All things come to an end, and unless you’re one of the very rare exceptions, you’ll leave the practice of dentistry some day. Perhaps that day is coming soon because you’re ready to retire, your back and/or neck is killing you, or you’re just had enough.

If the time has come, or will soon, you’ll need to look at the sale price of your practice. The higher your earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for several consecutive years, the higher sale price you can expect. 

By one estimate, a solo practitioner can realize a sales price of  3–4 times EBITDA; a multi-doctor practice, 4-5 times; and a multi-doctor, multi-location practice, 5-6 times. Of course, there are other factors that can impact the sale price both positively and negatively, so positioning your practice for sale isn’t quite cut-and-dried.

First, It’s About Your Practice

There aren’t any firm figures, but turn-key dental practices for sale that are hitting all the marks are likely very rare. Think about how these factors can influence the sale price:

• Location
• Visibility
• Type of revenue or revenue mix
• Stable or growing revenue
• Facility condition
• Patient demographics
• Stability of patient base
• Services offered
• Profitability

With that many variables, predicting the sale price of any one practice is difficult, to say the least. Obviously, the more marks your practice hits, the better. And much like prepping a house for sale, consider investing some cash in refurbishing your facility if warranted. Otherwise, that’s likely to come off the top of any offer you receive.

But It’s Not ALL About Your Practice

It’s not a secret that dental service organizations (DSOs) are on a buying/acquisition spree. DSOs are a different kind of buyer compared to another solo dentist looking to own an existing practice.

DSOs are looking for practices that have good revenue potential, of course, but they’re also looking for practices that are a good fit for the DSOs structure and processes. For instance, if a DSO is looking to acquire a mix of practices that provide a broad range of services and internal referral possibilities, your practice will need to fit the organization’s needs.

Another consideration is whether you’re willing to stay with your practice after the sale to ease the transition for the new buyer. That’s often, but not always, a plus when it comes to determining the sale price. If that idea is off the table, an established DSO may be your best bet; the organization will likely be able to bring in at least one dentist (and additional team members, if needed) to handle the day-to-day caseload while it integrates the practice into its structure.

If The EBITDA Isn’t There, It Ain’t Gonna Happen

Have a look at your EBITDA; if it’s not what you want or need to realize a great sale price, it’s time to take action.

SmartBox has developed Success Academy, an online, on-demand, comprehensive program that covers every aspect of helping you and your team cohere as a focused unit to achieve remarkable revenue growth. 

There are five metrics that directly impact your bottom line. Improving your team’s performance on the 5 A’s – Answer, Appoint, Attend, Accept, and Average – is the reliable way to increase your revenue without having to spend more on promoting your practice. 

More calls answered equals more new patient opportunities. More patients appointed means more patients in your chairs. More appointments attended mean higher case acceptance. And higher case acceptance drives both your hygiene and restorative average case value.

That’s the formula for lasting success and maximum practice revenue growth. It’s also going to look really good to any prospective buyer. If you’ve got a year or more until you leave dentistry, SmartBox’s Success Academy will help you set up your practice for a great sale.

If you’re thinking of joining a dental service organization (DSO), it pays to do some hard thinking about 1) what you want out of dentistry and 2) how the DSO you’re considering fits with what you want.

For the purposes of this article, let’s divide them into three types: the start-up DSO, the established DSO, and the acquisition DSO

DSOs are not created equal. The one thing that is true for all types is that they take over many or all non-clinical duties, allowing the dentist to focus on doing dentistry. Practice owners who wear way too many hats find that a very attractive proposition. But just as dentists vary in their resources and areas of expertise, so do DSOs.

The Start-Up DSO

Start-up DSOs are lacking in two key resources: capital and expertise. They have little to no track record in processing dental insurance claims, ordering supplies, or dealing with legal and HR issues. Start-ups may also have no equity position or access to external funding.

That’s not necessarily a no-go for a high-earning dentist. Dentists who join start-ups are basically injecting capital into the organization and claiming a role in decision-making. Considerable caution should be exercised when reviewing contractual terms and conditions as well as the management team’s resumes.

The Established DSO

An established DSO will typically have a proven track record of success in providing non-clinical management services to dental practices. It will also have capital reserves and/or ready access to funding.

Established DSOs may or may not want to purchase your practice; you’ll have to decide how you’ll feel about the prospect of no longer owning or making the decisions for the business you nurtured. And, the DSO may or may not want you to continue running the clinical side of things. 

While the prospect of a big payout may be very attractive, this is an area where you’ll want expert legal advice in reviewing contract language to avoid nasty surprises.

The Acquisition DSO

The acquisition SEO is interested in purchasing dental practices; again, the dentist may be retained to continue in his or her role, or the DSO may bring in a different team. 

Dentists who are considering selling need to realize the highest sale price possible as well as planning for the possibility that they’ll find themselves relatively wealthy, but unemployed.

It’s A Question Of Revenue

Joining a DSO, or selling your practice to one, is not a decision to be undertaken lightly. Consider your practice’s EBITDA – earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. That’s the most commonly used metric these days when determining the sale price of a dental practice. 

If you’re looking to join a start-up, you’ll need revenue to pay off a loan or to replenish your cash reserves. If you’re looking to sell, the sale price will reflect a number of factors including your revenue for the last few years. 

If you’re looking to improve your EBITDA, consider contacting SmartBox. Helping dental practices grow and thrive is what we do. In fact, over the last decade, SmartBox has generated $3.97 billion in documented new patient opportunities. 

If you’d like to learn more about what SmartBox can do to help you grow your practice, schedule a Practice Growth Call. It’s not a sales call in any sense. You and Ashley Best – one of the top practice growth experts in the country on anyone’s short list – will discuss your goals, your current approach to marketing, your competition and what’s working (and not).

Following the call, an entire team of experts will prepare your Summary of Findings and your Practice Growth Roadmap. 

Joining a DSO may be right for you, but only if you’re in a position to capitalize to the maximum extent by that decision.

Ask most “experts” in the field, and they’ll tell you that the way to grow your practice revenue is to stay open more days and more hours; offer more services; stay competitive on price; accept every dental insurance under the sun; and see a lot more patients.

SmartBox would respectfully disagree. That’s one way to grow your practice, and by no means the best one. There are some flaws in the “traditional” practice growth model, and they begin with the fact that dental practices aren’t factories.

You Can’t Automate Dentistry

Automated processes typically scale up easily. Add another line, some relatively unskilled people to work that line, and you can produce more of whatever you’re making. 

Dentistry is nothing like that.

Dentistry requires skilled, trained, compassionate human beings to work. Those people – including the dentist – can only work so many hours in a day and so many days a week before exhaustion sets in. With exhaustion comes disillusionment, low motivation, and a high likelihood of mistakes.

The human factor is the limiting factor in dentistry, but it’s also the factor that provides the greatest opportunity. 

Back to the factory for a moment. Any production line can be fine-tuned to produce the maximum amount of product within the limits of the machinery. What that line can’t do is to make something more valuable out of the materials at hand. You and your team can do far better… without working yourselves half to death.

Mining The “Gold” In Your New Patient Funnel

If you’ve ever seen the TV series “Gold Rush,” you know that gold miners run as much pay dirt as they can through their wash plant as possible. They have to “dial in” the perfect amount of pay dirt versus the speed of the plant, the water flow that removes the dirt. and the “sluice boxes” that trap the gold flakes or nuggets.

Run the plant too fast, and gold washes away and is lost. Run it too slowly, and those miners aren’t making all the money they could be. 

You can dial in your new patient funnel, and it begins with answering the phone more frequently and effectively. SmartBox has hard data to show that dental practices routinely fail to answer 20-30 percent or more of incoming calls. Your front office team is undoubtedly doing the best it can. However, if there are two team members to answer the phone, and there are six or eight incoming calls, something’s gotta give.

That 20-30 percent figure doesn’t include the new patients who are placed on hold and then give up. That “gold” is lost to you. 

That figure also doesn’t include the qualified new patients who aren’t appointed. 

The Only Way To Reliably Grow Your Practice Revenue

SmartBox has created an online, on-demand, video-driven curriculum that covers every aspect of helping you and your team cohere as a focused unit to achieve remarkable practice growth. 

There’s only one way to reliably increase your practice revenue, and that’s to improve your performance on the 5 A’s – Answer, Appoint, Attend, Accept, and Average. Those are the metrics that directly impact your bottom line.

The 5 A’s work together to drive your profits. More calls answered equals more new patient opportunities. More patients appointed means more patients in your chairs. More appointments attended mean higher case acceptance. And higher case acceptance drives both your hygiene and restorative average case value.

That’s the formula for lasting success and maximum practice revenue growth. SmartBox’s Success Academy will help you implement it in your practice.

An opinion piece in The Hill noted the House passage of H.R. 3, authorizing adding dental benefits to Medicare. Surveys report broad bipartisan support among the general population in all age groups.

While H.R. 3’s passage in the Senate is by no means guaranteed, it’s wise to plan now for the bill’s possible enactment.

Good News, Bad News

Dentists everywhere no doubt like the idea of more people being able to get needed dental care. At the same time, they’re probably wondering how they’re going to make any money. 

Medicare’s reimbursement rates generally are well below what most physicians and hospitals charge. If you currently accept Medicaid patients, you know just how much lower those payments can be.

There’s no reason to think that reimbursement for dental care will be any more lucrative. Dentists who don’t accept Medicaid, or who limit the number of Medicaid patients they accept, will need to decide whether to get on board with Medicare. There’s a natural tension between the desire to help others and the need to get paid enough for your efforts.

However, there are some silver linings in the cloud that might make your decision easier.

Not All Medicare Patients Are Strapped For Cash

At present, Medicare consists almost exclusively of seniors ages 65 and up. While there are quite a few seniors who live on limited means, the Boomer generation is relatively affluent overall. 

For those patients, Medicare would simply replace their current dental insurance. And since many, if not most, seniors have the ability to go fee-for-service, you don’t stand to lose any money. 

There are patients in almost every practice who go fee-for-service for the absolute minimum of dental care – cleanings, exams, and the occasional restoration. Those patients might benefit from additional procedures, but without insurance, they simply can’t afford them. With the Medicare portion paid, more of those patients are likely to opt for more involved procedures.

The final silver lining is this: if Medicare for all (or even most) becomes a reality, there will be little to no need for pro bono dental services. While those events can be excellent public relations, they represent a loss of income for the day or days.

Why Not Find A Happy Medium?

Whether dental services are added to Medicare or not, there’s a clear path forward and upward for dentists. That path consists of attracting more, high-value, patients to your practice. 

High-value dental patients aren’t overly concerned with saving a few bucks or about what their insurance will pay. They have the discretionary funds to pay more for the care they want from the dentist they choose. 

If you’ve been taking a price-based approach to growing your practice, making the switch to attract high-value patients can be a big lift. However, you don’t have to make the effort. SmartBox will do it for you. 

If you’d like to learn more about what SmartBox can do to help you grow your practice, schedule a Practice Growth Call. It’s not a sales call in any sense. You and Ashley Best – one of the top practice growth experts in the country on anyone’s short list – will discuss your goals, your current approach to marketing, your competition and what’s working (and not).

Following the call, an entire team of experts will prepare your Summary of Findings and your Practice Growth Roadmap. 

Whether adding dental services to Medicare gets traction or not, you’ll be poised for practice growth that will astound you.

A recent article in the Boston Globe takes a deep dive into SmileDirectClub (SDC) and the current controversy over clear dental aligners – a state of affairs made even muddier by the revelation that “an influential Boston orthodontist came to the rescue of the controversial industry.”

According to the Globe, Dr. Marc Ackerman is the director of orthodontics at Boston Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor with Harvard School of Dental Medicine. He’s strongly in favor of the “teledentistry” model, and even told the Globe that he wants to be known as “the father of teledentistry.”

The article is lengthy, but thorough and well worth reading. To summarize, Dr. Ackerman’s ties to SmileDirect Club are numerous and poorly disclosed. And he authored an article in support of the teledentistry industry that was published in the fairly obscure Journal of Dental Research and Reports that offers swift review in exchange for payment.

The Battle Rages On

SDC is beset on many legal fronts and is tenaciously fighting back. One of the ways that it seeks to control the public conversation about its business model is by citing Dr. Paul Glassman of the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, who conducted teledentistry research.

However, Dr. Glassman’s research included X-rays and a direct, in-person examination of the patient, something that is missing from SmileDirect’s online screening protocol. According to the Globe, Dr. Glassman stated, “The more you deviate from that system [we tested], the less you could claim that you’re following the standard of care.”

It seems certain that the controversy, and the legitimacy of the teledentistry industry, will not be resolved soon. In the meantime, dentists all over the country are finding their prices on clear aligners undercut and potential patients showing up at SmileShops instead of their practices.

Fighting Back

It’s difficult, if not impossible, for most dentists to match SDC’s advertised price of $1895 for clear aligners. Likewise, the convenience of having just one fairly brief appointment with no follow-up appointments is a big selling point for busy, budget-minded patients.

Regardless of your take on the teledentistry model, you’re likely to believe that patients are safer and realize better outcomes when they’re personally examined and treated by a licensed dentist. That’s what you can promote to your prospects – that the process of straightening their teeth will be safer and that they always have a point of contact who they already know for any questions or concerns.

To that end, familiarize yourself with some of the most frequent complaints about SmileDirect – that patients often have no contact with a dentist from beginning to end of their treatment; that SmileDirect is reportedly unresponsive to inquiries, complaints, or attempts at problem resolution; and that a growing number of patients have experienced serious and expensive complications from the teledentistry model.

These are ideas that you can communicate in your blog and your social media posts. They’re controversial ideas, which means that you can expect to have a lively online conversation about the benefits of receiving orthodontic treatment from you… rather than faceless, anonymous people who aren’t responsive to patients’ needs.

2019 is nearly in the rear view mirror. It’s time to reflect on whether you achieved the level of dental practice growth you wanted. And not only the level, but the type of growth that leads most directly to accomplishing your goals.

That’s an important distinction. Your dental practice will be what you make it – a patient “churn machine,” a relatively specialized high case value operation, an anchor around your neck, the path to more free time, or the gateway to the next phase of your life and the money to support it comfortably.

Growth doesn’t mean the same to all dentists. You shouldn’t settle for anything other than what you want. You don’t have to.

What DO You Want Out Of Dentistry?

For just a moment, forget how you think dentistry “should” be practiced. How would you like it to be? There are no wrong answers, here – you’re running your own business and you get to determine how your company operates and what you hope and plan to achieve.

Dental practice growth can and should be more than increasing the number of patients you run through your chairs. Nothing wrong with that, but are you really looking forward to working 8-10 hours a day, 5-6 days a week for the next few decades?

If not, what about growth through increasing your average case value? Fewer patients, more money per patients, and fewer days a week in the office. Or maybe driving your practice valuation with an eye toward selling? Or being able to handle more of the cases that really get you excited about dentistry? Or being able to provide more pro bono care for your community?

Again, there’s no wrong answer; your goals are your goals. But if you’re settling because you think that your goals are unreachable, you might want to take another look at what’s possible for your dental practice.

The Dentists’ Money Funnel

SmartBox has perfected the art and science of getting dentists more of the new patients they want. Our Practice Growth System makes that happen, and one of the best aspects of what we do is that you can focus on actually doing dentistry. We handle all aspects of external dental practice promotion in-house. You won’t need to micromanage, and that will free up a lot of your time.

With more of the patients you want in your funnel, you can turn your efforts to maximizing you per-patient value. We’ve got you covered there as well.

SmartBox has developed a revolutionary, online, on-demand, video-driven curriculum to help you align and lead your team to high levels of  profitability. Success Academy is the data-driven approach that equips your team to do what they do now, but better. You can realize astonishing gains in revenue through incremental gains in what we’ve termed the 5 A’s – Answer, Appoint, Attend, Accept, and Average.

New Year, New Approach

Did 2019 bring you the kind of growth that will get you there? If not, there’s no reason to continue doing more of the same that didn’t bring you what you want. 

Schedule a Practice Growth Call with Ashley Best. On anyone’s short list, she’s one of the top practice growth experts in the country.

The call is not a sales call in any sense of the word. You and she will take a deep dive into your practice growth goals, what’s working and not working in your current efforts, and what’s possible for your practice. 

Happy New Year to you and yours, and may 2020 bring you the practice growth and the success you want.

Here’s a phrase you probably never thought would be applied to dentistry: “herding cats.”

Dental service organizations (DSOs) and large group practices (LGPs) seldom have difficulty standardizing the administrative and financial aspects of their various practices. However, they can face considerable challenges in trying to ensure consistency of branding, messaging, and new patient attraction efforts. 

Typically, the practices that comprise the DSO or LGP have different histories, cultures, websites, value messages, approaches to practice growth, and areas of emphasis in services. That’s not to say that any practice’s approach is inherently wrong; it’s merely that without coordination and consistency between members of the organization, practices’ revenue and growth will suffer. 

In fact, they may well wind up competing with each other.

Getting everyone in the boat to row in the same direction can be a long-term, and maddening, proposition. But it’s something that must happen if the organization is going to maximize its growth, bolster its earnings before depreciation, interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITDA), and position itself for eventual sale at a premium price. 

With dentistry facing increasing consolidation, much like physicians’ practices, savvy investors and dentists alike will take action now to achieve that end.

Start With The End In Mind: Growth

When it comes to dental practice growth, the “industry standard” is to throw money at marketing to attract new patients. That’s a long-term, and expensive, approach. The results are often disappointing; price-based marketing attracts low-value patients, the insurance-driven, and a high percentage of one and dones. 

High-volume, low value dental practices can grow, but it’s certainly not the best way. High volume means increased stress on staff – including the doctors – and can lead to early burnout. Dentists who see a large number of patients on a daily basis also have an increased risk of musculoskeletal injuries that can be career-limiting. 

Beyond the human cost, the ongoing marketing outlay can be a significant drag on profitability. 

While not a hard and fast rule, dental practices thrive when they maximize value per patient. Raising the average case value is a much better and more sustainable approach to growth than an unending stream of low-value patients.

Since different practices will emphasize different services, attracting the patients each practice wants is an essential aspect of reaching maximum growth potential. That’s what SmartBox helps our dentists achieve every day – getting more and better patients while remaining free to focus on doing dentistry. 

With practices’ new patient funnels filled with better prospects, the organization can turn to maximizing profitability. SmartBox has the solution for that as well.

The Team-Driven Approach To DSO Growth

DSOs and LGPs need a single, proven, and effective approach to practice growth applied across all their practices. However, introducing a model that is disruptive of each practice’s historic approach has the potential to be counterproductive.

The best way to ensure that is to have the practices’ teams do what they do now, but better. That’s the premise of SmartBox’s revolutionary Success Academy – an online, on-demand, video-driven curriculum that focuses on improvements in the 5 A’s. 

Answer more new patient calls, Appoint more qualified patients, ensure that those new patients Attend their appointments, and get more new patients to Accept case solutions. That results in staggering improvement in the practice’s Average case value and is the single best way to drive growth and profitability. 

Success Academy allows dentists to have all team members clear on – and invested in – the vision and goals for the practice. And since the curriculum and its implementation are data-driven, defining goals and tracking progress is straightforward and objective.

Forward-looking DSOs and LGPs will take action now to get their “cats” all moving in the same direction. SmartBox can help.

A 2019 study on the incidence and prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) in Saudi Arabia probably flew under your radar. However, the results broadly mirror findings from previous studies on the same topic and in fact may demonstrate that the problems are getting worse.

The Saudi study sampled 234 practicing dentists; while not specified in the study, it would be a mistake to assume that those dentists did not have modern, ergonomic chairs, equipment, and stools in their operatories. Take what follows with a grain of salt, certainly, but you shouldn’t ignore the implications for your future.

Findings: Dentistry Is A Pain In The Neck, And The Back

The study found that the prevalence of WMSD was 70%. The most common locations where dentists experienced WMSD pain were the low back (85%) and the neck (84.6%). 

Think about that for a moment. Nearly 9 in 10 dentists reported chronic pain directly attributable to your profession. And by the way, women dentists and dentists who didn’t exercise on a regular basis were at increased risk. 

As if those figures weren’t bad enough, carpal tunnel syndrome was reported by nine percent of respondents. The longer a dentist had been in practice, the more likely they were to have carpal tunnel.

If these numbers generalize to the large mass of dentists, you should probably assume that your time in the profession is limited. And if you’re experiencing any of the musculoskeletal problems listed above, your time is likely even more limited. That means the time to prepare is now.

What’s Your Exit Strategy?

The large majority of dentists factor in the sale price of their practice when considering retirement. If you’re one of them, you’ll need to increase your earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). That’s the most common metric to estimate the sale price of a dental practice.

You’ll also need to establish a positive trend line in your EBITDA; purchasers (particularly private equity investors) aren’t going to be overly interested in a declining practice. Basically, you need to seriously drive your revenue over a number of years while holding the line on expenses. 

It’s rare these days that practices sell for multiples of earnings, but there are exceptions. You want to be one of the exceptions to assure yourself of a comfortable life after dentistry whether you’re retiring or starting a new venture.  

Ask Yourself This

If you were looking to purchase a dental practice, which one would be a more attractive option? A high-volume, low case value practice with a lot of churn in the patient base and a 5-figure monthly marketing investment? Or a stable practice with higher case value and low to moderate patient churn?

The smart money would go with the latter. 

That’s not to say that you can’t sell the other kind of practice, but the odds are good that it will bring a lower sale price.

Since your time in dentistry may be limited, the time to act is now. Don’t think that “business as usual” will get you to the next stage in your life with any measure of comfort.

You’re probably one of the many dentists who get deluged with offers for the latest “gee whiz” dental marketing object promising to get you more patients, make you the richest doctor in your market, and even clear up your nagging cough. 

Let’s be clear: some of those approaches can work, at least for a while, in some markets. But if those approaches worked all the time in every market or even most, everyone would be using them. And they’re not.

But there is one approach that can do everything listed above – maybe not clear up that cough – because it’s based on you and your team doing what you do now, but better. That puts you in charge of your own destiny rather than depending on a third party with an uneven track record.

Success Academy: Putting Control In YOUR Hands

SmartBox’s research shows that team-driven practices deliver superior patient experiences and care. When all team members are clear on and aligned in the vision and goals for the practice, your practice becomes a destination for the patients you want.

That’s the formula for lasting success and maximum growth. SmartBox’s Success Academy will help you implement it in your practice.

Our online, on-demand, video-driven curriculum covers every aspect of helping you and your team cohere as a focused unit to achieve remarkable practice growth. 

There’s only one way to reliably increase your practice revenue, and that’s to improve your performance on the 5 A’s – Answer, Appoint, Attend, Accept, and Average. Those are the metrics that directly impact your bottom line – not clicks, likes, shares, follows, or impressions. 

The 5 A’s work together to drive your profits. More calls answered equals more new patient opportunities. More patients appointed means more patients in your chairs. More appointments attended mean higher case acceptance. And higher case acceptance drives both your hygiene and restorative average case value.

Dr. Mitchel Friedman of New Jersey is “proof of concept,” so to speak. He said, “Our case size was $2,500 per new patient. Since SmartBox, it has quickly grown to now $5,400.”

What’s In YOUR New Patient Funnel?

You’ll always need to attract new patients to replace those who drop out or move away. But you don’t have to spend yourself broke to get the number – and quality – of new patients you need.

The traditional approach to getting more dental patients brings in a lot of price-shoppers, insurance-driven patients, and one-and dones with no loyalty to your practice. That leaves you spending hard-earned dollars every month to keep your schedule filled.

When you partner with a dedicated practice growth firm that positions you and your practice as the destination in your market, you don’t have to keep chasing patients based on low price. That’s what SmartBox did for Dr. Friedman, and we can do the same for your practice.

Moreover, you don’t have to ride herd on your marketing. Here’s what Dr. Kevin McMahon has to say about that. “I’m very happy with SmartBox. It actually puts my marketing on autopilot. That makes it a lot easier for me. It’s something I don’t have to worry about. I’m the owner of the practice here, so I’m managing a bunch of people. If I can take something off my plate like that, that I know is quality, is going to work, that I’m proud of, that makes a big difference for me, I can put that to the side and do other things I’ve got to do.”

Here’s a suggestion: schedule a Practice Growth Call with Ashley Best. You and she will take a deep dive into your practice growth goals, what’s working and not working in your current efforts, and what’s possible for your practice. Success Academy can certainly be part of that call. 

So, what do dentists need to do in 2020? Focus on doing dentistry and making more money than you might have dreamed possible.

If you think that the economy is the principal driver of your practice’s success, you’re partly right. It’s true that dentists’ incomes overall took a hit during the Great Recession. But not every dentist was impacted equally.

Part of the reason that some dentists continued to prosper while others were hurting is the fact that dentistry is local. Recessions impact small businesses and large industries unequally – people will cut back on dining out when times are rough, but they typically won’t cut back on buying groceries. They’ll keep their internet and/or cable provider even if Netflix or Amazon Prime has to go.

And people aren’t affected equally by an economic downturn. Even during the Great Recession, there was a significant minority of people – 20 to 40 percent – who retained the resources to go fee for service for the dentist, and the dental procedures, they wanted. 

There’s a useful takeaway here that should be part of your 2020 planning.

You Can Make Your Practice “Bulletproof”

When times are tough, people are more concerned about keeping the lights on and having food in the house than they are about getting dental work. That’s why dentists’ incomes declined during the previous downturn; their schedules were emptier, and for the most part they were doing routine exams and drill and fills. 

The dental practices that thrived were the ones who had more patients with discretionary income. Sure, they had some routine cases, but they had more people who wanted veneers, crowns, implants, and other high-value procedures. Since those procedures are worth many times the value of routine dentistry, some dentists did just fine.

Getting more high-value patients allows you to work less and make the same amount or more. If you’re one of the tens of thousands of dentists who race between operatories, that might sound pretty good. Of course, you can also work a little less and make a lot more, and that has to sound good.

That’s what Dr. Michael Kirchner of Indian decided to do. He said, “Since we’ve started with SmartBox, we’ve hired about four or five more staff. We’ve hired another dentist. I think from this time last year we’re up about 25 to 30 percent, and at this point our main issue is having enough space to put folks.

“Overall, what I wanted to do was work less but also to expand the office. I guess overall I’d like to be practicing about three days a week, and then have other doctors come in and work the other days. And so, it’s been a great way to really free up my time.

“My kids are growing up, and it got to the point where I just needed to make a decision to spend more time with them. Switching to SmartBox has really allowed me to do that.”

The Crystal Ball Says, “Meh.”

Nobody can predict with any accuracy exactly when the next economic downturn might occur or had severe it will be. But the time to plan for that inevitable occurrence is now. 

We’ll be happy to show you what’s possible for your practice. Schedule a Practice Growth Call with Ashley Best.