The Naked Dentist: Creating top 10 plays

I love this time of year! Summer starts to turn into fall, the kids are going back to school, and it is the start of another great football season.

Every night before going to bed, my wife and I watch the highlights from the top 10 football plays of the day. They are always fantastic plays, and often they are pivotal plays for the game.

Curtis Marshall is the vice president of marketing at Dental Intel.

This past weekend my wife actually sat down to watch an entire college football game with me. The game was progressing well and it was almost over. My wife said, "This has been a really boring game. All they do is run the ball, where are the top 10 plays?"

I am the Naked Dentist. No, I am not a dentist, I am not always naked, nor do my clients practice dentistry naked. I have a powerful analytic tool that strips a dental office of all its clothes, makeup, and accessories to reveal the true problem areas. At that point, we can maintain dental performance or systematically improve performance to reach forecasted goals. In this column, I want to talk to you about how you can set your dental practice up for a top 10 play.

Top 10

I explained to my wife while we watched the football game that football games can't always be about that exciting top 10 play. The team needs to run the ball to set itself up for a big play. It is a strategy. In dentistry, the "big play" is a big case such as cosmetic, implants, full-mouth restoration, and the like.

What is the running strategy for a dental team that sets it up for those big plays? The hygiene department. I know it seems boring, like it is the same every time. Sometimes it might feel as if it is running in the office, not really seeing any results for the dentist. But, when the hygiene department is overlooked, your ability to make a top 10 play diminishes.

My friend, Dr. Hawaii, loves being challenged by using all of the equipment, skills, and supplies in his office. He is interested in producing top 10 plays, but he has told me that he is frustrated with hygiene. He views hygiene as a "waste of time," "boring," and "nonproductive." We used my powerful analytic tool to discover how he can get more big cases on his schedule.

We found three metrics that confirmed his feeling toward hygiene. These numbers were all trending in the wrong direction:

• Hygiene reappointment was down.
• Diagnosed percentages were up.
• Case acceptance was down.

Dr. Hawaii, his hygiene staff, and I sat down and implemented a running strategy that would not only help Dr. Hawaii get some big plays, but it also helped the hygiene staff feel better supported and recognized. When we focused on the three metrics listed above, the outcome was phenomenal.

Dr. Hawaii is starting to trend in the right direction by looking at the metrics he needs to improve.

Dr. Hawaii now has more top 10 cases than ever before! By looking over the numbers, consulting with the team, and getting a game plan in place, Dr. Hawaii and his team have been able to achieve what they wanted to.

While my wife and I watched the last second of the college game, the quarterback threw a Hail Mary pass into the end zone and won the game for the team. It was the No. 1 play of the day.

Set yourself up with a running game, so you can have the No. 1 play of dentistry. If you want to be featured on the next naked dentist, contact me today.

Let's get naked together.

Curtis Marshall serves as the vice president of marketing at Dental Intel. If you would like your practice to be in the next Naked Dentist column and have your practice undressed, contact him at [email protected] or 801-380-7070.

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.