The Dental Culture Con With Karese Laguerre and Chris “Love” Williams
Release Date: 04/20/2023
The Power of Coaching: A Rural Dentist's Path to Personal and Professional Growth
Love Your Practice
In today's episode, we have a special guest - Dr. Kaitlin Haag, a general dentist and practice owner from rural Nebraska. Dr. Haag shares her remarkable journey from being a student in the Rural Health Opportunities Program to unexpectedly becoming a 50% owner of a dental practice right out of school. She openly discusses the challenges that came with taking on significant responsibility early in her career, from managing substantial loans to dealing with the departure of senior partners who were expected to provide mentorship. Despite the obstacles, Dr. Haag found ways to keep her work...
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Breaking Barriers: Drs. Laura and Erin's Journey as Female Leaders in Dentistry
Love Your Practice
Welcome to another episode of Love Your Practice. I'm your host, Dr. Laura Mach. In today's episode, I'm thrilled to welcome back a very special guest and dear friend, Dr. Erin Sheffield. Erin and I go way back, having known each other for nearly 20 years. Our paths first crossed when I started a Yahoo group for pre-dental Mormon women, seeking to connect with like-minded individuals. Erin's leadership skills shone through early on as when she was the President of the Women in Dentistry Club at BYU. Recognizing her potential, I encouraged her to apply to the University of Iowa Dental...
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Spit Happens: How Salivary Testing is Changing Dentistry Forever
Love Your Practice
In this podcast episode, I welcome Sarah Mueller, a dental hygienist with a unique career path, now working with Swish Bio on salivary testing. Sarah shares her journey from clinical practice to leadership roles and emphasizes the transformative potential of salivary testing in dentistry. She explains how this testing identifies specific pathogens, allowing for tailored patient care. Our discussion covers the challenges of implementing new technologies in dental practices and the importance of adaptability and strong leadership. Sarah also highlights educational initiatives and onboarding...
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From Pain to Purpose: How One Dentist Found Joy Beyond the Drill
Love Your Practice
In this episode of "Love Your Practice," I interview Dr. Jennifer Stafford, a seasoned dentist specializing in TMJ, orthodontics, and sleep-related issues. Dr. Stafford shares her journey from general dentistry to her current specialties, driven by her personal experiences with migraines. She emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and mentorship. The episode also delves into the transformative power of coaching, highlighting how it helped Dr. Stafford shift her mindset, overcome feelings of inadequacy, and find greater fulfillment in her work. Our discussion underscores...
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Breaking Barriers: Dr. Cori Morris's Unconventional Path to Dentistry
Love Your Practice
In this podcast episode, I chat with Dr. Cori Morris about her unique path to becoming a dentist and her experiences running her own dental practice. Dr. Morris talks about how she made the switch from teaching to dentistry, motivated by a desire to help her husband with humanitarian dental work. Even though she faced some skepticism and challenges along the way, she managed to finish dental school and get her own practice. Dr. Morris opens up about the difficulties of taking over an outdated practice, the need to modernize the space, and how crucial it is to be confident in treatment...
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Hygienists as Partners in Oral Health: Lessons from Brandi Hooker Evans
Love Your Practice
I'm thrilled to share the latest insights from the Love Your Practice podcast featuring a captivating discussion between myself and Brandi Hooker Evans. In this episode, we explored the essential aspects of elevating oral health care through a patient-focused and teamwork-oriented approach. Brandi and I highlighted the importance of building strong relationships with patients in dental practice and the crucial role of hygienists in understanding and supporting patients' needs. We also delved into the potential consequences of patients making uninformed decisions about their oral health and the...
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Leadership and Communicating Effectively with Team Members
Love Your Practice
Are you struggling to make important decisions to move your practice forward? This happens to all of us, and my guest on this episode, Dr. Seema Amin, opens up about her doubts and struggles with making necessary staffing changes in a timely manner. Dr. Amin has practiced dentistry for 26 years, starting in an associateship and then buying her own practice in 2011. She discusses her transition to practice owner and the challenges of moving into the “employer” side of managing the business, making decisions on her own, and managing people. Buying her dental practice, Dr. Amin was scared but...
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Avoiding Burnout and Making Changes With Dr. Laura Brenner
Love Your Practice
As female dental practice owners, we love helping others and putting others first. However, we often forget that we also need to set boundaries and take care of ourselves so we can serve our employees and patients in beneficial ways. In this episode, I welcome Dr. Laura Brenner who helps dental practice owners recognize what burnout looks like and make important decisions regarding continuing on their journey as a dental practice owner … or not. As dental practice owners, we often create and carry great levels of stress which can lead to burnout! We sometimes compromise how we want to serve...
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The Mental Stress of Owning A Dental Practice
Love Your Practice
Is your brain giving you a hard time? Is it telling you something is dangerous that really is not dangerous? If so, know that this happens to the best of us! In this episode, I look at some of my struggles as a dental practice owner of 15 years and discuss how coaching can help all of us who are female dental practice owners. We all have many elements of our work lives that can cause stress. And our brains often feed into that stress and can cause us to spiral into worrying about things that, in reality, we may not need to be stressing over. This is natural because human brains have evolved...
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Exploring Endodontic Education with Dr. Sonia Chopra
Love Your Practice
When you went through dental school, did you have much training in endodontics? If you’re like most of us, you probably didn’t, and my guest today is on a mission to change that! Sonia Chopra, DDS became a board-certified endodontist as a result of her own personal dental experience and healing process. She is a TEDx speaker, Forbes contributor, and founder of Ballantyne Endodontics in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this episode, Dr. Chopra shares details of her path to endodontics and passion to improve endodontic education within dentistry. Her mission of “helping dentists fully...
info_outlineDo you feel as though your dental practice is not only recognizing but also celebrating diversity? For a closer look at this vital topic, I welcome experienced dental practitioners Karese Laguerre, RDH, and Chris “Love” Williams, RDH, to this episode. Both feel as though diversity is missing from our industry and are organizing an amazing experience for all to learn more about this topic. In this episode, we delve into diversity, equity, and inclusion within our workplace and patient culture.
Karese is a Myofunctional Therapist, author, and founder of The Myo Spot, a practice through which she uses teletherapy to help clients overcome tongue ties, TMJ disorders, sleep apnea, grinding, anxiety, and various breathing and orofacial dysfunction. Chris "Love" Williams is a United States Air Force combat veteran turned dental hygienist, entrepreneur, speaker, and life coach. As an accomplished professional and motivational speaker, Chris inspires audiences with his unique perspective and infectious enthusiasm and has a personal mission to impact 1 million people. Together, Karese and Chris share a passion for celebrating diversity and have co-founded The Dental Culture Con, an interactive virtual conference that will be happening June 15 -17, 2023.
“There is a person attached to these teeth” is a saying that Karese likes to say, and this is so true as we show understanding and empathy to the various populations we serve within our dental practices. It is important to celebrate the differences that people have. Within our industry, patients are more likely to show up to their appointments and respect our dental practices when we respect them as humans.
Chris says they are working to promote the “peaceful harmony of connectedness” that people genuinely want to feel. Regarding the conference he says, “The goal is for people to know how to connect with others who are different.” As dental practice owners, it is important to create offices that are inviting to all. As we advertise, showing diversity demonstrates our welcomeness to all within our communities. And this applies to staffing as well, as we work to create environments that retain our current staff and attract new, diverse team members. It’s important to include and represent everyone and celebrate them in the best way possible.
Are you ready to learn more about celebrating our differences and all the ways those appear in our lives? If you think culture is important to your business and your life, you are invited to attend The Dental Culture Con! Listen to this episode for more information about the event and a greater understanding of diversity and how it can impact our dental practices!
Highlights from this episode:
- Why it is important for dental practice owners to pay attention to diversity
- In a time where there are employee shortages in our industry, the need to build a culture where people are celebrated because they are different
- Ways to communicate welcomeness to our practices
- How culture will be discussed in the upcoming conference and how to build it within your practice
- Bringing the five love languages into our practices and getting the most from our employees
- The importance of recognizing why people enter dentistry
Resources and links mentioned:
- Event website: Dentalcuturecon.com
- Karese’s book: Accomplished: How to Sleep Better, Eliminate Burnout and Execute Goals
- Watch Laura's podcasts on YouTube: Love Your Practice!
- Laura’s email: [email protected]
- Laura’s website: LoveYourPractice.net
- Laura’s podcast: Love Your Practice!
- Laura’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drlauramach
- Laura’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drlauramachdds/?hl=en
To get my FREE class Love Your Employees, text Loveyouremployees (all one word) to 66866
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Thank you so much for tuning in to this podcast! I would love it if you would share it with others and leave a review for others to see!
~ Laura