By Sarah Beth Herman, CEO of Dentistry Support®

Abstract

In the ever-evolving world of dental care, strong leadership is more than a title—it’s a neurological process shaped by thought, emotion, and intentional action. This free training blog post, created exclusively for the dental community, provides foundational insight into how neuroscience supports leadership behaviors in dental offices. We explore how to build mental patterns that improve patient experiences, reduce staff turnover, and create sustainable business growth. This post serves as a precursor to the upcoming No Silver Spoons podcast episode launching Monday. While the episode will share personal applications and deeper tools, this blog offers scientific context, action steps, and a strategy-forward mindset to help leaders understand the power of their brain in the dental office.

Introduction: Leading with Intention in Dentistry

Dental offices today face challenges that extend far beyond the operatory. Staff burnout, inconsistent systems, emotional fatigue, and communication breakdowns are common in practices nationwide (Shanafelt et al., 2021). As practices grow or struggle to retain team members, many dentists and office managers find themselves overwhelmed, even when the clinical side runs smoothly.

But what if leadership wasn’t just about solving external problems?

What if the breakthrough your practice needs starts with how you think?

This free training is not about positive thinking or catchy quotes. It’s about rewiring your brain for leadership using proven neuroscience principles—and how that shift can impact your team, your patients, and your practice revenue.

And most importantly, it’s a warm-up for what’s to come in Monday’s podcast episode of No Silver Spoons. In that episode, I’ll share my personal story and real-life application of these principles. But for now, let’s build the foundation.

How Mental Patterns Influence Dental Office Leadership

Your thoughts are not passive. They influence how you delegate tasks, how you handle stress, how you speak to patients, and even how your team perceives you.

Neuroplasticity: The Brain’s Ability to Adapt

Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s capacity to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience (Draganski et al., 2006). This means that with intentional repetition, your brain can adopt new leadership behaviors, more productive emotional responses, and clearer decision-making—even under pressure.

For dental leaders, this is transformative.

➡️ Example: If a team member misses a task, you can respond with curiosity and coaching instead of frustration. Doing this repeatedly forms a new neural pathway, making you more naturally calm and strategic over time.

The Reticular Activating System (RAS): Your Brain’s Filter

The RAS is a bundle of nerves in your brainstem that filters stimuli and directs your attention. It focuses on what you tell it matters most (Huberman, 2021). If you focus on chaos and underperformance, that’s all you’ll notice. But when you set a clear vision and align your actions to it, the RAS will start filtering your daily environment for solutions, opportunities, and people that support your goals.

➡️ Dental Application: Start each day with a goal that improves your team culture: “Today I will model clarity and solution-focused thinking.”

Strategy and Mindset in Tandem: Where Most Dental Offices Struggle

In our work at Dentistry Support®, we support offices around the country with dental billing, insurance eligibility verification, front office processes, virtual admin support, and more. But even with these systems in place, one pattern emerges:

We can help clean up the processes, create systems, and implement structure—but if the leader is stuck in fear-based decision-making or reactive leadership, progress is short-lived.

That’s why this training isn’t about productivity hacks. It’s about helping you understand why your brain defaults to stress, and how to rewire it.

Three Scientific Shifts to Practice This Week

These shifts are supported by data, practical for dental teams, and designed to build leadership muscle before the podcast episode releases on Monday.

1. Shift from Task-Driven to Pattern-Driven

Instead of listing 20 things to do this week, identify 2-3 patterns you want to create in your office.

✅ Examples:

• Begin every morning huddle with a 60-second gratitude focus.

• Redirect complaints into suggestions using a “what could we try instead?” phrase.

• Take one 10-minute break per day to assess leadership alignment (not operations).

  
  

2. Shift from Passive Hope to Active Visualization

Studies at Stanford University show that imagining success activates the motor cortex, increasing the likelihood of behavioral follow-through (Cumming & Williams, 2012).

✅ Dental Use: Visualize a successful team training, then lead it as if you already experienced it. Visualization is not wishful thinking—it’s mental priming.

3. Shift from Survival Thinking to Strategic Language

The words you use influence the chemical balance in your brain and your team's perception of safety (Swart, 2019).

✅ Swap these:

• “We’re behind again.” ➡️ “Let’s look at where we’re improving and where we can pivot.”

• “I’m not good at leading.” ➡️ “I’m learning to lead more effectively every day.”

Why This Matters in Dentistry Support® Workflows

We train our virtual dental teams at Dentistry Support® to operate from systems, not stress. When a new office signs up for our insurance verification or dental billing services, we don’t just jump into the work. We assess the leadership patterns of the office first.

If there’s confusion at the top, we’ll see breakdowns at every level:

• Insurance verification isn’t completed accurately.

• Team members delay task execution.

• Patients lose trust due to miscommunication.

So we train our teams—and teach our clients—to practice pattern-based leadership. It improves productivity and reduces turnover, but most importantly, it creates a trust-filled environment for everyone, including the patients you serve.

Preview of What’s Coming on Monday’s Podcast Episode

I want to personally invite you to listen to Monday’s No Silver Spoons episode. This two-part podcast series will be vulnerable, real, and transformational for any dental leader navigating:

• Growth after burnout

• Team challenges

• Fear-based decision-making

• Big dreams with little support

In the episode, I’ll share a behind-the-scenes look at what rewiring my leadership brain looked like in the early days of building Dentistry Support®. I’ll talk about neuroscience—but through the lens of application, not theory.

It’s the episode I wish I had when I started in 2014.

To prepare for the episode:

✅ Write a leadership “I have” statement in present tense (ex: “I have built a practice that inspires team growth.”)

✅ Read this blog post twice—once now and once before the episode airs.

✅ Share this link with your dental office manager or business partner.

🗓 Episode drops Monday at www.dentistrysupport.com/freetraining

Want to Learn More About How Dentistry Support® Helps Dental Offices Thrive?

At Dentistry Support®, we partner with dental offices across the United States to offer:

• Virtual dental billing

• Insurance eligibility verification

• Virtual phone support and admin tasks

• Systems creation and SOP development

• Leadership mentorship and consulting

Whether your practice is growing quickly or struggling to maintain consistency, we can help streamline the back-office chaos so you can focus on what matters—patient care, team growth, and profitability.

Learn more here: 👉 https://www.dentistrysupport.com

Want free tools every week? Join our community:📘 The Dental Collaborative Facebook Group

Conclusion: Start Before You’re Ready—Your Brain Will Catch Up

Rewiring your leadership isn’t about waiting for perfection. It’s about making one small shift, consistently, over time. Before the episode goes live Monday, ask yourself:

• What thought pattern is no longer serving me?

• What action would align better with the leader I want to be?

• How do I want my team to feel when I walk in the room?

You are not behind. You’re building.

References

Cumming, J., & Williams, S. E. (2012). The role of imagery in performance. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 46(11), 713-718. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2012-091167

Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V., Schuierer, G., Bogdahn, U., & May, A. (2006). Neuroplasticity: Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427(6972), 311-312. https://doi.org/10.1038/427311a

Huberman, A. (2021). How to change your brain with intention. [Huberman Lab Podcast, Episode 43]. https://hubermanlab.com

Shanafelt, T. D., Hasan, O., Dyrbye, L. N., et al. (2021). Changes in burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance in physicians and the general US working population. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 90(12), 1600–1613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.08.023

Swart, T. (2019). The Source: Open Your Mind, Change Your Life. Vermilion Publishing.

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.