The Hidden Cost of Solving the Wrong Problem in Your Dental Practice Why the Best Dental Leaders Slow Down Before They Speed Up
- Sarah Beth Herman
- Jul 9
- 9 min read
By Sarah Beth Herman, MBA, Founder & CEO, Dentistry Support®
Abstract
Leadership within a dental practice often requires making timely decisions while balancing patient care, financial performance, team development, and operational efficiency. Yet many of the challenges that limit growth are not caused by a lack of effort or commitment. They arise because practices are attempting to solve symptoms instead of identifying the underlying problem. Throughout my career in dentistry, I've observed that the most successful practices are not necessarily the ones with the largest teams or the most advanced technology. They are the practices led by individuals who consistently pause long enough to ask better questions before implementing solutions. This free training explores why thoughtful observation is one of the most overlooked leadership skills in dentistry, how solving the wrong problem can create unnecessary expense and frustration, and why strong systems, communication, and operational consistency remain foundational to long-term practice growth.
Introduction
One of the greatest privileges of my career has been having a front-row seat to dentistry. Not just inside one practice. Inside hundreds of them. Over the past twenty-five years, I've worked alongside solo practices, multi-location organizations, specialty offices, DSOs, startups, and long-established practices that have served their communities for decades. I've had the opportunity to build multiple businesses, hire more than 700 employees across nine different countries, and lead teams that support dental practices throughout the United States every single day.
Those experiences have taught me many things.
But perhaps the greatest lesson has been this: The first problem we notice is rarely the problem that actually needs to be solved. That's an uncomfortable thought. Because leaders are naturally wired to solve problems. We don't enjoy watching production decline. We don't enjoy seeing accounts receivable increase. We don't enjoy hearing frustrated patients or overwhelmed team members. Our instinct is to fix whatever appears to be broken.
There is tremendous value in being decisive. However, there is also tremendous wisdom in slowing down long enough to ensure we are solving the right problem. Throughout this free training, I want to challenge you to think a little differently about the operational challenges inside your practice.
Not because I have every answer.
Because I've learned that the practices experiencing the greatest long-term success often begin with better questions.
Dentistry Is a Business Built on Decisions
Every single day inside a dental office, someone is making decisions.
Should we add another hygiene day?
Do we need another administrative employee?
Should we purchase new technology?
Why are insurance payments taking longer?
Why is treatment acceptance declining?
Why is the schedule no longer staying full?
Should we increase marketing? Should we change software?
Each decision has financial implications. Each decision affects patients. Each decision influences your team's daily experience. The challenge is that decisions made too quickly can sometimes solve yesterday's frustration instead of tomorrow's opportunity.
One of the reasons I enjoy dentistry so much is because it is constantly evolving. Insurance requirements change. Technology changes. Patient expectations change. Team dynamics change. Even leadership changes as organizations grow.
What worked when a practice served 800 active patients may not support a practice serving 4,000. Growth requires adaptation. Adaptation requires observation. Observation requires curiosity. Those three ideas are more connected than many leaders realize.
The Difference Between Activity and Progress
One pattern I've observed repeatedly throughout dentistry is the tendency to reward activity instead of progress. When something isn't working, we naturally become busier. More meetings. More emails. More reports. More conversations. More checklists. More software. More hiring. Sometimes all of those things are appropriate. Sometimes they simply create more activity without creating meaningful improvement.
I've learned to ask a different question. What outcome are we actually trying to create? That question changes everything.
Let's consider insurance verification. A practice may believe verification is taking too long. The immediate assumption becomes:
"We need another insurance coordinator." Perhaps. But another possibility exists.
Is the verification process standardized? Is every coordinator following the same workflow? Are benefits documented consistently? Are patients being scheduled before verification is complete? Is information being entered in multiple locations? Are unnecessary steps slowing the process?
Notice what happened. We moved from solving a staffing concern to evaluating a process. Those are two very different conversations.
The same principle applies to accounts receivable. A practice may conclude collections are slowing because insurance companies have become more difficult. Sometimes that's true. Other times, delayed claim follow-up, inconsistent documentation, incomplete narratives, or workflow interruptions are contributing factors long before the claim reaches the payer.
At Dentistry Support®, we have the unique opportunity to evaluate these operational patterns every day because our teams support practices across the country with dental billing, insurance verification, accounts receivable management, patient communication, and administrative workflows.
One of the most valuable lessons we've learned is this: The strongest systems often create the calmest practices.
Not because challenges disappear. Because predictable systems reduce unnecessary uncertainty.
Operational Excellence Is Built Long Before Problems Appear
One misconception I occasionally hear is that operational systems only become important after a practice experiences growth. I actually believe the opposite. Strong systems create healthy growth. Healthy growth rarely happens accidentally. It is built through consistent communication, documented expectations, clearly defined workflows, accountability, and continuous refinement.
The practices that appear effortless from the outside are rarely effortless behind the scenes. They have simply invested time creating consistency before inconsistency became expensive.
This becomes especially important as practices continue facing staffing shortages, increased insurance complexity, rising operational costs, and changing patient expectations. The dental industry has experienced significant transformation over the past several years.
Patients expect convenience. Digital communication. Accurate financial estimates. Prompt responses. Transparent conversations. Insurance carriers continue introducing administrative complexities.
Dental teams continue balancing more responsibilities than ever before.
Leaders who embrace operational consistency are often better positioned to navigate these changing expectations because consistency creates confidence. Confidence improves communication. Communication strengthens trust. Trust supports long-term patient relationships.
Sometimes the Greatest Leadership Skill Is Slowing Down
One lesson I continue learning is that speed and urgency are not always the same thing. Leaders often feel pressure to solve problems immediately. That pressure is understandable.
Yet some of the most expensive decisions I've witnessed were made because someone acted before fully understanding the situation. I've experienced this personally throughout my own career. Some of my best decisions happened because I waited one more day, asked one more question, invited one more perspective into the conversation.
Leadership rarely requires knowing everything. It requires remaining curious long enough to identify what deserves your attention first. That distinction has changed how I approach business, dentistry, and leadership altogether.
Curiosity Is One of the Greatest Competitive Advantages in Dentistry
If I could point to one characteristic that consistently separates exceptional dental leaders from average ones, it would not be intelligence. It would not be charisma. It would not even be experience.
It would be curiosity.
Curiosity causes leaders to ask one more question before making one more decision. Curiosity invites perspectives that may otherwise go unheard. Curiosity creates environments where people feel comfortable identifying problems before they become expensive.
I've become convinced that curiosity is not the opposite of confidence. It is evidence of maturity.
Leaders who remain curious recognize something incredibly important. No matter how many years we've spent in dentistry, there is always another perspective worth considering. That mindset creates healthier organizations because curiosity encourages learning instead of assumptions. When a patient hesitates to schedule treatment, curiosity asks why. When accounts receivable begin increasing, curiosity asks what changed. When an employee becomes disengaged, curiosity asks what they may be experiencing before assuming poor performance.
Questions like these often reveal opportunities that quick solutions completely overlook.
Healthy Practices Ask Better Questions
Over the years, I've noticed that thriving dental practices ask different questions than struggling ones. Instead of asking, "Who's responsible?" they ask, "What happened inside the process?" Instead of asking, "Why is this employee struggling?" they ask, "Have we given this employee every opportunity to succeed?"
Instead of asking, "How do we get more patients?" they ask, "How do we create an experience patients naturally want to tell other people about?"
Those questions lead to entirely different conversations. They also lead to healthier cultures.
Culture is built one conversation at a time. One expectation at a time. One response at a time. Most leaders don't intentionally create unhealthy cultures. They simply become so focused on solving today's problems that they unintentionally stop paying attention to tomorrow's opportunities.
That's why reflection matters.
Strong organizations create time to evaluate, improve, document, refine, and learn. Continuous improvement isn't an event. It's a habit.
Why Systems Create Freedom
One misconception about systems is that they remove flexibility. In my experience, the opposite is usually true. Well-designed systems create freedom because they remove unnecessary uncertainty.
When every insurance verification follows the same documented process, patients receive more consistent communication. When billing follows standardized workflows, claims move more efficiently. When accounts receivable follow structured follow-up schedules, revenue becomes more predictable.
When patient phone calls are handled consistently, the patient experience improves. When expectations are documented, leaders spend less time correcting preventable mistakes.
This is one of the reasons Dentistry Support® has invested so heavily in developing standardized workflows and operational consistency. We don't simply complete administrative tasks. We build dependable systems that support dental practices every single day.
Whether our teams are assisting with insurance eligibility verification, dental billing, accounts receivable management, patient communication, scheduling support, or administrative operations, our objective remains the same: Reduce unnecessary complexity. Increase consistency. Create confidence.
Because confidence changes how practices operate.
The Future of Dentistry Will Belong to Curious Leaders
Dentistry continues evolving at an incredible pace. Artificial intelligence is changing administrative workflows. Insurance regulations continue becoming more complex. Patients expect convenience, transparency, and immediate communication. Technology continues reshaping the patient experience.
None of those changes should create fear. They should create curiosity.
The practices that continue growing over the next decade will not necessarily be the ones with the biggest budgets. They will be the practices led by individuals willing to continuously learn, adapt, observe, and improve.
Leadership has always required technical knowledge. Today's leadership also requires emotional intelligence, operational awareness, adaptability, and thoughtful communication.
Those qualities cannot be purchased. They are developed.
Every conversation. Every challenge. Every patient interaction. Every leadership decision.
Final Thoughts
If there is one encouragement I hope you carry with you after today's free training, it is this: Don't become so focused on solving problems that you stop studying them.
Some of the greatest breakthroughs I've experienced throughout my career came after asking one additional question. One more conversation. One more perspective. One more opportunity to understand what was really happening beneath the surface.
The dental practices that continue growing year after year are rarely perfect. They're simply committed to learning.
That commitment creates stronger teams. Healthier cultures. More consistent patient experiences. Greater operational efficiency. And ultimately, better outcomes for everyone involved. As leaders, we don't have to know everything. We simply have to remain teachable.
Join Me Next Week
Beginning next week, I'm launching something that has been on my heart for quite some time. For the next ten weeks on No Silver Spoons, we'll begin a special series called The Human Side of Leadership™.
Throughout this series, we'll explore the psychology behind leadership, communication, decision-making, trust, team culture, patient behavior, and many of the invisible patterns that shape successful dental practices and thriving organizations.
This won't be a series built around motivational speeches or leadership clichés. Instead, I'll be sharing observations gathered over more than twenty-five years in dentistry, building multiple companies, hiring more than 700 employees across nine countries, and partnering with hundreds of dental practices throughout the United States.
We'll explore questions that have fascinated me for years. Why do great employees leave organizations they once loved? Why do patients remain loyal to one practice while quietly leaving another? Why do some teams embrace change while others resist it? Why do certain leadership habits create trust while others unintentionally create stress?
If today's conversation challenged the way you think, I believe you're going to enjoy where we're headed. I hope you'll join me Monday as we begin this journey together.
About Dentistry Support®
At Dentistry Support®, we believe exceptional patient care begins long before treatment starts. Our team proudly support dental practices across the United States by providing experienced administrative professionals who specialize in dental insurance eligibility verification, dental billing, accounts receivable management, patient phone support, scheduling assistance, insurance follow-up, administrative workflow support, and dental practice operations.
By creating consistent systems and dependable administrative support, we help practices improve efficiency, reduce overhead, strengthen patient communication, and create healthier operational workflows that allow clinical teams to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional patient care.
To learn more, visit:
References
Argyris, C. (1991). Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Business Review, 69(3), 99–109.
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones. Avery.
Covey, S. R. (2004). The 7 habits of highly effective people (Rev. ed.). Free Press.
Edmondson, A. C. (2019). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Wiley.
Klein, G. (1998). Sources of power: How people make decisions. MIT Press.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization (Rev. ed.). Doubleday.
Disclaimer:
To learn more about Sarah Beth Herman, the author of all free training content you can read her bio here. These materials are intended to provide helpful information to dentists and dental team members. They are in no way a substitute for actual professional advice based on your unique facts and circumstances. This content is not intended or offered, nor should it be taken, as legal or other professional advice. You should always consult with your own professional advisors (e.g. attorney, accountant, or insurance carrier). To the extent, Dentistry Support ®has included links to any third-party website (s), Dentistry Support ® intends no endorsement of their content and implies no affiliation with the organizations that provide their content. Further, Dentistry Support ® makes no representations or warranties about the information provided on those sites. You can view our privacy policy and terms and conditions by clicking those pages in the footer of our website
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