The Best Practices Show with Kirk Behrendt

You can’t change your genes, but you can influence the environment your body’s microbes live in. So, what does your microbiome have to do with digestion, immunity, energy, mental clarity, and even the conversations you have with patients? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Uche Odiatu, dentist, health educator, and speaker, to explain why the microbiome matters and how everyday choices...

What happens when you give someone the title of office manager without giving them the education, authority, and support to truly lead? It can create bottlenecks, misalignment, and costly problems throughout the practice. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Lorie Streeter, a dental industry veteran with 37 years of experience, former vice president of AADOM, and current team member at MaxAss...

Hygiene production problems don’t start this week — they were built months ago through leading indicators you can track and influence. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt sits down with ACT Dental coach Ariel Siegel to explain why hygiene production is a lagging indicator and how to improve it by focusing on reappointment rate, perio diagnosis, and perio acceptance. You’ll learn what hygiene breakdown...

Team meetings can become repetitive, unfocused, and unproductive when there is no structure, accountability, or protected time to move the practice forward. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Christina Byrne, ACT Dental coach and leader of the coaching team, about why team meetings often fail and what high-performing dental practices do differently. You’ll learn how to structure weekly meet...

Write-offs may look like a normal part of doing business, but do you know how much they are actually costing your dental practice? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with ACT Dental coach Robyn Theisen about understanding the gap between gross and net production, identifying where write-offs are coming from, and making strategic changes that improve collectible production without adding more day...

Why can your practice feel busier than ever, show higher production, and still not see more money in the bank? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Miranda Beeson, ACT Dental’s Director of Education, to explain why gross production is often a misleading proxy for profitability and what to measure instead. You’ll learn the difference between gross and net production, how write-offs and overhe...

Technology and AI are making information faster and easier to access, but speed alone will not make you a better dentist. As patients gain more information online while spending less time reading deeply, dentists have an opportunity to stand out through curiosity, knowledge, trust, and genuine human connection. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Dr. Uche Odiatu, dentist and speaker, about w...

AI is changing how patients search for and choose dental practices, but traditional marketing reports may not show where those patients actually came from. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt speaks with Eric Hubbard of Pain-Free Dental Marketing about how AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are changing dental patient flow, making traditional attribution more difficult, and increasing the importance of u...

Insurance aging tells you how much money insurance companies owe your practice and how long those dollars have been outstanding. But when claims start sitting beyond 30, 60, or even 90 days, cash flow can quickly suffer. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt is joined by coach Carlie Einarson to explain how to read your insurance aging report, recognize when claims are becoming a problem, and create a co...

In dentistry, many problems aren’t caused by the procedure itself—they come from what wasn’t discussed before treatment started. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Dennis Hartlieb, a general dentist and educator, to share four communication tips that help you set expectations, reduce misunderstandings, and protect the practice before you ever pick up a handpiece. You’ll learn how to gi...

AI can make your dental practice more efficient, but what happens when efficiency starts replacing the human connections that make dentistry work? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt is joined by ACT Dental coach Heather Crockett to share four ways to protect the human side of dentistry in an increasingly AI-driven world. You’ll learn how to use AI to create more capacity, why some conversations should...

Many dental practices feel surprised by their numbers at the end of the month, even when they review reports regularly. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt sits down with Miranda Beeson, leadership coach at ACT Dental, to explain the difference between leading and lagging indicators and why relying too heavily on historical data creates stress, reactivity, and missed opportunities. They break down how...

Dentistry is changing, and with more pressure, comparison, and noise in the profession, it can be easy for dentists to lose sight of what they actually want from their careers. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Dr. Mitch Hopkins, a Kansas City dentist and mentor, about building a practice around your own definition of success. They discuss finding fulfillment in everyday dentistry, creatin...

Great onboarding does more than teach a new team member how to do a job. It creates clarity, connection, and a path toward long-term success in the practice. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Jenni Poulos, ACT Dental coach, about why retention begins before a team member’s first day and how a structured onboarding process can help new hires become confident, independent contributors. You’l...

Are you collecting everything your practice produces, and do you know how much dentistry you are writing off before those dollars ever become collectible? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Carlie Einarson, an ACT Dental coach, about the difference between gross collection rate and net collection rate and what each metric reveals about your practice. You’ll learn how to calculate both rates...

As a dentist, you can present the best treatment plan—and still lose case acceptance if your team “translates” it differently after you leave the room. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt sits down with Debra Engelhardt-Nash, educator and founder of the Nash Institute for Dental Learning, to unpack what’s really being said in the operatory when you’re not there. You’ll learn how belief systems and “wal...

Dentists have more access to health information, supplements, technology, and wellness strategies than ever, but knowing what to do does not guarantee that those habits will become sustainable. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Dr. Uche Odiatu, a dentist with more than 30 years of experience, about why mindset matters more than chasing the latest health hack. You will learn how to build su...

Many dentists know what their practice produces each month, but fewer understand how much value their existing patient base generates each year. Annual patient value, or APV, can reveal how efficiently a practice operates, how dependent it is on patient volume, and where opportunities exist to improve profitability without simply adding more patients. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Chri...

How can dentists stay clinically sharp, adapt to digital dentistry, and maintain profitable workflows throughout their careers? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Dr. John Cranham, educator, mentor, and longtime student and faculty member of the Dawson philosophy, about the four pillars dentists need to continually develop: foundational principles, efficient and profitable workflows, ongoin...

AI is changing how prospective patients search for dentists, and traditional SEO tactics alone may no longer be enough to earn visibility or trust. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Eric Hubbard of Pain-Free Dental Marketing about answer engine optimization, or AEO, and what dental practices need to understand as AI platforms become part of the patient search process. Eric explains why rev...

Are your marketing dollars bringing in more new patients, or the right new patients? Without tracking referral sources, treatment presented, and treatment accepted, it is difficult to know which marketing efforts are actually producing value for your practice. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Ariel Siegel, an ACT Dental coach, about how to evaluate new patient source value and connect mar...

How are you supporting the hygienists who are committed to doing their best work, and does your practice give them the equipment, communication, and environment they need to succeed? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Katrina Sanders, a practicing periodontal hygienist, speaker, and consultant, about the other side of the dental hygiene shortage and why high-performing hygienists sometimes...

Many dentists enter the profession expecting strong financial security, only to find that student loans, practice debt, insurance write-offs, and rising overhead can quickly reduce actual take-home income. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Dr. Jim McKee, dentist and educator, about why production numbers can be misleading and how dentists can create a more profitable, sustainable practice...

Are you presenting enough treatment to support your production goals, or are gaps in diagnosis and communication limiting what patients understand about their care? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt speaks with ACT Dental coach Ariel Siegel about treatment-presented metrics and how they can reveal whether your practice is having enough comprehensive clinical conversations. You’ll learn how to evaluat...

Do your team meetings keep circling around the same problems without producing clear decisions or lasting change? In this episode, Kirk Behrendt and co-host Miranda Beeson, a dental practice coach, explain the IDS problem-solving framework and how dental teams can use it to identify root issues, discuss them efficiently, assign clear action items, and create accountability. You’ll learn how to str...