Author: Darren Kaberna

One of my greatest pleasures in life has been that of a coach. Whether on sports teams or within the dental industry it is something that constantly stretches me to grow so I can be more effective in coaching others. Often, we can enter a scarcity mindset causing us to act out in a sometimes irrational or primal manner also known as fight or flight but I believe there is one other reaction we don’t talk about which I call freeze.

You know that experience when your heart rate increases, your palms get sweaty, and as much as you would like to move or speak or do something you feel like a deer in headlights? It is as if the bottom of your shoes and your entire body have somehow been superglued together and you just cannot react; this is frozen or what we call stuck. When fear paralyzes us or those we care for it spreads like a cancer and can often cause more destruction than when we act. So, the question becomes how do you know when you are frozen and how can you get unstuck?

With an AMP Dental Coach, we are your first line of defense teaching you through state management how to identify triggers, change behavior, and create your desired outcome. I won’t blow smoke and tell you it is easy. While it is simple and produces profound results, you get what you put into our time together. My favorite thing about being coached by our CEO, Darren Kaberna, and in coaching others is the expectation to be coached through truth, love, and restored hope to change. We teach our Doctors and in turn they teach their teams how to work through scarcity mindset, break old stories and habits, and create the life they truly desire.

When they get stuck we coach through the pain to get to the other side; hence we were take the approach as a dental coach versus a dental consultant. What I want to leave you with in reading this is the understanding that your coach will always fight for you but not without you. Show up, step up, and be ready to work. If you truly want to change your life, change your business, and change your relationships then get ready to have a life and business coach who “honks” the horn when you go deer in headlights frozen. We love our clients and the transformations they share with us help us see them and one another through any challenging coaching situation. Don’t believe we can? Then call us and try; that is, if you want to get unstuck.

Back in October Jeff Haden wrote an article on how what you do can make you extremely likeable, but so can what you don’t choose to do. When you sit down and look at your personal and professional life, your life at home vs your life in the dental practice are you paying attention to what it is that you do that make people like or dislike you?

Jeff Haden says that there are 10 key things that likeable people never EVER do and why you love them for it.  While you’re reading this article think about each of these things as they may or may not pertain to your life. In order to be a good leader in your practice, you need to be able to lead yourself down a healthy and happy path! Let’s see how you do…

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1. They don’t blame.

Taking responsibility when things go wrong instead of blaming others isn’t masochistic; it’s empowering, because then you focus on doing things better or smarter next time.

And when you get better or smarter, you also get happier.

2. They don’t control.
Control is short term at best, because it often requires force, or fear, or authority, or some form of pressure–none of those let you feel good about yourself.

Find people who want to go where you’re going. They’ll work harder, have more fun, and create better business and personal relationships.

And all of you will be happier.

3. They don’t try to impress.
Genuine relationships make you happier, and you’ll form genuine relationships only when you stop trying to impress and start trying to just be yourself.

4. They don’t cling.
Holding on to what you think you need won’t make you happier; letting go so you can reach for and try to earn what you want will.

Even if you don’t succeed in earning what you want, the act of trying alone will make you feel better about yourself.

5. They don’t interrupt.
Want people to like you? Listen to what they say. Focus on what they say. Ask questions to make sure you understand what they say.

They’ll love you for it — and you’ll love how that makes you feel.

6. They don’t whine.
Don’t talk about what’s wrong. Talk about how you’ll make things better, even if that conversation is only with yourself.

And do the same with your friends or colleagues. Don’t be just the shoulder they cry on.

Friends don’t let friends whine. Friends help friends make their lives better.

7. They don’t criticize.
Everyone is different: not better, not worse, just different. Appreciate the differences instead of the shortcomings and you’ll see people — and yourself — in a better light.

8. They don’t preach.
Likable people listen. They already know what they think — they want to know what you think.

9. They don’t live in the past.
The past is just training; it doesn’t define you. Think about what went wrong, but only in terms of how you will make sure that, next time, you and the people around you will know how to make sure it goes right.

10. They don’t let fear hold them back.
Don’t let your fears hold you back. Whatever you’ve been planning, whatever you’ve imagined, whatever you’ve dreamed of, get started on it today. ___ “

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Inc. 10 Things Incredibly Likeable People Never, Ever Do (and Why You Love Them For It). Oct 2017. Jeff Haden. Inc. https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-things-incredibly-likable-people-never-ever-do-why-you-love-them-for-it.html

Nutritional counseling plays an essential role in dentistry and in the overall health of our patients. There is an unquestionable relationship between dietary factors, dental caries, and the correlation of multiple health problems, including diabetes and heart disease. It is our responsibility as excellent clinicians to educate all of our patients on how a healthy diet is not only is good for our body but can also help to preserve our teeth for a lifetime. Nutritional counseling is a crucial component to the practice of dentistry and should focus on reducing oral risks from diet and promoting good nutrition for health. It can be defined as a combined approach between patients and health care providers geared at encouraging patients to adopt healthy dietary behaviors paralleled with improved health outcomes.

We need to first teach our patients how and why dental caries form. In order to help them understand this, we initially need to discuss plaque, the first phase of dental decay involves plaque formation. Plaque is made up of bacteria naturally occurring in the mouth, food particles and saliva. It is a very sticky film that covers the teeth and can only be removed by mechanical means, brushing and flossing. Some strains of naturally occurring bacteria in your mouth are called strep mutans and lactobacilli, these thrive when we consume food and drinks that contain sugar. When sugars aren’t cleaned off of your teeth properly, these bacteria feed on them and produce an acid. The acid then eats away at tooth enamel leading to the formation of a cavity.

After the patient has a clear understanding of how dental caries are formed, it will be much easier for them to understand why a healthy diet in order to maintain not only their oral health, but the overall health of their body is important. As dental professionals, we always need to keep in mind our patient’s cultural influence, education, current health status, and any financial restrictions that may hinder the food selection or cause frustration for the patient. When diet changes are indicated for your patients, try and keep it simple for them. Make small changes, and let the patient choose one or two goals to aim for between dental appointments. This will keep them from being turned off by the suggestion of a healthier diet and from getting discouraged when they try.

When counseling, remind your patients that being thorough and consistent in their oral care along with healthy dietary practices can go a long way in guarding against cavities. Teach them that eating tooth-healthy foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese and other dairy products along with staying away from frequent snacks throughout the day can help. Point out that it’s not so much the quantity of sugar that they consume as it is the frequency that affects the teeth the most. Tell them that avoiding sweetened beverages is best because the sugar they contain will fuel the cavity-forming process, drinking water throughout the day is a much better option. All of these tips will help to prevent putting your teeth under assault from the acids created by the bacteria in your mouth.

Using education and nutritional advice will help your patients to be encouraged to make these small changes and help them to maintain a healthy mouth for a lifetime. Remember the age old saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Personality tests have been around for ages, all over the internet and in books you’ll find endless information about personality traits. Whether you’re into horoscopes and astrology or you’re into all of those personality tests you find online, like DISC. Either way, we all have a general curiosity about our individualism. One thing to keep in mind when discovering your personality traits is to not take it so seriously and keep an open mind because believe it or not some of these are DEAD ON.

Take a look at this picture and at a glance, what is the first thing you see?! The very first thing!

1. The Wolf – The wolf represents guardianship, and people who are drawn to the wolf in this image form quick, passionate personal attachments. However, much like the wolf itself, they hide their soft underbelly and self-perceived weaknesses behind of wall of strength and intimidation.

2. The Tiger – Chances are high that the people in your life, even those who know you best of all, view you as a person who has been damaged, or as someone who needs looking over, protection, and delicate care.

3. The Baby Owl – The owl is traditionally associated with wisdom, a fact most people know, but most folks don’t know that it’s also associated with our shadow self, the inner self, the part of us we nurture with the arts and with spiritual devotion.

4. The Puppy – Seeing the puppy in this image means that while some people might think of you as being a Type A personality or as a bit distant or difficult to know, that’s not so. The truth is you want nothing so much as you want love and someone to frolic and play with, so don’t hold yourself back from doing that for even one second longer!

5. The Cobra – Since the time of the ancient Egyptians, snakes have been heralded as signs of wisdom and the protectors of royalty. While some snakes are poisonous, they are all powerful and they are all beautiful.

6. The Lion – Lion are known for being strong, dangerous, and regal, as well as for roaring their hearts out when it comes time to confront an enemy. Never apologize for passion and for your anger. It’s part of who you are, and the reason you get so mad is because you feel so passionately.

7. The Bat – If you saw the bat first, you hide how attuned you are to what’s going on around you at all times. Bats are known for being able to fly virtually blind in even the darkest conditions. While you might have full possession of your senses, like a bat you use alternative means to get to know your surroundings and the people in it.

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Now, sit and think about your business, your team. What did some of your team members see? If we’re all honest with what we saw in this photo, we’ll be surprised at how accurate this may be. Using tools like this in your business will help you better understand team dynamic.

So… What did you really see first?

Are you practicing excellent clinical standards by providing your patients with the best care possible? As dental professionals we should all be practicing to the standard of care while striving to go over and beyond it. The definition of the standard of care is typically identified by the level at which the average, prudent provider in a given community would practice and is how similarly qualified practitioners would have managed a patient’s care under the same or similar circumstances.

The ADA says fluoride varnish applied in the office along with a prescription 5,000ppm used twice a day should be recommended for all patients that are moderate to high risk for dental caries. If you look at the ADA qualifications for a moderate and high-risk patient, you will see that it encompasses almost all of our patients. Are you dispensing fluoride to the standard of care?

When we place a ‘watch’ on an incipient lesion, essentially, we are just watching it decay. Instead of placing a ‘watch’ on an incipient lesion we should be recommending an in-office varnish and prescription 5,000ppm toothpaste to be used twice a day in order to heal these areas. Patients with 1mm or more of recession are also considered high risk, so all of our perio patients should be on a fluoride regimen. This is the first time in dentistry that we actually have healing agents that will also prevent future decay. Share this exciting news with your patients!

Being an excellent clinician requires that we be very honest with our patients and educate them about the healing benefits of a fluoride regimen. When we are honest with our patients it is very easy to help them to understand why a fluoride regimen is so important and get them to accept usage. Ask your patients if they’d like to have their teeth for chewing for the rest of their lives or if they’d like to outlive their teeth or have their teeth outlive them.

I promise they’ll all say they’d like to have their teeth outlive them. Explain to your patients that decay does not heal itself but by having a fluoride varnish treatment along with brushing twice a day with a prescription 5,000ppm toothpaste they can actually heal and strengthen their teeth helping them to prevent further decay. Your patients will feel that you are truly concerned about them and the health of their teeth and you will be giving excellent care.

Anybody, that has had the responsibility of hiring new team members, knows that it is one of the most important, and most challenging, tasks you will ever be given in a business.  Here are a few suggestions that AMP has to make the process a little easier.

First of all, have your profile ready.  A profile is what requirements you are looking for in that position.  It’s hard to know you found the right employee if you don’t know what you are looking for.  If you do your due diligence on the front end, you won’t need to terminate on the back end.

Secondly, create a more effective interview by digging deep with behavioral questions.  This will give you insight into their attitude and how they reacted in specific situations.  Have some scenarios ready.  Examples of questions might include:

• How did they handle conflict with their past boss/or co-worker?
• Tell me a little bit more about that
• What are your pet peeves and how do you react to them?
• Talk about a time when you had to work closely with someone whose personality was very different from yours.
• Describe a time when your team or company was undergoing some change. How did that impact you, and how did you adapt?

Most people learn how to manipulate an interview after going through a few, so asking behavioral questions allows you to get to know them to a different degree.    You will see if this person can be coached to a higher level that will elevate your practice.

Lastly, watch the person as well as listen to their answers.  Are they making eye contact?  Are they prepared?  Are they asking questions of you as well?

Take your time in the preparation as well as the interview.  It takes a lot of money, time and stress to train a new employee so you want to make the right choice to avoid doing it all over again too soon.

How do you get dental patients to listen to what you want to say, how do you get them to truly hear you and pay attention to what you have to say? I think we find this to be an issue in dental offices often.

We could be delivering bad news, big news or maybe expensive news and we want the patient to really listen to what we are saying. So, how do we do it? We need to scramble the brain prior to telling the patient the news we have to deliver, so they are more open to hearing it. You can “pre frame”. This is when you tell someone in advance what to look for and what it means when they see it. You are essentially communicating about the way you think someone may feel. For example, for someone that is spectacle about the work they could need you could say “this probably does not make sense to many people” or to someone that is already sold on treatment and you want to connect with them prior to delivering treatment needs you could say “there is not one person that does not love this treatment solution, I know you will too”. Or you can “re frame”. This is when someone has a problem or an issue with what you are presenting and you can change what it means by a different frame of reference.

For example, for someone that is in need of having a full mouth rehab and has not eaten “real food” in years and are in denial about what is happening. You can say “I understand this is a lot to take in and you have a long road ahead of you, but lets focus on the fact you will be able to chew again soon”. By presenting the topic this way you are recognizing their feelings yet trying to change their focus on something positive. Changing the way we discuss things with patients can be very powerful. I think you will find that you can connect with patients on a totally different level.

While this is never a fun topic to address at some point as a business owner you may have to dismiss an employee from your office. If not done properly termination of an employee can become a huge liability issue. Here are some general guidelines in addressing employees, giving them the opportunity for turn around, and ultimately how to terminate when necessary. Labor laws vary state to state so know your local laws and get with a labor attorney with any specific questions.

Give the opportunity for turn around.

By giving your employee the chance to turn their behavior around they have the opportunity to learn from it and grow. This means sitting down to talk to them and being very upfront about what is not working and then sharing what you expect. When sharing your expectations I have found using the verbiage of “these are the changes I expect to see… if you have not done this you will have fired yourself” to be extremely helpful. The psychology behind this is passing the ownership back to the employee so they can choose to remedy the situation. You are clearly handing them the opportunity to get out of hot water, keep their job, and take ownership of their actions. Documentation is key here especially if an unemployment claim gets filed by your former employee. Be sure to document in writing what has occurred, what behavior needs to change, and have the employee sign it. Then schedule a follow up meeting in 30 days or less to re-evaluate. This is important ensuring you have a follow up plan and your employee has certainty as to what is going on and understanding that the behavior will not be swept under the rug.  If on day 3 of 30 days the behavior doesn’t change then it is time to terminate.

However, if they are doing well in 30 days then set another review in 90 days. Make sure that the behavior you identify and discuss is measurable behavior. Examples such as: you aren’t perio probing, you aren’t collecting payment from patients, you’re not asking, you’re not doing…. Give them behavioral things. The biggest mistake that can be made is when you start talking about the person as different classifications of employees have protected classes. Great resource for employees is the show How Not to Get Fired.

When termination is appropriate there are a few things you will want to do. Have someone else in the room as a witness, keep it short and sweet (no more than 2-5 minutes) but keep it humane- you are freeing up this person’s future so they can go elsewhere and be happier. Ensure this is a conversation that is very controlled and succinct. We have heard horror stories about employees bringing their spouses or attorneys in with them- do not let this occur in your office. I’m going to terminate your employment effective immediately. Then ask them to get their things, return company property such as keys to the office (or perhaps have locks re-keyed), and escort them out. Again, ensure you document what occurred and have the employee sign it.

If this is a challenging area for you reach out to your coach. We are well versed in how to help you prepare. I have found that the hardest part of this is the psychology where an employee has become part of your work family maybe even been there longer than you have owned the practice. If they are good people who just aren’t a good fit I have gone so far as to find a new job for them. So if appropriate and possible give them the dignity of helping them find a new job. On the flip side there are times employees will not react well to what has just occurred. They may cry, yell, or say vicious things to you that hurts your heart.

That’s where the psychology of this comes in where you have to be very clear about what it is you want. In having clarity about your goals for your organization and the certainty of how to meet them you can stand firm. If you have one person who is holding your business back take into consideration how this is also affecting your other employees. That one person is dragging the team down with them while hurting you organization and others who may be performing at a high level and deserve to be recognized. Therefore by letting this person go, while it is difficult, it may be wonderful for your other employees. Have the intestinal fortitude to have the difficult conversations and get through this.

‘Living life to the fullest’ is something that we’ve all heard, but how seriously do we take it? Doctors and team members, all have a tendency to get stuck in our own routine, going on about the days, in a fog, doing nothing to change our direction. What would you like people to remember about you? What would you like someone to say about you at your funeral?

Define what success is for you. If we cannot define success, we cannot reach it. Stephen Covey said, “Begin with the end in mind.” This simply means having a clear vision of what we want, knowing our goals, and then continuing to make things happen. We must set our own goals and intentions, with a realization of the role that we play, adjusting our priorities, and then sharing them frequently with the people around us, especially with our teams. When we become leaders, it helps us to manage our dreams and makes it more likely to achieve. This is a best practice for success whether you’re leading a small office or multiple practices. Then, periodically bring your focus back to your goal to make sure you’re still on track.

The dash serves as a representation of our time here on the earth that may be but a small little line, but it stands for so much more. It’s our footprint, our culture, and our legacy. We are the only ones in control of our lives, and when the dash ends it’s too late. It does not matter what we did yesterday, but what we are doing now and moving forward. The challenges that are placed in our path should be looked at as gifts of opportunity to grow. It’s surprisingly easy to drift away from what’s most important to us. When we actually write down our mission and review it frequently, it starts to become personal nature; the standard in which we measure our lives, helping us to ensure that we don’t meander off course. But keep in mind to never hesitate to update or change your course in order to continue growth. Live up to your potential, take action, and be the best you can be.

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Don’t let the title of this show scare you off; it has great information on how to bring value to your practice by the entire team. Nobody on your team should ever say, “It’s not my job;” it’s everybody’s job. When was the last time you revaluated your approach to answering the phones or getting to know your patients?

Think about it…Phone skills are imperative to show value, to a new patient especially.

Rule #1-always have your best communicator on the phones. The first call determines whether that new patient ever walks through your doors.

Rule #2- Show enthusiasm when answering the phones. The last thing a new patient is going to want to do is come into an office that doesn’t treat them with excitement!

We consistently coach our offices that are experiencing a large % of no-shows/late cancellations that it may come down to value. It is highly likely that the patients are not understanding the value of the treatment, or the value of the doctors and team members time.

Ask yourself, “What value does our practice provide that sets us apart from all others.” Remember, to STAND OUT, you have to be OUT STANDING.

If you would like to learn how to bring value to your practice, or be OUT STANDING, reach out to AMP, to learn how!