What Dentists REALLY Need to Hear About Mental Health

Tiff and Dana discuss the impacts mental health has on the dental industry, including how to take a step back and re-center yourself, maintaining a positive mindset, setting up a team of delegation and accountability, and more.

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The Dental A Team (00:00)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. I am so excited to be here today with Miss Dana. She is a favorite on the team. Gosh, she is a favorite of so many of our clients. I know so many of you listening have personally worked with Dana and you've gotten to experience the amazing human that she is. We get to hear from you guys constantly. I just, I have to say kudos Dana.

 

You have the biggest raving fans of our company. I just, gosh, I couldn't agree with them more. You seriously changed lives. So I'm excited to be here with you today, Dana. And I'm excited to do this subject with you that we're talking about today, because I just think it's so perfect for where you come into play with your clients. So how are you today, Miss Dana?

 

Dana (00:44)

Doing good, thank you for all that Tiff. As you know, my clients mean the world to me. And so the fact that they give love back is always appreciated.

 

The Dental A Team (00:49)

Yeah.

 

Yeah, yeah, they do. You guys, if you are one of her prized clients or you are about to be and you're a future client, you are in the right hands and she really does have so much, so much love for all of you. So Dana and I are coming off of a whirlwind right now. Like we just spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get in here to record podcasts. You'd think it was our first day on the job, but luckily we have.

 

a non-millennial on our team who knows how to use technology and clear out all the pieces that we needed. So Dana, I feel like it's also appropriate. mean, it leads right into what we're talking about today. I'm like, I've got a little headache like right here now and like, does this happen? And I think Eve calls it difficulties, but I mean, gosh dang it, technology and the world, there's so much going on.

 

constantly, there's so much chaos and it literally led into this subject so well today.

 

Dana (01:55)

Yeah, I

 

always say technology is great when it works. It's super frustrating when it doesn't.

 

The Dental A Team (01:58)

Yes. my

 

gosh. It's so, it's so crazy. So just FYI, know that there's a lot of love and chaos sometimes that goes into recording these podcasts. And we do love what we do. We do love recording them. love seeing them on Instagram when they pop up and listening to what everybody has to say. And I love listening to them on my own.

 

We know there's some huge, huge raving fans out there. So thank you. But it led into today so well. I wanted to take time today to talk about mental health and dentistry. I think it's definitely, I think it's talked about more now than it ever has been because I do think mental health and suicide and all of those, all of those different avenues and pieces are more widely like accepted to be talked about.

 

and more widely known. So I do think that it is talked about more in dentistry and the awareness, you know, they say awareness is key. The awareness is there, but I really, you guys know we get tactical. We get super tactical no matter what we do. And I think that there are some really tactical ways that we can go about mental health and dentistry. And I wanted to take some time with Dana today to really chat through some of that and really look at what can we do?

 

every day to make sure that we are considering our mental health within the career choice, whether you're dentistry or not, whatever career choice you've taken that has led you here to us today. I think this is going to be super beneficial. And I have personally experienced mental health issues in my personal life, in childhood and with my mother and suicide. And it's still here. It's still relevant. It's still

 

It's everywhere. think everyone I know and everyone I come in contact with has had some sort of mental health disturbance touch their lives in some way, whether it's them personally or someone near them, family or friend. And I just, I reach out to all of you guys and I wrap you up in a huge hug because whether it's super personal or gosh, it was, you know, three times removed, but you still heard about it. It still impacts us and it still becomes a part of

 

who we are. sending massive amounts of love out to everyone today and Dana, you are a master at coordinating chaos is what I will call it today. You are a stress and chaos coordinator extraordinaire. And I think that many, many of the spaces of stress that a lot of people deal with, and I think a lot of our clients that we talk to really actually deal with is the stress of

 

Dana (04:22)

you

 

The Dental A Team (04:38)

personal life and work life, the stresses of both sides trying not to take one into the other and trying to create this like ever seeked after work life balance and not understanding that compartmentalizing all of those pieces actually harms us in the end when they really just need to be addressed and they really just need to be, I don't know, divvied out, figured out. But Dana, you have

 

you have a very active personal life and you have a very active work life. You have a lot of clients and a lot of responsibilities and you help me a ton constantly. And how do you, how do you feel on the day to day? Actually, we're going to, we're going to go emotional first and then we'll go super tactical, but how do you feel in your life? Like some days, do you just have days where you're just like, I can't do it anymore. And then other days you're like, dang, I'm totally killing it. Like, what does that look like in your life?

 

Dana (05:34)

Yeah, I mean, I am super blessed in the fact that I feel like I am a person that thrives a little bit more in chaos. I like to stay busy. I like to keep myself talk full. I know that isn't everyone. So for sure, that is a blessing, like just with my personality type and everything that I have going on. But definitely there are days where at the end of the day, I have to

 

take a few minutes and just breathe. I have to prioritize myself and I have to do it very intentionally. I can't just expect it to kind of fall that way. It has to be organized that way for me to be able to keep it consistent. And so just realizing that like years ago as my family continued to grow and I wanted to still have a professional life, I had to be super intentional about...

 

setting aside time for those things, making myself aware when I am starting to feel like I just need a breather and be super intentional on how I build my schedule and how I build out the pieces that are truly important to me.

 

The Dental A Team (06:33)

Yeah, yeah. And you used a really special word to me, intentional. That is something that is drastically more and more important the older I get in life. And intentionality, I think, is huge. Personal intentionality on, like you said, the way that you're spending your time, the things that you're doing, the attention you're giving yourself, the attention you're giving other people, and then the intentionality behind the things that you're doing, I think plays a massive role as well. So thank you for sharing that. I do think

 

One of the reasons that you and I are drawn together in life is the fact that we are both insanely intentional and intentional in reaching out intentional and everything that we do. So that piece for us definitely makes us stick and keeps us sticky to one another. So I appreciate and value that about you. I think within that statement, that intentionality is something that you can pull out tactically. You guys from what Dana is saying is number one, she checks in with herself.

 

Right? You've got to check in with yourself. And I have been listening to this new book and it's amazing, right? We'll talk about it at another time. But something that really struck me there was the idea of upsets in life coming out of a space of lack of control. So us being angry, frustrated, exhausted, tired, upset with how

 

work is flowing into personal life. Like if we really take a step back and we look at it from that bird's eye perspective, we probably can find something within our day or our work life or whatever it is that's quote unquote upsetting us that actually it's something that we feel like we have no control over. within the dental industry and within your guys's positions as owners and doctors and leaders and mentors and all of the hats that you're wearing, a lot of that

 

could really feel like everything's happening to you and like I have to do this and this is, you know, this happened to me today and I can't believe that this happened. But looking at it from a space of how did I allow this not to guilt ourselves, right? Cause that's the opposite of what we want to do here. But to be able to say, okay, could I have said or done something differently that would have led to more control over the out.

 

come up the situation. So for Dana, what you said was the end of the day, sometimes you just need a breather and you're just like, I need to take a step back. That's really, really looking at how can I regain control over my emotions before I step into life with my family so that we're quote unquote, not carrying work with us, but really saying, you know what, I'm going to complete this day. I'm going to complete this workday. I'm going to center myself.

 

and I'm gonna move on with the rest of my day. So you're not, it's almost like you're not carrying things with you because you finished it. And when we carry things, it's because things feel incomplete, or we're still trying to figure out where it is that we're lacking that control. So you take a step back and you say, okay, this is what today looks like. Great, it's done, that's over. It's behind me and I can no longer change anything about it. But what I can do is reset myself.

 

be present and go be with my family or go do my workout by myself, go read a book, go take a bath, go jump through the shower to reset my mind. Like whatever it is that next step you're taking forward, Danim, you've closed the book, finished that chapter on the rest of the day that's behind you, closed that book, and now you're reopening your journal.

 

to like go start the rest of your day. And I think that's really, really cool and actually like super tactical to really almost like now we're positively compartmentalizing, but we're not compartmentalizing to forget about it or not feel the feelings or not finish it. You're compartmentalizing as in like this piece is done. I can no longer change what's happened. All I can do is take the next step forward and then tomorrow.

 

reset myself again and not let it happen to me again, but be like, how can I make life happen instead of letting life happen?

 

Dana (10:42)

Yeah, yeah, you're exactly right. And I think that takes so many different shapes in my day. even I know, you know, yes, I have a lot of clients who I absolutely love, but I have a lot of other responsibilities within the late team, like project time and podcasting and writing newsletters and you know, all sorts of client projects too. And so I have learned that I really have to kind of chunk and compartment my day too, because it's really hard to go from like content pieces into calls then back into content.

 

then into calls again. So I've had to really design my schedule to

 

Even make it more so that like my day can flow and I don't have to flip Mindsets all the time and you know, I've worked with doctors who knew doctors right who started they come in they're doing all the re-cares and they're doing all the restorative and they're and I'm like, hey Let's just make sure right when you can it's it's really hard to jump back and forth into those things So just even even taking compartments of your day in dentistry or your day as a consultant and really looking at how can I keep my mindset

 

with everything that I have to do, how can I keep my mindset and how can I shift in my responsibilities even within work life to be able to have a little bit more control or a little bit more focus.

 

The Dental A Team (11:56)

No, I think that was beautifully beautifully stated and so tactical because there's so many different spaces that you can apply that to. I apply it to my personal life as well. But I think about a doctor going from like a second molar root canal, you're gonna do a second molar root canal first of all, you're nuts, right? Don't do those. anyway, second molar root canal. And then you go from that second molar root canal into a cosmetic consultation.

 

my gosh, one you're exhausted. it's like, when we're done podcasting, I don't know about you, but my brain's exhausted. so knowing that like, we try to schedule these today was not super ideal, but in many facets, but we'll get through it. But we try to schedule them on days when we know it's like where this is just like a content creation day. This is a meeting day. This isn't like a full

 

heavy client day, which I don't think either one of us have super heavy client days today. So it worked out well in that capacity, but you're exactly right. It's really about how can I make the best of what I have for me first? Because if I struggle, I have so many people that struggle with this, and I think this comes down to a mental health space as well. If you're not your best self, if you're not creating a life that works the best for you,

 

It's impossible to create a life that works the best for everyone around you because you can't give anything else. You have to be full, I go crazy on this one. You have to be full in order to be able to give people a piece of you. Otherwise, they're only getting a piece of what's left. so it's so like counterintuitive because we think I'm a people pleaser and I want to give to other people and I want to do for other people.

 

And if I do for me, it's selfish. But realistically, your cup is getting drained constantly. And if you're not refilling that cup, you're only able to give them a piece of what's left of your cup. So if you gave 50 % of your cup today, you do not reset. don't give back to yourself in any way. You wake up tomorrow, maybe a little bit more refreshed, and you've got 60%, we'll say. You left with 50, and you gave yourself 10 % while you slept. So now you come into tomorrow,

 

60 % full and then you give again 50%. You've only got 30 % left and you go to bed, you wake up the next day, maybe not as refreshed, 35 % rather than giving back to yourself and getting yourself up to that like 80 to 100 % refreshed and refueled. Now I can give more to the people around me because I am whole.

 

And so the reality is if you're not ensuring that your whole, that your mental health is a priority for you, you're doing a disservice not only to yourself, but to the people around you. So in turn, you being the people pleaser, you trying to give everything you can to other people and thinking it's selfish to give back to yourself is actually hurting the entire goal. So taking that moment and being like, okay, how can I?

 

take that control, because realistically, that's what it all, it comes down to. And I believe it's okay to be selfish. And I believe it's okay to like control. We all do, it's human nature. Both of those things are human nature. And us trying to battle against that is hurting us as an individual and as a community socially.

 

economically, politically, we are being hurt every day by trying to go against the natural grain of who we are. And so give back to yourself and look at spaces that you can control. You can't control everything. Right, Dana? Like, I can't control where someone schedules something. But what I can control is how I handle that and the system that got us there.

 

to the incorrect scheduling. I can handle that. cannot control and guarantee that everything's gonna be scheduled perfectly every day. What I can control is how I handle it after the fact. And like you said, building that schedule is massive. And then Dana too, I think something you do really well with your clients and newsletters you write and everything is really that delegation tool. So, and you delegate.

 

I know you delegate. delegated some dishes the other day to Senor Brody over there and he rocked it. He killed it and he was in the best mood all day because he got to help. But I know you delegate things at home too. speak to that a little bit too because scheduling is one thing, but I can still say yes to everything and in turn be saying no to a lot of things in the background I didn't realize. But how do you go about delegating and training doctors and teams to delegate to? I think that's a super.

 

another super tactical way that you really help doctors focus on that within their mental health.

 

Dana (16:52)

Yeah, yeah. And I think the key to delegating, which I've had to use even in my personal life, is that very clear expectations of anything that I want someone else to handle. And that is like, what does it look like? When do I want it? How do they do it? And then on the other side of that is you have to train them on those things, and then you have to trust that they can do it and then build an accountability. So how do you know that it is being done? And the easiest way is to have them report

 

up to you. So delegation, you know, becoming a master at that truly is setting clear expectations, training on the things that you expect, and then really trusting and building an accountability with team members. And it's not always the easiest thing. But I think the more we do it, the more we practice it, the more we get feedback from our team.

 

on it the more that we build in systems for ourselves so that things don't fall through the cracks. So anytime we're delegating something, even just popping it on your calendar so that you know when to expect that report up, there are easy pieces that you can put into place that make it super simple to be able to delegate really well.

 

The Dental A Team (17:59)

Yeah, and I think one of the spaces to know what to delegate, right, would be looking at looking at your list of things that you've got your duties. I do this sometimes with my home life, right? I'm like, these are all the things I got to get done. And then I look at it I'm like, what is on here that only I can do? What is on here that someone else could do? Because we've got vacations and trips and we've got all these things we're prepping for, right? So who

 

Who can pack for me? mean, anyone can pack for me, but I'm probably gonna pack my own stuff, right? But when I've got dishes or dinner or laundry that needs to be done or cats that need to be cleaned up after, like what are the pieces even in my personal life that I can delegate out to someone else because maybe I don't have enough time to do all of it, but I can pack and do my own laundry, right? So someone else can help with those other pieces and that's the same thing.

 

We tend to get into this cycle. We tend to get into this cycle, honestly, of thinking that our work life and our personal lives are so drastically different and that relationships are so drastically different. They're not. They just take on a little bit different form. Like a romantic relationship compared to my relationship with Dana. Like I'm communicating with Dana very similarly to how I communicate with Erin, right? But it's going to take on a little bit different of a form. But if I show up for Dana as a different version of myself,

 

I just put on this mask and I'm Dental A Team Tiff. And then I go home and I show up as a different version from my significant other. Somebody's losing and Dana's like, girl, you're crazy. Like, I don't trust you, right? Like, no, trust is built when we are authentic selves. We show up the way we want others to show up and we do the things that empower others to empower ourselves. So we delegate with empowerment. We delegate with trust. delegate with honesty.

 

and vulnerability and sometimes it's okay to say, hey, I'm actually really, really stressed about giving this task off because it's something that I've held near and dear to my heart and I'm super scared it's not going to get done correctly. Not that you can't do it, it's my own fear. I really need you to prove me wrong right now. Like, please help me stress or help me stretch this muscle, help me learn how to do this better and get me over this hurdle.

 

Dana, I said that to you and I asked you to do anything, how on board are you with, heck yeah, let me help Tiff.

 

Dana (20:21)

yeah, 100%. And I think it's I get clients that reach out all the time about things like that. Like, well, how do I say this? Or how do I get them on board? Or how do I and it comes down to just have an open and honest conversation and actually mean what you say, right? And when you can authentically I mean, how exhausting is it to try to be someone to a million different people, right? It's exhausting. And so it really does come down to being willing to communicate being willing to say hard things, even if right, you feel like

 

like

 

it's a it's a reflection on you in some way being able to admit that you're stressed being able to admit that you need help and being able to admit that you've got a fear of letting something go. That's huge in building buy in for that team member because team members, dentists Trust me when I say this team members don't want to let you down, right? They want to do a good job. They want to help grow your business. They want those things I like it is very rare for me to come

 

across a team member who just doesn't care. And so being able to have that conversation with those team members are absolutely going to step up.

 

The Dental A Team (21:21)

Okay.

 

Yeah. that was beautiful, I totally agree. And I hope you guys like took that to heart because everything Dana just said is a hundred percent true. We've lived this. Like I had the incredible experience of working with a really, really fantastic human for a lot of my career. And he gave me the kudos and the accolades and I was his right man, right hand man, right? I did everything, but it got to the point where I almost didn't, I didn't want other people to be able to do things because that was my title.

 

And so he did really well, right, at creating a human that he could, I could, I would do anything for that man. And I still would, like he didn't do it maliciously. But what it did was it created in me, I allowed it to create in me this fear of losing that special space or that the accolades of losing that title. And so I would harbor everything for myself and I'd say, it's fine, I'll just get it done. I'll get it done.

 

until I was overflowing and I was stressed out and I woke up one day and I remember waking up that day and I remember being like, I am angry every day when I wake up and that's not who I am. I live in rainbows, unicorns and literally like, I literally ate sprinkles on whipped cream last night. Like my family thinks I'm crazy, I love sprinkles. That's my life. When I wake up angry every day for long enough for me to wake up and be like, what is wrong?

 

I'm angry, I'm exhausted, I'm tired, I don't want to do anything. I just want to lay around. It's just not who I am. And so when you wake up and you think, who am I today? And if it doesn't resonate close to who you want to show up as and who you want to ultimately be in the world for yourself and other people, probably take a look at what's going on. And for me, what was going on was I wasn't delegating.

 

I was keeping everything to myself because I wanted the kudos for it. Or I was honestly, I wasn't even that scared that somebody else couldn't do it. I just wanted to do it. And so I kept everything. said yes to everything. And I started to become a person I didn't like anymore. And I had to really take a look at it. I had to take a look at my team. My team hated me. They, you know, they didn't, I didn't empower them. It was a team of like check-listers. They're just going to do their checklist. They're going to go home afterwards.

 

They weren't invested. weren't bought in. They weren't bought into me for sure. And it sucked. And I was like, I have to carry the load. I didn't have to carry the load. I just had to let some of it go. I had to ask for help. I had to pass out the oars because I was there with my one or like spinning in circles, wondering why no one was helping when I was clearly drowning. And really I had, it was like I was, I had a, you know, a bundle of oars on my back that I was like locked into. They were

 

They were chained to me and I had my one or going, why isn't anyone picking up an or and helping because I had them all. So I had to like unlock it, pass out the oars and allow people the opportunity to help steer the ship instead of me doing everything. And my mental health took a complete 180 that day. Like it, it was incredible. And so I want you guys to take notes from what Dana is saying here. Like take inventory, look at where you.

 

Where are you feeling out of control? Where are you feeling upset? Where are you feeling like this is just too much? And can you, like Dana said, create a schedule that works for you, personal and work. You know what, doctors? Go create a schedule of what you want your day to look like. If you want to do a root canal at 7 a.m. and not 4 p.m., then do a root canal at 7 a.m. and not 4. If you don't want to do root canals, then stop doing root canals. Do whatever you want it to look like. And when you have questions, write in. Dana's here.

 

Dana helps answer. We all help answer those. [email protected]. We're happy to help you. So take a look. Where in your schedule can you clear out some of the muck? What can you do to, like she said, compartmentalize your schedule? Let's build it to flow for you. And then like Dana said, what are you doing that you don't have to do? What are you doing that you can delegate out to someone? Trust them, empower them, and speak from your heart with vulnerability.

 

speaking from your heart will be vulnerable every time. And when they know that you're coming from a place of love, they're gonna love you right back. And guess what, if they don't, Dana, what do we do with those people?

 

Dana (25:52)

We're not meant to be.

 

The Dental A Team (25:54)

Bye bye. They're not meant to be and they're

 

not gonna stick around. You don't even have to do it. They're gonna be like, this is weird and like, I don't really want to do this. So I'm gonna find a new job. And it's like, great. That's awesome. Because now I know why I was overloaded with too much stuff. Because I didn't have the support of someone here with me. So fantastic. Open up that space for me to find someone who can support me on this journey. You are not meant for everyone and everyone's not meant for us. So Dana, tacticals, schedule.

 

Go build your schedule. Make a list of all the crap that you've got on your plate and start looking at what do you have to do versus what can someone else do for you. I also like what do I get to do. Yeah, I agree.

 

Dana (26:34)

And I think first, take off the things you don't like doing to right? Like,

 

those are the first things I get rid of, you know, that question where they're like, Hey, would you rather have like a professional chef or hands down, somebody can clean my house. I hate doing that, right? So if there is something you don't like doing, take that off your plate instantly if you can.

 

The Dental A Team (26:41)

Agreed.

 

I agree.

 

That's fair. That's

 

fair. I have a friend who loves cleaning baseboards and I'm like, you're crazy. You're psychotic. That's weird. She won't cook a meal. She can't cook a meal to save her life, but she will clean all the baseboards once a week. Nobody's looking at those. I don't think people even have them anymore for that reason. They suck. Anyways, take off the things you don't want to do. Personal and professional. Take off the things you don't want to do. think that's brilliant. Build a schedule.

 

Build a list of the things that you want to do. What do you get to do every day? What do you get to wake up and do every single day that only you can do? And then delegate with honesty, with trust and vulnerability. You guys, mental health is serious and our company fully believes in that. I think there are many podcasts. There are many platforms. Kira and I have spoken out on suicide, mental health awareness, all of those things. They have touched both of us very personally.

 

This company believes in mental health. If you're in a space that you're like, I think I might be there where I need to just talk to someone. You just want to talk. Call us. There's a phone number on our website. Write in. Schedule a call. I don't care. [email protected]. Find us on Instagram. We're all on there. You're going to find us. Dental A Team is on there. We're all there. Come find us. Let us be the support.

 

that's going to get you to that next level. Even if it's simply, I've watched Dana do this for so many clients saying, you know what, you can delegate. Sometimes Dana gets to just be the cheerleader behind the person. It's not extravagant. It's not always grandiose. Sometimes it's just saying, yeah, you've got this. Dana, thank you so much for taking this journey with me. This is one of my favorite platforms to speak about and platforms to speak on. So thank you for being here with me today.

 

Dana (28:44)

Yeah, thanks.

 

The Dental A Team (28:45)

All right,

 

listeners, you know what to do. Drop us a five star review because you know this one was amazing. You can't deny that. And just tell us, tell us pieces that really hit home for you and any ideas you guys have on expanding on this, leave it in the review. You guys, people do read those reviews and it's a very easy space for you to speak on this platform as well. think it's super cool to be able to do that. [email protected] and we'll catch you next time.