hours executing operations. Without a data-driven strategy to focus those four hours on the highest-leverage constraints, owners end up wasting time chasing random ideas they saw on Facebook.Shared Practices coaching bridges this gap by combining strategic analytics for the owner with tactical, hands-on training for the team. The result? A proven track record of growing client practices by an average of 37% to 39% annually for four consecutive years.Here is your guide to evaluating if dental practice management coaching is the right investment for your sustainable dental practice growth:The Early Ownership Fast-Track: If you are in your first 18 months of ownership, a coach is the ultimate cheat code to quickly scale a "ready to grow" practice and avoid the costly trial-and-error phase.Fix Stalled Growth: If your revenue has flatlined for the past two to three years despite your best efforts, you are no longer focusing your management time on the correct bottlenecks.Solve Team Inefficiencies: When you feel burnt out because you are doing everything while your team underperforms, a coach steps in to directly train your staff on crucial systems like revenue cycle management and case presentation.Calculate the ROI: Coaching is an investment, not an expense. Adding just $50,000 in top-line revenue covers the annual coaching fee and the cost of additional supplies, meaning the explosive growth you achieve by months 9–12 is pure profit.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.

In this episode of the Shared Practices, host Caitlin Embree sits down with Dr. Aditi Agarwal, co-founder of Practice by Numbers, to discuss how analytics can completely transform your dental practice management. Dr. Agarwal shares how she evolved from pouring over confusing spreadsheets to creating an all-in-one dashboard that allows dentists to instantly diagnose bottlenecks, monitor team performance, and maximize their dental practice profitability.Relying on "gut feelings" is a dangerous way to run a business. Effective In this episode of the Shared Practices Podcast, host Caitlin Embree sits down with Dr. Aditi Agarwal, co-founder of Practice by Numbers, to discuss how analytics can completely transform your dental practice management. Dr. Agarwal shares how she evolved from pouring over confusing spreadsheets to creating an all-in-one dashboard that allows dentists to instantly diagnose bottlenecks, monitor team performance, and maximize their dental practice profitability.Relying on "gut feelings" is a dangerous way to run a business. Effective dental practice management requires a fact-based approach that empowers your team with clear, actionable metrics rather than overwhelming them with unnecessary data.Here is your guide to using KPIs to drive sustainable dental practice growth:Track the Pre-Appointment Rate: The most holistic indicator of practice health is the percentage of active patients who have a future appointment. Aim for an 80% pre-appointment rate to ensure your retention, scheduling, and case presentation systems are actually working.Balance Your Production: A healthy hygiene department should account for 30% to 35% of your total practice production. If hygiene exceeds that threshold, it reveals a severe breakdown in your doctor-driven restorative diagnosis or case acceptance.Analyze Treatment Rejections: When a patient declines treatment, your team must track the specific reason (e.g., finances, fear, timing). Reviewing this data allows you to tailor your case presentation and better train your financial coordinators to overcome common objections.Master Insurance Metrics: Do not drop a PPO plan based on a single low reimbursement code. Use your insurance dashboards to analyze the overall profitability of each plan and identify patterns in claim denials to drastically reduce your reimbursement cycle.Ready to take the next step in your dental practice journey? Visit https://sharedpractices.com to learn more about our Buyer Representation and Coaching services, designed to help dentists buy, grow, and optimize profitable practices. You can also use our Free Look to evaluate dental practice opportunities with real data before making a decision. For daily Dental Moneyball insights, strategy tips, and updates, follow us across our social channels.requires a fact-based approach that empowers your team with clear, actionable metrics rather than overwhelming them with unnecessary data.