December 8, 2025 • 30 mins
Trying to be the super GP who does every procedure might be making your practice harder than it should be. In this episode, Dr. Alex Sharp explains how specializing not only helps you create a model that's easier to market and scale, but also lets you spend more of your time doing the dentistry you actually enjoy. Hear where the GP model still works, how to specialize in an existing practice, and what the future of dentistry looks like!
Topics discussed:
- Alex's journey from associate to practice owner to CEO
- The benefits of niching down for dentist and patient
- Why your marketing isn’t working and what to do instead
- 3 key factors for a successful denture/implant practice
- Hiring for implants: doctor fit and the dentist’s role
- What’s changed and where dentistry is going
Learn more about Shared Practices Group: https://sharedpracticesgroup.com/
Listen to The Full Arch Podcast: https://thefullarchpodcast.com/
This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Paul Etchison (02:52):
Have you ever felt like you're busting your
ass, trying to be that super GPthat can do every single
procedure?
You're doing fillings, crowns,endos, implants, sleep,
invisaline, ortho, all thatstuff.
And somehow your practice justfeels so much harder than it
should.
The truth is, what worked 10years ago in dentistry isn't
(03:12):
always what works today.
It's changing fast.
The opportunities are changing.
The business models arechanging.
And the dentists who win arethe ones who are learning to
adapt, focus, and build a careerthat actually fits who they are
instead of trying to forcethemselves into a model that
drains them.
And that's exactly what we'rediving into today.
(03:33):
You are listening to the DentalPractice Heroes Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Paul Etchison, a dentist, acoach, and author of two books
on dental practice management,and the owner of a multi-doctor
practice that collects nearly $6million a year while I practice
just two days per month.
On this show, we talk aboutleadership systems and the
mindset that helps you buildprofit, build freedom, and build
(03:56):
a practice that runs smoothlywithout you personally being
chained to it.
Our guest today is Dr.
Alex Sharp.
He's a dentist, he's amulti-practice owner, he's a
podcaster, he's actually aformer client of mine a long
time ago.
And now he's the CEO of SharedPractices Group, which is about
to open their 40th denture andimplant center.
40.
(04:16):
He's gone from associate toowner to niche clinical focus
and now to non-clinicalleadership.
And he's got a powerfulperspective on where dentistry
is heading and how you canthrive in it.
Let's get into it.
Alex, so happy to have you on,man.
Listeners know this.
This is somebody that I'veknown for a very long time in
the industry, somebody I verymuch respect.
(04:38):
We spent a little bit of timebefore the college is catching
up and doing a lot of things Ididn't know you were doing, man.
So welcome to the podcast.
Alex Sharp (04:45):
Paul, thanks for having me.
And it's great to catch upbecause I've known you for a
long time and I've learned a tonfrom you over the years.
And I just want to say thanksfor giving back so much to your
listeners and to clients andeveryone else, because you're a
wealth of knowledge, wealth ofexperience, and thank you for
sharing it so freely.
Oh man, thanks.
Paul Etchison (05:00):
I appreciate that so much.
So let's tell listeners about,I mean, let's go brief story.
I mean, you were a practiceowner, but like you're in a
completely different role now.
So let's talk about how thatevolution happened.
Alex Sharp (05:11):
Yeah.
So, I mean, like a lot of us,like out of dental school, not
really knowing my butt from ahole in the ground, trying to
figure out like which way was upand how to be successful in
this wild world of dentistrythat we find ourselves in.
And so uh bounced around doingassociateships, doing all
different styles of dentistry,some higher-end stuff, some
Medicaid, high volume stuff,bought a practice in 2018, and
(05:33):
then learned how to besuccessful in that model where
you're doing all types ofprocedures, being all things to
all people, traditional likefamily dental office that's
trying to layer in morespecialty stuff to serve folks
at a higher level.
And I just learned firsthandthat you could be successful
that way, but it's far from asure thing.
And I think those of us thatare dentists learn sometimes the
(05:56):
hard way that a lot of usprefer to narrow our focus to
what we find ourselves compelledto do, what feels like fun to
us, what might look like work toothers may not feel that way to
us.
And so that's where I thinkniching down.
And for me, it was implants.
For me, it was doing full archand learning how to transform
people's smiles in the highestand best way that we know how as
(06:18):
dentists.
What really cinched it for meone day was I realized that I
was spending however long doinga quadrant of composites, and I
realized success in thisprocedure means that the patient
doesn't know I did anything.
They're paying me all thismoney.
And best case scenario, nothingsnags when they floss,
nothing's sensitive when theychew, the bite feels good.
And so I'm a ninja.
(06:40):
Best case scenario versusyou're doing implants and people
are counting on a change,counting on something to
categorically shift from themoney that they've paid you.
And I think that as a dentist,that's a much more empowering
way to practice is to takesomeone who doesn't have teeth
or has a bombed-out dentition,and all of a sudden you can take
them from zero to one in a waythat's hard when you're doing
(07:01):
restorative.
So for me, it was findingmeaning in that narrower
subsection of dentistry.
And the great thing aboutdentistry is that there's so
many different options.
But for me, I was chasing theimpact.
Paul Etchison (07:11):
Yeah.
So you've moved from a practiceowner doing everything and now
to some more specialization.
But now, even from there,you've moved into a role where
you're non-clinical.
Talk about that.
Alex Sharp (07:22):
Yeah.
And so right now, I'm the CEOof Share Practices Group.
And so my partners and I mergedour practices together.
We united under that flag ofknowing that in dentistry,
sometimes you have to carve outyour niche and say, what do we
stand for?
What do we want to do?
Because if you try to have toobig of an impact by having a
nebulous set of deliverables,it's hard to be overly
(07:43):
successful.
So for us, that was what getsus out of bed in the morning is
to create those opportunitiesfor dentists that didn't exist
when we were out of school.
Like what is the idealopportunity?
So for me and for people thatare wired the same way, it's
surgery, implants, smiletransformations, and doing that
all day, every day.
And so we predicated ourcompany and our approach to
(09:27):
being able to set dentists up tosucceed in that vein.
Practice number 40 opens onMonday.
So when we're recording this,you know, we're about to open in
Albuquerque.
So it's been a cool journey andto go into your question about
non-clinical.
I think non-clinical has anallure to it.
I think a lot of people put iton a pedestal to say, like, oh,
(09:48):
if only I were non-clinical.
And I'll say this this is goingto be a little controversial.
It's hard to deliver enoughvalue as a non-clinical person
to warrant a dentist income.
I think it's it's important torealize that dentistry is very
valuable.
It's a service.
And the further away you getfrom the provision of that
service, the harder it is tojustify the income that you're
(10:10):
accustomed to making as adentist.
So I think that's the dirtyunderbelly of being
non-clinical, is that you haveto provide value, commensurate
with what you're accustomed todoing care side.
Paul Etchison (10:20):
Well, it's true.
And I think a lot of us, likewe have this idea that we'll get
one associate and allows us tobe a lot more non-clinical.
It does give us a little bit offreedom to some extent.
But I mean, you can't gocompletely non-clinical with
just one associate.
There's just no scale.
There's no and I think what itis is that you're right.
We only can provide so muchvalue.
And then as like in yoursituation, lots of practices,
(10:43):
lots of providers.
Now you can provide enoughvalue to warrant that, but you
need to have some scalability toit.
I love what you said about thecomposites that we have to go in
there and make it like we nevercame, like we never changed
anything.
And that's so true.
And it makes me think of likesometimes that I always tell
everybody when you finish apatient, tell your patient to
(11:04):
rub their tongue up there andhow does everything feel?
And like I did this once withthe patient.
I realized that bond kind ofgets everywhere.
You've got to polish iteverywhere.
Like I you polish thatcomposite, but like if the rest
of the field tooth feels roughand it feels rough on the gums,
they're like, man, something'skind of wrong.
And I never actually thoughtabout it that way.
It's like you're a ninja tryingjust to sneak in there.
Alex Sharp (11:23):
That's it.
That's the job description.
And what I think is challengingfor dentists is that patients
only have a very narrow way ofassessing quality.
It's a subjective way thatpatients understand how good are
you.
So they they equate qualitywith how we make them feel, how
we communicate with them.
Do they get the warm fuzziesfrom talking to us?
All that stuff matters, butthey don't know if we followed
(11:44):
the bonding protocol.
They don't know if the marginalridge has secondary anatomy.
They just know does it feelrough to my tongue?
Did the shot hurt?
Was the guy an a-hole when hewas, you know, explaining
treatment to me?
So they only have so many touchpoints to assess our quality.
And you just pointed out one ofthem.
Paul Etchison (12:02):
Yeah, it's so true.
So you're noticing now morethis change in the industry.
When you and I knew each otherlike 10 years ago, everyone was
being super GPs.
You know, that's what we wantedto be.
Everyone wanted to doeverything for everybody.
I mean, what are you seeing inthe industry changing?
Alex Sharp (12:17):
I think being a super GP still has a place.
And I think it's of the rareperson, and I know a few of
them, that really thrive in thatenvironment, that truly do wake
up and enjoy the breadth ofprocedures that they do from
fillings and crowns to rootcanals to implants to sleep
apnea devices to invisalign,they really do enjoy what they
(12:39):
view as the departure from themonotony of doing one thing all
day, every day.
But what I've found is that formost of us, for the personality
types that are attracted todentistry, we're very
analytical.
We like predictability, and welike being really good at what
we do.
So from that standpoint, Ithink the narrowing of the focus
to say, let's be honest withourselves.
(12:59):
What do I enjoy doing?
What brings me joy?
What delights my patients to noend?
How can I create the boundaryconditions for me to create
exceptional outcomes for mypatients all day, every day?
Because if my patients aregetting great outcomes, then my
team is infused with that energyfrom rendering service at a
very high level.
And then the world goes roundnicely, predictably every single
(13:20):
day because we're delivering ata high level.
And I think if we narrow ourfocus, then we're getting
really, really good.
We're approaching mastery morereadily, the fewer types of
procedures that we provide.
And so that's the logic behindin our model, focusing on
dentures and implants.
And you see other types ofsub-specialty,
pseudo-specialties popping upwhere it's crown-only practices,
(13:42):
it's invisalign-only practices,hygiene-only practices.
And I think there's freedom inthat discipline that you're able
to architect for yourself.
Because if you're playing theinsurance game, you have to have
volume.
If you're doing like thetraditional large practice,
multiple providers in networkwith all these PPOs, then you
have to beat those stalling outreimbursements through scale,
(14:06):
through economies of scale,through better ways of
negotiating fees, of negotiatingyour lab costs, of your
equipment costs, because there'sgoing to be an increase in hard
costs, like the team costs areexpensive now.
And so how do you outcompetethose?
And to me, I've found thatnarrowing the focus does that.
There's always going to be amarket for the super GP, but
there's almost like abifurcation of the business
(14:28):
model that we've seen over thelast few years.
Paul Etchison (14:31):
It's interesting that you mentioned that, but
like what I see is that if we'regoing to specialize in a
practice such as you mentioned,most of the time I see it
happening in a large grouppractice.
So like you mentioned likethese other things, like a
crown-only practice, like anInvisalign-only practice.
So there is a way to specializein some dentistry without
(14:52):
essentially having a largepractice, which sometimes can be
a challenge to grow.
Like other than surgery,Invisalign, crown-only
practices, have you seen anyother like subspecialties?
Alex Sharp (15:02):
Yeah, I mean, there's folks that do like
emergency only practices, likethe 24-hour a day type of
approach where the valueproposition and the distinction
is we're always open.
There's always someone therethat can do an extraction or
extraction bone graft orextraction bone graft medium
implant or molarendo.
And I think it depends onpopulation density, because if
(15:23):
you look at your tertiary,quaternary markets that don't
have a ton of dental saturation,you're going to probably see
more Jackson Jills of all tradesdoing a wide breadth of
procedures, probably not as muchinsurance participation.
And something that you and Iknow from way back, and this
continues to hold true at adegree that kind of boggles my
(15:44):
mind, is that it's so easy to gowhere other people aren't, hang
a shingle and crush.
There's still so much of thatout there.
So for anyone listening that'sin dental school or is a couple
of years out and just trying tofigure out their path, if you
want to have a great living anda great meaning behind the work
that you do and work with peoplethat are grateful, go to a
rural area where you have aradius of people, seven or nine
(16:06):
thousand people that don't havea dentist in that area.
And you'll be, you'll be thehero or the heroine of the
entire area because no one elseis there.
And you're not going to have todo this whole game of
competition that so many peoplefind themselves playing, because
that's a function of it, isyou're narrowing your niche
because that's where theopportunity is.
Because if you open anundistinguished practice, I have
(16:27):
a friend that just did this, orhe opened up a practice and
it's on like murderer's row ofthis busy area where there's all
these other dentists, and he'swondering why aren't I getting
any phone calls?
Why aren't I getting anytraction on my online marketing
campaigns?
And it's just because, pure andsimple, the math of the
saturation, the dentist topopulation ratio.
So if you want to be the superGP, go rural because you can
(16:49):
just go out there andannihilate.
Paul Etchison (16:51):
So, what would you say to the doctors that are
like, I like doing surgery?
I know I love doing on four.
I wish I just had more cases.
I tried marketing for it.
It didn't work.
Why can't somebody just buildthat out of their existing
practice and then divide it?
Or are you more saying, like,hey, if that's what you want to
do, like if you build it, theywill come figure it out.
What do you think?
Alex Sharp (17:12):
Depends on demographics.
There are plenty of cases wherepeople have carved out that
niche within an existingpractice where they just have a
sheer number of people coming inthat a sufficient volume of
candidates for that treatmentcome through the door and that
works.
But again, it's reallychallenging to get to that level
of scale, that level of newpatient flow.
Because in my experience, yeah,you can get people just
(17:34):
naturally, organically coming inthat need the procedure.
But let's analyze the targetaudience here.
Let's analyze the type ofpatient that's going to need
that procedure.
They're usually dentallyavoidant.
They don't normally willinglycome into the general dental
office for routine care, or elsethey wouldn't be in the
predicament of needing the allon four in the first place.
You have to market to thosepeople differently.
(17:57):
You have to strike a differentchord with those folks because
either they've all of a suddenhad this type of emergent
situation that's been their ownlittle internal call to action
to cause them to move forwardand start doing research.
Or you have to find a way toget in front of them, TV, radio,
social media, to where all of asudden that's the epiphany for
(18:18):
them, where they see your stuffand they say, you know what?
I'm going to do someintrospection and I'm going to
say, now's the time.
I've been putting this off fortoo long.
I'm seeking to get either thisaesthetic transformation or the
restoration of my full abilityto function, whatever that
button is, you've created yourmarketing apparatus to push that
button for those people thatare chronically dentally
(18:39):
avoidant, that are oftentimesvery scared and a lot of times
very distrustful of the dentist.
Because we get that all day,every day.
Nothing personal, Doc.
I hate the dentist.
And so they make a joke of it.
But a lot of people make a lifeout of it where they just avoid
the dentist.
And so only until the chips areon the table and they realize I
got to do something, then theytake action.
And the marketing, that'sthat's one big source of
(19:02):
learning for me, is learning theback-end machinations of how to
create the marketing apparatusto be able to appeal to that
cohort of people that aren't thetypes that have Delta Dental.
They look and see who's in thenetwork and they come habitually
every six months.
Like we're talking to adifferent patient base.
So you have to become a studentof whatever vertical you want
(19:23):
to serve.
And so to answer your question,yes, you can do that in a large
enough practice with enough newpatient flow because law of
averages, you're going to getpeople that need any type of
procedure in a large enoughcohort.
But the marketing for whatevercohort it is has its own nuance
to it.
Paul Etchison (19:39):
Now, you guys at share practices, you're just
adding your 40th practice, andyou guys are more focused in de
novos now, correct me if I'mwrong, but you're you've
obviously figured out something.
These are denture and implantcenters.
Would that be an accuraterepresentation?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you've figured out to someextent some secret sauce that's
working, that's replicable, thatyou're now putting in different
(19:59):
locations and redoing yourmodel and scaling.
What do you think has been thatthat's worked for you guys?
So you could say, I can justopen a location where only doing
dentures and implants, and it'sgoing to be massively
profitable and successful.
Alex Sharp (20:12):
Just like everything else in life, you learn by
making mistakes.
So like you you look back atprior decisions and prior
sacredly held beliefs, and youpoke holes and you say, okay,
that worked 75% well, 90% well.
Where was our knowledge baseincomplete?
Where did we make decisionsbased upon incomplete data?
(20:32):
And so really it's justfiguring out the demographics,
it's figuring out where theoptimal place is within those
demographics to put thepractice.
And then who's the dentistthat's going to be the right one
to partner with and deliver thecare?
So it's really that thatthree-legged stool that you have
to solve for in everysituation.
(20:54):
And so we know in just generaldentistry, opening a practice is
risky.
It's risky to just hang ashingle without understanding
how many people might I be ableto reach under optimal
circumstances.
How do I stand up above thecrowd so that people choose me
above anyone else?
And it's all about distinction.
(21:14):
It's all about clarifying whatyou do differently or what
you're poised to be able tooffer that other practices
can't.
And usually it just meansspeaking to that patient in a
more clear and desirable way sothat you're actually speaking
their language and understandingwhat their pain points are and
how you're positioned to solvefor those pain points.
(21:34):
And so that's again, anotherreason why I was attracted to
this model is because those arethe patients that have the most
acute pain points, which meansthat we have the ability to
solve more wide-ranging problemsthan you can in someone who
just needs a couple of occlusalfillings.
Paul Etchison (21:50):
True, true.
So if you would say comparingyour practice model with like
GPs, like I'm thinking about thefact that there's so much that
goes into the associate dentistin the associate-driven model.
Like they've got to beclinically good.
I mean, it's got to beclinically good.
That's like bare minimum, butit requires a certain
personality.
And I wonder in your model, howhard does that get to find
(22:11):
people?
I mean, you got to find someonethat's at a high skill level,
but also it does it require asmuch on personality and charisma
as the general practice, or isit less because you can rely on
a treatment coordinator tohandle that stuff?
Alex Sharp (22:25):
That's such a good question, Paul.
So I'll start with the firstpart of your question.
The people part of thisbusiness is always going to be
the hardest part.
Whether you have one practiceor 40, the people part is the
challenging part because we arepeople working on people with
other people.
So it's like that challengingno matter how you slice it.
Yeah.
And so we have a multi-prongedhiring approach where we're
(22:49):
measuring all these differentaptitudes, we're looking at the
resume, we're doing thesedifferent types of interviews
and assessments.
And is it perfect?
No, but it's it's way betterthan it used to be.
And I think it comes down tounderstanding that people have
to just love the craft.
In dentistry, you you and Ihave met so many dentists over
the years where some people arejust amazing.
(23:10):
They have hands of gold.
They could make a little wad ofcomposite look like anything.
And those are the people thatare really motivated to be great
at what they do.
And implants, it's a littleeasier to measure on like a
post-op comb beam or in likepost-op patient interviews.
How was the experience?
How was the delivery?
So it's a little more easy toquantify effectiveness in this
(23:33):
model.
And I would also say that whenyou're understanding what makes
a successful doctor tick, yes,you want to have great front
office team members to be ableto get cases across the finish
line, but there's no substitutefor the dentist being the one to
look the patient in the eye andsay, look, if you were my mom,
here's what I would recommend.
Or to actually talk aboutclinical urgency, to talk about
(23:56):
here's what could potentiallyhappen if that periodontal
infection lasts for another yearor five, the bone can continue
to erode away.
Here's the links between heartdisease and diabetes and other
autoimmune issues and thecurrent oral health condition
that you have.
So you can have the best frontoffice team in the world to help
patients overcome theirfinancial obstacles, but there's
(24:17):
never gonna be a substitute fora dentist that can confidently
walk in the room, build valuefor what they're what they're
recommending, and help get thecase across the finish line
because the dentist having thethumb on the scale is the best
thing ever.
Paul Etchison (24:30):
Yeah, totally.
And I've noticed that in mycareer.
There's no level of front deskthat's gonna carry that over the
finish line.
I mean, the dentist has got tosell it first.
You got to create the need, yougot to create the desire.
So, I mean, where do you seedentistry going?
What's in the future?
What in your opinion are welooking forward to?
Alex Sharp (24:47):
I think it depends on who you ask because you have
these two simultaneous truthsthat you see all the time on
Facebook groups, where somepeople are saying, I'm more
successful than ever, I'm busierthan ever, I'm more fulfilled
than ever.
And then by the same token, youhave plenty of people that are
complaining about student loandebt.
They're complaining about themnot making any more money than
they ever have before, they'reworking harder for less money.
(25:07):
And both things are true at thesame time.
Dentistry is what you make ofit.
And it comes down to thoseearly decisions that you that
you think about early in yourcareer, like what CE did you
take?
Where did you set up shop?
How much did you paint yourselfinto a corner in terms of your
current practice model,size-wise or location-wise?
And I just want to point outthat there's always a way to hit
(25:29):
the restart button.
Like you're you're never juststuck.
Even if you think you're you'restuck, you're not stuck.
And we're more interconnectedthan ever before.
Find a community, find a groupof like-minded people that you
can use to volley ideas back andforth with, whether that's a
mastermind group or something,because you don't have to be by
yourself.
It's too great of a of anindustry, too great of a
(25:51):
profession to have to settle.
And there's so many unhappypeople.
Maybe it's just the squeakywheels on Facebook that make it
seem like there's a ton ofunhappy people.
But go take CE, getreinvigorated, learn what you
want to do, what lights you up.
And that's what that's one ofmy favorite things about the
company that we've built is thatall day, every day on our
Discord channel, people aresharing wins.
(26:11):
People are talking about, like,hey, I had this complication
happen.
How would you guys handle this?
And when you're doing somethingas a team, it doesn't seem as
daunting.
So, whatever style of dentistryyou do, don't make it a single
player game.
It's way more fun as a team.
Paul Etchison (26:25):
Yeah, it is so true.
I mean, we just came back fromour mastermind weekend.
We had 15 dentists in Destin,Florida.
We all rented a house together.
Awesome.
And it was just soreinvigorating.
And I think this is, I mean,maybe you could speak to this
too.
I'd love to hear your opinionon it.
Like when you have a podcast,you draw a certain demographic,
like you draw a certain type ofperson.
(26:46):
And these 15 people that I hungout with this weekend, not a
single one.
I don't think I could goone-on-one on I could go with
anywhere.
We could go hang out.
Like it was such a great groupof people.
We had so much fun.
But what was so cool is thateverybody was so into making the
best practice possible, likerunning a practice like a
business.
And it's so nice to have thatcommunity.
(27:06):
And a few of the members saidthat to me before.
Now, I've been part ofMasterminds before, but they're
like, wow, I just can't believeit's so good to be part of this
group.
It's amazing.
Like, do you hear the samething with your shared practices
group?
Alex Sharp (27:17):
Completely.
And at its core, my favoritedefinition of a community is a
group of people that cometogether around something that
they care about.
So for your community thatyou're talking about, they care
about maximizing what they'recapable of in their practices,
getting the most out ofdentistry as a profession and
also helping their comrades inarms do the same thing because
(27:38):
they have their own practices,but they're not playing a single
player game.
And that's what we've built iswe've aligned our efforts around
creating the best group offull-arch dentists in the
country that want toover-deliver for their patients,
which then puts us in aposition to over-deliver for our
teams because it's it'sinfectious when you see these
transformations of someone goingfrom a dentalist to brand new
(27:59):
teeth or bombed-out meth-mouthdentitian to all of a sudden
bright, shining teeth with wholenew job prospects and new life
prospects.
Our teams love that too.
And so there's just a lot ofincalculable ripple effects from
mastering your craft and beingaround other people that are
going to push you to continue tomaster your craft.
So it's it's an exciting timein dentistry.
(28:20):
And back to the prior point,there's really no excuse to not
put yourself in a position toenjoy what you do because
there's lots of shades of grayin terms of how you practice.
Paul Etchison (28:29):
So if there's a dentist listening that's hearing
like what you guys are doingwith Shared Practices Group,
your denture and implant centersthat you're opening, you're
that all that stuff, is theresomewhere where they can learn
more about this?
If someone's thinking aboutlike doing this, is there
opportunities for that with youguys?
Alex Sharp (28:43):
Yeah, definitely.
The the best way to get intouch with us is uh
sharedpracticesgroup.com.
And we also have a full archpodcast called the Full Arch
Podcast that we release everyweek and we go into a nerdy
amount of depth pertaining tohow to do this type of procedure
at scale, best practices, CEcourses.
We're actually hosting our ownCE course called Intro to All on
(29:07):
X, and that's going to beFebruary 20th and 21st.
And uh go to the Full ArchPodcast website for details.
And I think we have an earlybird special going on, but try
it.
And we have plenty of likemid-career dentists that come to
our courses and have a newlease on their practice, and
they they add this stuff intotheir practice, and it gets them
a few more years of excitementand purpose in their careers.
(29:30):
So I think you got to keep thekeep the saw sharp and coming to
one of these courses is a goodway to do it.
Paul Etchison (29:36):
Yeah, I love that and tying that in with the fact
that there's no reason to bemiserable in dentistry.
I've been there.
I'm guilty of it.
You know, I have beenmiserable.
I know a lot of people thathave been miserable.
And just recently, SharePractices we had Richard Lowe
came on the show and told hisstory, a very interesting uh
story of just burnout and stuff.
So it's like we've for us to bein a place of power, we've got
(29:56):
to take our reality into our ownhands.
And I love that you saidthere's nothing wrong with hit
and reset.
I think we think that we get sotrapped.
So if you're looking forsomething other in dentistry,
you're looking for somethingother than what you're doing,
looking for some moreexcitement, go find it.
Go find that community, goregister for a course, go check
out shared practices materialsand all the stuff that they
provide.
Alex, dude, always good tocatch up, man.
(30:19):
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
And uh I'll let you leave ourlisteners with just one piece of
advice for dental practiceowners.
Alex Sharp (30:27):
Okay, my best piece of advice for dental practice
owners is to trust but verify.
And what I mean by that ispeople want to be doing
proportionately more.
If you're hiring a team worthat salt, they don't want to be
doing the same thing year afteryear after year.
Help them to grow, interviewthem as to what a successful
(30:49):
growth path for them within yourbusiness looks like for the
next one, three, or five years.
And then keep a heavy hand ontheir as you manage them, as
they gain skills and gainaptitudes and gain
responsibilities so that it canbe a win-win of them doing stuff
that doesn't require a dentallicense, you getting stuff off
of your plate.
But then it also teaches you tobe more effective with your
(31:11):
time so that you're not the onedoing it, but you are providing
oversight so that big mistakesdon't get made, people don't
embezzle from you, et cetera.
But I think that's the risingtide lifting all boats kind of
philosophy that dentists aren't,in my experience, all that
naturally adept at.
Because a lot of us just wantto muscle things over the finish
line ourselves.
We're reticent to delegate,we're reticent to develop people
(31:33):
because we tell ourselvesstories of people are just
always going to be leaving.
There's gonna be a revolvingdoor of people.
Every unit of energy that I putin someone is gonna be a waste
because they're gonna leave meanyway.
But maybe that's the answer.
Maybe by pouring into people ishow you retain people.
So it's an abundance mindsetthat I I still struggle some
days to be able to fully liveout, but that would be my
(31:54):
advice.
Paul Etchison (31:55):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more, man.
I think it's the solution.
It's it's the solution ofpeople leaving is to pour into
them.
So, Alex, thanks so much forcoming on.
It's been a pleasure.
Have you ever felt like you're busting your
ass, trying to be that super GPthat can do every single
procedure?
You're doing fillings, crowns,endos, implants, sleep,
invisaline, ortho, all thatstuff.
And somehow your practice justfeels so much harder than it
should.
The truth is, what worked 10years ago in dentistry isn't
(03:12):
always what works today.
It's changing fast.
The opportunities are changing.
The business models arechanging.
And the dentists who win arethe ones who are learning to
adapt, focus, and build a careerthat actually fits who they are
instead of trying to forcethemselves into a model that
drains them.
And that's exactly what we'rediving into today.
(03:33):
You are listening to the DentalPractice Heroes Podcast.
I'm your host, Dr.
Paul Etchison, a dentist, acoach, and author of two books
on dental practice management,and the owner of a multi-doctor
practice that collects nearly $6million a year while I practice
just two days per month.
On this show, we talk aboutleadership systems and the
mindset that helps you buildprofit, build freedom, and build
(03:56):
a practice that runs smoothlywithout you personally being
chained to it.
Our guest today is Dr.
Alex Sharp.
He's a dentist, he's amulti-practice owner, he's a
podcaster, he's actually aformer client of mine a long
time ago.
And now he's the CEO of SharedPractices Group, which is about
to open their 40th denture andimplant center.
40.
(04:16):
He's gone from associate toowner to niche clinical focus
and now to non-clinicalleadership.
And he's got a powerfulperspective on where dentistry
is heading and how you canthrive in it.
Let's get into it.
Alex, so happy to have you on,man.
Listeners know this.
This is somebody that I'veknown for a very long time in
the industry, somebody I verymuch respect.
(04:38):
We spent a little bit of timebefore the college is catching
up and doing a lot of things Ididn't know you were doing, man.
So welcome to the podcast.
Alex Sharp (04:45):
Paul, thanks for having me.
And it's great to catch upbecause I've known you for a
long time and I've learned a tonfrom you over the years.
And I just want to say thanksfor giving back so much to your
listeners and to clients andeveryone else, because you're a
wealth of knowledge, wealth ofexperience, and thank you for
sharing it so freely.
Oh man, thanks.
Paul Etchison (05:00):
I appreciate that so much.
So let's tell listeners about,I mean, let's go brief story.
I mean, you were a practiceowner, but like you're in a
completely different role now.
So let's talk about how thatevolution happened.
Alex Sharp (05:11):
Yeah.
So, I mean, like a lot of us,like out of dental school, not
really knowing my butt from ahole in the ground, trying to
figure out like which way was upand how to be successful in
this wild world of dentistrythat we find ourselves in.
And so uh bounced around doingassociateships, doing all
different styles of dentistry,some higher-end stuff, some
Medicaid, high volume stuff,bought a practice in 2018, and
(05:33):
then learned how to besuccessful in that model where
you're doing all types ofprocedures, being all things to
all people, traditional likefamily dental office that's
trying to layer in morespecialty stuff to serve folks
at a higher level.
And I just learned firsthandthat you could be successful
that way, but it's far from asure thing.
And I think those of us thatare dentists learn sometimes the
(05:56):
hard way that a lot of usprefer to narrow our focus to
what we find ourselves compelledto do, what feels like fun to
us, what might look like work toothers may not feel that way to
us.
And so that's where I thinkniching down.
And for me, it was implants.
For me, it was doing full archand learning how to transform
people's smiles in the highestand best way that we know how as
(06:18):
dentists.
What really cinched it for meone day was I realized that I
was spending however long doinga quadrant of composites, and I
realized success in thisprocedure means that the patient
doesn't know I did anything.
They're paying me all thismoney.
And best case scenario, nothingsnags when they floss,
nothing's sensitive when theychew, the bite feels good.
And so I'm a ninja.
(06:40):
Best case scenario versusyou're doing implants and people
are counting on a change,counting on something to
categorically shift from themoney that they've paid you.
And I think that as a dentist,that's a much more empowering
way to practice is to takesomeone who doesn't have teeth
or has a bombed-out dentition,and all of a sudden you can take
them from zero to one in a waythat's hard when you're doing
(07:01):
restorative.
So for me, it was findingmeaning in that narrower
subsection of dentistry.
And the great thing aboutdentistry is that there's so
many different options.
But for me, I was chasing theimpact.
Paul Etchison (07:11):
Yeah.
So you've moved from a practiceowner doing everything and now
to some more specialization.
But now, even from there,you've moved into a role where
you're non-clinical.
Talk about that.
Alex Sharp (07:22):
Yeah.
And so right now, I'm the CEOof Share Practices Group.
And so my partners and I mergedour practices together.
We united under that flag ofknowing that in dentistry,
sometimes you have to carve outyour niche and say, what do we
stand for?
What do we want to do?
Because if you try to have toobig of an impact by having a
nebulous set of deliverables,it's hard to be overly
(07:43):
successful.
So for us, that was what getsus out of bed in the morning is
to create those opportunitiesfor dentists that didn't exist
when we were out of school.
Like what is the idealopportunity?
So for me and for people thatare wired the same way, it's
surgery, implants, smiletransformations, and doing that
all day, every day.
And so we predicated ourcompany and our approach to
(09:27):
being able to set dentists up tosucceed in that vein.
Practice number 40 opens onMonday.
So when we're recording this,you know, we're about to open in
Albuquerque.
So it's been a cool journey andto go into your question about
non-clinical.
I think non-clinical has anallure to it.
I think a lot of people put iton a pedestal to say, like, oh,
(09:48):
if only I were non-clinical.
And I'll say this this is goingto be a little controversial.
It's hard to deliver enoughvalue as a non-clinical person
to warrant a dentist income.
I think it's it's important torealize that dentistry is very
valuable.
It's a service.
And the further away you getfrom the provision of that
service, the harder it is tojustify the income that you're
(10:10):
accustomed to making as adentist.
So I think that's the dirtyunderbelly of being
non-clinical, is that you haveto provide value, commensurate
with what you're accustomed todoing care side.
Paul Etchison (10:20):
Well, it's true.
And I think a lot of us, likewe have this idea that we'll get
one associate and allows us tobe a lot more non-clinical.
It does give us a little bit offreedom to some extent.
But I mean, you can't gocompletely non-clinical with
just one associate.
There's just no scale.
There's no and I think what itis is that you're right.
We only can provide so muchvalue.
And then as like in yoursituation, lots of practices,
(10:43):
lots of providers.
Now you can provide enoughvalue to warrant that, but you
need to have some scalability toit.
I love what you said about thecomposites that we have to go in
there and make it like we nevercame, like we never changed
anything.
And that's so true.
And it makes me think of likesometimes that I always tell
everybody when you finish apatient, tell your patient to
(11:04):
rub their tongue up there andhow does everything feel?
And like I did this once withthe patient.
I realized that bond kind ofgets everywhere.
You've got to polish iteverywhere.
Like I you polish thatcomposite, but like if the rest
of the field tooth feels roughand it feels rough on the gums,
they're like, man, something'skind of wrong.
And I never actually thoughtabout it that way.
It's like you're a ninja tryingjust to sneak in there.
Alex Sharp (11:23):
That's it.
That's the job description.
And what I think is challengingfor dentists is that patients
only have a very narrow way ofassessing quality.
It's a subjective way thatpatients understand how good are
you.
So they they equate qualitywith how we make them feel, how
we communicate with them.
Do they get the warm fuzziesfrom talking to us?
All that stuff matters, butthey don't know if we followed
(11:44):
the bonding protocol.
They don't know if the marginalridge has secondary anatomy.
They just know does it feelrough to my tongue?
Did the shot hurt?
Was the guy an a-hole when hewas, you know, explaining
treatment to me?
So they only have so many touchpoints to assess our quality.
And you just pointed out one ofthem.
Paul Etchison (12:02):
Yeah, it's so true.
So you're noticing now morethis change in the industry.
When you and I knew each otherlike 10 years ago, everyone was
being super GPs.
You know, that's what we wantedto be.
Everyone wanted to doeverything for everybody.
I mean, what are you seeing inthe industry changing?
Alex Sharp (12:17):
I think being a super GP still has a place.
And I think it's of the rareperson, and I know a few of
them, that really thrive in thatenvironment, that truly do wake
up and enjoy the breadth ofprocedures that they do from
fillings and crowns to rootcanals to implants to sleep
apnea devices to invisalign,they really do enjoy what they
(12:39):
view as the departure from themonotony of doing one thing all
day, every day.
But what I've found is that formost of us, for the personality
types that are attracted todentistry, we're very
analytical.
We like predictability, and welike being really good at what
we do.
So from that standpoint, Ithink the narrowing of the focus
to say, let's be honest withourselves.
(12:59):
What do I enjoy doing?
What brings me joy?
What delights my patients to noend?
How can I create the boundaryconditions for me to create
exceptional outcomes for mypatients all day, every day?
Because if my patients aregetting great outcomes, then my
team is infused with that energyfrom rendering service at a
very high level.
And then the world goes roundnicely, predictably every single
(13:20):
day because we're delivering ata high level.
And I think if we narrow ourfocus, then we're getting
really, really good.
We're approaching mastery morereadily, the fewer types of
procedures that we provide.
And so that's the logic behindin our model, focusing on
dentures and implants.
And you see other types ofsub-specialty,
pseudo-specialties popping upwhere it's crown-only practices,
(13:42):
it's invisalign-only practices,hygiene-only practices.
And I think there's freedom inthat discipline that you're able
to architect for yourself.
Because if you're playing theinsurance game, you have to have
volume.
If you're doing like thetraditional large practice,
multiple providers in networkwith all these PPOs, then you
have to beat those stalling outreimbursements through scale,
(14:06):
through economies of scale,through better ways of
negotiating fees, of negotiatingyour lab costs, of your
equipment costs, because there'sgoing to be an increase in hard
costs, like the team costs areexpensive now.
And so how do you outcompetethose?
And to me, I've found thatnarrowing the focus does that.
There's always going to be amarket for the super GP, but
there's almost like abifurcation of the business
(14:28):
model that we've seen over thelast few years.
Paul Etchison (14:31):
It's interesting that you mentioned that, but
like what I see is that if we'regoing to specialize in a
practice such as you mentioned,most of the time I see it
happening in a large grouppractice.
So like you mentioned likethese other things, like a
crown-only practice, like anInvisalign-only practice.
So there is a way to specializein some dentistry without
(14:52):
essentially having a largepractice, which sometimes can be
a challenge to grow.
Like other than surgery,Invisalign, crown-only
practices, have you seen anyother like subspecialties?
Alex Sharp (15:02):
Yeah, I mean, there's folks that do like
emergency only practices, likethe 24-hour a day type of
approach where the valueproposition and the distinction
is we're always open.
There's always someone therethat can do an extraction or
extraction bone graft orextraction bone graft medium
implant or molarendo.
And I think it depends onpopulation density, because if
(15:23):
you look at your tertiary,quaternary markets that don't
have a ton of dental saturation,you're going to probably see
more Jackson Jills of all tradesdoing a wide breadth of
procedures, probably not as muchinsurance participation.
And something that you and Iknow from way back, and this
continues to hold true at adegree that kind of boggles my
(15:44):
mind, is that it's so easy to gowhere other people aren't, hang
a shingle and crush.
There's still so much of thatout there.
So for anyone listening that'sin dental school or is a couple
of years out and just trying tofigure out their path, if you
want to have a great living anda great meaning behind the work
that you do and work with peoplethat are grateful, go to a
rural area where you have aradius of people, seven or nine
(16:06):
thousand people that don't havea dentist in that area.
And you'll be, you'll be thehero or the heroine of the
entire area because no one elseis there.
And you're not going to have todo this whole game of
competition that so many peoplefind themselves playing, because
that's a function of it, isyou're narrowing your niche
because that's where theopportunity is.
Because if you open anundistinguished practice, I have
(16:27):
a friend that just did this, orhe opened up a practice and
it's on like murderer's row ofthis busy area where there's all
these other dentists, and he'swondering why aren't I getting
any phone calls?
Why aren't I getting anytraction on my online marketing
campaigns?
And it's just because, pure andsimple, the math of the
saturation, the dentist topopulation ratio.
So if you want to be the superGP, go rural because you can
(16:49):
just go out there andannihilate.
Paul Etchison (16:51):
So, what would you say to the doctors that are
like, I like doing surgery?
I know I love doing on four.
I wish I just had more cases.
I tried marketing for it.
It didn't work.
Why can't somebody just buildthat out of their existing
practice and then divide it?
Or are you more saying, like,hey, if that's what you want to
do, like if you build it, theywill come figure it out.
What do you think?
Alex Sharp (17:12):
Depends on demographics.
There are plenty of cases wherepeople have carved out that
niche within an existingpractice where they just have a
sheer number of people coming inthat a sufficient volume of
candidates for that treatmentcome through the door and that
works.
But again, it's reallychallenging to get to that level
of scale, that level of newpatient flow.
Because in my experience, yeah,you can get people just
(17:34):
naturally, organically coming inthat need the procedure.
But let's analyze the targetaudience here.
Let's analyze the type ofpatient that's going to need
that procedure.
They're usually dentallyavoidant.
They don't normally willinglycome into the general dental
office for routine care, or elsethey wouldn't be in the
predicament of needing the allon four in the first place.
You have to market to thosepeople differently.
(17:57):
You have to strike a differentchord with those folks because
either they've all of a suddenhad this type of emergent
situation that's been their ownlittle internal call to action
to cause them to move forwardand start doing research.
Or you have to find a way toget in front of them, TV, radio,
social media, to where all of asudden that's the epiphany for
(18:18):
them, where they see your stuffand they say, you know what?
I'm going to do someintrospection and I'm going to
say, now's the time.
I've been putting this off fortoo long.
I'm seeking to get either thisaesthetic transformation or the
restoration of my full abilityto function, whatever that
button is, you've created yourmarketing apparatus to push that
button for those people thatare chronically dentally
(18:39):
avoidant, that are oftentimesvery scared and a lot of times
very distrustful of the dentist.
Because we get that all day,every day.
Nothing personal, Doc.
I hate the dentist.
And so they make a joke of it.
But a lot of people make a lifeout of it where they just avoid
the dentist.
And so only until the chips areon the table and they realize I
got to do something, then theytake action.
And the marketing, that'sthat's one big source of
(19:02):
learning for me, is learning theback-end machinations of how to
create the marketing apparatusto be able to appeal to that
cohort of people that aren't thetypes that have Delta Dental.
They look and see who's in thenetwork and they come habitually
every six months.
Like we're talking to adifferent patient base.
So you have to become a studentof whatever vertical you want
(19:23):
to serve.
And so to answer your question,yes, you can do that in a large
enough practice with enough newpatient flow because law of
averages, you're going to getpeople that need any type of
procedure in a large enoughcohort.
But the marketing for whatevercohort it is has its own nuance
to it.
Paul Etchison (19:39):
Now, you guys at share practices, you're just
adding your 40th practice, andyou guys are more focused in de
novos now, correct me if I'mwrong, but you're you've
obviously figured out something.
These are denture and implantcenters.
Would that be an accuraterepresentation?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you've figured out to someextent some secret sauce that's
working, that's replicable, thatyou're now putting in different
(19:59):
locations and redoing yourmodel and scaling.
What do you think has been thatthat's worked for you guys?
So you could say, I can justopen a location where only doing
dentures and implants, and it'sgoing to be massively
profitable and successful.
Alex Sharp (20:12):
Just like everything else in life, you learn by
making mistakes.
So like you you look back atprior decisions and prior
sacredly held beliefs, and youpoke holes and you say, okay,
that worked 75% well, 90% well.
Where was our knowledge baseincomplete?
Where did we make decisionsbased upon incomplete data?
(20:32):
And so really it's justfiguring out the demographics,
it's figuring out where theoptimal place is within those
demographics to put thepractice.
And then who's the dentistthat's going to be the right one
to partner with and deliver thecare?
So it's really that thatthree-legged stool that you have
to solve for in everysituation.
(20:54):
And so we know in just generaldentistry, opening a practice is
risky.
It's risky to just hang ashingle without understanding
how many people might I be ableto reach under optimal
circumstances.
How do I stand up above thecrowd so that people choose me
above anyone else?
And it's all about distinction.
(21:14):
It's all about clarifying whatyou do differently or what
you're poised to be able tooffer that other practices
can't.
And usually it just meansspeaking to that patient in a
more clear and desirable way sothat you're actually speaking
their language and understandingwhat their pain points are and
how you're positioned to solvefor those pain points.
(21:34):
And so that's again, anotherreason why I was attracted to
this model is because those arethe patients that have the most
acute pain points, which meansthat we have the ability to
solve more wide-ranging problemsthan you can in someone who
just needs a couple of occlusalfillings.
Paul Etchison (21:50):
True, true.
So if you would say comparingyour practice model with like
GPs, like I'm thinking about thefact that there's so much that
goes into the associate dentistin the associate-driven model.
Like they've got to beclinically good.
I mean, it's got to beclinically good.
That's like bare minimum, butit requires a certain
personality.
And I wonder in your model, howhard does that get to find
(22:11):
people?
I mean, you got to find someonethat's at a high skill level,
but also it does it require asmuch on personality and charisma
as the general practice, or isit less because you can rely on
a treatment coordinator tohandle that stuff?
Alex Sharp (22:25):
That's such a good question, Paul.
So I'll start with the firstpart of your question.
The people part of thisbusiness is always going to be
the hardest part.
Whether you have one practiceor 40, the people part is the
challenging part because we arepeople working on people with
other people.
So it's like that challengingno matter how you slice it.
Yeah.
And so we have a multi-prongedhiring approach where we're
(22:49):
measuring all these differentaptitudes, we're looking at the
resume, we're doing thesedifferent types of interviews
and assessments.
And is it perfect?
No, but it's it's way betterthan it used to be.
And I think it comes down tounderstanding that people have
to just love the craft.
In dentistry, you you and Ihave met so many dentists over
the years where some people arejust amazing.
(23:10):
They have hands of gold.
They could make a little wad ofcomposite look like anything.
And those are the people thatare really motivated to be great
at what they do.
And implants, it's a littleeasier to measure on like a
post-op comb beam or in likepost-op patient interviews.
How was the experience?
How was the delivery?
So it's a little more easy toquantify effectiveness in this
(23:33):
model.
And I would also say that whenyou're understanding what makes
a successful doctor tick, yes,you want to have great front
office team members to be ableto get cases across the finish
line, but there's no substitutefor the dentist being the one to
look the patient in the eye andsay, look, if you were my mom,
here's what I would recommend.
Or to actually talk aboutclinical urgency, to talk about
(23:56):
here's what could potentiallyhappen if that periodontal
infection lasts for another yearor five, the bone can continue
to erode away.
Here's the links between heartdisease and diabetes and other
autoimmune issues and thecurrent oral health condition
that you have.
So you can have the best frontoffice team in the world to help
patients overcome theirfinancial obstacles, but there's
(24:17):
never gonna be a substitute fora dentist that can confidently
walk in the room, build valuefor what they're what they're
recommending, and help get thecase across the finish line
because the dentist having thethumb on the scale is the best
thing ever.
Paul Etchison (24:30):
Yeah, totally.
And I've noticed that in mycareer.
There's no level of front deskthat's gonna carry that over the
finish line.
I mean, the dentist has got tosell it first.
You got to create the need, yougot to create the desire.
So, I mean, where do you seedentistry going?
What's in the future?
What in your opinion are welooking forward to?
Alex Sharp (24:47):
I think it depends on who you ask because you have
these two simultaneous truthsthat you see all the time on
Facebook groups, where somepeople are saying, I'm more
successful than ever, I'm busierthan ever, I'm more fulfilled
than ever.
And then by the same token, youhave plenty of people that are
complaining about student loandebt.
They're complaining about themnot making any more money than
they ever have before, they'reworking harder for less money.
(25:07):
And both things are true at thesame time.
Dentistry is what you make ofit.
And it comes down to thoseearly decisions that you that
you think about early in yourcareer, like what CE did you
take?
Where did you set up shop?
How much did you paint yourselfinto a corner in terms of your
current practice model,size-wise or location-wise?
And I just want to point outthat there's always a way to hit
(25:29):
the restart button.
Like you're you're never juststuck.
Even if you think you're you'restuck, you're not stuck.
And we're more interconnectedthan ever before.
Find a community, find a groupof like-minded people that you
can use to volley ideas back andforth with, whether that's a
mastermind group or something,because you don't have to be by
yourself.
It's too great of a of anindustry, too great of a
(25:51):
profession to have to settle.
And there's so many unhappypeople.
Maybe it's just the squeakywheels on Facebook that make it
seem like there's a ton ofunhappy people.
But go take CE, getreinvigorated, learn what you
want to do, what lights you up.
And that's what that's one ofmy favorite things about the
company that we've built is thatall day, every day on our
Discord channel, people aresharing wins.
(26:11):
People are talking about, like,hey, I had this complication
happen.
How would you guys handle this?
And when you're doing somethingas a team, it doesn't seem as
daunting.
So, whatever style of dentistryyou do, don't make it a single
player game.
It's way more fun as a team.
Paul Etchison (26:25):
Yeah, it is so true.
I mean, we just came back fromour mastermind weekend.
We had 15 dentists in Destin,Florida.
We all rented a house together.
Awesome.
And it was just soreinvigorating.
And I think this is, I mean,maybe you could speak to this
too.
I'd love to hear your opinionon it.
Like when you have a podcast,you draw a certain demographic,
like you draw a certain type ofperson.
(26:46):
And these 15 people that I hungout with this weekend, not a
single one.
I don't think I could goone-on-one on I could go with
anywhere.
We could go hang out.
Like it was such a great groupof people.
We had so much fun.
But what was so cool is thateverybody was so into making the
best practice possible, likerunning a practice like a
business.
And it's so nice to have thatcommunity.
(27:06):
And a few of the members saidthat to me before.
Now, I've been part ofMasterminds before, but they're
like, wow, I just can't believeit's so good to be part of this
group.
It's amazing.
Like, do you hear the samething with your shared practices
group?
Alex Sharp (27:17):
Completely.
And at its core, my favoritedefinition of a community is a
group of people that cometogether around something that
they care about.
So for your community thatyou're talking about, they care
about maximizing what they'recapable of in their practices,
getting the most out ofdentistry as a profession and
also helping their comrades inarms do the same thing because
(27:38):
they have their own practices,but they're not playing a single
player game.
And that's what we've built iswe've aligned our efforts around
creating the best group offull-arch dentists in the
country that want toover-deliver for their patients,
which then puts us in aposition to over-deliver for our
teams because it's it'sinfectious when you see these
transformations of someone goingfrom a dentalist to brand new
(27:59):
teeth or bombed-out meth-mouthdentitian to all of a sudden
bright, shining teeth with wholenew job prospects and new life
prospects.
Our teams love that too.
And so there's just a lot ofincalculable ripple effects from
mastering your craft and beingaround other people that are
going to push you to continue tomaster your craft.
So it's it's an exciting timein dentistry.
(28:20):
And back to the prior point,there's really no excuse to not
put yourself in a position toenjoy what you do because
there's lots of shades of grayin terms of how you practice.
Paul Etchison (28:29):
So if there's a dentist listening that's hearing
like what you guys are doingwith Shared Practices Group,
your denture and implant centersthat you're opening, you're
that all that stuff, is theresomewhere where they can learn
more about this?
If someone's thinking aboutlike doing this, is there
opportunities for that with youguys?
Alex Sharp (28:43):
Yeah, definitely.
The the best way to get intouch with us is uh
sharedpracticesgroup.com.
And we also have a full archpodcast called the Full Arch
Podcast that we release everyweek and we go into a nerdy
amount of depth pertaining tohow to do this type of procedure
at scale, best practices, CEcourses.
We're actually hosting our ownCE course called Intro to All on
(29:07):
X, and that's going to beFebruary 20th and 21st.
And uh go to the Full ArchPodcast website for details.
And I think we have an earlybird special going on, but try
it.
And we have plenty of likemid-career dentists that come to
our courses and have a newlease on their practice, and
they they add this stuff intotheir practice, and it gets them
a few more years of excitementand purpose in their careers.
(29:30):
So I think you got to keep thekeep the saw sharp and coming to
one of these courses is a goodway to do it.
Paul Etchison (29:36):
Yeah, I love that and tying that in with the fact
that there's no reason to bemiserable in dentistry.
I've been there.
I'm guilty of it.
You know, I have beenmiserable.
I know a lot of people thathave been miserable.
And just recently, SharePractices we had Richard Lowe
came on the show and told hisstory, a very interesting uh
story of just burnout and stuff.
So it's like we've for us to bein a place of power, we've got
(29:56):
to take our reality into our ownhands.
And I love that you saidthere's nothing wrong with hit
and reset.
I think we think that we get sotrapped.
So if you're looking forsomething other in dentistry,
you're looking for somethingother than what you're doing,
looking for some moreexcitement, go find it.
Go find that community, goregister for a course, go check
out shared practices materialsand all the stuff that they
provide.
Alex, dude, always good tocatch up, man.
(30:19):
Thank you so much for coming onthe show.
And uh I'll let you leave ourlisteners with just one piece of
advice for dental practiceowners.
Alex Sharp (30:27):
Okay, my best piece of advice for dental practice
owners is to trust but verify.
And what I mean by that ispeople want to be doing
proportionately more.
If you're hiring a team worthat salt, they don't want to be
doing the same thing year afteryear after year.
Help them to grow, interviewthem as to what a successful
(30:49):
growth path for them within yourbusiness looks like for the
next one, three, or five years.
And then keep a heavy hand ontheir as you manage them, as
they gain skills and gainaptitudes and gain
responsibilities so that it canbe a win-win of them doing stuff
that doesn't require a dentallicense, you getting stuff off
of your plate.
But then it also teaches you tobe more effective with your
(31:11):
time so that you're not the onedoing it, but you are providing
oversight so that big mistakesdon't get made, people don't
embezzle from you, et cetera.
But I think that's the risingtide lifting all boats kind of
philosophy that dentists aren't,in my experience, all that
naturally adept at.
Because a lot of us just wantto muscle things over the finish
line ourselves.
We're reticent to delegate,we're reticent to develop people
(31:33):
because we tell ourselvesstories of people are just
always going to be leaving.
There's gonna be a revolvingdoor of people.
Every unit of energy that I putin someone is gonna be a waste
because they're gonna leave meanyway.
But maybe that's the answer.
Maybe by pouring into people ishow you retain people.
So it's an abundance mindsetthat I I still struggle some
days to be able to fully liveout, but that would be my
(31:54):
advice.
Paul Etchison (31:55):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more, man.
I think it's the solution.
It's it's the solution ofpeople leaving is to pour into
them.
So, Alex, thanks so much forcoming on.
It's been a pleasure.
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