This month, dental professionals spoke with Becker’s about leadership, economic challenges, workforce shortages and more.
Here is what seven dental professionals told us in June:
The decisions dental leaders can’t afford to get wrong
Hamza Asumah, MD. Director, Operations of Juniper Services (Sparks, Nev.): The one decision dental leaders cannot afford to get wrong in the next year is whether to treat workforce development as an HR function or as a core operational strategy. We are in a structural staffing crisis — not a cycle. The ADA’s own data confirm that only 60% of dentists report adequate hygiene staffing, with 91% of those actively recruiting rating it as very or extremely challenging — and this has persisted unchanged for three years despite record enrollment in dental hygiene programs. That tells us the pipeline is not the answer. The answer is retention architecture: structured career ladders that give clinical and administrative team members a visible future inside your organization, not just a paycheck. I’ve seen firsthand that the practices with the lowest turnover are not always the ones paying the most — they’re the ones where people can see where they’re going. The leaders who build that infrastructure now will not only protect their margins; they’ll build something that becomes a genuine competitive moat as the talent market continues to tighten.
Why DSOs may be in for more economic trouble
Ian Mcnickle. Co-Founder and CEO of Icon Dental Partners (Camas, Wash.): A lot of groups are in trouble because they’re pretty over leveraged. It’s interesting when interest rates are low and debt’s cheap, and people are just buying practices right and left. That was what happened obviously pre-COVID, and even a little bit during the early stages of it. Those days are kind of — I don’t know if they’re gone, but they’re certainly on hold, and so it’s forced a healthy refocusing on balance sheets to get that debt under control to focus on organic growth and operations. I think the most effective dental leaders are going to have to get really good and dialed in at operating their practices as a business, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. We are all about clinical autonomy. Our doctors have full control over their clinical decisions and labs and supplies and whatnot, but you can have your cake and eat it too. You can run a very effective and efficient practice while delivering great healthcare to your patients and having a good culture for your team. They’re not mutually exclusive. So, to me, that’s where you’re going to have to be really dialed in — running efficiently, don’t have a ton of debt and figure out how to grow organically. I think if you can do that, you’ll be in pretty good shape.
1 year since HR 1: How the federal bill is upending oral healthcare
Wade Rakes. CEO of the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health: I am worried that this could be worse than we expect. I am worried because the system is so different based on where you live that you’re going to see a high level of disparity, so it’s going to be important for us to look at this at the state level, not just at the national aggregate level. I have significant concerns that you’ve raised already around rural health and what it means to the network because once you begin to modify these programs, the delivery system of clinicians, dentists, hygienists, dental therapists — in many cases they leave the network, and even when the systems may get funding back, or even when times may get better, they don’t come back into the system. What it does is it has a long tail of impact on the access to care for individuals in the long term, so what worries me is that it could be worse.
Krista Kappus, DDS. Dentist at Fitch Mountain Dental (Healdsburg, Calif.): Dentistry continues to operate largely outside the broader healthcare system, a consequence of historical decisions to maintain separation from medicine. While physicians increasingly practice within integrated systems that provide shared call schedules, administrative support and coordinated patient care, dentists are often expected to shoulder every responsibility themselves. This separation has also contributed to outdated dental insurance models. Annual maximums have remained largely unchanged for decades despite dramatic increases in treatment costs, staffing expenses, technology investments and inflation. Nonprofit dental insurance companies have been turning larger and larger profits while patients are left wondering why their benefits cover so little. Dentists are forced to navigate a system that no longer reflects the realities of modern healthcare.
Buy, join or partner? Dentists’ advice for new grads
Mark Harris, DDS. Owner of Mark E. Harris D.D.S. (Riverside, Calif.): If only the question were that simple. The dental student should sit down and look at what their ultimate outcome is. They should break things up into one-year, five-year, 10-year and 30-year windows. They need to prioritize a number of things that will determine which route is right for them.
Do they want to live in a metropolitan area? Suburbs? Underserved area? How much freedom do they want to prescribe the exact care they were taught? Will they be OK with a business person making treatment plans? Do they want to work 40 hours a week or do they want to work part-time and never have to work weekends? Do they want to make more money on the front end of their career versus building equity value in a business? Do they need to provide healthcare benefits for themself and family? These answers will be different for every dentist.
The critical skills dental CEOs need to succeed
Phil Cassis. Co-Founder and CEO of Providence Dental Partners (Atlanta): In today’s rapidly evolving dental industry, emotional intelligence and adaptability have become the two most critical skills for CEOs of DSOs. Emotional intelligence enables leaders to build trust, navigate difficult conversations, inspire teams and maintain alignment across diverse groups of clinicians and support staff. Equally important is the ability to embrace and lead change as market conditions, technology, reimbursement models and workforce dynamics continue to evolve at an unprecedented pace. CEOs who can effectively connect with people while continuously adapting their organizations are best positioned to drive sustainable growth and long-term success.
Student debt rewrites oral surgery succession plans
Brian Lawson. Senior Vice President of Business Development at MAX Surgical Specialty Management (Hackensack, N.J.): The younger surgeons coming out of residency or fellowship have different priorities than surgeons had 20 or 30 years ago. They’re coming out with a lot more student debt, and so they often don’t really even have the financial ability to go get another loan to purchase a practice. That makes it just much more unrealistic to find someone to come in and step in. Secondly, I think younger surgeons are a little bit more attracted to opportunities where they can go in, work, see patients, get a paycheck and then clock out at night. When you’re the owner of a practice, you really don’t have that luxury in a true private practice. It’s much more of a 24/7 type of job that isn’t as appealing to young surgeons, as that may have been before. That’s making it a little bit more difficult to find someone to just come in and take the baton.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Future of Dentistry Roundtable, taking place September 14-15 in Chicago, dental leaders and executives will gain insights into emerging technologies, practice growth strategies and the evolving landscape of dental care delivery, with a focus on innovation, patient experience and operational excellence. Apply for complimentary registration now.
