Bulletproof Dental Practice

Dr. Peter Boulden & Dr. Craig Spodak
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

A dental podcast about the business of dentistry, with practical advice on what it actually takes to grow a successful practice: marketing, patient enrollment, systems, team leadership, retention and referrals, and how to build wealth that doesn't depend on your clinical days. But a great practice is only half of it. This show is also about finding fulfillment in dentistry again, and having the honest conversations most dentists only have behind closed doors: burnout, money, partnerships gone wrong, team drama, and the pressure nobody talks about. Real strategies, real talk, and plenty of laughs along the way. Hosted by Dr. Peter Boulden and Dr. Craig Spodak.

  1. 1h ago

    Rent or Own Your Practice Building?

    Many dental practice owners suffer from a dangerous financial misconception: that signing a 10-year lease is the low-risk choice, without realizing it carries the same level of commitment as buying a commercial property. The only difference is that after a decade of writing rent checks, you haven't built equity for yourself - you've simply paid off the landlord's mortgage while sinking hundreds of thousands of dollars into non-transferable leasehold improvements. In this episode, Dr. Peter Boulden and Dr. Craig Spodak welcome back Chandler Wrightenberry from Live Oak Bank to expose the math behind commercial real estate, SBA lending, and why dentists remain notoriously averse to owning their own dirt. Chandler breaks down how Live Oak has funded over $3.5 billion in dental healthcare projects by leveraging SBA government guarantees, allowing practice owners carrying student loans, credit card debt, or personal mortgages to secure high-leverage financing for ground-up builds where traditional banks hesitate. Craig and Peter tackle the pervasive fear around interest rates, reveal a surprising stat about how today's volatility shouldn't impact a decision to buy, and how signing an $11,000 mortgage check is smarter than paying $5,000 in rent. The trio digs into real-life cautionary stories, from landlords possessing complete leverage over tenants who want to expand, to an extreme dispute that left a former tenant facing felony charges! This episode uncovers a lot of lesser known truths about commercial property buying, and even touches on its advantages in the AI era. If you want to stop funding your landlord's retirement and start building your own real estate moat, this episode is the perfect first step. Once you've had a listen and want to discuss your real estate plans further, you can book a 15-minute strategy call with Craig and Chandler by emailing: craig@bulletproofdentalpractice.com.

    Rent or Own Your Practice Building?

  2. 4d ago

    Selling Your Practice: What the Math Really Says

    Dentistry has sold practice owners a seductive dream: grind it out for a decade, build up a million-dollar practice, sell out to a broker or DSO, and ride off into the sunset with a life-changing check. But when you strip away the selling hype and look at the actual balance sheet, the reality of a practice sale is often a brutal financial haircut. Practice owners regularly confuse top-line sticker price with spendable post-tax cash, mistakenly viewing an exit as their primary nest egg while trading away their most valuable wealth-generating asset. In this episode, Dr. Peter Boulden, Dr. Craig Spodak, and Ian de Jongh dissect the math behind the "Yield Rule" to reveal why cashing out doesn't yield the freedom most dentists expect. Peter walks through a real-world practice valuation and Craig highlights the underlying motives driving this exit rush: both of which reveal some hidden realities of selling a practice. The trio digs into the psychological traps that fuel artificial dissatisfaction—from comparing your practice to high-volume outliers to feeling envious of tech-bro patients while grinding in the operatory. Craig and Peter challenge the dangerous binary myth that you must either own a massive multi-location practice or sit helpless, arguing instead for wealth diversification, asset accumulation, and even the high-producing "LeBron James" associate strategy. Rather than treating your dental practice as a romanticized lottery ticket, the key is recognizing burnout signals early, building an operational ecosystem that runs without you, and compounding income outside your practice walls long before you consider stepping away. If you've been eyeing an exit simply to escape your daily routine, stop and do the real math before trading high-yielding cash flow for a check you're too afraid to spend. Take inventory of your numbers, fix what's broken in your business, and start building a life you don't need to sell. Got a story or a question for the guys? Call 561-933-5575. www.bulletproofmastermind.com www.bulletproofsummit.com

    Selling Your Practice: What the Math Really Says

  3. Sep 24

    Why a $15M Dental Group Owner Isn't Selling (And Why You Shouldn't Either)

    When Dr. Zachary Kingsberg first called the hotline (Episode 450), he said he'd only sell his five-practice group for a "stupid multiple" of 13x to 15x EBITDA. But after running the real math and realizing zero-interest-rate multiples are gone, Zach returns to the show for a conversation to unpack what the realities behind his itch to sell, and why it probably shouldn't be scratched just yet. Managing five high-volume Dallas practices while living in California, Zach doesn't work in the chair, doesn't lack cash flow, and can operate on just a few hours of visionary work a day. Yet, like many driven practice owners, he found himself contemplating an exit. Peter and Craig step in with a first-principles audit to break down why selling a cash flow engine often forces owners into a lifestyle haircut.  If you've ever thought about cashing out, this episode will help you identify what you actually want out of the sale, and will do the math to work out whether it means trading cash flow for a bank balance you're too afraid to spend. Got a story or a question for the guys? Call 561-933-5575. www.bulletproofmastermind.com www.bulletproofsummit.com

    Why a $15M Dental Group Owner Isn't Selling (And Why You Shouldn't Either)

  4. Sep 22

    Build a Practice You Don't Need to Escape | Dr. Richard Low

    Dr. Richard Low started a podcast in his closet. Eight years later he was the CEO of 35 dental offices and the most miserable he had ever been. He walked away from eight figures to save his marriage and his mental health. In this episode, Richard joins Dr. Craig Spodak and Ian de Jongh to talk about what he would build instead. The answer isn't a number of offices. It starts with the question Craig keeps coming back to: what do you actually want your life to feel like? From there it gets practical: why a life that depends on a future exit is doomed to fail, why your first office should be profitable without you in it before you think about a second, and the difference between owning a practice and operating one. If you loved your last 12 months, don't change a thing. If you didn't, you can start over, and you won't be starting from the beginning.

    Build a Practice You Don't Need to Escape | Dr. Richard Low

  5. Sep 10

    Associate to Owner: Burn the Boats

    We got an email titled "Is Everything Going to Be Okay?" A Navy veteran producing over $1M a year as an associate is three months from opening a $2.9M startup in a building he bought. $20K a month in debt. Seven ops, with plans for 14. And he's lying awake wondering if he did the right thing. He asked Peter and Craig two questions: when do I quit my associate job, and is everything going to be okay? Craig's answer on the first is burn the boats. Pick a date, honour your commitment, and don't let the safe gig become a crutch. On the second, Peter and Craig break down what associates never see until they own: why half that debt payment is forced savings, why your taxes flip in your favour, why the fear is a data problem and not a courage problem, and why owning the business and the building puts him in a stronger position than he realises. If you're an associate thinking about going out on your own, this is the conversation to hear before you sign anything.

    Associate to Owner: Burn the Boats

  6. Sep 3

    The 5-Point Fix for Unscheduled Treatment

    More than half of diagnosed dental treatment walks out the door unscheduled. Most practices respond to low case acceptance by buying more new patients instead of fixing the leak. In this episode, Peter brings a 5-point fix for the treatment you've already diagnosed, from your treatment plan follow-up protocol to reducing friction to owning the money conversation. The through line: your software builds the list, but a personal text or 30-second video from the doctor beats every generic patient reactivation campaign. The practices that win are the ones willing to do what feels uncomfortable. The work is already diagnosed. Go get it!

    The 5-Point Fix for Unscheduled Treatment

  7. Aug 27

    Zombie DSOs and the Fear Merchants

    Dentistry has become a target. From Hormozi-style marketers to practice brokers charging six figures for "scaling retreats," everyone suddenly wants a piece of the profession. In this episode, Dr. Peter Boulden, Dr. Craig Spodak, and Ian de Jongh unpack why dentists are easy prey, how to spot the warning signs of a predatory pitch, and why the same voices who screamed "sell now before the bubble pops" in 2023 are now selling solutions to the dentists who listened. They also dig into the rise of the zombie DSO: the 50 to 60 private equity backed groups that can no longer service their debt, can't recap, and never improved the practices they bought. What does this unwind mean for the doctors who rolled equity? And why does the market correction actually signal a powerful shift back toward independent ownership? Plus: why AI is becoming the great equalizer for the solo practitioner, the one moat DSOs still hold, and an open invitation to Brady Frank to come on the show and talk it out. If you've ever felt pressure to sell, this episode is your reminder: no one is coming to save you, and that's exactly why you're in a stronger position than you think. Only a handful of spots remain in the Bulletproof Mastermind. Apply at bulletproofmastermind.com.

    Zombie DSOs and the Fear Merchants

  8. Aug 21

    Bulletproof Summit: "The Best One Yet"

    Fresh off a sold-out Bulletproof Summit at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Dr. Peter Boulden, Dr. Craig Spodak, and Ian de Jongh sit down to relive three days that left everyone running on fumes and full of purpose. In this episode: the world's first all-dental AI summit, Brian Harris delivering a main stage talk so inspiring Peter considered getting back in the chair, and the unplanned moment Dr. Richard Low was pulled on stage for a raw fireside chat that left the room in tears. The guys break down why a room split 50/50 between doctors and teams creates massive leverage, why every sponsor at Summit is one they actually use in their own practices, and why one attendee's viral clip said it best: "I'm at a dental conference and we haven't talked about teeth once." Bulletproof Summit 2027 lands in Orlando on the 10th anniversary, August 19-21, and 120 tickets are already gone with a 35-office waiting list from this year alone. Head to bulletproofsummit.com to secure your spot before it sells out. www.bulletproofsummit.com

    Bulletproof Summit: "The Best One Yet"
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

A dental podcast about the business of dentistry, with practical advice on what it actually takes to grow a successful practice: marketing, patient enrollment, systems, team leadership, retention and referrals, and how to build wealth that doesn't depend on your clinical days. But a great practice is only half of it. This show is also about finding fulfillment in dentistry again, and having the honest conversations most dentists only have behind closed doors: burnout, money, partnerships gone wrong, team drama, and the pressure nobody talks about. Real strategies, real talk, and plenty of laughs along the way. Hosted by Dr. Peter Boulden and Dr. Craig Spodak.

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