The Lifestyle Practice Podcast For Dentists

Every dental practice deals with staffing shortages, insurance headaches, difficult employees, and days when everything goes wrong, even the most successful ones. In this episode, Dr. Steve Van De Graaff argues that what separates elite practices from average ones is how the owner responds to those problems. He shares three stories: a dentist who texted 55 hygienists on a Sunday night to keep his hygiene schedule running, the same owner's response to three floods in his office, and Steve's own experience of letting go of his front desk as a new practice owner and learning to run the business himself.

IN THIS EPISODE
- Why every dental office has problems, including the most successful ones
- How one dentist filled a hygienist call-out and an assistant gap in about two hours
- What three office floods reveal about ownership and resilience
- Steve's first months of practice ownership and the night he realized nobody was coming to save him
- Why confidence comes after action, not before it
- When it makes sense to work with a mentor or dental practice coach

KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Elite practices aren't immune to problems. They become elite because the owner solves big problems over and over again.
- When a crisis hits, your default response matters more than the problem itself. Take immediate, massive action instead of hesitating.
- You can't control the weather, your staff's health, or emergencies, but you are in complete control of how you respond.
- The front desk, insurance claims, payment posting, and accounts receivable aren't too complex to learn. They just take commitment.
- Some of the worst experiences in early practice ownership can become the most valuable ones.
- If you have the drive but don't know which levers to pull in your practice, a mentor can give you the roadmap.

Connect with us:

Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/

Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get access to TLP Academy:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access):
https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy

Visit our website:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/

Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801

Email Steve: steve@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Derek: derek@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Matt: matt@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Raheel: raheel@thelifestylepractice.com

#DentistLife #LifestylePracticePodcast

Many of the issues dentists face in their practice are a direct result of standards that aren't high enough. In this episode, Dr. Matt Vogt asks you to picture your perfect practice, from how your team performs to how your patients treat you, and then asks a simple question: why are you accepting anything less? He shares common examples of low standards in dental offices, a real story about holding a hygienist accountable, and why your standards need to apply to your team, your patients, and yourself.

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR
Dental practice owners, associate dentists, and dental students who want a practice that supports their lifestyle instead of consuming it.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Visualize your perfect practice: how your team performs, how patients communicate with you, and even how the office looks and smells. Then ask why you accept less than that today.
- Many dentists tolerate things they would never accept if they were starting from scratch, such as an office manager who doesn't perform like an office manager or a front office team member who drops new patient calls.
- Sometimes the issue is you. If you struggle with patient communication or clinical outcomes, point the finger inward instead of outward.
- You get what you're willing to accept, in life and in dentistry.
- When a team member keeps falling short, avoiding the confrontation is the wrong path. Your standard can be high and still be reasonable.
- A clear, direct conversation, including asking what the team member needs to meet the standard consistently, can create change almost immediately.
- When one person isn't held to the same standard, the rest of the team notices. That creates resentment and lowers everyone's effort.
- Hold yourself to the same standard. If a patient doesn't accept treatment, ask your team how you communicated and what questions the patient had.
- A culture of collaboration helps you learn from your team instead of assuming you're always right.
- Treat every patient with respect, and expect respect in return. If a patient consistently isn't a fit, it's okay to help them find a dentist who suits them better.
- Healthy patient standards come from an abundance mindset, and those standards will carry over into everything your practice does.

Connect with us:

Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/

Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get access to TLP Academy:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access):
https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy

Visit our website:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/

Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801

Email Steve: steve@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Derek: derek@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Matt: matt@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Raheel: raheel@thelifestylepractice.com

#DentistLife #LifestylePracticePodcast

Can a dentist work three days a week without earning less? Dr. Derek Williams cut his Thursdays cold turkey, took a small dip in September, and then had the best month in his practice's 30-plus-year history.

In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Williams answers a listener's question: what does it actually look like to go from a four-day to a three-day dental workweek? He explains why he made the decision without a perfect plan, what happened to production and collections, and how his team learned to fit a four-day schedule into three highly productive days.

You'll learn how to remove the "fluff" from your dental schedule, how assistants can prepare better and turn over rooms faster, and why Dr. Williams treats the daily schedule like a game of Tetris. He also covers whether you should cut your team's hours, how hygienists can keep seeing patients on days the doctor isn't in the office, and how an overhead-based bonus system supports a shorter workweek.

If you're a dental practice owner dealing with burnout, an associate dentist planning your future, or a dentist who wants better work-life balance, this episode shows how dental practice efficiency can give you more time off without sacrificing your income.

Connect with us:

Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/

Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get access to TLP Academy:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access):
https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy

Visit our website:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/

Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801

Email Steve: steve@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Derek: derek@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Matt: matt@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Raheel: raheel@thelifestylepractice.com

#DentistLife #LifestylePracticePodcast

Growth Through Hygiene: How to Make Your Hygiene Department More Productive

When Dr. Raheel Haider took over his dental practice, the hygiene schedule was booked out for three months, the hygienist was bouncing between her own patients and new-patient perio exams, and the reappointment rate sat at around 20%. In this solo episode, he explains how he rebuilt the hygiene department into one of the most productive and profitable parts of his practice.

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR
Dental practice owners, associate dentists planning to own, and dental students who want to understand how hygiene drives practice growth.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
- If your hygiene schedule is booked out for months, the fastest fix is more capacity. Hiring another hygienist lets new patients be seen in hygiene instead of waiting.
- New-grad hygienists are often easier to coach because they are eager, motivated, and open to mentorship.
- A $50-an-hour hygienist who sits idle for eight hours costs you $400. One extra new patient brings in revenue at the first visit and gives you a chance to diagnose treatment.
- Dr. Haider's team now tracks the reappointment rate daily and keeps it above 90%, up from about 20% when he took over.
- Roughly half of American adults have some form of periodontal disease, so many practices are underdiagnosing perio. AI voice perio charting can complete the chart, provide staging and grading, and print an educational sheet that helps with case acceptance.
- Build a same-day mentality across your team. Patients stop thinking about dentistry the moment they walk out the door.
- Require deposits for SRPs. Patients follow their money, and if they won't put a deposit down, don't schedule them.
- Don't cut your hygienists' hours when the schedule slows down. Fix cancellations and no-shows with better case acceptance, communication, and deposits.
- When fluoride isn't covered by insurance, you can charge your full office fee. Dr. Haider offers a 50% same-day discount to every patient, cash or insurance. Check your state's insurance laws before copying this.
- Curodont can reverse incipient cavities in about 30 seconds to a minute per tooth. Showing patients AI-highlighted X-rays dramatically increases acceptance.
- Aim for hygienists to produce about 3.3 times their pay. Paying hygienists hourly or a percentage of production, similar to an associate, creates motivation to produce.
- Even in a worst-case scenario where a hygienist only produces 1x their pay, you still gain new patients and long-term growth.

TOOLS MENTIONED
AI voice perio charting, Overjet and Pearl (AI X-ray detection), Curodont

Connect with us:

Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/

Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get access to TLP Academy:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access):
https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy

Visit our website:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/

Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801

Email Steve: steve@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Derek: derek@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Matt: matt@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Raheel: raheel@thelifestylepractice.com

#DentistLife #LifestylePracticePodcast

A dentist asked Dr. Steve Van De Graaff a simple question: "Should I have a budget? I have a Tesla, and I'm starting to wonder if I should be spending my money differently." In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Steve answers three questions every dentist eventually asks: How should I manage my money? How can I save more of it? And what should I spend it on?

Steve starts with financial literacy basics: knowing your monthly expenses, building an emergency fund of six months of living expenses, keeping a cash reserve for your dental practice, carrying life insurance, and understanding the difference between good debt and bad debt. He explains why practice loans and a home mortgage can work in your favor, while credit card debt and high-interest consumer loans should be paid off fast.

Then he shares his philosophy of selective frugality: spend happily on what you value, and cut back on everything else. You will learn how to save money on the big three expenses (housing, transportation, and food), why you should annualize recurring costs, how to avoid lifestyle creep, and how to shift from a consumer mindset to building passive income and long-term wealth.

Whether you are a practice owner, an associate dentist, or a new grad paying off student loans, this episode will help you use money as a tool to build financial freedom and a life you actually want.

Connect with us:

Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/

Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get access to TLP Academy:
https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/

Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access):
https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy

Visit our website:
https://thelifestylepractice.com

Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801

Email Steve: steve@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Derek: derek@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Matt: matt@thelifestylepractice.com
Email Raheel: raheel@thelifestylepractice.com

#PersonalFinance #FinancialFreedom #DentistLife #LifestylePracticePodcast

Do you put off small tasks until they weigh on your mind for days? In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Matt Vogt shares the $15 dial kitchen timer that transformed his productivity at his dental practice, in his coaching career, and at home.

Dr. Matt explains how to use a simple productivity timer to build focus, gamify your to-do list, and stop procrastinating. You will learn how timing yourself makes you aware of every distraction, why tasks expand to fill the time you give them, and how to finish dreaded admin work in minutes instead of days.

Whether you are a dental practice owner, an associate dentist, or a dental student, this time management strategy can help you build efficiency at procedures like crown preps without compromising the quality of care. It can also help you manage your practice more effectively and protect your time outside of work.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page
• Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

#ProductivityHacks #StopProcrastinating #DentalPractice #LifestylePracticePodcast

In this solo episode, Dr. Derek Williams reflects on life after selling his dental practice and spending two years on the road in an RV with his family. After years of chasing financial freedom, he's now working through a different question: what do you do with freedom once you have it?

Key takeaways

• Freedom in your practice creates room for the decisions that build wealth. Working three days a week gave Derek the time to invest in real estate and start coaching.
• Most dentists plan how to reach financial freedom but never plan what their days will look like afterward.
• Once more money stops changing your daily life, the question shifts from how to earn more to how to use it: giving, volunteering, family experiences, or buying back time.
• Financial freedom doesn't remove difficulty. It gives you the freedom to choose which challenges are worth taking on.
• Healthy influence means offering perspective without demanding that someone adopt it.
• Your problems don't disappear when you reach the goal. The principles you practice now are the ones you'll rely on for the rest of your life.

Resources mentioned

• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page
• Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Dr. Raheel Haider takes a deliberately contrarian position on the most-complained-about topic in dentistry. Instead of joining the social media pile-on about denials, write-offs, and impossible reimbursements, he argues that a negative mentality about dental insurance spreads through a practice — to the front desk, to the billing team, to the patients — quietly costs the office production.

Key takeaways

• Dental insurance is a feature of the field, not a bug — in network or out
• Your team and patients mirror your attitude toward insurance
• Complexity is the insurance companies' strategy; understanding it is your job
• EOBs are the training data for fixing your estimates — and they're sometimes wrong
• A patient should leave with either a zero balance or a credit, never a debt
• Credits create goodwill; balances create bad reviews

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page
• Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Dr. Steve Van De Graaff hosts an episode on the single most common struggle he hears from dentists: leading and managing a team. His answer isn't a culture overhaul or an offsite — it's a training you can run in fifteen minutes and start using the same afternoon.

The handoff has two rules. First, tell the patient what's coming next, so nobody sits in a chair wondering why they're waiting. Second, build up the team member taking over. "Erica's going to take care of you — she does the best cleanings." "Sarah's really good with insurance; she'll find a way to make this work." "Kate's in here with you today, and she's great with kids."

Why it works — three effects

• Patient confidence. Patients stop guessing what happens next. Instead, they see a polished, organized office running a system, and they trust the practice more.
• Team performance. When you praise a team member in front of the patient, you're really talking to your team member. It's a Dale Carnegie principle: give someone a reputation to live up to, then praise them when they get there.
• Culture. When people build the habit of saying something good about a co-worker out loud every day, respect and teamwork rise with it.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page
• Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Firing a team member is one of the most uncomfortable parts of owning a dental practice — and according to Dr. Matt Vogt, most of the advice out there makes it harder, not easier.

In this episode, Matt takes apart the popular "hire slow, fire fast" cliché and shares a real coaching conversation with a client who recently acquired a practice. The client inherited a front office where four team members had no clear roles and no defined expectations — including "Kathy," an employee who'd been shuffled from position to position for years without ever being told what a good job actually looked like.

When the team pushed for Kathy to be let go, the client's gut said the same. But Matt's coaching reframed the situation: before you fire someone, you owe it to them — and to yourself as a leader — to give your absolute best effort. That means clear roles, clear expectations, real training, and honest accountability.

Dr. Matt's core philosophy: people fire themselves. When you've laid everything out on the table, and someone still can't rise to the standard, the decision becomes clear, guilt-free, and fair. And the bonus? The better you get at creating clarity, the less often you'll ever need to fire anyone.

Key takeaways:

• "Hire slow, fire fast" skips the leadership work that actually solves the problem
• Underperformance is often a symptom of unclear roles, not a bad employee
• Trust your gut on fit — but do the systems work before deciding
• Give underperformers a genuine, well-defined chance to succeed
• Clarity removes the anxiety and second-guessing from firing
• Systemize your office, and you'll rarely reach the firing point

Ready to build a practice — and a team — that runs on clarity? Take the free lifestyle and practice assessment and start a no-pressure conversation with Derek, Matt, Steve, or Raheel.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page
• Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Dr. Derek Williams paid off $300,000 in dental school student loans within twelve months of graduating — then got accused of faking it. In this episode, he addresses every criticism head-on and walks through exactly how it happened.

Fresh out of dental school in 2016, Derek bought a practice doing $570K at 50% overhead after evaluating close to 100 practices. In his first year of ownership, he nearly doubled production to $1.3 million — not through one big move, but through hundreds of small operational decisions: fixing the practice's visibility with a digital sign, going comprehensive with patient care, training an underdeveloped team, and bringing extractions, grafting, and implants in-house.

He's honest about the cost, too — the emotional weight of a brutal first three-to-six months, dropping his daughter at a new school with no friends or family nearby, and questioning whether he could even do it.

Derek also breaks down the tax timing that freed up early cash flow, the psychology behind choosing to pay off debt over investing, and how he rolled the momentum into real estate. The takeaway: paying off the loans wasn't his best investment — learning to build an exceptional practice was. The debt disappearing was just the first visible result.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page
• Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

In this episode, Dr. Raheel Haider breaks down the exact red flags that turned an $800K practice into a bankruptcy — sky-high rent eating into profit margins, $10,000/month in marketing that wasn't converting, a saturated market with brutal competition, and a seller he didn't trust. This is a real case study in dental practice acquisition, practice due diligence, and the numbers every dentist needs to check before buying a dental practice.

If you're a dentist considering practice ownership, a dental student planning your future, or a practice owner trying to figure out why your margins feel this tight — this episode shows you exactly what to look for (and look out for) before you sign.

What you'll learn:

• The 4 red flags Raheel found before walking away from an $800K/year practice
• Why high fixed costs (especially rent) can quietly sink a profitable-looking practice
• How to evaluate a seller's marketing spend and patient demographics before buying
• Why trusting the seller's numbers isn't optional — and how to catch red flags in a P&L
• The difference between "not defaulting" and actually thriving as a practice owner

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Free ebook — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page
• Email Raheel at raheel@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Five and a half years ago, Dr. Eric Palmer bought a three-operatory dental practice about 20 minutes outside one of the most competitive dental markets in the United States. The practice had no insurance verification process, no real treatment plan presentation, and a hard credit check on every new patient. Today, that same practice has doubled its production and collections on the same three chairs, runs on a three- to four-day clinical week, and is being built out to eight operatories to support a future associate hire.

In this conversation, Eric and Steve walk through the entire arc: discovering practice ownership through a podcast episode during residency, finding an off-market practice through direct mailers to retiring dentists, navigating a financing gap when a home sale fell through days before closing, fixing broken front-office systems in the first weeks of ownership, and building a billing strategy that profits inside a low-fee-allowable PPO state using CEREC same-day dentistry.

Key topics covered:

• Finding off-market dental practices for sale through direct outreach
• Bridging a financing gap with seller financing during an acquisition
• Fixing insurance verification and treatment plan presentation as a new owner
• Managing staff transitions and turnover after a practice purchase
• Billing profitably as an in-network PPO practice
• Using CEREC technology to improve Class II procedure outcomes and reimbursement
• Planning an 8-operatory build-out for future associate or specialist hires
• Defining your lifestyle vision before choosing a practice ownership path

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

2026 is officially halfway over — and if you're a dentist or dental practice owner, that means it's time for an honest mid-year check-in. In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Matt Vogt breaks down the real difference between dentists who are winning in 2026 and dentists who are losing, based on patterns he sees across practice ownership, dental practice management, and everyday life.

Dr. Matt shares three signs you're losing this year: being reactive to every up and down in your dental practice, blaming your team or "bad luck" instead of taking ownership, and coasting through your career without intention. Then he flips it — the three signs you're actually winning: staying the course through the ups and downs of practice ownership, taking extreme ownership of your results (including how you handle a tough Google review or patient complaint), and leading your day, your team, and your practice with real intention instead of drifting.

Whether you're a general dentist, a specialist, or a practice owner working on treatment acceptance, staffing, or burnout, this episode is a reset for the second half of 2026. If you want to build a practice and a life that actually feel like a win — not just look like one — this one's for you.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Every dental practice owner is facing the same three problems in 2026: insurance reimbursements that haven't kept up with inflation, a staffing and retention crisis, and overhead that keeps climbing no matter what you cut. In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Derek Williams breaks down why these dental practice management challenges have gotten worse — and more importantly, what the highest-performing practices are doing differently to grow production, protect their margins, and build a team that doesn't leave.

You'll learn how one practice increased production by 40% without changing their insurance mix or seeing more patients — just by fixing how they diagnosed, communicated, and followed up with patients. You'll also get a practical framework for improving staff retention (without a bigger payroll budget) and a simple way to tell whether an expense is actually an investment in your practice's growth.

If you're a dental practice owner trying to increase profitability, reduce overhead, and build a team that sticks around, this episode gives you three action items you can implement in your practice this week.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Dr. Matt Vogt is back for another episode of The Lifestyle Practice — and this one gets personal. After a chance dinner conversation with a pre-dental student staring down a $650K tuition bill, Matt found himself revisiting his own $450,000 student loan journey and asking a simple question: if he had to pay it all off again, what would he do differently?

In this episode, he breaks it down into three hard-won lessons:

🦷 Start or buy a practice sooner — ownership (in the right opportunity) is one of the biggest drivers of freedom and wealth in dentistry.
📈 Invest more heavily in yourself and your practice early — the CE, the hygienist, the growth moves that compound before life gets busier.
💸 Attack the debt even faster — delay gratification, stay hard-headed, and chase that indescribable moment when the balance hits zero.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

Grow smarter. Practice better. Live more.

#DentalPodcast #PracticeOwnership #DentalStudentLoans #DentistryBusiness #TheLifestylePractice #DentalEntrepreneur #FinancialFreedom

82% of dentists report major stress. 60% have considered changing careers or retiring early. If you've felt that way, you're not alone — but selling the practice isn't the only exit.

In this episode, Dr. Steve Van De Graaff breaks down a practical framework for beating dental burnout and rediscovering satisfaction in your work, without blowing up everything you've built:

• Get specific — Burnout isn't one giant issue. It's several small triggers left unresolved. Make the list, then attack them one by one.
• Fix the team tension — There's usually one person weighing the doctor down. Set expectations, have the conversation, make a plan.
• Stop doing dentistry you hate — The pediatric appointment that changed everything, and why cutting the work you dread can transform your week.
• Move away from low-fee dentistry — Renegotiate PPO fees, drop your worst plans, raise out-of-network fees, and stop getting paid nickels on the dollar.
• Work less — Why dropping to a 3 or 3.5-day week almost never lowers income, and how two clients redesigned their schedules around their lives.

You are not trapped. Your practice should support your life — not the other way around. Dentistry is challenging, but it shouldn't be miserable.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

We're thrilled to welcome our newest partner to The Lifestyle Practice — Dr. Raheel Haider! In this episode, Derek Williams, Matt Vogt, and Steve Van De Graaff sit down with Raheel to talk dental practice ownership, financial freedom for dentists, and the mindset shifts that took him from a burned-out associate with imposter syndrome to a confident practice owner growing his dental practice 50% in under a year.

Raheel shares his journey from growing up in Dallas, Texas, with immigrant parents who pushed dentistry as "the way out," to discovering personal finance and financial literacy in college after a missed car payment wrecked his credit score. He walks through his dental school strategy at UNLV, why he prioritized clinical volume over grades, how he found and negotiated his first dental practice acquisition, and the exact playbook he used to grow collections without adding new procedures — renegotiating insurance, fixing front desk phone answer rates, and pricing corrections.

If you're a dental student, associate dentist, or practice owner interested in dental practice ownership, financial independence for dentists, or scaling a dental practice through better systems (not more chairside hours), this episode is packed with practical lessons.

Connect with Dr. Raheel Haider:
📘 FREE EBOOK — "How to Achieve Financial Freedom in Seven Years or Less": https://the-lifestyle-practice.com/home-page-page

🔗 Coaching & TLP Academy → https://thelifestylepractice.com

📩 raheel@thelifestylepractice.com

👥 FB Group: Financial Freedom, Retire Early for Dentists → https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18C1jHTJb6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

In just over three months of practice ownership, Dr. Tim Balzen has already produced double the income he made last year as an associate — and he's closing on a second building in a few weeks to keep up with demand.

In this episode, Dr. Tim sits down with Steve to walk through the five-year, multi-state journey that led him from a saturated Boise market to a three-op practice in a small Missouri town, and everything that's happened since closing day. He gets candid about the offices he almost bought (and why he didn't), the moment three team members broke down crying in his first month, the insurance call that earned him an instant 20% fee bump, and the neighboring dentist whose letter to patients accidentally sent over 100 new appointments his way.

If you're a dentist or dental student weighing ownership, this one is packed with practical, no-fluff lessons on how to actually pull it off — and why the path is rarely a straight line.

Learn more about The Lifestyle Practice and the work behind Tim's journey at thelifestylepractice.com.

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com

In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Matt Vogt and Dr. Derek Williams dive deep into what it really takes to succeed as a dental practice owner—whether you're starting from scratch or acquiring an established practice.

Are you thinking about starting a dental practice but unsure if it's the right move? In this dental practice startup guide, Matt shares his honest coaching approach to evaluating potential dental entrepreneurs. Unlike typical "you can do it" motivational advice, Matt takes a neutral, wisdom-based approach to dental business strategy that helps dentists make smarter decisions about practice ownership.

What You'll Learn in This Dental Practice Coaching Conversation

• The key differences between starting a dental practice and acquiring an existing one
• How successful practice owners think differently about growth
• Why personality and intuition matter more than you might think in dental entrepreneurship
• The truth about dental practice challenges that nobody talks about
• How to evaluate whether starting a dental practice is right for you
• Real-world practice management insights from someone who has built, scaled, and successfully grown practices

Connect with us:

• Take our FREE lifestyle and practice assessment:https://thelifestylepractice.com/practice-assesment/
• Learn more about 1-on-1 coaching:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get access to TLP Academy:https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/https://thelifestylepractice.com/coaching-services/
• Get the TLP Student Academy for $20 (lifetime access): https://the-lifestyle-practice.teachable.com/p/studentacademy
• Subscribe to The Lifestyle Practice Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tlp-podcast-for-dentists/id1476544801
• Email Derek at derek@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Matt at matt@thelifestylepractice.com
• Email Steve at steve@thelifestylepractice.com