Insights from Kirk Behrendt, Founder of ACT Dental
When dentists discuss team challenges, the conversation often centers on compensation. “I can’t find good people.” “Payroll is too high.” “My team doesn’t care the same as I do.”
The problems you have as a dentist are not often the problems. They’re how you think about the problems. I frequently remind practice owners that usually the real issue isn’t wages. It’s the way we think about leadership, accountability, and what truly motivates people to perform at a high level.
It isn’t all about paying more. A thriving dental practice is built by creating a culture where the right people feel ownership, clarity, and purpose, and where systems do the heavy lifting.
Team compensation is typically the most significant and most complex expense in a dental practice, often accounting for 25–28% of collections. The goal isn’t to slash payroll. It’s to optimize it.
High-performing practices focus on productivity per team member, not just hourly wages. When roles are clear, systems are strong, and accountability is shared, the same team can produce more, often with significantly less stress.
When dentists surround themselves with aligned, capable people, everything changes.
When you get the right people in a dental practice, you can produce twice as much and half the time with a quarter of the stress. Peter Dawson told me that when I was starting as a dental consultant, and it still rings true. I see it in the experiences of our ACT clients and hear it from dentists everywhere I go.
One of the fastest ways to elevate performance is to give the team absolute ownership. Ownership creates accountability.
Instead of the doctor carrying every financial decision, successful practices assign responsibility. A typical example is designating a team member to manage the monthly supply budget, often capped at a percentage of collections, with clear expectations and visibility. From there, systems, color-coded inventory, monthly maintenance logs, and policies for decision-making.
When one person owns a function, it is managed, but when everyone is responsible for something, no one is.
Culture improves when conversations are factual rather than emotional. Having data removes all emotion. Key metrics such as hygiene reappointment rates, unscheduled treatment, or schedule utilization should be visible and shared. Not to shame, but to coach. When numbers are transparent, teams know where they stand and where to improve.
Progress matters far more than perfection. You’re never looking for perfect. You’re just looking for progress. Consistently tracking metrics, even when they’re uncomfortable, creates momentum. What gets measured gets improved, but what gets measured and reported gets significantly improved.
Success starts with telling the truth about your numbers, your systems, and your people. Every change process starts with telling the truth. There are usually many opportunities for improvement when reviewing the data.
Many dentists are still doing tasks that don’t require a dentist. For example, high-performing dental assistants automatically protect doctors' time by performing every clinical task they can legally and ethically. Supervised competence is key, but dental assistants trained to perform room setup, patient seating, radiography, photography, intraoral scanning, note-taking, materials preparation, chairside assistance, laboratory coordination, treatment coordination, scheduling handoffs, and more are worth their weight in gold.
Systemization is what makes delegation sustainable. Checklists. Protocols. Standard handoffs. Systems create freedom. They eliminate decision fatigue, reduce errors, and give the team confidence. Over time, they save thousands of hours and make the practice predictable, for patients and staff alike.
At the heart of every great practice culture is clarity about your values and purpose. Core values are everything. They are your flag in the ground. This is who you are, and it is non-negotiable. Core values guide hiring, coaching, and even termination decisions. They protect culture when growth puts pressure on it. And they ensure that accountability isn’t personal, it’s principled.
Great dental teams aren’t built by chasing higher wages alone. They’re built on clear expectations, shared ownership, transparent metrics, and values that guide every decision. When the right systems support the right people, growth follows, and so does a practice life with far less friction and far more fulfillment.