Solstice Provider Blog

Festive music dominates the airways. Hats and horns ushering in the New Year. The smell of pine trees and great food permeates the air. Bright-colored decorations and twinkling lights brighten the nights. And we just know…it’s that time of the year. It’s the holiday season!

Reaching a balance between being a great dentist and an effective small business owner can be a challenge. While the patients and their dental issues may come as no surprise to you, the issues that arise from trying to effectively manage a dental office staff can. It gets stressful, dealing daily with staffing challenges arising from high staff turnover, frustrations due to mistakes, stemming from employees being unaware of office processes, or dealing with a negative work environment.  

High-tech innovations are constantly changing the way you do business. To be successful in your practice, it’s important that you make continuous improvements in the services you provide to your patients, including upgrades to technology in your business.  

You can have state-of-the-art equipment, a beautiful office and waiting room, and the best professional staff, but if patients aren't coming back, you've got a real problem! Barring a personnel problem (e.g., an impolite receptionist), the problem might very well reside in your practice's patient recall rate. How important is your patient recall rate to the success of your dental practice?

Having a thoughtfully designed and comfortable dental office is a large step in the effort to please patients. While your office is your workplace, understand the experience of someone entering as a patient seeking treatment.

Working in a dental office with the same people day in and day can sometimes lead to tension. Issues such as personality clashes, misunderstandings, work ethic and lack of communication will arise and it is important to be an arbitrator, not an instigator. Properly managing conflicts in your dental office will help these issues be contained and lead to a positive environment for your staff and your clients. 

“Excited” is usually not a term used to describe someone’s emotions when they need to visit the dentist office. Sometimes, people associate going to the dentist with extended periods of time in the waiting room, unpleasant staff and a painful mouth procedure. Well – don’t let that stereotype be the case for you! We’ve compiled a few ways on how you can enhance your practice and put the enjoyment back into your patients’ visits. Here are five ways to make your dental office fun right now:

1. Hire a fun staff.