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_outlineAre you unhappy as a dentist? If so, you are not alone! Many are unhappy in their practices even though our profession is such a beautiful profession! In this episode, I welcome Dr. David Galler, DMD who has transformed thousands of lives through Invisalign and as the leader and instructor of Reingage, a network of thousands of dentists committed to improving the lives of patients through Invisalign and advanced alignment techniques. We discuss how powerful a smile is, how alignment can change lives, some theories on why dentists are unhappy, and how we need to have the proper mindset in our careers.
I always tell other dental practice owners to start your day thinking how and who you can help … We can all improve the lives of our patients by offering them what we know how to do. Alignment can be an integral part of proper treatment for many patients and is something to be valued. In this episode, we delve into what a difference it can make in many people’s lives!
We also discuss how we all, as dentists and practice owners, face many of the same fears and anxieties. For example, we seem to all have the pressure to constantly “do more,” whether that is opening more offices, upgrading to the latest equipment, working to treat more and more patients, or countless other ways that we aren’t ever “doing enough.” It’s time to change that way of thinking! Our feelings come from our thoughts. If we want to be happy, it starts with being aware of what is going on in our minds. This episode can help you change your mindset; listen now to hear some great advice and suggestions to feel good about your work and your practice!
Highlights from this episode:
- Why so many dentists are tired and miserable
- Ways to change your mindset
- The importance and necessity of feeling confident
- Valuing alignment in addition to other treatments needs
- The difference alignment makes in the lives of patients and the power of the smile
- How our brains sift through information we take in and the effects of our thoughts
- The factors that cause our anxieties
- Advice to improve your thinking and your practice
Resources and links mentioned:
- Dr. Galler: American Academy of Clear Aligners
- Dr. Galler’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgaller/
- 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