Just Wish I Had Known: A Guide to Opening a Dental Practice

By Joy N. McDaniel DMD

Dr. Joy McDaniel graduated from dental school knowing how to make beautiful and clinically ideal crowns, bridges and dentures. She could also fill and extract teeth as well as anyone.

But she had no clue how to manage and run a dental practice—that was something she had to learn on her own.

This guide for dental students and dentists who want to open their own practice provides a blueprint for tackling the tasks they don't teach you in school. Learn how to:

determine if you should remain an employee or strike out on your own; hire the right office manager and other key personnel; pick the right dental equipment and work with the right vendors; and motivate and empower your team.

Dr. McDaniel also highlights the importance of rewarding staff with continuing education opportunities, ways to provide excellent customer service, and how to connect with potential customers.

No matter what you do, there will be some things you learn by trial and error, but you'll get actionable insights on how to open and operate a successful dental practice in Just Wish I Had Known.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973646709

Joy N. McDaniel DMD

Dr. Joy N. McDaniel was born and raised in North Carolina. She graduated from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She completed the country’s first dental post-baccalaureate program at the University of California, San Francisco’s School of Dentistry and completed her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree, in 2004, at Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2009 Dr. McDaniel earned her Fellowship in the International Congress of Oral Implantologists. After opening her first dental practice, Oasis Dental, she met and married an active duty soldier. As a dedicated military spouse willing to relocate across the country when duty calls, Dr. McDaniel has had the opportunity to work in a variety of dental settings throughout the United States. This experience has given her valuable behind-the-scenes insight she is willing to share about owning and operating a dental practice.

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Copyright © 2019 Joy N. McDaniel, DMD.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-4669-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4670-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913985

WestBow Press rev. date: 4/24/2019

Contents

Acknowledgments

Who Am I?

Introduction

Chapter 1   In Business? Who, Me?

Chapter 2   Your Dental Team

Chapter 3   Marketing 15

Chapter 4   Any Regrets?

Chapter 5   When Do We Work?

Chapter 6   Pay Yourself, You Are an Important Bill

Chapter 7   Giving

Chapter 8   Expansion

Chapter 9   To Broker or Not to Broker? That Is the Question

Chapter 10   What Now?

References

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my very best friend, my husband, Sedrick. I’m blessed beyond measure to have such a wonderfully supportive and encouraging man in my corner. You signed up to marry a dentist having no clue what that meant. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I’m loving every minute of it.

Thanks to all of my parents for allowing me to grow strong. Each of you has left your unique fingerprint on my life. I have two sets of loving parents and several honorary parents across the country who have invested in my future as if it were their own. A special thanks to my in-laws who welcomed me into the family with open arms from the very first day we met. I wear the McDaniel name with pride.

The kiddos are the laughter I never knew I needed, until I truly needed it. Thank you Tristan, Sarah, and Madison, for bringing a forever smile to the McDaniel household, no matter how near or far you may be.

Thanks to my closest friends; friends who knew me long before my dentistry journey. You all continue to hold my ladder steady and encourage me to climb higher, even when I don’t know if I can take another step. This is a true sign of how strong our bond will forever be.

Thanks to my spiritual parents and pastors who taught me, with their actions, that there is true power in sowing and reaping. There is unspeakable power in keeping my faith in God, no matter how tough the storm may be.

I will forever be grateful for all those who asked me, How did you do it? because it allowed me the opportunity to say, Just wish I had known.

Instead of being discouraged by opposition, be encouraged by it, knowing that on the other side of that difficulty is a new level of your destiny.

—Unknown

Who Am I?

I was born and raised in the beautiful state of North Carolina, where I spent the first half of my life. We lived in a small town about twenty minutes outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, which is such a beautiful part of the country. After graduating from high school, I attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in pre-dentistry and then returned to North Carolina. For the next year and a half, I worked with my mother at a large nonprofit organization that manages childcare resources across the state. While working there, I applied to dental school and rested my brain from undergraduate school and the relentless Florida sunshine.

During my time between undergrad and dental school, I was offered an amazing opportunity to attend the very first dental post-baccalaureate program in the country at UCSF