Sin and Redemption: Easter Lessons for Dental Practice

After just teaching the first of three courses in practice management at Temple’s Dental School and listening closely to the students this past week, I gained a renewed appreciation for how the dental school experience—despite its noble intentions—can seed a few “original sins” that follow young dentists into private practice.

Among the most egregious? The reduction of people to procedures.
“My denture patient.”
“That 3-unit bridge.”
“The implant case.”
It’s clinical shorthand, sure—but it also strips away personhood. And when we stop seeing people and start seeing only production units, relationship-based and trust-based care—the very heart of private practice—takes a hit.

Then there’s the obsessive focus on completing requirements. While understandable in academia, it often sidelines prevention and comprehensive care in favor of just checking boxes. And time utilization? Seeing two patients per clinic session may work in school, but in real-world practice, it just doesn’t scale.

Treatment planning often revolves around what insurance will cover, what will complete requirements, not what the patient actually needs or values. That kind of training can quietly sabotage your ability to elevate needs into wants—the critical pivot point for case acceptance.

Some dental schools, recognizing this, have done away with requirements.  The result?  Graduates who may not have performed procedures they will be required to perform in private practice.  Now you know why that new associate is so slow or lacks confidence.

Add to that the fact that fee discussions are often avoided entirely in school. So, when you step into private practice, navigating financial conversations with patients can feel like trying to tango with two left feet.  And so, these conversations are often delegated to others, who might not communicate trust and value.

Lastly, in school, there’s rarely alignment between students and the clinical staff—they’re on different teams, playing different games. That dynamic doesn’t prepare one to lead a cohesive, goal-driven team in practice.

But here’s the good news—and why this piece isn’t titled “Eternal Damnation.”

The first step toward redemption is simply this: awareness.

Recognizing that these inherited habits are incompatible with success in private practice is liberating. Because what was learned can be unlearned. What was ingrained can be reshaped.

Just like the Easter message of resurrection and renewal, your professional trajectory can change. You can shift from seeing patients as procedures to people, from production-focused to purpose-driven, from merely completing cases to transforming lives.

And in doing so, you won’t just build a successful practice—you’ll build one that feels right. One that aligns with your values, engages your team, earns your patients’ trust, and gives you pride in your work again.

The Role of Leadership in Practice Redemption

If awareness is the first step toward redemption, then leadership is the force that carries it forward.

You don’t fix a practice’s culture, patient experience, or profitability by installing new software, tweaking a schedule, or hanging a new mission statement on the wall. You fix it by changing how you lead.

In fact, leadership is the redemption.

Great leaders don’t just spot what’s broken—they inspire others to believe it can be rebuilt. They don’t just call out old habits—they model new ones. And perhaps most importantly, they take radical responsibility for the direction of the practice. Not blame, but ownership. Ownership of the culture. Ownership of the vision. Ownership of what gets rewarded and what gets tolerated.

Leadership is what transforms a practice from stuck to thriving, from reactive to intentional, from soul-draining to soul-filling.

Here’s the hard truth: If you’re waiting for your team to change before you lead differently… you’re still in dental school mode.
But if you step up to lead—authentically, humbly, consistently—you create the environment where change is not only possible, but inevitable.

Your team will follow courage. They’ll respond to clarity. And they’ll rise to meet the standard you’re brave enough to set.

Leadership is the bridge between the sin of stagnation and the redemption of reinvention.

And yes—it starts with you.

Happy Easter,

Michael

P.S. Effective leaders empower their teams by providing them with the resources necessary to complete the mission.  Join us this coming Thursday, when The Liberated Practice and The Management Mastery Study Club sponsor a webinar geared for Leaders and their teams, where you will learn how to use the psychology of Influence to prime patients to say YES to your best care.

P.P.S.  All webinar registrants will receive a free copy of the PPS Pre-Suasion Toolkit (a $49 value).   REGISTER NOW