Episodi

  • Buying a Dental Practice: What Are You Actually Paying For?

    Buying a Dental Practice: What Are You Actually Paying For?
    Oct 26 2026
    In this episode of The Startup Dentist, I delve into the critical considerations when buying a dental practice. Many associate dentists dream of ownership but often overlook what they're truly paying for. I discuss how revenue figures can be misleading and emphasize the importance of understanding cash flow, goodwill, and the quality of the patient base. We’ll explore essential financial metrics, the significance of historical trends, and the potential pitfalls of overpaying based on inflated perceptions of a practice's potential. Whether you're considering starting your own practice or acquiring an existing one, this episode arms you with the knowledge to make informed decisions and navigate the complexities of dental practice ownership. Tune in for insights that could shape your future in dentistry.
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    35 min
  • Opening a Dental Practice: What to Do in the Final 90 Days

    Opening a Dental Practice: What to Do in the Final 90 Days
    Oct 20 2026
    You can be a great dentist and still have never hired or led a team. For associate dentists planning a dental startup, that gap shows up fast in the final 90 days before opening a dental practice, when the building is almost done and the business still has to be built. Stephen Trutter sits down with Stacey Peters, Director of the Startup MBA at Ideal Practices, to talk through those 90 days. Stephen explains what happens when you keep a full associate schedule until the doors open, and why the tile debates in dentist groups miss the point. Stacey breaks down the shift from coworker to boss and why culture shows up in your practice whether you plan it or not. They also get into how long it really takes to hire your first team and why some of your first hires may not stay. If you're an associate dentist thinking about practice ownership, this is worth hearing well before your own opening date is on the calendar. Learn more at idealpractices.com Book an Ownership Clarity Call: idealpractices.com/consultation-call
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    19 min
  • When to Leave Your Associate Job (Even If It's a Good One)

    When to Leave Your Associate Job (Even If It's a Good One)
    Oct 6 2026
    The job is fine and the money is good, so why do you keep thinking about owning your own practice? For an associate dentist, the pull toward practice ownership often shows up long before anything is actually wrong at work. Stephen Trutter walks through the subtle signs an associate position has run its course, from thinking like an owner to getting stuck with the leftover cases. He shares the question he asks at Startup Practice Blueprint™ and the answer he hears most, and explains what it means if you've been "just curious" about ownership for years. He also explains why a great associateship should work like the minor leagues and why frustration alone is the wrong reason to leave. Then he lays out a 90-day way to figure out what you actually want before you resign from anything. If you're an associate who's afraid to leave but even more afraid to stay, start here. Learn more at idealpractices.com Book an Ownership Clarity Call: idealpractices.com/consultation-call
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    24 min
  • AI for Your Dental Startup: Helpful Tool or Costly Mistake?

    AI for Your Dental Startup: Helpful Tool or Costly Mistake?
    Sep 29 2026
    An assistant that works 24 hours a day sounds like the perfect partner for opening a dental practice. But can AI actually help you become a practice owner, or can trusting it blindly create expensive mistakes you never see coming? Stephen Trutter sits down with Jonathan, CEO of the practice management software company Archie, to take on both sides. You will hear which front desk tasks AI already handles well, why an AI scribe gives dentists back 30 to 50 minutes a day, and how AI on X-rays quietly lifts case acceptance. Then the warnings: the AI companies targeting dentists that were not even incorporated a week ago, the HIPAA gap that can leave a practice owner personally liable, and why the best demographic data in the world can still point you to the wrong location. Plus the one sentence that separates real experts from the self-proclaimed kind. If you are an associate dentist thinking about ownership, this episode will change how you use every AI tool between you and opening day. Learn more at idealpractices.com Book an Ownership Clarity Call: idealpractices.com/consultation-call
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    38 min
  • Associate Dentist to Practice Owner: 10 Free Lessons

    Associate Dentist to Practice Owner: 10 Free Lessons
    Sep 21 2026
    Somebody is already paying for your education in practice ownership, and it is not you. Most associate dentists spend years inside a working business and never collect the lessons sitting in front of them every single day. This episode covers ten of them. Stephen Trutter gets into what you can learn about leadership by watching how your doctor handles a bad afternoon, why more patients will never rescue a practice built without systems, and what a client saw in her own associate position that told her exactly how she will never run hers. He explains why the hire with twenty years of experience can be the wrong one, what patients are actually writing about in five-star reviews, and why the feeling of being ready never arrives the way associates expect it to. There is also a furniture-shopping analogy that explains more about decision making than most business books manage. The episode closes with a challenge that takes two minutes a night and builds something most future owners never have. If you are an associate dentist thinking about ownership and you want your current job to count for more than a paycheck, start here. Learn more at idealpractices.com Book an Ownership Clarity Call: idealpractices.com/consultation-call
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    27 min
  • Opening a Dental Practice: The 12 Months Before

    Opening a Dental Practice: The 12 Months Before
    Sep 7 2026
    Most associates believe the first twelve months after opening a dental practice are about survival. Stephen Trutter has been part of nearly 1,000 startups, and he will tell you the strongest ones had already won or lost before they ever saw a first patient. This episode is about what he calls the 12 month mindset, the six shifts that separate owners who grow fast and calm from owners who spend year one reacting. Stephen gets into why average startups obsess over equipment while the successful ones obsess over systems, and why patients are buying an experience rather than dentistry. He tells a story on himself about choosing the cheaper option and ending up paying for both, and shares what a client in one of the most competitive markets in the country did to turn one patient into sixteen without a new campaign. He also makes the case that a candidate with twenty years of experience can be the worst hire you ever make, and explains what to look for instead. If you are an associate dentist thinking about ownership and you want the next twelve months to actually count, start here. Learn more at idealpractices.com Book an Ownership Clarity Call: idealpractices.com/consultation-call
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    26 min
  • Dental Practice Ownership: What Really Scares You

    Dental Practice Ownership: What Really Scares You
    Aug 14 2026
    The dentist earning $220,000 a year was convinced he was failing. A young guy making minimum wage said he would trade places in a heartbeat. That gap explains almost everything about dental practice ownership in 2026, and it has very little to do with money. In this episode, Stephen Trutter sits down with Gary Bird, founder and CEO of SMC National, to name the three fears almost every associate dentist carries into ownership but rarely says out loud. They get into why there is no such thing as a safe career decision, how your why quietly answers the hardest questions for you, and why the perfectionism that makes you a great clinician can sink you as an owner. You will hear the truth about putting payroll on a credit card, the gratitude reframe that a billionaire would agree with, and the one shift that stops you from becoming your own biggest bottleneck. If you are an associate dentist weighing whether to buy, start, or wait, this one names what you are actually feeling. Learn more at idealpractices.com Book an Ownership Clarity Call: idealpractices.com/consultation-call
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    37 min
  • Start a Dental Practice: It's Not About Money

    Start a Dental Practice: It's Not About Money
    Aug 10 2026
    The dentists who build the biggest success stories in dental practice ownership were not the ones with the least debt or the most money in the bank. So what actually separates them? After nearly 1,000 startups, Stephen Trutter has watched the same pattern play out every time, and it has almost nothing to do with financing. In this episode, Stephen breaks down the biggest misconception associate dentists carry into practice ownership: that money is the real obstacle. He explains why getting approved is often the easy part, why the fear you label as "debt" is usually something else entirely, and what actually changes the day you stop thinking like an associate and start thinking like an owner. You will hear the bowling analogy from Dr. Ben, seven years into ownership, that reframes how you make every decision. And you will learn why waiting for certainty is the one move that keeps dentists stuck the longest. If you are an associate dentist wondering whether you are ready to own, this one is for you. Learn more at idealpractices.com Book an Ownership Clarity Call: idealpractices.com/consultation-call
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    22 min