Pain-Free Dentistry, On Purpose: Dr. Mark Skimming on the 80% of Dentistry That Isn't Clinical

In this episode, Dr. Reza Ardalan sits down with Dr. Mark Skimming, the Glasgow-based founder of Pain-Free Dentistry Group and the name that comes up more than any other when other guests on the show are asked about mentoring, coaching, or the business side of dentistry. Dr. Skimming has built a 14-practice independent group across Scotland, fully self-funded, with no bank loans and no private equity, on the back of a systems-first philosophy he learned the hard way.

Most conversations about practice growth focus on the clinical or the financial. This one focuses on the operational glue that makes a multi-site group actually work. If you’ve ever felt like your best clinical work doesn’t always translate into a great patient experience, or if you’ve thought about scaling beyond one location and weren’t sure where to start, this is the conversation worth your hour.

In this Episode

• How to think about the 20/80 split between clinical quality and patient experience, and where most dentists are overinvesting
• Why Dr. Skimming opened a “squat” practice in 2009 instead of buying in, and what the early disaster years taught him about systems
• The partnership model that turns A-player associates into shareholders across an entire group, not just one practice
• How a 14-practice independent group runs without bank loans or private equity, and what “anti-DSO” actually means in operation
• What goes into a 52-point document on ideal behavior, and how it changed the way Pain-Free Dentistry Group hires and promotes
• Why coachability matters more than clinical skill or business sense when Dr. Skimming evaluates a future partner
• How EOS, 90-day goals, and knowing your own Kolbe profile compensate for a founder’s weaknesses
• The reading list that shaped a multi-site group: Traction, Radical Candor, Tribal Leadership, and Dan Sullivan’s strategic-coach work
• What to look for when auditing your own patient journey for the friction points you’ve stopped noticing
• Why Spot On Business Mastery exists, and what kind of dentist actually benefits from coaching at this stage

Dr. Mark Skimming is the founder of Pain-Free Dentistry Group, a 14-practice group based in Scotland with its flagship at Dentistry On The Square in Glasgow. He graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2005, spent his early career in NHS dentistry, and opened his first private practice in 2009 before stepping out of clinical work to focus on group leadership. Dr. Skimming was named Best Young Dentist (Scotland) at the 2012 Dentistry Awards, authored Painlessly Sell Your Dental Practice, and co-runs Spot On Business Mastery, a coaching program for dentists, alongside Andy McDougall. Find the group on Instagram at @painfreedentistrygroup and on X at @PFDgroup.