The Lifestyle Practice Podcast For Dentists

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 holdin...

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...

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 m...

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 financia...

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 h...

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 we...

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 tak...

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,...

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 memb...

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 nea...

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 need...

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 chai...

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....

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...

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 thr...

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...

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...

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 t...

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 approac...

In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice, we break down 7 powerful money lessons every dentist and parent should know—covering financial freedom, smart investing, compound interest, and how to teach kids about money the right way. Most people don't learn through advice—they learn through experience and ownership. That single shift changes everything about how you build wealth, raise financially i...

Thinking about buying a dental practice but not sure where to start? In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, host Steve Van De Graaff sits down with practice acquisition expert Brian Hanks — founder of Dental Buyer Advocates (DBA) and author of "How to Buy a Dental Practice" — to break down everything new and aspiring dentist owners need to know about dental practice acquisition in 2026...

How does a dentist have his best collections month ever — paying $20,000 extra toward debt and taking home $15,000 more — without doing a single big case or expensive CE course? In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr Matt Vogt reveals the three lowest-hanging-fruit needle movers that grow a dental practice from the inside out. If you're a dentist or dental practice owner who wants t...

What separates the most successful dentists from average performers? It's not intelligence, strategy, or opportunity — it's the ability to keep going when it's no longer exciting. In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Derek Williams reveals the #1 rule of long-term success in dentistry, dental practice ownership, and life. Drawing from "The Gap and the Gain" by Dan Sullivan, real...

Is dental practice ownership worth it in 2026? In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Derek Williams breaks down the real pros and cons of owning a dental practice — the truth social media gets wrong, the financial risks nobody warns you about, and the mindset shifts every dentist must make before buying a dental practice. Whether you are a new dental school graduate weighing assoc...

The dental hygienist shortage is REAL — and it's hitting practices across the country hard. If you're a dentist struggling with hygienist turnover, rising hygiene pay rates, or difficulty hiring dental hygienists, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Lifestyle Practice Podcast, Dr. Matt Vogt breaks down exactly what's driving the dental hygienist shortage, why hygienist pay rates keep c...