Managing Dental Drama

This is a clip from our January bonus episode that continues the Be the GOAT! episode, available exclusively to our Patreon subscribers.  To unlock the full bonus episode, head to patreon.com/managingdentaldrama Interested in the Leadership Summit? Friday, September 18, 2026 from 8:30 – 4:30 Inquire or register TODAY:  HelloBethany.com

There is no better way to kick things off in 2026 than to get some inspiration from nature – specifically from Bethany’s Nigerian Dwarf goats! In this episode, Bethany shares the lessons she has learned over the last couple of weeks as she has helped 7 of her goats get through birthing a total of 15 kids. Nature is a powerful teacher, so there are core lessons that we can ponder upon and ultimatel...

Happy Holidays! With time off (hopefully) in the not-so-distant future, it is important that your patients AND team are prepared for any holiday closure time. Patients should ideally be made aware of any practice closures in advance. Emails, texts, or custom recorded voicemails are the best way to ensure that patients know you are closed AND know what to do if they have a dental emergency. Your te...

This time of year can be incredibly hard for dentists and practice owners because there are so many decisions to make when it comes to showing appreciation for team members. Should I do cash, a gift card, or a bonus through payroll? How much should I pay my team members? Should I do an equal amount or vary the amounts based on longevity? If we do a Holiday party, should I pay the team for the hour...

 It is that time of year – you have a list of things to do that is nearly a mile long. Your mind is scrambled, and you are trying to remember what you need to do for the practice and team to wrap up 2025 nicely. Dr. Kuba and Bethany are here to help! Together, they put together a list of their top year-end tips and reminders. Some of the items are easy to forget, like evaluating your fee schedule,...

It is not often that Bethany’s plans are usurped, but Dr. Jones pulls it off today. Bethany had teed up a completely different subject for today’s episode, but Dr. Jones had a different plan and turned the tables! He took a trip down memory lane and focused on the story of Bethany’s life, all of the nitty-gritty details that made Bethany squirm in her seat. As they reflect together, they marvel at...

It’s Thanksgiving Week! So, Bethany traps Dr. Kuba and convinces her to be extremely vulnerable and answer some annual reflection questions LIVE and on the spot! Thankfully, Dr. Kuba obliges, giving listeners an opportunity to not only learn about how to end the year in reflection, but also giving listeners an opportunity to hear how she herself reflects. Together, Dr. Kuba and Bethany discuss the...

They have gone mad!! In a season of gratitude, Dr. Kuba and Bethany want to gift all listeners with a full bonus episode. So here it is!! Today’s episode is the very first bonus episode, which aired in November 2024. They discuss an incredibly important topic – vision. As 2025 comes to a close, it is critical to take a step back and truly evaluate the practice vision and the potential hurdles that...

How do you know if the person you recently hired is the right one? In this episode, Dr. Kuba and  Bethany discuss three recent examples where practice owners are evaluating this very question. At the 60 day point, one practice owner is already beginning to doubt her clinical assistant’s skillset. Another practice owner is trying to decide if it’s worth continuing to invest in his newest assistant...

Changes in a practice are necessary. At times, changes are thrust upon a team, forcing them to pivot. Other times, the practice owner is watching the horizon for economic, technological, or financial impacts that may also force change. Regardless, change is necessary at times and also desirable at times. So, it can be extremely disheartening to have a team that refuses to follow their leader into...

Every once in a while, hopefully rarely, you get smacked with terribly sickening mistakes. There is a long list of “small mistakes” that practices make that feel less consequential – like incorrectly spelling a patient’s name, communicating the wrong appointment date/time to a patient, or collecting an incorrect amount for treatment rendered. However, this episode focuses on some haunting mistakes...

Thank goodness that Dr. Jones is back in town! After 47 years in dentistry, Dr. Kuba and Bethany have burning questions for him, so Bethany traps him in the studio to record. In this episode, he answers questions like, “With four kids and twelve grandkids, would you recommend dentistry to any of your kids/grandkids?, “For new owners, what do you think is the wisest investment?,” and “Are you a mem...

Dr. Kuba is back in the studio today and is putting Bethany on the spot. While she appreciated the advice from the previous episode, she felt like the examples were missing. What rumor mill? And was the advice actually implementable? She and Bethany discuss specific instances where team members bring the drama. They also discuss if the advice is actionable.   2026 Crash Course Dates are ALMOST GON...

Some practices are plagued with rumor mill problems while other practices are lucky enough to only have to deal with gossip girls on occasion. Either way, an active rumor mill can wreak havoc on a time. It can be a major determining factor in employee retention. It can diminish the efficiency of team members, thus impacting the productivity of the office. It can also lead to explosive meetings or...

Dr. Kuba and Bethany discuss a gut wrenching issue today – when to fire patients, how to fire patients, and everything else related to this topic. They reflect back on a recent episode where Dr. Jones described an unruly patient. Together, they discuss the pros and cons of firing a patient as well as the underlying question of “How do you know when it is the right time to fire a patient?” It is a...

Dr. Kuba and Bethany revisit culture but in a slightly different way today. They look at the personalities that impact the culture the most. In other words, they discuss the most influential personalities on the team (sanguine and cholerics). If your culture seems slightly “off,” or recently went through a dramatic turn of events, it is worth your time to consider the impact of the most dynamic pe...

Dr. Kuba and Bethany dig in to an all-important topic – patient communication. In this episode, Dr. Kuba shares a recent restaurant experience and how the communication was off throughout the entire meal. Ultimately, she felt like she was treated like she was an idiot. She began to wonder how often patients feel like idiots in our office. She and Bethany discuss the value of good listening to ensu...

September can be slow in the dental field. In fact, many practice owners refer to it as “Suck-tember.” In this episode, Dr. Kuba and Bethany discuss the September slowdown in her practice. Should a practice owner send employees home? Dr. Kuba and Bethany discuss how and when she decides to send employees home. As practice owners, it is important to have a slow-time game plan to ensure that the pra...

 Welcome to SEASON FIVE!!! We kick this season off right with Dr. Jones! Dr. Kuba challenged him to think of some of his worst moments as a practice owner and some of the worst decisions he’s made. So, as he always does – he delivers! He discusses a medical emergency situation, his worst employee, as well as major financial decisions he made completely solo. As he relives each of these “worst” sce...

Never underestimate the power of phone answering skills. The way a dental practice phone is answered can lead to a new patient appointment (or the lack of one). Good skills can lead to de-escalation of a frustrated patient and to the positive feeling of satisfaction while neutral or negative skills can unintentionally upset a patient or drive a patient away. Dr. Kuba and Bethany jump into this ver...

Team building events are an important part of building successful team members, but what do you do when team members fail to show up for these important and often costly events? Dr. Kuba shares a colleagues frustration when after careful planning for an expensive team building weekend, two team members bail with less than 24 hours-notice. In this episode, she and Bethany discuss the frustration of...

As if last week’s “Male vs. Female” episode was not enough, Dr. Kuba and Bethany go in even further on difficult topics. Bethany summarizes some upsetting details from a client’s recent drama and discusses the specifics with Dr. Kuba. They both talk about the challenges of being equal to team members while also still having to be “boss.” When the balance gets out of whack, team members can rise up...

Bethany notices every day the differences between practices led by males and those led by females. While Bethany has avoided doing a podcast on this topic, the impact of gender is simply too strong to ignore. She meets with so many practice owners that are reeling in the aftermath of a gender problem, so she and Dr. Kuba decided to take the plunge today into the murky waters of this subject. Toget...

Today’s episode is a must listen! Bethany tackles a subject that is near and dear to her heart – perspective/vantage points. She preaches an important thought to both her kids and her clients – at times, our perspective could be completely changed with just a simple step to the right or left. She references those mind-blowing photos that would be completely “normal” with taking the photo from a di...

After last week’s episode on stealing employees, Dr. Kuba and Bethany took the time to flip the coin. What if the “word on the street” gets to you and you find out that one of your employees is looking to leave? What do you do? Fight to keep them? Preemptively fire them? Do you resign to the fact that they are gone and begin to build a replacement plan? All of these questions and more are covered...