Part 3 of Systems. Staff. Training. | Your Team Isn’t the Problem. Your Training Might Be.
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
Release Date: 08/31/2026
How to Take Control of the Business Side of Your Dental Practice | Encore
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
In this episode, we tackle one of the most common—and overwhelming—questions new dentists face: “Now what?” After dental school, the clinical foundation is there—but the business side often feels unclear, scattered, and reactive. Many dentists jump from course to course, system to system, trying to fix everything at once. But without a clear starting point and sequence, progress stalls—and frustration builds. We discuss what actually matters first when building the business side of a practice—from leadership and culture to metrics, systems, and accountability....
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Finish the Year Strong: Dental Practice Stats, Missed Opportunities & Fee Reviews
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
As the end of the year approaches, dental practices need to know more than whether production is up or down. Understanding the numbers behind those results can reveal missed opportunities, identify where systems need attention, and help teams take action before December 31. In this bonus episode following their three-part Finish the Year Strong series, Dana and Sandy discuss the practice statistics that help dentists and office managers understand performance and finish the year with greater clarity and control. Sandy explains why production goals need clear ownership, how to track the team...
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Finish the Year Strong: Dental Scheduling, Cancellations & Production Goals
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
As the end of the year approaches, dental practices can't afford to lose production to last-minute cancellations, unfilled appointments, and ineffective scheduling systems. Even a full schedule can fall apart without the right processes and accountability in place. In the final episode of their three-part Finish the Year Strong series, Dana and Sandy discuss how dental practices can protect their schedules, reduce broken appointments, and maximize production opportunities before December 31. Sandy shares her three-day scheduling strategy, explains why one person should be responsible for the...
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Finish the Year Strong: Patient Retention, Collections & Insurance Claims
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
As the end of the year approaches, dental practices have opportunities sitting right in front of them. Overdue hygiene patients, unscheduled appointments, outstanding balances, and unpaid insurance claims can all impact production and profitability. In this episode, Dana and Sandy discuss how dental practices can finish the year strong by improving patient retention, strengthening recare systems, and collecting money they've already earned. Sandy explains why pre-scheduling every hygiene patient may actually contribute to broken appointments, how to build a recare system that works, and why...
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Finish the Year Strong: How Much Dental Production Is Sitting in Your Unscheduled Treatment Report?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
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, patient scheduling, and preparing for 2027. But before looking for new patients or cutting expenses, what if some of your biggest opportunities are already sitting in your practice management software? In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and dental practice management consultant Sandy Pardue discuss how to uncover missed production opportunities, reconnect with patients who haven't scheduled recommended treatment, and...
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Who’s More Important in a Dental Practice: Front Office or Clinical Team?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
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 someone argued that the assistant was more important because she directly contributed to production. So, who is more valuable to the practice? In this episode, Dana and Sandy talk about what really makes someone valuable to a dental practice, what to consider before bringing back a former employee, and why front office vs. back office conflict is often a symptom of a bigger issue. They also discuss why patients can feel...
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Will AI & AEO Recommend Your Dental Practice?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
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 proof may matter more than ever. In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue welcome Grace Rizza, founder and CEO of Identity Dental Marketing, back to the show for a conversation about how AI is changing dental marketing, search visibility, content creation, and the way patients discover and evaluate dental practices. Grace explains why using AI effectively isn't as simple as asking ChatGPT to write a...
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Should We Pay Employees to Show Up?
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
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 attendance be rewarded, or is showing up on time simply part of the job? Sandy shares an attendance incentive she has used in dental practices for years involving ping-pong balls, cash rewards, and one simple qualification: reliability. But the conversation goes much deeper than bonuses. Because an attendance incentive won't fix a practice that hasn't clearly defined its expectations. Dana and Sandy discuss the importance of...
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The Right Patients, the Right Marketing | Grace Rizza
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
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 Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue welcome Grace Rizza, founder and CEO of Identity Dental Marketing, for a conversation about what dental marketing looks like as AI, automation, Google Ads, Meta advertising, and patient expectations continue to change. Grace explains why effective marketing can't be one-size-fits-all. A startup practice looking for patient volume needs a very different strategy than a...
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The Employee Costing Your Dental Practice Its Best People
Dental Drill Bits with Sandy Pardue and Dana Pardue
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. But behind the scenes, they gossip, intimidate coworkers, ignore rules, create drama, or make new employees feel like they’ll never quite belong. In this episode of Dental Drill Bits, Dana Pardue and Sandy Pardue tackle a difficult question: What is that “indispensable” employee actually costing your practice? Dana and Sandy discuss why practice owners often tolerate bad behavior from high performers, how resentment...
info_outlineYou 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 final episode of our Systems. Staff. Training. series, Dana and Sandy tackle the training gap inside dental practices and why expecting employees to “just know” how to do their jobs can be an expensive mistake.
Today’s dental team is expected to do far more than answer phones and schedule appointments. They’re handling insurance conversations, money, patient objections, unscheduled treatment, technology, scheduling, handoffs, and the overall patient experience. Those are sophisticated skills, and they have to be taught, practiced, and reinforced.
Sandy shares why written protocols, role-playing, repetition, and consistent expectations matter, plus the story of one dental assistant who was given the right training and transformed into an exceptional office manager.
They also discuss the overwhelming amount of continuing education available in dentistry. More training isn’t always better. Your CE should align with your practice philosophy, reinforce your systems, address an actual skills gap, and give your team something you’re prepared to implement when you get home.
In This Episode:
- Why “go sit next to Jessica” is not a training program
- The hidden cost of assuming employees “should already know”
- Why training needs written protocols and consistent systems
- How role-playing and repetition build confidence
Key Takeaways:
- Why your hiring process may be costing you great hygienists
- The biggest mistake practices make during hygienist interviews
- Why licensed professionals want to meet the doctor early in the hiring process
- How to remove unnecessary hiring roadblocks and move faster with confidence
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:
📣 Identity Dental Marketing – Strategic, ethical, brand-aligned marketing that works.
📊 Practice by Numbers – A unified platform that brings performance, workflows, and insights into one system—creating accountability without pressure and helping practices make smarter, data-driven decisions.
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