Episode #293: "Your Future’s So Bright You’ve Got to Wear Shades" with Dr. Mark Hyman

Especially post-Covid, you may be wondering about the future of dentistry. But don’t panic — Dr. Mark Hyman is here to assure you that dentistry will survive and thrive! Today, Kirk Behrendt chats with Dr. Hyman about where dentistry is headed, along with some reminders on why this is one of the greatest professions out there. To learn everything you need to know on becoming excellent and thriving in this space, listen to Episode 293 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

• Dentistry will survive and thrive.
• Build the right team and treat them like gold.
• Master your communication skills.
• Invest in a coach. It’s small dollars for a massive return.
• Invest in technology wisely.
• Educate yourself, your team, and your patients.
• You don't become excellent just by showing up.

Quotes:

• “What I know for sure is dentistry will survive and thrive. The concept that the government labeled dentistry a nonessential business is shameful. Shameful to us, first, that we haven't raised enough public awareness of the benefit of optimal care dentistry.” (10:47—11:02)
• “You've got to get the right team, and you've got to treat them like gold . . . The patient is not always right — your team is always right. You always have to protect your team. And I would rather lose a patient family and get a few one-star reviews than lose a valued teammate. And I didn't always feel that way in my career, and that was a mistake.” (12:54—13:20)
• “I'd never hired anybody. I'd never fired anybody. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to set raises, how to look at overhead. And that's one reason that I would say to anybody, you have to have a coach. You can't just go to Google and figure this stuff out. You spend small dollars for a massive return.” (13:52—14:10)
• “Do you think Michael Jordan just walked on the basketball court and started doing “yo mama” slam dunks? He practiced, and practiced, and practiced, and practiced. And that's how you become world-class.” (19:54—20:04)
• “You don't become excellent just by showing up.” (20:19—20:22)
• “Coaching is one of the great gifts you will give your team and yourself, because everybody needs it.” (23:11—23:16)
• “If I could say to a young dentist there's one thing that you must do, buy an intraoral camera and take a picture on every patient before, during, and after.” (23:38—23:49)
• “When people say to me, ‘Well, I pre-authorize everybody,’ I say, ‘That's because you don't use your camera.’ They're like, ‘Well, how do you know?’ I say, ‘Because if you showed people these pictures, they'd say, ‘My tooth is cracked. You need to fix it.’” (28:40—28:52)
• “My hero and mentor in dentistry was Dr. Erwin Becker from Pankey. And he looked at me one day and said, ‘Mark, the reason most patients haven't accepted optimal care dentistry is that no one ever offered it to them.’” (30:49—31:03)
• “My mentor in Greensboro confided in me last year was the biggest year he ever had — and that was with taking a couple months off for COVID-19. He still had his career year.” (37:38—37:51)
• “The old Carnegie organization says three magic words: evidence defeats doubt.” (39:33—39:38)

Snippets:

• Dr. Hyman’s background. (03:08—05:28)
• The realities of being a dentist today. (05:54—10:20)
• Resiliency in dentistry. (10:46—13:20)
• Build the right team. (13:20—18:57)
• Put in your 10,000 hours. (19:50—23:17)
• Invest in technology wisely. (23:17—25:46)
• Do you need to file pre-authorizations? (25:49—29:41)
• Don't let money run your practice. (30:18—32:54)
• Have a higher caliber of peers. (33:33—34:51)
• The future’s so bright, you need shades. (35:05—38:09)
• Advice for young dentists and the future of dentistry. (38:52—41:10),
• Dr. Hyman praising Kirk for two minutes straight. (41:23—43:36)
• Dr. Hyman’s contact information and closing. (44:39—46:46)

Reach Out to Dr. Hyman:

Dr. Hyman’s website: https://drmarkspeaks.com/

Further Reading:

In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies by Tom Peters: https://www.amazon.com/Search-Excellence-Americas-Best-Run-Companies/dp/0060548789

A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference by Tom Peters: https://www.amazon.com/Passion-Excellence-Leadership-Difference-dp-0446386391/dp/0446386391/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Dr. Mark Hyman Bio:

Dr. Mark E. Hyman is a renowned, full-time practicing dentist in Greensboro, NC. He is a public speaker whose work is characterized by his warmth, enthusiasm, sense of humor, and passion for dentistry.

As an accomplished seminar speaker, Dr. Hyman has lectured throughout North America and internationally, receiving rave reviews. For the past fourteen years, Dentistry Today magazine has selected Dr. Hyman as one of the top 100 speakers in dentistry. He is an Adjunct Full Professor at the UNC School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, NC, and has taught at the Pankey Institute in Florida, and at Spear Education in Arizona.

@drmarkspeaks