national dental hygienists week

Dental Office Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas for April 2023
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Dental Office Management, Leadership, and Team Building Ideas for April 2023

Hello Friends,

What are your plans to reactivate your unscheduled patients and consistently provide excellent experiences for your active scheduled patients to exceed their expectations?

Remember that it is most important to consistently exceed your employees’ expectations. We all need a work environment and culture that refreshes us instead of being a drag and a drain on us.

What are you doing to ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page and helping you reach your practice goals?

Practice Owners, if you’re struggling to reach your practice goals or want to improve the culture and spirit of your practice – feel free to contact me for a complimentary, no-obligation 30-minute telephone consultation at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com to see if a coaching relationship is right for you.

Here are some office management, leadership, and team-building tips and ideas for April…

Practice Management Ideas

Spring Clean your Online Presence – Friends, please take some time now to examine your website, social media pages, and Google listing. Make sure that your office information is up-to-date, with current content and photos. Check the bios, office hours, services, special offers, page links, etc. If you haven’t brought your Google business listing up to date or have yet to claim it – please do so.

Speaking of Spring Cleaning… is your office due (or maybe way past due) for a good cleaning? Check this out: Spring Cleaning and Organizing Tips for your Dental Practice

Reappointments – Keep in mind, the best way to keep your patients active is to be sure to reappoint them for their next hygiene visit when they are there at the office. Also, help more of your patients say yes to your treatment recommendations and have them reserve their appointment at the time of treatment presentation.

Hygiene Continuing Care Reminder Idea – Cleaning for a Reason Week 18-24th – “It’s time to Spring Clean your Dental Care Routine”.

Looking for Marketing and Practice Growth Ideas? Check these out: April Dental Practice Growth & Marketing Ideas

It truly brightens my day to hear from you 🙂 – If you enjoy the ideas that I share or if they’ve been of help to you and your practice –  I would love and truly appreciate it if you would please take a second and leave a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you!!!

Leadership

April is National Stress Awareness Month – “There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.” ­— Henry Kissinger

Sadly, Dentists are one of the most stressed in the healthcare industry. Bad stress can and does negatively affect your team and in turn, your patients. Eliminating stress is almost impossible, however, there are things we can do to reduce it. “Stress and unhappiness come not from situations, but how you respond to situations.” – Brian Tracy

Here are just a few tips…

  • Practice Gratitude (Focus on the good things in your life. Start and End your day with a grateful heart)
  • Set Realistic Goals (Stop trying to be a perfectionist)
  • Delegate & Stop Micromanaging
  • Control your Appointment Schedules
  • Prioritize Tasks (there can only be one most important thing at a time)
  • Create Written Systems, Checklists, and Job Descriptions/Expectations
  • Improve Communication (Communicate daily with your team. Clearly identify your mission, vision, core values, goals, and expectations)
  • Practice Self-Care
  • Take a Break (make sure you and your team get to take a break(s) during the workday)
  • Smile More (have fun at work)

Team Building/Employee Appreciation Ideas

National Fun at Work Day: 6th – Have a silly theme for this day. (For example, Crazy hair, luau, silly socks, decades day, etc.)

National Dental Hygienist Week: 4th -10th – Technically, this is a Canadian “Holiday” but more and more offices here in the United States are taking advantage of this opportunity to show some extra love and appreciation for their hygiene team.

Administrative Professionals Week: 23-29 / Administrative Professionals Day: 26th – This is the week to celebrate your hard-working and amazing front-office employees!

Don’t miss out on any of the ideas that I share each month! Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please start following us today. If you prefer, send me your email address at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com and I will send you an invitation to follow my blog. 

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest

Tips and Ideas for October’s National Dental Hygiene Month
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Tips and Ideas for October’s National Dental Hygiene Month

Hello Friends,

October is National Dental Hygiene Month – This is the time of the year when we celebrate the work our awesome dental hygienists do (which is way more than just “clean teeth”), and we help raise awareness of the importance of good oral health.

Hygienist Appreciation Spotlight

During the month of October introduce your hygienist(s) on your social media platforms. Share a photo and some fun facts.

Celebrate your amazing hygienists all month long (they deserve it!).

Set your Hygienists Up for Success – Make sure that your hygienist(s) have the supplies, instruments, tools, equipment, technology, and systems they need to properly care for their patients.

The Daily 4 – Talk to your patients about the importance of practicing The Daily 4

Four steps that lead to a healthy smile:

  1. Brush: Using a soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste – Brush your teeth for two minutes at least twice a day.
  2. Floss: Floss between your teeth once a day to remove plaque that brushing your teeth fails to remove.
  3. Rinse: Rinsing with an antimicrobial mouthwash helps to reach the bacteria that brushing, and flossing cannot.
  4. Chew: Chewing sugar-free gum after a meal will help produce saliva, which fights cavities, neutralizes plaque, strengthens enamel, and cleans food debris from teeth.

Social Media Post Content Ideas to Boost Patient & Community Engagement During October

All month-long share posts and short videos on your social media platforms regarding the importance of regular preventive dental visits to the dentist.  

Video Topic Ideas:

  • Proper Brushing Techniques
  • Electric or Manual Toothbrush – which one is best
  • How to Floss
  • Benefits of Sealants
  • How to choose toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.
  • Good Snacks Bad Snacks
  • How Fluoride treatments benefit children and adults!
  • What to do about bad breath

Dental Hygiene Photo Slideshow – Create a photo slideshow of your hygienists and/or team practicing what they preach when it comes to caring for their smiles… for example, brushing their teeth(manual and electric toothbrush, how much toothpaste, etc.), flossing (using floss, water flosser, or floss pick), rinsing w/mouthwash, etc. Have fun with the photos. Share the photo slideshow on your Facebook, Instagram, and Google My Business platforms.

World Smile Day: 7th – Invite your patients to share pictures of themselves, their family, and/or their pets smiling on your Facebook page to be entered into a drawing to win a prize.  Goal: fill FB & IG newsfeeds with happy smiles!

Photo Backdrop & Smiley Props – Set up a photo area for your team and patients to take pictures to celebrate world smile day. Share to Google My Business, Facebook, and Instagram

Child-friendly offices –

Kids’ Goal Setting Week: 1st – 7th – Share ideas for dental hygiene goals for children.  For example, for your young patients, design a hand-out that includes a toothbrushing chart to track their daily brushing progress. You could even have a fun gift that they can enter to win by turning in their completed brushing chart to the office at the end of the month.

Hygiene Department Management Tip

Hygiene Re-Appointments – The best way to keep your patients active is to be sure to reappoint them for their next hygiene continuing care visit when they are there at the office and still in the treatment room.

Also, help more of your patients say yes to your treatment recommendations and have them reserve their appointment at the time treatment is diagnosed and presented to them. 

You should be tracking both your pre-appointments and your re-appointments.  This is important if you want to reduce patient attrition and reduce the amount of money and time spent trying to reach these patients later on down the road.

If you enjoy the dental leadership, management, and practice growth tips and ideas that I share each month –  I would love and truly appreciate it if you would please take a second and share a review/recommendation for me on GOOGLE and/or FACEBOOK Thank you very much!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful dental hygiene month!

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. Or send me your email address (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) and I will send you an invite to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty (Dental Coach)

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest

Dental Practice Management Ideas for April
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Dental Practice Management Ideas for April

Hello Friends,

When I share marketing ideas with you each month my goal is to help you exceed your current and potential patients expectations. Just as important, if not most important is to consistently exceed your employees’ expectations. Why? Because an employee that feels appreciated will always deliver more than is expected. Betsy Myers, an expert on leadership development says it best: “When people feel valued, appreciated, heard, supported, acknowledged and included, they are motivated to bring their best selves forward. “

I wanted to share some practice management ideas to help you make your second quarter more productive, happier and less stressful for you and your team.

If you’re looking for marketing ideas for the month of April see Dental Marketing Ideas for April & April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

Now on to the practice management ideas for April:

Betty Hayden Consulting Dental Ideas Practice Management

Just for Fun!

National Humor Month / Laugh at Work Week: 1-7 – Find ways to laugh each day at work all week-long.

National Fun at Work Day: 6  – Have a silly theme for this day. (For example, Crazy hair, silly socks, decades day, etc.)

Make Lunch Count Day: 13 – Buy lunch in or out for your team.

See for more ideas. Tips to Improve your Dental Office Part 4 ~ Happy Team

Reasons to Celebrate your Team:

National Dental Hygienist Week (Canada): 8-14

Administrative Professionals Week: 23-29

See Employee Appreciation Ideas Here: Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas Pinterest Board

Employee Conflict Resolution & Communication Improvement Opportunity: 

Workplace Conflict Awareness Month – This topic should be discussed at a team meeting. Why? Conflict Happens! Make a plan and an agreement as to how all office conflict will be addressed and resolved.

Steps to deal with office conflict:

  1. Calm down and talk with the other person. (Don’t go to anyone else to discuss the conflict)
  2. Attack the problem, not the person. Focus on behaviors and events.
  3. Listen carefully – listen to understand and not to be understood.
  4. Brainstorm solutions with a focus on the future, what it will take to move forward.
  5. Celebrate your Success.

For additional ideas visit Forbes.com for 5- Keys to Dealing with Workplace Conflict. 

To manage conflict, excellent communication is essential.

Communication  – 

  • Job descriptions and expectations must be clearly defined. This is a great time to ask every team member to write a list of their description and responsibilities. Have them indicate next to each task how often it is done (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, varies, etc.). This will help you determine if and when and by whom these tasks are being accomplished. You might find some important tasks are not being done at all or not often enough and so on.  

  • Team Meetings/Morning Huddles are essential for a happy and smooth work day. Visit HERE for some tips on how you can have a successful morning huddle.

  • Address quickly any needed discipline or correction, don’t wait for a staff meeting to address these problems. Instead, meet one on one with the offender.

  • Avoid office negativity, it’s toxic and will infect your team – Rather, focus on and share positive experiences.
  • Your team must know the why, what, and how. They may know the what and the how but not the why, often times, this is why employees are there just to collect a paycheck. Talk about what you believe and attract those who believe what you believe. People buy the why not the what.

Positive Gossip Only! Entire team agrees to stop gossip. Refuse to listen to it. Rather, encourage the person to go directly to the other person they have an issue or complaint about. Unless of course, they can let it go and move on. 

Hygiene Continuing Care/ Recare Opportunity:

Cleaning For A Reason Week: 18-24 – Send out email & text reminders to your patients that are due/past-due for their hygiene visit. Time for their Spring Cleaning! The “reason”? For their health’s sake – or, consider donating a portion of the production to a local charity.

Community Involvement Opportunity:

Community Spirit Days (1-30) – What a great opportunity for your office to get involved in the community. Check your city’s event calendar for events and activities.

Are there any charity/sporting/community events that you and your team can participate in or sponsor?

Be sure to share a variety of local community events on your social media sites. This will encourage your patients to look to your office page to learn what’s going on in the community.

Host a:

  • Spring Perennial Plant Exchange
  • Book Drive
  • Canned Food Drive

  • Aluminum can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House

Be sure to send out press releases and share on your social media sites what you’re doing to help your community.

So there you have it, some practice management ideas for the month of April. Enjoy!

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email each month? If not, take a second and follow today. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

P.S. Please stop by and say hello to me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest