I hear this from dentists all the time. “I just haven’t fully gotten into aligners yet because I don’t know enough.” If that sounds familiar, you’re not broken. You’re being a dentist. Think back to the first crown you ever prepped. Or your first extraction. Or the first time you gave local without your instructor standing behind you. You did not feel ready. You did not “know enough.” But you did it anyway. And the only reason it feels easy now is because you started before you were...
8 days ago • 4 min read
Doing something new is hard. Not because you are bad at it. Not because you are incapable. It is hard because you do not know what you are doing yet. That sounds obvious, but most of us forget it. We expect confidence before competence. We want clarity before reps. We want certainty before starting. That is not how learning works. When you do not know how to do something, your brain looks for reasons to stop. This feels risky. What if I mess it up? What if I look stupid? What if I fail? So...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Most dentists think we need to do it all. We are prideful. We think we are the best. We assume everyone else should just figure it out. We are wrong. People do not need more operators. They need leadership. Leadership is not doing the work. Leadership is showing people what good looks like and guiding them there. You cannot expect a new hire to know what to do. You cannot expect them to know the difference between right and wrong. You have to onboard them so they understand what is required...
22 days ago • 1 min read
When you solve one problem, you create another. We see this all the time with doctors learning aligners. First, they want help with case selection. Then they want help with case acceptance. Then they want help with setup. Then delivery. Then refinements. Then finishing. That is not a bad thing. That is progress. The same thing happens with patients. You propose aligners to improve oral health. You solve the alignment problem. Now the patient notices things. The shape of their teeth. The...
29 days ago • 1 min read
I have expanded my team and I am nervous. We are no longer just helping solo docs with aligners. We are now supporting associates at DSOs too. This hits deep for me. I used to be an associate at a DSO with no mentorship and no guidance. I had to find it and build it myself. DSOs have resources. They just struggle to deploy them in a way that actually helps doctors. That is the gap we are filling. Supporting doctors clinically while working with leadership to scale aligners responsibly. What...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
If you have more than one priority, they are not priorities. They are a wishlist. I used to write down 10 or more things I wanted to accomplish every day. By the end of the day, I felt busy. But I did not feel accomplished. Now my list usually has two or three things. That is it. Why? Because I am clearer on my goals. We think we need to be doing all the things. We do not. Being busy is easy. Being productive is harder. hink about it like this. Doing 20 fillings in a day feels busy. Starting...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
If you want to grow, you have to say no. Going into 2026, you will need to say no to more things than you say yes to. If clear aligners are not the area of your practice you want to grow, you should not watch my free training. You should not sign up for courses. You should not even be thinking about it. That might sound harsh, but clarity creates speed. If your goal is to improve schedule efficiency, then the only content you should be consuming and implementing is content that helps you do...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Most practices look the same. They take insurance, modify treatment to fit coverage, and neglect what is truly best for patients. That is why so many dentists get compared to the office next door. If you want to stand out, you need to differentiate. Here are 3 simple levers for differentiation: 1. Offer what you believe in. Even if it is not popular. Patients can feel when you truly believe in your treatment. 2. Hyper focus on the patient experience. From the first phone call to the moment...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
When I worked in 11 different offices, I noticed something strange. Everyone was doing the same thing. Taking insurance. Modifying treatment to fit what was covered. Neglecting what was truly best for patients. And I went along with it until I realized my patients and I deserved better. The turning point came when I inherited another doctor’s patients. I started offering aligners. Something the previous dentist never even mentioned. The reactions were mixed. Some patients called me a scammer....
2 months ago • 1 min read
