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Dentists are busy people. Although it may look great from the outside, but many dentists are not happy in their lives. Most consultants will tell a dentist that they need to see more and more patients in order to bring more revenue to their practice. So why aren\u2019t more dentists happier the busier they get?<\/p>\n
Today we answer that question.<\/p>\n
Our guest this week is Dr. Brian Beirl. He is a fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry\u00a0and a Panke scholar. Dr. Beirl has developed an incredible report with dentists, largely because he has had a large, overly-busy practice for many years. He understands the difficulties in slowing the momentum of a practice that is heading away from your dream.<\/p>\n
Dr. Beirl has a different philosophy than most of his counterparts\u00a0and a very effective way of helping other dentists create the practice of their dreams. He helps dentists create relationship-based practices that treat\u00a0people individually by taking into account each patient’s circumstances and the dentistry that is diagnosed.<\/p>\n
Dr. Beirl practices and lives with a very specific philosophy: “Surround yourself with great people, create an environment that you love and attract the people that are looking for the same. Become the best that you can be and consistently hold out for what is best for others.”<\/p>\n
Welcome to Practicing with the Masters<\/em> for dentists with your host, Dr. Allison Watts. Allison believes that there are four pillars for a successful, fulfilling dental practice: clear leadership, sound business principles, well-developed communication skills, and clinical excellence. Allison enjoys helping dentists and teams excel in all of these areas. Each episode she brings you an inspiring conversation with another leading expert. If you desire to learn and grow and in the process take your practice to the next level, then this is the show for you. Now, here\u2019s your host, Dr. Allison Watts.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Welcome to Practicing with the Masters<\/em> podcast. I\u2019m your host, Allison Watts, and I\u2019m dedicated to bringing you masters in the field of dentistry, leadership, and practice management to help you have a more fulfilling and successful practice and life.<\/p>\n Welcome. Dentists can be busy. It looks great from the outside, but many dentists are not happy in their lives. Dr. Brian Beirl, who\u2019s a dentist, he\u2019s a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry, a Pankey Scholar, has developed a great rapport with dentists because he had a large \u201ctoo busy\u201d practice for many years and he understands the difficulties in slowing the momentum of a practice that is heading away from your dreams.<\/p>\n Most consultants recommend more volume and more patients and they say that equals more money. So, why aren\u2019t more dentists happy? Dr. Beirl has a different philosophy and a very effective way of helping other dentists create the practice of their dreams. He helps dentists develop a relationship based practice that treats people individually by taking into account their circumstances and the dentistry that is diagnosed.<\/p>\n He practices and lives with a philosophy that can be described as follows: Surround yourself with great people. Create an environment that you love and attract the people that are looking for the same. Become the best that you can be and consistently hold out for what is best for others.<\/p>\n After serving in the Air Force, he began his Seminole, Florida private practice in 1980. Dr. Beirl is dedicated to learning and teaching. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of General Dentistry, an 18-year visiting faculty of the Pankey Institute, recently being awarded the designation of Pankey Scholar. He also is a clinical instructor for the University of Florida, their General Dentistry Graduate Program on the Seminole campus.<\/p>\n In addition, Dr. Beirl is published in journals and lectures to dental societies and study groups throughout the southeast. His hobbies include reading, writing, fitness, canoeing, and fly fishing. He and his wife Bev are enjoying the adventure with their daughter Bre, who is now how old, Brian?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 24, okay.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yep. She came home and she\u2019s a financial analyst in Tampa, bought a house, and I\u2019m very proud of her. She\u2019s getting married a year from next month in our backyard.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, wonderful, great. Well I know some of these things are true because I\u2019ve read your books. You have a couple books that I’ve been enjoying. I know that you are definitely a student of many things. Tonight we\u2019re going to talk about dentistry though but I hope you\u2019ll share a little bit about your book at some point we can talk about that too.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s hard for me not to, but if I don\u2019t, remind me.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, I will. Brian and I have had a couple of phone calls getting ready for this and it\u2019s been really fun. We may have to have more than one call to get in all the things we want to talk about but tonight what I asked Brian to speak about was balance. You know, practice\/life balance or as he calls it, maybe more blending, right?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then we\u2019re going to move a little bit into how to\u2014Brian practices 24 hours, well, he says one day a week. He practices 24 hours in a week and that\u2019s all he works. So I would like for him to enlighten us about how he is doing that and enjoying the rest of his life and having a wonderful, successful practice.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, thank you. That always gets everyone\u2019s attention when I say I work one day a week. It just is 24 hours, four days a week, six hours a day, from 8:00 to 2:00, working through lunch. It\u2019s that simple. Bre, my daughter, who you mentioned has a lot to do with that because when she was born 24 years ago, I made up my mind that I was going to watch my one and only child grow up.<\/p>\n I changed my hours so my wife would drop her off at school and I could spend some time with her in the afternoon before she went to school, when she was infant. Then when she went to school, I\u2019d pick her up at school, much to her embarrassment but it was a lot of fun. Because of that, we are quite close, we have a great relationship. I went to many ballet recitals and basketball games. She crewed for high school and at Auburn University.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t get to see her much in college but I did her in high school all the time because I was there. It was me and the rest of the mothers usually. I noticed that that happened too much. The dads could have been there. I mean they had professions themselves many of them and they could have been there, but they weren\u2019t. They were at the office or maybe playing golf or something. I never thought that was the best thing at one chance at children. So I\u2019m very proud that that happened.<\/p>\n The thing is, now, she went off to college and you can\u2019t go back after practicing that way to any other hours because you get used to it and your staff certainly does get used to it. But I\u2019ve talked about this for years is that how do you do that with 24 hours? I mean, you have to make a living. I think one of the things that I’ve always stressed is time is not money. You hear that: time is money, time is money. You know, that\u2019s not\u2014time is time. Money is money. They’re different.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not if you want to earn more money you have to work more hours, that is not necessarily true. So if you start to understand that, you start chasing the carrot because you\u2019ll never catch it by the way. You can\u2019t work enough to earn more. In fact, the more you work sometimes the less you make or the less you earn.<\/p>\n I found financially that that\u2019s always the big question. It\u2019s actually been better, not less. Now, why do you think that? Well, your staff. Your staff is really who runs your office by the way. If you think you do, you better get another staff because they should be empowered enough and know the philosophy of your practice, whatever that is, to keep it going. You’re there as the dentist. I really think that is healthy.<\/p>\n They get very used to that schedule. They don\u2019t leave by the way. You do well financially, you can afford to pay them well. They can raise their families. I have a couple single moms, it\u2019s great for them. They can make their medical appointments. They have a life. Also, in the summer when the time changes, you have a whole other day after 2:00, let me tell you. So you can do what you want to do outside of dentistry. That\u2019s a blend of life and practice.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m going to stop you because I realized that I forgot to mention to you guys that Brian totally would love, and myself as well, for you guys to ask questions or make comments if you feel led to.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Absolutely, yeah. I\u2019m better that way.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, interactive is better for both of us.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t mind being challenged if I say something that turns your head a different way.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, because I\u2019m already thinking about this, what you’re saying. A few things come up like when you start talking about you actually can make more money in less time. I actually went to three days a week and found that to be semi true but I don\u2019t really know why it worked. I was told by a consultant not to do that, that it was a big mistake.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, sure.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t say that I made more but I made the same amount. I think that you have a much more planned out and eloquent way of doing this.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, you can\u2019t just talk about it. You have to experience it. What I would suggest, because I\u2019m kind of a meat and potatoes guy, I\u2019m just not going to just philosophize with you. There\u2019s things you can do. I want to get into some of that right upfront. If you don\u2019t think I\u2019m right, try it one day.<\/p>\n Most dentists, I don\u2019t know any of you, but most dentists in Florida don\u2019t work Fridays. If you don\u2019t work Fridays, or if there\u2019s a day you don\u2019t work, the day before that you don\u2019t work, say you don\u2019t work a Wednesday. So Tuesday, work 8:00-2:00. Then you have the next day off. Because it\u2019s so much to look forward to. It gives you a day and a half by the way.<\/p>\n The other thing I noticed is that you don\u2019t need lunch. You don\u2019t need to take lunch. When I used to take lunch, and I used to do all this stuff the other way, believe me, I came back and I didn\u2019t really want to be there anymore. You ever feel that way?<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, you just don\u2019t want to be there anymore. You have a big lunch\u2014I know dentists that take an hour and half lunch\u2014well, go home. I mean after that, you’re useless. So I found out that we work through lunch, we snack, believe me, we don\u2019t starve. We\u2019ve got plenty in there. We snack all morning, go in there when we have a few minutes and come back out. We stay refreshed and I see my last patient at 1:00 and the staff is out of there at 2:30. All their things are done. That\u2019s a happy bunch.<\/p>\n Now, I haven\u2019t work Friday for years so the first day I would suggest if I was talking to me, would be Thursday. Because then you\u2019ve got, Thursday afternoon, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Unless you’re working Saturdays, I don\u2019t know, but I wouldn\u2019t suggest that. In Florida, nobody shows up on Saturday, especially if it\u2019s nice. Maybe you\u2019ve found that. I used to work Saturdays, sat there a lot.<\/p>\n So you have great staff, excitement, energy, loyalty. Staff turnover is a killer in a practice. It\u2019s very, very expensive. I\u2019m a very frugal guy, we can talk about that maybe later in the call, about frugality in the dental practice and how you don\u2019t cut quality. But frugal is a good word.<\/p>\n Now the underpinnings of how to be effective financially with what you might think are limited hours, I don\u2019t think they\u2019re limited, but if you think they’re limited hours, is that you have to have very tight systems in your practice. When people start talking about systems, people\u2019s eyes glaze over. Mine used to. But systems when they’re properly put together allow you to be yourself. To think, to plan. You aren\u2019t putting out fires. So that becomes effective in a dental practice.<\/p>\n I tell them\u2014we talked about this\u2014a couple things to do in your practice, real meat and potatoes stuff. Morning huddle. Everybody, maybe most of you have morning huddles, but is it an effective morning huddle? Five to ten minutes, nobody sits down. That\u2019s the first thing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s planned out in a sequence of information that is the same every time. It is run by the receptionist, not by you. You look at yesterday\u2019s numbers and if you have trouble sharing your numbers with your staff, we\u2019ve got to talk. But it\u2019s what was planned to be done the day before, what was done, what was collected in operative, dentist and hygiene, the dentist side and the hygiene side, separately.<\/p>\n You talk about the numbers of that day. What do we plan on doing? What\u2019s our production that\u2019s booked? New patients. What\u2019s production in hygiene. Then the hygienist talks over after the receptionist and she talks about her schedule. Who\u2019s due for full series? Who\u2019s due for bite wings? Who\u2019s due for any other thing besides your routine hygiene? Are they perio maintenance or are they healthy mouth cleanings? Any comments on any of the patients. \u201cDoctor, I want you to look at this.\u201d How does she know that? She\u2019s reviewed her charts the afternoon before or that morning. She\u2019s prepared.<\/p>\n Next is my assistant. Same thing. Walks right through the schedule. Hope I\u2019m making sense to you because this is really important. If you do this, this is a system. It\u2019s one of many systems in an office. If you do this right, watch the numbers. They’re going to go up. It\u2019s magic. Anything learned from the previous night\u2019s calls, I\u2019ll get to that in a second. Any information on new patients that are scheduled.<\/p>\n Then personal announcements. We\u2019ve had some great announcements lately. My hygienist\u2019s husband got promoted to lieutenant at the fire department. My assistant, her daughter got accepted at Florida Southern for college. So those kind of announcements. We don\u2019t try to solve problems. We don\u2019t nag. We don\u2019t bitch. It\u2019s just, that\u2019s not what it\u2019s for.<\/p>\n I end the meeting with, \u201cLet\u2019s go help some people\u201d and we walk out. Five to ten minutes. I start at 8:00. Sometimes, like this morning, we start at 7:30, just have an earlier patient. Just happened that that\u2019s their more convenient time. I get in a little earlier and we still do it. Very important to do. We do not do it at the end of the day. They want to go home. So do I. I have my other life waiting for me. That\u2019s one system.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another system which I think is probably the most impactful thing you can do in your practices. It doesn\u2019t make a difference if you’re general or specialist, it doesn\u2019t make any difference, is that when I leave the office my receptionist is still there. She\u2019s wrapping up. She\u2019s the last to leave. Within five to ten minutes, I have an email on my phone that tells me what we did that day, what we had planned to do that, what we collected, how many new patients called, how many scheduled. Also, any new patients that I\u2019m seeing the next day, some information about them, and a phone number.<\/p>\n Then what you probably are doing now, I hope you are, all the \u201ctender loving care\u201d calls, I call them. If I did a prep, follow up. If I did an extraction, follow up. Anything that I think the patient may have some questions about, a procedure we did that day, follow up with that. But the new patient, and here\u2019s the most important thing, you call a new patient the night before you see them. You call the new patient the night before you see them. It\u2019s not awkward. You might think it is. It is not.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Dr. Brian Beirl, the dentist.\u201d They don\u2019t know who I am. Okay? I\u2019m the dentist. \u201cOh. Doctor, why are you calling?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to welcome you to the practice. Do you have concerns or questions? No? Okay. Well thank you for choosing us. I look forward to meeting you in person.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s usually, \u201cOkay.\u201d They are so blown away. Now, here\u2019s what happens. When they walk in, they go, \u201cWhere is that guy? That guy called me. I\u2019ve never had that happen before. That\u2019s such a wonderful thing.\u201d See, we\u2019re not strangers now. We already talked. Now I can go to the next system is you do not meet the new patient in the dental chair. You meet them in your private office, you\u2019re nice, clean private office or if you have a side room, something that\u2019s where you do financial planning with the patient, something like that. Meet them in there with your assistant. You talk. You ask questions. They talk. They ask questions. Your assistant takes notes. You don\u2019t take notes.<\/p>\n Review the medical history with them. Namely, it\u2019s like, \u201cHow did you find out about us? Where are you from?\u201d See, in Florida, everybody is not from Florida. They’re always from somewhere else. You really get good at geography. So you learn about the patient. This is another experience they\u2019ve never had. They\u2019ve never had this. So actually it goes on longer sometimes than we have to have it and I have to get my appointment started. Say, \u201cOh by the way, is there anything going on in your mouth?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh yeah, I forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n Then they\u2019ll bring it up. Now, if it\u2019s an emergency, a swelling, a toothache, no, I\u2019m not going to be bring them in the private office and talk to them. We\u2019re going to look at that right away because they’re not going to hear you. You’re going to hear their main concern and you address it. You may not treat it that day because you’re booked, but you address it and see if you can hold them off a little longer to get a better appointment with them.<\/p>\n If you start fixing on the run, that\u2019s what they think you do and it\u2019s not very comprehensive. So those are my two big pearls. I gave it out early.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Great.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Did that stimulate any questions for you?<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, but I\u2019m just thinking about this. So I do have a question. I guess it did stimulate a question. I\u2019m just thinking about the\u2014so you’re sharing these systems. Well, we do have a question, let me\u2026 Hello? Is that Dorothy?<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hi, this is Dorothy.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hi, Dorothy.<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hi, how are you?<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Good.<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I have a question in reference to the new patient visit. Does your staff schedule the patient after they meet with you, wherever you go ahead and take x-rays, whatever needs to be done, but is the hygienist scheduled to follow the time with you? And if so, how much time do you allow for that new patient visit and how is it decided ahead of time that this patient is going to be a more complicated patient versus somebody that\u2019s been going for regular hygiene appointments on a regular basis.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is a new patient, correct?<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First of all, take this the right way, they’re all complex cases.<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s the way I look at it, until proven otherwise. So the system is we always\u2014I don\u2019t say always a lot\u2014but you always do a dental exam before a hygiene appointment. Because hygiene, whatever they do is treatment and you cannot treat without diagnosis. Actually, in most states, it\u2019s illegal. Just to throw that out. It\u2019s not followed very much but probably if you look deep enough in the practice law, it probably is. But that\u2019s not the reason. The reason is ethics. It\u2019s an ethical thing to do to examine the patient thoroughly and comprehensively before they see the hygienist.<\/p>\n We had a new patient today. This is the great thing about talking with me: I still practice. We had a new patient today. It just so happened that the schedule worked out where after I was, I did my exam, they saw my hygienist. So, yes, we do that but we always do the exam before they hygiene visit. That\u2019s different than some practices. See, if you kind of go between the lines here, I want to be different than the corporate dental practice.<\/p>\n I don’t know when I\u2019m ever going to stop practicing but the corporate dental offices in my area are keeping me busy because people are seeing a little red in those areas. They know they’re being upsold. They’re the patient that doesn\u2019t want to be there. They seek out a more personalized service. But, yes, you can schedule them, but always do your exam first. So how long do you schedule?<\/p>\n How long do you schedule? Well I can get my 10-minute interview, we can get all our digital x-rays, photos, we can do all that in an hour and it\u2019s not rushed. Systems. Everything is in place. I know where everything is. My hygienist is ready. She\u2019s listening in, she\u2019s looking on the computer as we\u2019re probing. Full mouth probing, by the way. Every tooth. Six different areas. If I could tell young dentists one thing: just practice the way you were taught in most dental schools in this country, I hope so, they’re still teaching all that. Not every one. But, just do that. Don\u2019t start skipping stuff.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dorothy, did that answer your question?<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes. It kind of did, to the largest degree, yes. The question I guess I have is that when you pre-book your patient, do you pre-book them to have the hygienist following your exam or no?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not per their request, if my schedule allows. Because my hygienist is booked out, but sometimes, as you know in hygiene, it\u2019s part of life, people are constantly dropping in and out. So if it just works out that way, we will\u2014ideally, I’d love that. Because usually\u2014let\u2019s just go to perio for a while.<\/p>\n According to the National Institute of Health, 9 out of 10 Americans have some form of periodontal disease, right? So 90 percent of all your hygiene patients are in perio maintenance, right? No. What\u2019s going on? What is going on? I tell you one thing that\u2019s going on is they’re not probing every tooth. They’re not picking up a furca probe and probing furcas. They’re not doing it with attached gingiva. I mean, do a periodontal exam and talk while you do it. Say the numbers out loud. Patients are smart. They get it.<\/p>\n So most of the time, on the hygiene appointment\u2014I never know how to say this\u2014debridement. Then we may have to have a modified perio therapy or a full perio therapy. Or in a rare occasion, a healthy mouth, and we celebrate that. I tell them, \u201cYou\u2019re in the top ten percent.\u201d Good for them. Does that help?<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, thank you.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let me just follow up with this, you get the call. \u201cI just want my teeth cleaned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey, I know. I know.\u201d Well, no they can’t. They’re going to see the doctor first. If that doesn\u2019t work for them, I don\u2019t think I ever saw them. My front desk person took care of that for me. All that is is kind of drawing a line on those people who call. They don\u2019t know any better because that\u2019s the way they were treated at the last place.<\/p>\n See, but you’re different. It\u2019s not that they’re bad people. It\u2019s not dumb. They were just treated that way before, that\u2019s all they expect. You just have to kind of turn that around. They\u2019ll love it. They will say to you, \u201cI\u2019ve never had a dental exam like that in my life.\u201d When you start hearing that, you\u2019re doing it right.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So your exam is one hour?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, I could go 1 hour 15 minutes, but I really try to\u2014I tell you, your front desk person is everything. She can kind of tell if I\u2019m going to need more time. So she books me more time. Got to be really good on the phone. Dorothy, are you good? Are you complete for now?<\/p>\n Dorothy:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, thank you.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Okay, I\u2019m going to mute you.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That was a great question because I know probably 70 to 80 percent of the people were thinking the same thing. I\u2019ve heard that question thousands of times. It\u2019s a good question though.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, thank you, Dorothy. So I\u2019m just thinking about the nuts and bolts of how you practice less and make the money work, and especially when I think about a comprehensive practice. I think about my practice where my new patient exams are an hour and a half, sometimes they have to come back for models and review of findings. When I look at my time and my schedule and I think about practicing that few of hours, or even when I think about doing the dentistry and I have these major cases. I’m wondering if you’re double booking.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s a couple things to that. You really, just like your receptionist gets good at reading people, you\u2019ve got to get good at reading people. Some people are not ready for diagnostic study casts and face-bows. Now that doesn\u2019t mean that you’re not going to do one. They’re not ready right then. It\u2019s very frustrating when you start getting plaster all over the place and you’re not using it. You look at the models and they didn\u2019t come back or something, you know, they’re just not interested. You read that one wrong. I take the responsibility for that.<\/p>\n So first of all, you don\u2019t always have to take diagnostic study casts at the first appointment. Sometimes it clicks though, sometimes it clicks. I go, you know, I\u2019m going to be doing a splint here. I know I\u2019m going to be doing one, I\u2019m going to need records to be able to talk to this person or I\u2019m going to [inaudible 00:25:45], I\u2019ve got to get records to talk to this person.<\/p>\n I have three dental chairs. You\u2019ve got to know that, I don\u2019t have a great big place. I have two for me and one for my hygienist. The two for me are identical. I can work in either room. I have a favorite, just like you, but they’re identically set up. I have two dental assistants, one slash lab tech, she does my model work also.<\/p>\n So if we go to records, I go, \u201cKeisha, we\u2019re going to do records.\u201d We move them over to the other room. She starts making impressions. All I have to go in there for is my centric relation bite. They can do all the rest of it. So that doesn\u2019t take much of my time. I can start doing something else and pop in there and take a CR.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a system though. She knows how to do records. She knows when her impressions are good and when they’re not. She\u2019ll retake them if they’re not. She\u2019s self-policed. She\u2019s got to form up, see? So that\u2019s a system, very effective. And the patients feel that. They go, \u201cWow, they know what they’re doing here.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s another thing: building confidence in the patient. Because you want to have\u2014this goes back to the financial part of it. You want to treatment plan comprehensively. That means look at all the things that could happen and have all your different avenues of what you are going to discuss with the patient.<\/p>\n With where that gets confused with people is that does not mean you treat comprehensively always. You may have to break up that case into smaller pieces. Because guess what? People have circumstances, financial ones mostly, or health, or they’re moving, or they’re going to be back in six months. If you’re in Florida, they’re always coming back. Leaving and coming back.<\/p>\n So you have to work around all those things. That does not stop you from doing a comprehensive treatment plan though. You may not present the whole comprehensive treatment plan. They may not be ready. Most of the time, after a comprehensive exam, you are treating some form of infection: endo, perio, caries.<\/p>\n Now if it\u2019s occlusal, you know, Pankey stuff. If it\u2019s occlusal, that\u2019s really not infection. That goes into what I call stage two, unless it\u2019s a painful joint or that\u2019s why they came in. But usually you put that in with stage two dentistry. Now you got to get records before you do stage two dentistry. That\u2019s another rule. You\u2019ve got to get your study casts. You can do the other stuff without it. I\u2019m a very practical guy.<\/p>\n But the money thing still is hanging in the air. It\u2019s always hanging in the air. I don\u2019t have all the answers but I can tell you a couple things about money. It\u2019s like water. When you don\u2019t have it and you’re thirsty, it\u2019s all you can think about. I\u2019ve been there. When you have it, you don\u2019t think about it and you can think about other things. That\u2019s pretty basic stuff. So better to have it or not? Better to have it, right?<\/p>\n There\u2019s only a few ways you can get it. I always get a kick out of people who say, \u201cWell I want to make a lot of money.\u201d Well there\u2019s only a few people in the country that make money and they work at the Mint. The rest of us have to earn it. So how are we going to earn our money? We earn it in dentistry through results. We don\u2019t earn it by procedure, we earn it by results.<\/p>\n If you get predictable results for people, they will pay you what it is worth. They\u2019ll pay you what you think it\u2019s worth and they\u2019ll pay what they think it\u2019s worth. Now the key is to have that be the same number. Then you have happy patients. That\u2019s one part. So you\u2019ve got to start thinking of service, not just crowns and stuff. That\u2019s a tradesman, we\u2019re professionals. We get paid for results. You can be the best orthopedic surgeon in the world but if the person can’t walk after you’re done, that\u2019s lousy results.<\/p>\n The other part of this\u2014and this where people go way off track\u2014is you can’t have your overhead too high. I know, that\u2019s a tough one. Because you have two overheads in your life. You have practice overhead and you have life overhead. And your life overhead is paid for by your practice. Now it\u2019s easier to control practice overhead than it is life overhead. I\u2019m speaking from experience. When you have kids and you’re married, it\u2019s easier to control the other overhead.<\/p>\n I’ve been in a lot of dental offices and I see supply rooms full of stuff that\u2019s never used. Your mix of services is really important. Your mix of services is what you do. We have an endodontist on the call. I don\u2019t do molar endo. I don\u2019t do [inaudible 00:30:53]. I don\u2019t have an i-CAT. I don\u2019t do that stuff. So I don\u2019t have to have that stuff. I don\u2019t do implants. I restore them but I don\u2019t do them. I don\u2019t do periodontal surgery. I don\u2019t see kids. I\u2019m not very good at it. I wait until they get real teeth. I’ve never been good at it. I don\u2019t have anything against kids, I’m just not a good pediatric dentist. I do a little bit of minor tooth movement.<\/p>\n So that mix of services, for me, lends itself\u2014and I do restorative and I do crown and bridge. That mix of services helps me control my costs, let\u2019s just say for supplies. Supplies in most offices, I don’t know, 7, 8, 9 percent, I think. I\u2019m like a 3.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wow.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, amazing. Let\u2019s talk about lab techs. There\u2019s an ego thing out there about lab techs, I’m going to tell you right now. \u201cOh I use such and such something,\u201d usually with a Japanese name is better. They pay exorbitant fees for these people who have training themselves to practice at a high level.<\/p>\n Well guess what? You can take a motivated lab tech and teach them yourself. You\u2019ve got to spend some time upfront of what you’re looking for, what you want in your occlusion, in your anatomy, in your porcelain, in your ceramics. You can teach them what you’re looking for. They\u2019ve got to go find out a way to do it. That\u2019s their commitment. But now you’re a team and it\u2019s not an ego wrapped up thing. Usually those people are very loyal to you.<\/p>\n They\u2019re not in the Philippines. I\u2019m talking about somebody local that can come to your office and you nurture them. I can tell you that the fees for that, you spend time upfront, your fees are not going to be like shipping off to the guru somewhere. I\u2019m being pretty blunt about that because I may step on some toes with that stuff but I don\u2019t care. Because I care about who\u2019s listening right now. You can get lab fees over 20 percent. That\u2019s a killer. So you got to get that into the teens or even less. Low teens would be great.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got to look at those percentages. Don\u2019t think numbers so much, think percentages. You\u2019ve got to look where you live. Your rent. How big of a place do you have? I mean in your practice. I\u2019m talking about practice now. That\u2019s where you live, you know, most of the time. How many chairs do you have? Are they really effective? Do you need that much? Is there a way to cut back?<\/p>\n I went from 4,000 square feet to 2,000 square feet in the same building that I own. I was building walls in there because I don\u2019t need eight dental chairs. I had a partner and he left. I rediscovered life. That happened back in 1987, a long time ago. I learned that I didn\u2019t need all that. I earn more money than I used to.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, I want to hear you, you said something Monday when we were talking about this trip you’re going to take to Hawaii.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And that your team is going to go on a cruise while you’re in Hawaii. They’re not going to go to Hawaii with you because they weren’t invited but they’re going on a cruise.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m going to wedding in Hawaii.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So they weren’t invited because, yeah, because it\u2019s a friend\u2019s wedding.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a friend\u2019s wedding. I\u2019m actually, guess what, I\u2019m the wedding singer. So it\u2019s really going to be a lot of fun.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are you really?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, cool.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s one of the reasons why I\u2019m going. Yeah, it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun. But we always, we take off the same week every year because I don\u2019t like everybody leaving all the time. You’re not very effective when you do that if you’re always missing people. So I said, look, we\u2019re all going to take the same vacation times. Close the office. Then we don\u2019t have to worry about anything.<\/p>\n I said, \u201cWell, I\u2019m doing this, but I\u2019m not taking you to Hawaii with me.\u201d So you go on your cruise. You go wherever you want within the Caribbean. Florida, that\u2019s not that far away. So they’re going to go, they’re going to have a ball. They\u2019ll probably have more fun if I\u2019m not there anyway.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, and tell me about how you handle that financially. So where does that money come from?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cash.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cash.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t borrow money for anything. Yeah, we have a fund. Because everybody knows what the numbers are, they like the numbers to go up because they know where the money goes. The money goes in the kitty and we buy stuff with it. We buy supplies, we pay salaries, but they all know that that\u2019s the cost of running the practice and whatever we don\u2019t spend stays in the kitty and they either get it in bonuses, along with me, and\/or we go on a trip.<\/p>\n So they know that if they’re going on a highfalutin trip, all that\u2019s going to do, it\u2019s their money. It\u2019s going to take away their money that they might want at the end of the year. So they’re pretty frugal themselves. They look for good deals. See I had them in charge of, I have one person in charge of ordering supplies. They’re very frugal. My supplies, like I said, they run 3.5 percent.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wow.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where most of the time, it\u2019s 7 or 8.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh my gosh, I just realized what time it is. You asked me to remind you, this is something we wanted to talk about, for sure.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know what time it is.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I just noticed it. I\u2019m like, oh my gosh, we only have 15 minutes.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How much time do we have?<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We have 15 minutes.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 15 minutes, okay.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t know if you want to talk about\u2014it seems a little appropriate to talk about right here where you are now. Do you think it\u2019s valuable to have the conversation about, I think you already talked about overhead. You talked about how dentists go to all this CE and spend all this money and do all these things because they are in fear, uncertainty, and doubt.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, there\u2019s a thing that came out of IBM and sales years ago. They would go use this to sell stuff. It was called Fud, like Elmer Fudd, but only one D. F-U-D. It was fear, uncertainty, and doubt, that\u2019s what they\u2019d plant in the client\u2019s mind. So dentists are really good at that. We\u2019re practicing with fear, uncertainty, and doubt all the time. Salespeople, they thrive on that.<\/p>\n \u201cWell you got to get this because the dentist down the street is getting that.\u201d Fear.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen but you better be ready.\u201d Uncertainty.<\/p>\n Those are tactics used with us. So you have to be very aware of that. It hurts my heart, I don\u2019t work for Patterson, you\u2019re going to be able to tell, or any of the other, Shine, or any of them, or 3M, I don\u2019t work for anybody except me. It hurts my heart when they sell all this stuff to these people and then they\u2019ve got to pay for it. It\u2019s the hardest time of their lives too. Eight dental chairs. They did it to me so I understand. I mean, I did the same thing.<\/p>\n So in any stage of your life you have fear, uncertainty, and doubt. When you’re young, fear of going broke, fear of \u201cI don\u2019t know enough,\u201d fear of uncertainty of the future. You have doubts about yourself. That\u2019s a normal part of being younger in a profession. But the same thing happens in the middle-aged dentists, let\u2019s call them that. They fear with the person down the road is doing. They’re unsure that they\u2019ve taken the right path in their practice. They doubt themselves too.<\/p>\n Then you have the older dentists, let\u2019s call them me, okay? That is looking at the other side of their practice. They go, what am I going to do? Have I created a practice that\u2019s attractive to any other dentists? Am I going to live long enough? Do I have enough put away? There\u2019s the fear, uncertainty, and doubt. It\u2019s always with us. So if you realize that it\u2019s there, it takes away from its power. Yeah, there it is again. What are you going to do about it? Let\u2019s talk about, you mentioned it, right, dental education?<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Want to talk about that?<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, a little bit.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Just think, I\u2019ve seen a lot of changes, and they’re wonderful changes. I love studying stuff. I’m studying Ben Franklin right now and the history of social media. I study a lot of things. How can I study all that stuff? It\u2019s electronic now. I mean, it\u2019s right there. The Library of Alexandria is here. It\u2019s online. Everything is there. You can learn almost anything you want to learn online, and visually too. That\u2019s not expensive.<\/p>\n I\u2019ll tell you what\u2019s expensive. Leaving your practice for a week and paying a high tuition somewhere. Then coming back and you\u2019ve got to pay for that. That\u2019s a panic, fear, uncertainly, and doubt. It\u2019s a panic, you go, oh boy. Then you kind of forget the valuable stuff you learned, very valuable, and you don\u2019t use it. \u201cWell, that was a waste.\u201d So you go to another one. Now you’re running up debt. In today\u2019s world, I would really look at\u2014you\u2019re laughing.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Probably because I\u2019ve done it.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Me too. I did it too. You get slapped forehead because you hit yourself. But in today\u2019s world, you can really search online for what you need to know about in your practice. It\u2019s almost like anything. Now, every once in a while you may want to go somewhere and do something because that\u2019s good to be social.<\/p>\n Then the other thing you can do is in your community, and I\u2019m going to make a guess that in your community there is a dentist that practices at a high level, maybe under the radar, they usually are, that will help you. You\u2019ve got to find him or her. Okay? You\u2019ve got to find them. They\u2019ll love to help you. They’re not in competition with you, believe me. They\u2019ll just love to help you so they can fill in the gaps when you’re learning all this stuff.<\/p>\n If I were doing it over again, because I still am, by the way, I learn a lot online, things like this. That\u2019s the way I would do it. Now I\u2019ve stepped on a whole bunch of toes there probably too.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I appreciated one of the things you said to me the other day that I thought was very interesting is that when you go to a course\u2014and I\u2019m joking around, but I really did just go to course after course after course. I went into debt to learn. I would probably do it a little differently today but I appreciated what you said because I never thought about the idea of going to a course and then making sure you get your ROI on that course maybe before you go to the next course.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s being frugal. To me, getting return on investment for what you spend is being frugal. That\u2019s what you do. I mean, when you buy other stuff, you go online and you look around. Maybe you’re on Amazon Prime, you get it free shipping. You look around for your best deal for the same thing. Why not?<\/p>\n I think education is changing so quickly, before our eyes. They play really big football games at the University of Phoenix Stadium. The University of Phoenix? Where is that? You know? So something is happening out there. That\u2019s an online university by the way. So something is happening out there.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So to ask kind of a dumb\u2014<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Go ahead.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To ask kind of a dumb question, when you say make your ROI back, are you just saying make back the money that you spent for that course? Like wait until you\u2019ve paid? What does that look like?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Return on investment in investment world is you make much more than you put in. You want a high return on investment. Make 20 percent, make 30 percent. If you learn how to take great records and study casts and a face-bow and learn how to equilibrate, well, you take that home and really put it into the systems of your practice and make it part of your restorative, that\u2019s hundreds of times return on investment.<\/p>\n For one thing, you probably weren\u2019t doing any of it before. So that\u2019s 100 percent right there. It doesn\u2019t take long to recoup that investment. I don\u2019t know how much time we’ve got left, but it just gets me that when I went to dental school perio was just starting to be talked about. Because before then, it was caries and dentures. This is in the late 60s, it\u2019s not that long ago, to me. So then you had caries and you had periodontics, you know? Those were the two things that got teeth. It was like that forever.<\/p>\n Then occlusion came in. Occlusion can damage teeth and screw up dentistry and make your crowns break and make people not have good results. That is just as big a deal to me as periodontal and caries but it\u2019s not taught enough and it\u2019s not talked about enough and the patients don\u2019t\u2014they probably know more about than some dentists, especially the TMJ patients.<\/p>\n So that is the part of your exam and your treatment planning, just as much as periodontics and caries control is. Same thing. It\u2019s a disease too. It\u2019s subtle. So it\u2019s perio [inaudible 00:44:45], right? You got to check for it, just like perio. But patients understand it. I actually, I think they understand it better than some dentists because they don\u2019t have all that other stuff in their minds getting in the way.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, they’re not overcomplicating it.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right. And that develops, again, I\u2019m going to go back into your systems because all this is wrapped around\u2014and I know I didn\u2019t have a hard answer on how do I make the money work in 24 hours. Well it all is wrapped around that: the consistency, the systems, the confidence, the knowledge. And you don\u2019t have to wait 50 years. It\u2019s going to take some years, depending on how quick a learner you are but I think three to five years, you can get your practice right where you want it to be. I do believe that.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Speaking of that, one of the other things you asked me to remind you of is your exercise that you used to do at Pankey, the \u201cwhat do I want\u201d exercise.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, yeah. It\u2019s a little difficult to do here because you kind of it give it away, but we can do it. I used to do it at Pankey. I used to hand out what I called \u201cmy think pads.\u201d You know, when IBM had the ThinkPad. Well I would hand out a yellow pad. I’d say, \u201cAt the top of the pad, put in what do I want and fill up the page. Take five, ten minutes, fill up the page. The boat. The trip to Paris. All that stuff. Fill all that in.<\/p>\n \u201cNow you turn the page and at the top of the page put what do I really want. Now what do you think?\u201d Because that\u2019s what you really want in your practice and in your life. Because things are going to start to come up when what you really want. You want to be healthy. You want to spend time with your family. You want to have friends. You want to feel good about yourself. You want to grow. It\u2019s not all fishing and playing golf. Those are the first page stuff.<\/p>\n The deep stuff is on the second page. But that\u2019s where you start to develop your practice life, how you blend your practice and your personal life. Very hard to separate the two. That\u2019s a whole other discussion on retirement and what that really means.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh yeah, that\u2019s right. That is a whole other discussion.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I know we have one minute left or something, maybe a little more, but I usually ask classes all over the country. I say, \u201cWhat does retirement mean to you?\u201d I would start the talk with that. They\u2019d go, \u201cWhat is he talking about retirement for? He hasn\u2019t even told us anything. You want us to stop?\u201d<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI just started practicing.\u201d<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Right. \u201cI just started practicing, why is he talking about retirement?\u201d Eventually a hand would go up and they would say, almost verbatim every time, they\u2019d say, \u201cRetirement is doing what you want.\u201d I would say, \u201cWhat are you waiting for? Why don\u2019t you do what you want now? Practice the way you want now. Don\u2019t wait. What are you waiting for?\u201d Because believe me, you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen tomorrow.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, life is unpredictable sometimes. So start now. Don\u2019t wait. Because guess what? You don\u2019t have to retire then because you already are. You can keep practicing, I\u2019m going to keep practicing for a long, long time. I love it. My health is good. I love my hours, obviously. I like my life outside of practice.<\/p>\n I took a staycation about two years ago, you know when you stay home? My wife said, \u201cYou\u2019re not doing this.\u201d So I have another impetus not to come home. She says, \u201cNo, no, you’re going to go to work.\u201d So I have no place to go, actually, it\u2019s just my practice.<\/p>\n [Laughter]<\/p>\n It\u2019s funny but it\u2019s kind of true because I see dentists retire too early and they don\u2019t have anything to do. They usually try to get back in and they can’t. That\u2019s sad. They quit way too early. You know, really wealthy people, you think, is Buffet going to retire? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Or Trump? Or Bill Gates? No, those guys don\u2019t retire. There\u2019s a message there. They’re doing what they love.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You probably know this, isn’t there a study? Isn’t there something that says when you retire you die?<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what the number is, but yeah, it\u2019s just like if you stop becoming mentally active and physically active, that\u2019s just about it. Especially guys. Guys don\u2019t last. Guys go fast.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even if you don\u2019t die physically\u2014I don’t know what the word is\u2014but yeah, going downhill.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A lot of the research on Alzheimer\u2019s is use it or you lose it. I mean, that\u2019s the thing. You can build up myelin sheaths. Actually, it\u2019s in Book Binder<\/em>, my book. You can build up nerves in your brain the more you use it. It\u2019s thicker. It\u2019s healthier. It works better the more you use it. So use it.<\/p>\n In dentistry, it\u2019s so much fun because you use it all the time. Diagnosing, meeting people. There\u2019s no dull moments in a dental practice. Greatest profession in the world, can’t beat it. Better than most. Most physician\u2019s kids are going to dental school. What does that tell you? They’re trying to get in anyway.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yep.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So we\u2019re in a good spot.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of your messages that I see you putting everywhere, even when you signed my book and as we speak, maybe the closing thought could be stay curious.<\/p>\n Brian:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s what I write in The Book Binder<\/em>. I wrote The Book Binder<\/em>. It\u2019s about a young dentist and a mentor. The first line of the book is, \u201cIt was Tuesday and a long way from the weekend.\u201d We all kind of know what that feels like. So I\u2019ll give out, my email is BB, Brian Beirl, BB@mybookbinder.com. That will go to my other emails if you want to email me or ask me something.<\/p>\n If you’re interested in the books, you can talk to Allison about it. I don\u2019t have any big corporation or anything, it\u2019s just me, but I have some. If you’re interested, I\u2019ll sign one for you and I\u2019ll get it out to you.<\/p>\n Allison:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thanks, Brian.<\/p>\n Thanks for listening to Practicing with the Masters<\/em> for dentists, with your host, Dr. Allison Watts. For more about how Allison Watts and Transformational Practices can help you create a successful and fulfilling practice and life, visit transformationalpractices.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dentists are busy people. Although it may look great from the outside, but many dentists are not happy in their lives. Most consultants will tell a dentist that they need to see more and more patients in order to bring more revenue to their practice. So why aren\u2019t more dentists happier the busier they get? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[303],"tags":[309,305,304,307],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Allison's-Button\"](\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/transformational-practices-llc\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1587010383\/Allisons-Button\/Allisons-Button.jpg?_i=AA)
<\/a><\/p>\nCreating Your Dream Practice, While Still Living A Great Life with Dr. Brian Beirl<\/h3>\n
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