Podcast: How dentists create and motivate the productive dental assistant

In this episode of "The DrBicuspid Podcast," I interviewed Victoria Peterson, the co-founder and CEO of the Productive Dentist Academy, live at their 20th anniversary conference in Frisco, TX. We discussed the evolving role of dental assistants, the importance of delegation in dental practices, strategies for attracting and retaining talent, and the overall impact of a supportive team environment on patient care and practice success.

Victoria Peterson.

One of the biggest things Peterson is hearing from dentists and team members now is what she calls "fatigue," but she has some advice on how to battle and beat that issue as the fourth quarter begins.

"It's not quite burnout. It's just that sense of, one more day, and this is hard, or this was a hard month," Peterson said. "My encouragement is to come together and find something to celebrate every single morning. Start the day off and celebrate strong, be strong together. So if today's the day you're feeling the fatigue, lean into your team members. It's so important because I often say 'Frequency first.' So you set your energy, your attitude, your frequency, because then it's going to interact with your patients. It's going to interact with your teammates."

When it comes to the notion of a productive dental assistant, Peterson believes it's about the practice environment.

"So productive assistants are very proactive, and they act as the patient advocate. And they're always thinking one or two steps ahead. How do I make this easy for my patient? How do I make this easy for my doctor? And I know that it sounds really simple, but Bruce [Baird, the co-founder of Productive Dentist Academy] and I always say when you're off-goal, when you're not producing, the first thing you need to do is just take a deep breath and say, 'Can I remember the names of my patients from yesterday?' Because if you can't, you're probably moving a little too fast and probably not going as deep in the relationships," Peterson said.

"I think assistants drive that clinical relationship with the doctor and help patients who are frightened or embarrassed or who are ashamed. Dental assistants have this compassion to see the worst mouths but the best in the person."

You can hear our entire conversation below, and you can learn more about Productive Dentist Academy.

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