Episode 29
29: Letting Your Dental Practice be the Source of Your “Happiness” and Not Your “Happy Mess” - Dr. Leonard Hess
Dentistry is one of the best professions in the world, and it is up to the dentist to choose what type of practice they are going to have. Whether you are a new dentist just starting out or an established dentist who wants to get a handle on the way your practice is run, this is the episode for you.
Dr. Leonard Hess is a restorative dentist in Monroe, North Carolina and a senior faculty member of The Dawson Academy. Dr. Hess has a passion for dentistry and controlling his own destiny as a dentist. We talk about how dental school is a starting point and the importance of continued education, how to make your practice work for you instead of working for your practice, and how to get the most out of this extraordinary career journey.
You can find Leonard here:
Show Notes
[02:54] Dr. Hess is a restorative dentists in Monroe, North Carolina.
[03:18] He is a restorative dentist who has been in practice for 18 years.
[03:38] Dr. Hess doesn't feel that there are a lot of professions out there where at the end of the day you get to say that you change people's live, but dentistry is one of those professions.
[04:08] When Dr. Hess was in dental school, he lived next door to the ADA and got to see a lot of speakers in dentistry. One thing he noticed was that what these speakers were talking about had nothing to do with dental school.
[05:06] He realized that when he graduated, he needed to learn what these speakers were doing.
[05:11] Right out of dental school he started taking some expensive and lengthy continuums to try and improve his clinical skills. This is where he met Dr. John Cranham.
[05:45] Dr. Hess played Carnegie Hall when he was 17 years old.
[06:36] He started lecturing and teaching in 2005.
[06:45] Then he became an associate faculty member at the Dawson Academy. In 2011, he became a senior faculty member.
[07:07] It's amazing how Peter Dawson is still relevant at 87 years old. It's a real pleasure and privilege to learn from him.
[08:13] Letting your practice be the source of your happiness.
[08:23] A lot of dentists get into the trap of having a happy mess which is a chaotic out-of-control life.
[09:26] How comparison is a thief of joy.
[09:59] BRULES: Bullcrap rules that are sometimes imposed on us. These can control and govern our lives and keep us from making the best decisions that we can make.
[10:49] There are a lot of BRULES in dentistry that are holding us back.
[11:38] Creating assets versus creating liabilities.
[12:19] Dental school prepares you at a minimal competency level. You still need continuing education.
[12:57] Students are coming out of dental school with stifling debt.
[14:41] How the Dawson Academy has a lot to offer. You come out of it even thinking differently.
[15:22] Change your thinking change your life. Where do you start with the reprogramming?
[16:45] Think of things as assets instead of liabilities.
[17:09] Your patient relationship is one of the most wonderful assets in the world.
[20:23] How it's important not to be attached to the outcomes. The three C's.Concern, compassion, and care.
[21:08] How the insurance industry is dictating the standard of care in dentistry which makes it awful.
[21:31] Dental insurance has wrecked the industry. A dentist's job is to take the time to explain to patients what dental insurance really is.
[24:04] Most patients haven't had anyone take the time to express concern about what is going on with their oral health.
[24:58] When the patient says no, it just means that they may say yes somewhere down the road.
[26:42] You have to be good at explaining long-term implications to patients.
[29:17] Having more wins than losses brings joy.
[29:56] How sometimes people feel inside that they aren't good enough. Watch out for the all be happy whens and constantly chasing things.
[31:09] Find happiness in where you are in the process right now.
[32:01] When you're a confident and happy dentist, patients are attracted to you.
[33:23] You have to enjoy the training because the race is the reward.
[35:13] Staff members need to understand the value of what it is that you are learning.
[37:17] Start treating patients in a complete care way by doing a complete examination.
[42:06] The ideal way to grow your practice is through internal referrals.
[42:44] Word-of-mouth referrals are great patients who are ready to do treatment because they already trust you.
[43:19] In a complete care practice you only need about 8-10 new patients a month to maintain your steam.
[43:58] Dr. Hess's website is an example of an amazing website.
[44:21] Seeing as many patients as possible can make you successful in getting burned out.
[45:31] Be sure that you are working to live not living to work.
[46:03] Our goal is to see how much good we can do for the patients that we see.
[47:35] Never say you have it all figured out. Stay on the path of always learning.
[47:53] If you haven't been to any Dawson courses checkout seminar one.
[48:18] This will set the framework to start opening your eyes.
[49:34] Don't take too much time in between classes or else you will lose momentum. The curriculum builds on itself incrementally.
[50:21] at Dawson, we teach you how to diagnose correctly so you can prevent people from becoming big cases.
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