Dental Drills Bits

Finish the Year Strong: Patient Retention, Collections & Insurance Claims

As the end of the year approaches, dental practices have opportunities sitting right in front of them. Overdue hygiene patients, unscheduled appointments, outstanding bal

How Much Dental Production Is Sitting in Your Unscheduled Treatment Report?

Could your dental practice be sitting on thousands of dollars in unscheduled treatment? As 2026 comes to a close, dental practices are focused on production goals, pati

Who's More Important in a Dental Practice: Front Office or Clinical Team?

A Dentaltown post started a bigger conversation: A dentist wanted to bring back a former dental assistant, but a current front office employee didn't want her back. Then

Will AI & AEO Recommend Your Dental Practice?

AI is changing how patients search for dentists, but simply creating more content isn't enough. As AI-generated content floods the internet, credibility, expertise, and p

Should We Pay Employees to Show Up?

What if employees got a bonus simply for showing up? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana and Sandy tackle a surprisingly controversial question: Should reliable

The Right Patients, the Right Marketing | Grace Rizza

Getting more dental leads isn't always the answer. The real goal is attracting the right patients and giving them a reason to choose your practice. In this episode of D

The Employee Costing Your Dental Practice Its Best People

Every dental practice has probably had one. They're great at their job. Patients love them. They've been there forever. Maybe they even make the doctor's life easier.

Part 3 of Systems. Staff. Training. | Your Team Isn't the Problem. Your Training Might Be.

You hired good people. You gave them a job description. Maybe you even told them to "go sit next to Jessica" for a few days. But did you actually train them? In the f

AI, Accountability & the Opportunities Hiding in Your Dental Practice | Cory Pinegar of REACH, Part 2

Technology can help your dental practice do more—but it shouldn't replace the human experience that keeps patients coming back. In Part 2 of our conversation with Cory

Rethinking Dental Staffing: People, Technology & Creating Capacity | Cory Pinegar of REACH, Part 1

What if your staffing problem isn't simply about finding more people? In Part 1 of this special two-part Dental Drill Bits conversation, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue si

Part 2B of Systems. Staff. Training. | What Is Your Staffing Problem Really Costing You?

What does your staff really cost your dental practice? The answer goes far beyond payroll. In the Staff portion of our Systems. Staff. Training. series, Sandy and Dana

Part 2A of Systems. Staff. Training. | What Is Your Staffing Problem Really Costing You?

What does your staff really cost your dental practice? The answer goes far beyond payroll. In the Staff portion of our Systems. Staff. Training. series, Sandy and Dana

Part 1 of Systems. Staff. Training. | The Systems Problem You Didn't Know You Had

Every dental practice has systems—whether they're written down or not. In Part One of our special three-part series honoring Dr. Robert Westerman's 90th birthday, Sandy

Sucktember Starts Long Before September

September has earned a bad reputation in dentistry, but is "Sucktember" really the problem? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Sandy and Dana Pardue challenge the id

How Your Hiring Process Is Costing You Hygienists

Finding a great hygienist is difficult enough in today's market. The last thing your practice needs is a hiring process that unintentionally drives qualified candidates a

Are You Teaching Your Team Not to Think?

Episode Description Every dental practice wants employees who take ownership, solve problems, and think independently. But what if the biggest obstacle isn't your team—it

The Million-Dollar Follow-Up Problem

Every day, patients leave dental practices knowing they need treatment... yet many never schedule. The result? Health problems worsen, patients disappear, and practices u

Navigating No-Shows

Are broken appointments disrupting the flow of your dental practice and impacting your bottom line? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Michael and Sandy dive deep in

You Don't Have a Staffing Problem

Why do so many dental practices struggle with staffing, accountability, and turnover? According to Sandy Pardue, the issue may not be the team at all — it may be leadersh

The Hygiene Hiring Crisis

Most hiring conversations in dentistry start with the wrong question. "Do people even want to work anymore?" But today's workforce trends tell a different story. Em