Maybe it’s uncomfortable, or maybe you're short on time — but are you ignoring the perio conversation with your patients? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Miranda Beeson, ACT’s director of education, to break down perio visit percentage, the impact it has on your practice, and what to do to improve your numbers. Are you underdiagnosing or defaulting to prophy? To find out if you are and to learn how to fix it, listen to Episode 949 of The Best Practices Show!

Learn More About Miranda:

• Send Miranda an email: miranda@actdental.com 
• Follow Miranda on ACT’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actdental
• Send Courtney an email to learn more about ACT: courtney@actdental.com 

More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:

• Subscribe to The Best Practices Show: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listen
• Join The Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpa
• Download ACT’s BPA app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/best-practices-association/id6738960360
• Download ACT’s BPA app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actdental.join&hl=en_US
• Join ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/ttt
• Get The Best Practices Magazine for free: https://www.actdental.com/magazine
• Please leave us a review on the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show-with-kirk-behrendt/id1223838218

Episode Resources:

• Watch the video version of Episode 949: https://www.youtube.com/@actdental/videos
• Register for ACT’s To The Top Study Club (October 17, 2025): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climb-with-us-register-for-october-17-2025-ttt-study-club-tickets-1218436780209?aff=odcleoeventsincollection
• Register for ACT’s To The Top Study Club (October 24, 2025): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climb-with-us-register-for-october-24-2025-ttt-study-club-tickets-1218452908449?aff=odcleoeventsincollection
• Read Beat the Heart Attack Gene by Dr. Bradley Bale and Dr. Amy Doneen: https://baledoneen.com/bdm-books

Main Takeaways:

• This metric directly impacts hygiene profitability, patient retention, and patient health.
• Align your team on what a healthy periodontium looks like and what to do if it isn't.
• If your practice is healthy, 35% to 45% of hygiene visits will be perio-related.
• Do calibration exercises with a few cases to find gaps in your learning.
• Create a basic decision tree to simplify the perio diagnosis process.
• Ask your patients for their health history to get a fuller picture.

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

2:00 Perio visit percentage, explained.

4:14 How this metric impacts the practice.

8:41 What you can do to impact this metric.

14:38 Look at the whole picture.

16:59 ACT’s BPA.

Miranda Beeson, MS, BSDH Bio:

Miranda Beeson has over 25 years of clinical dental hygiene, front office, practice administration, and speaking experience. She is enthusiastic about communication and loves helping others find the power that words can bring to their patient interactions and practice dynamics. As a Lead Practice Coach, she is driven to create opportunities to find value in experiences and cultivate new approaches.

Miranda graduated from Old Dominion University, and enjoys spending time with her husband, Chuck, and her children, Trent, Mallory, and Cassidy. Family time is the best time, and is often spent on a golf course, a volleyball court, or spending the day boating at the beach.