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Good morning.

You can be the most clinically gifted dentist in the building, and still run a practice that feels stuck.

Here’s the hard truth most of us learn late:
Clinical excellence without leadership execution produces average results.

When schedules have gaps, teams feel reactive, and patients drift instead of committing; the issue is rarely dentistry.
It’s alignment.

This issue of More Than Teeth is about practical leadership you can deploy tomorrow morning, starting with the most underrated production and culture lever in a dental practice:

In Today’s Edition

This issue delivers a copy-and-lead framework to help you:

• Run a high-impact morning huddle that increases production and lowers stress

• Align doctors, hygienists, assistants, and front desk staff around today’s priorities

• Use Dentrix + Pearl AI + imaging to drive confident case acceptance

• Lead with gratitude, clarity, and expectations, without micromanaging

• Empower your team to solve bottlenecks instead of reporting them

5-minute read 👇
Immediate ROI.

Clinical Corner

🥼 Leadership is a clinical skill. The outcomes just look different.

Most dentists were trained to diagnose disease, not dysfunction in systems.

Yet leadership failures show up clinically every day:

• Incomplete diagnoses

• Rushed explanations

• Missed opportunities for patient education

• “We’ll think about it” case presentations

Strong leadership doesn’t mean being louder.
It means creating clarity, safety, and ownership, especially at the start of the day.

Your morning huddle is where that happens.

Key Takeaways 🔑

• Leadership is leverage. Ten focused minutes before patients arrive can save hours of stress later.

• Dentists set the vision; teams execute the system. Both matter.

• Gratitude is not soft; it’s strategic. Recognition increases engagement and accountability.

• Technology only works if people are aligned. Dentrix, Pearl AI, iTero, and imaging amplify leadership—they don’t replace it.

• Great teams don’t wait for permission to fix problems. They’re invited to. Clinical Corner: Documentation That Works

The 10-Minute Morning Huddle Agenda (Dentist-Led, Team-Owned)

This agenda (Link) aligns with the proven meeting cadence used in high-performing practices

Minute 0–1: Open with Gratitude

The doctor on duty leads

• Call out one specific win from yesterday

• Thank a team member by name for a behavior (not a personality trait)

Minutes 1–3: Today’s Vision

The dentist sets the tone

• One sentence on why today matters

• One expectation for patient experience

Minutes 3–6: Schedule Reality Check (Dentrix-Driven)

Office manager or front desk lead reviews Dentrix:

• No-shows / short appointments

• Opportunities to fill gaps

• Patients needing same-day care

• Remember that patients who have a stuffy nose won’t tolerate you being in their mouth. Have them do the 3 Blow Method to clear their nose. You’ll be more productive and more likely to end the appointment on time. Buy some $1 Afrin at the Dollar Store to keep on hand.

The doctor asks one question:

Minute 6–8: Clinical & Hygiene Alignment

Clinical lead + hygienist

• Pearl AI flags to review

• iTero scans (ie, wellness scans baseline), CBCT (ie, failing endo), or intraoral photos (ie, failing restorations with cracks) planned

• Patients needing enhanced education

This reinforces diagnostic confidence and case acceptance—not sales pressure.

Minutes 8–9: Bottleneck Invitation

Dentist invites ownership

This single question builds:

• Psychological safety

• Innovation

• Accountability

Minutes 9–10: Close with Trust

Dentist closes, then steps back

Role-Play Example: What This Sounds Like in Real Life

Doctor:
“Good morning, team. Before we dive in—thank you, Jasmine, for catching that unconfirmed hygiene patient yesterday and getting them rescheduled. That saved the day.”

Office Manager:
“Today we’ve got one potential gap at 2:30. I’ll work Dentrix to fill it.”

Hygienist:
“I’ve got two Pearl AI findings I want to spend extra time on—possible crown recurrent caries and early perio.”

Doctor:
“Perfect. Let’s slow down, show the images, and let the patient make the decision. Anything that could bottleneck us?”

Assistant:
“Lab case for Room 3 is confirmed, but tight timing.”

Doctor:
“Thanks for flagging it. You’ve got it. I trust you.”

Ten minutes.
Alignment achieved.The Science: Why It’s Worth the Effort

Why This Works (The Leadership Science)

Research consistently shows:

• Daily team alignment improves execution and morale (Edmondson, 2022)

• Psychological safety increases performance and learning (Google Project Aristotle)

• Gratitude from leadership increases engagement and discretionary effort (Grant & Gino, 2010)

• Clear expectations reduce burnout in healthcare teams (Shanafelt et al., 2017)

Leadership isn’t about control.
It’s about conditions.

CE Opportunities / Events

If you found this helpful, forward it to a colleague or sleep physician partner. Let’s grow the movement, one documented, approved, and healed patient at a time.

Click here for related podcast topics.

Until next week,
Dr. Michael & Cathy Bennett
More Than Teeth | A Mission for Generational Health