The Dental Truth Project

The Dental Truth Project

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Economía y empresa
Cada semana

The Dental Truth Project No fluff. No spin. Just bold, unfiltered conversations about what’s really happening in the dental industry. Hosted by Ken Kaufman and Dallin Kaufman, AccruDent Co-Founders, this podcast dives into the mistakes, wins, and truths that DSO leaders, clinicians, and consultants usually avoid. Expect real talk, raw insights, and answers to the questions no one else is asking.

hace 8 h

IQ Gets the Job. EQ Gets the Patients. AQ Makes You Last. (E.39)

Dave Gaspar, CEO of Smile Partners USA, exposes the hiring blind spot that's quietly killing dental careers: practices have obsessed over clinical skill and chairside personality for decades — but nobody's testing for the one quality that actually predicts whether a dentist survives the hard days. When the CBCT crashes, the assistant calls out sick, and patients are walking out the back door, IQ and EQ won't save you. Dave calls it the Adversity Quotient (AQ) — and he argues that until the industry starts screening for it, recruiting will keep failing doctors, practices, and patients alike. Three scores that predict a dentist's success: IQ — The Clinical Score Can they perform the procedure? Do they have the technical skills? This dominated hiring conversations for decades. EQ — The People Score Can they connect with patients? Can they lead a team? This became the next frontier of great hiring. AQ — The Adversity Quotient Can they handle a bad day? Do they take ownership when things go wrong? This is the score nobody is testing for — and the one that decides everything. Key Revelations: The Hiring Formula Is Broken A high-AQ dentist who thrives under pressure is your best candidate for a turnaround office — but placing a low-AQ doctor there is setting everyone up to fail. Even after selling a practice, doctors can't fully abdicate — Smile Partners still needs you to be a leader, not just a provider. Culture isn't a mission statement on the wall — it's what happens when the day falls apart and everyone still knows exactly what to do Most struggling practices don't have a process problem — they have a people problem, and no marketing budget or DSO support system fixes a team that can't handle adversity 💡 The "Ask Ken" Question: Why do some DSOs grow revenue fast but never improve margins? Ken's answer: Growth mode means more expenses — more people, more marketing, more infrastructure. Margins don't disappear; they're just buried under expansion costs. The key is watching cash flow during the sprint, not profits. When growth levels out, real margins surface. But if you keep adding headcount and spending without discipline, you might never find out where you actually stand. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E. 3) How Associate Mismanagement Is Bankrupting Dental Groups - Eric Roman, Dental Associate Growth (E.18) Why Half Your DSO Budget Is Disappearing Into Toxic Culture - Gabriel Hofmann, The Dental Efficiency Guy (E.26) You Keep Losing Dental Team Members. Have You Asked Yourself Why? - Bonnie Thompson, Forest Family Dentistry NEW BOOK - COMING SOON Get early access to Roll the Equity: How Smart Dental Founders Sell Their DSOs Join the insider's list here 👇 https://resources.accrudent.com/roll-the-equity-insider-list Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

26 min
27 may

Roll the Equity or Take the Cash and Walk Away? (E.38)

Mark Haddad, Endodontist and Co-founder of Specialty1 Partners and ScoutIQ, pulls back the curtain on what private equity actually wants — and why most dentists walk into a deal completely unprepared. At the heart of every PE transaction is one defining decision: do you take the cash and walk away, or do you roll your equity and bet on a bigger payday down the road? If you've ever thought about selling your practice or scaling with PE backing, this episode will change how you think about both paths — and help you figure out which one is right for you Option A Cash out Full liquidity at close. Best for founders nearing retirement or those who want a clean exit. You walk away with 100% of the agreed value — no strings, no risk, no upside. Option B Roll the equity Take partial cash now, convert the rest into ownership of the larger DSO. If the group grows, your stake multiplies. Mark calls it "the second bite of the apple" — and it's how younger founders build serious long-term wealth. Key Revelations: What Every Dental Founder Needs to Know Before Selling PE created optionality — Before private equity, dentists had almost no exit options. PE firms are market makers — and that's a good thing for doctors. Rolling equity isn't risky — it's strategic. Trading full cash for a stake in the larger DSO is how younger founders capture the "second bite of the apple." PE is buying your practice in 5 years — not today. They want a growth story, not just your current numbers. Tell them how you plan to scale. EBITDA is subjective. Buyers will fight to reduce your number through add-backs. Without a strong CFO and banker in the trenches, you'll lose that battle. 💡 The "Ask Dallin" Question: "What factors should I consider when choosing a practice management software?" Dallin's answer: Two things outrank every other feature — scalability (can it standardize across multiple locations?) and data access (can you actually get to your own data?). Cloud-based PMS platforms tend to win on both. Everything else — user friendliness, features, cost — matters less if you're building toward a group practice. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E.2) Why High-Multiple Exits Are Bankrupting Dental Practices - AJ Peak, Health Wealth Capital (E.5) The DSO Valuation Crash No One Talks About - Gareth Petsch. pH Partners (E.11) Unqualified Practice Brokers Are Costing Dentists Millions - Maria Melone, Caber Hill Advisors Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

23 min
20 may

From Producer to Leader: The Hardest Shift in Dentistry (E.37)

Corey Hastings, CEO of Blue Sage Management Group and practicing pediatric dentist, exposes the uncomfortable truth most multi-location dental owners refuse to admit: scaling from one to seven locations almost broke him — not because of bad dentistry, but because he couldn't get out of the chair. The clinical skills that built his practice became the very thing holding it back. Key Revelations: Why Your Greatest Strength Becomes Your Biggest Bottleneck Most dentists don't have a clinical problem — they have a leadership problem they're solving with more dentistry When you're still producing a significant chunk of your revenue and EBITDA, you're permanently stuck between two roles — the producer and the leader — and neither one gets your full attention The hidden cost of staying clinical too long: your team stops making decisions because nobody ever taught them how — and that indecision comes right back to you as decision fatigue Your associates graduated knowing how to fill a Scantron. Nobody taught them how to read a P&L, lead a team, or make a decision without running it by you first. That's your problem now. 💡 The "Ask Ken" Question: "What's the biggest financial red flag that would make a buyer walk away from your dental group?" Ken's answer: Buyers want to see a business that can grow without being held hostage by one person's skill set. If your collections are inconsistent, your books are messy, or your entire operation collapses the moment one key person walks out — they'll walk out too. Do a quality of earnings audit on yourself before a buyer does it for you. Find the bombs before they do. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E.29) The Business Skills Every Dentist Needs (But Was Never Taught) - Dr. Rehan Shahid, Practice Success Academy (E.26) You Keep Losing Dental Team Members. Have You Asked Yourself Why? - Bonnie Thompson, Forest Family Dentistry (E. 22) The DSO Leaders' Imposter Syndrome Epidemic - Thomas Passalacqua, Ascend Professional Pathways, LLC Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

23 min
13 may

The Cyber Threat Dentistry Keeps Ignoring (E.36)

Virginia Jones, CEO of Village Family Dental (14 locations, 400 employees) & Gary Salman, CEO of Black Talon Security reveal the silent threat that could shut your practice down — not a bad review, not a slow month, but a cyber event you never saw coming. Post-Change Healthcare breach, dentistry is still 3–4 years behind the rest of healthcare on cybersecurity — and the hackers already know it. Small practices think they're flying under the radar. Large groups think their IT team has it covered. Both are wrong. Key Revelations: The Invisible Threat Inside Your Practice 70% of dental practices treat cybersecurity as a once-a-year checkbox — the hackers treat your network as an everyday opportunity The government doesn't care if you're a 1-chair solo practice or a 50-location DSO — HIPAA fines hit everyone equally, and dentistry has been slow to realize it Dentistry is 3 to 4 years behind the rest of healthcare on cybersecurity. And the hackers already know it. Stop calling it an expense and start calling it an investment — because a cyber event isn't a month of downtime, it can be years 💡 The "Ask Ken" Question: "At what point does adding more locations actually start destroying value instead of creating it?" Ken's answer: The real question isn't how fast you can grow — it's whether your operational infrastructure has room to breathe. Before you sign on that next location, ask yourself: are your regional managers tapped out or do they have capacity? Growth without operational leverage isn't scaling — it's a slow-motion collapse. Know your limits before your skis outrun your legs. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E. 22) The DSO Leaders' Imposter Syndrome Epidemic: Thomas Passalacqua - Ascend Professional Pathways, LLC (E.11) Unqualified Practice Brokers Are Costing Dentists Millions: Maria Melone - Caber Hill Advisors (E.3) How Associate Mismanagement Is Bankrupting Dental Groups: Eric Roman - Dental Associate Growth Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

20 min
6 may

The Hard Truth About AI Vendors in Dentistry (E.35)

Randa Seif, COO of CaliDental, issues a stark warning to every dental practice owner scrolling through AI vendor ads: handing over your patient data to the wrong company isn't just a bad business decision — it could be a legal and ethical catastrophe. After personally vetting vendors from Australia, Amsterdam, and across the U.S., she reveals why most AI companies knocking on your door have no business being inside your practice management system. Key Revelations: The Vendor Trust Crisis No One Wants to Say Out Loud Vendors are cold-pitching practices on Facebook and Instagram with $70,000 blank-check proposals — and most have never worked a day inside a dental office If an AI vendor can't prove they understand your workflow, they cannot build something that works for you — technical brilliance without dental knowledge is worthless Overseas vendors create a compounding problem: HIPAA exposure, unverifiable security standards, and zero recourse if something goes wrong with your patient data Giving API access to your PMS is giving a stranger the keys to your patient records — and most practices aren't asking the hard questions before they hand them over The right vendor criteria: U.S.-based, willing to build custom, and able to prove they can scale with you — not just make one location look good 💡 The "Ask Dallin" Question: "If you stepped into a struggling 3-location group tomorrow, what 3 data reports would you analyze first?" Dallin's answer: Start with the P&L — every other report you pull should be dictated by what you find there. Revenue problem? Pull production and collections. Labor bloat? Go straight to payroll. The P&L is your compass; everything else is the map. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E.16) Will AI allow me to fire my RCM team?: Jonas & Luis, Kaylie.ai (E.23) AI Is Killing Patient Loyalty in Dentistry: JW Oliver - SupportDDS (E.25) The PMS Data Gatekeeping Scandal in Dentistry: Jake Larsen & Clint Berry - Kolla Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

22 min
29 abr

The 5 Pillars of a Thriving DSO (E.34)

Ash Toub, Co-Founder of Smile Data and Ponce Dental Studio, brings a rare dual perspective to dentistry, currently running both a dental group and a software company built for dental groups. After helping scale a 28-location DSO to $10–12M in EBITDA, he developed a proven 5-pillar framework for building dental groups that survive and scale. Most dental groups aren't failing because of bad marketing or poor clinical care. They're failing because they built a skyscraper on a house foundation — and didn't realize it until the cracks started showing. Key Revelations: The 5 Pillars of a Scalable Dental Group Ash’s 5-Pillar Growth Framework: People → Data → Infrastructure → Revenue Cycle → Marketing. Miss one pillar, and growth becomes expensive chaos. Marketing Only Works on a Strong Foundation: More leads won’t fix broken operations. If your people, systems, and collections aren’t dialed in, marketing only amplifies inefficiency. Data Without Definitions Is Dangerous: Dashboards alone aren’t enough. If KPIs are unclear or inaccurate, you’ll make confident but costly decisions. Multiple PMS Can Limit Growth: Practice Management Software impacts workflows, reporting, collections, and scalability. Multiple systems create friction, messy data, harder training, and operational headaches. 💡 The "Ask Dallin" Question: "What should I do if I have multiple Practice Management Softwares in my DSO?" Dallin’s answer: In most cases, moving to one PMS is the smarter long-term play. While the transition can be painful upfront, standardizing systems creates cleaner reporting, smoother operations, easier staff training, and stronger scalability. If switching isn’t possible yet, integration tools can help—but one unified system remains the gold standard. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E.16) Will AI allow me to fire my RCM team?: Jonas & Luis, Kaylie.ai (E.2) Why High-Multiple Exits Are Bankrupting Dental Practices: AJ Peak, Health Wealth Capital (E.25) The PMS Data Gatekeeping Scandal in Dentistry: Jake Larsen & Clint Berry, Kolla Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

26 min
22 abr

Flying Blind: The Data Gap Killing Your DSO (E.33)

David Janash, Founder & CEO of Underbite Dental, built a 13-location DSO from the ground up in one of the most brutally competitive markets in the country: New York City. He's made every expensive mistake in the book — and turned those mistakes into a data-driven operation that actually tells him what's going to happen before it does. David used to log into every single office manually, every single night, just to know how his business was doing. Then he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building a custom data warehouse and hiring software engineers to solve the problem. He eventually scrapped all of it for a monthly software subscription that does it better. The lesson isn't just about wasted money — it's about what happens to your strategy when you're operating without real insight. David coined it himself: "The map to that gap is your data" Key Revelations: The Gap Between Intention and Actuality Most DSO leaders are obsessing over last month's report — the operators winning right now are looking at next week Running multiple offices on different practice management softwares isn't flexibility — it's chaos disguised as convenience Special contracts, different hours, outlier comp plans — when things go wrong, you'll wish you'd standardized your DSO sooner 💡 The "Ask Ken" Question: "Does my EBITDA look strong, but I still feel broke every month?" Ken's answer: A few things hide from EBITDA that devour your cash — debt service, capital expenditures, and cash vs. accrual distortion. Strong EBITDA and empty pockets aren't a contradiction. They're a signal. Here's how to read it. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E.25) The PMS Data Gatekeeping Scandal in Dentistry: Jake Larsen & Clint Berry, Kolla (E.20) Fake Codes, Hidden Fraud & The Accounting Nightmare: Paul Lowry, Dental Menu (E.5) The DSO Valuation Crash No One Talks About: Gareth Petsch, pH Partners Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

30 min
15 abr

Group Size Obsession: Are We Growing or Just Keeping Up? (E.32)

Tonya Christal and Danielle Powell of Lee Dental Centers in San Antonio don't have a fancy training platform, a DSO war chest, or a playbook they borrowed from a conference stage. What they do have is something far rarer — a 40-year family practice, a sister who's also their business partner, and the hard-won clarity to know exactly who they are and who they're not. The hard truth? Most dentists are building their practice to look like someone else's. They're scaling because the seminar said to scale. They're chasing new locations because four feels small now when it used to feel big. And somewhere in that race, they stop asking the one question that actually matters — is this the life I actually want? Key Revelations: Designing Your Group on Purpose At four locations, you're constantly asking: Are we good? Do we need to get to ten? Are we just keeping up with the Joneses? Sacrificing EBITDA on purpose isn't a failure — sometimes it's the exact right move to protect your team, your time, and your sanity The "sell your house" exercise: go under the hood as if you're preparing to sell — you'll either fall back in love or finally get clear on what has to change 💡 The "Ask Dallin" Segment: "What AR data patterns signal a billing system problem before cash flow is affected?" Dallin's answer: Two things to watch. First, your total AR balance — some is normal, but if it's climbing month over month, something is broken. Second, your aging buckets — any meaningful amount sitting at 90+ or 120+ days is a warning sign you can't afford to ignore. Catch these patterns early, before the cash flow feels it. Top 3 Episodes of The Dental Truth Project. Listen Now! (E.22) The DSO Leaders' Imposter Syndrome Epidemic: Thomas Passalacqua, Ascend Professional Pathways, LLC (E.12) Niche Down or Burn Out: Why Top Dentists Do Less and Earn More: Alex Sharp, Shared Practices Group (E.2) Why High-Multiple Exits Are Bankrupting Dental Practices: AJ Peak, Health Wealth Capital Got a burning question about dental finance? Submit your question, and it could be featured in a future episode. Ask Ken Form: https://resources.accrudent.com/ask-ken-form-the-dental-truth-project

23 min

The Dental Truth Project No fluff. No spin. Just bold, unfiltered conversations about what’s really happening in the dental industry. Hosted by Ken Kaufman and Dallin Kaufman, AccruDent Co-Founders, this podcast dives into the mistakes, wins, and truths that DSO leaders, clinicians, and consultants usually avoid. Expect real talk, raw insights, and answers to the questions no one else is asking.

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The Dental Truth Project
Años de actividad

2025 - 2026
Episodios

39
Clasificación

Apto
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