What happens when a 20-year-old college student loses her banking internship to bankruptcy and ends up stringing wire through ceilings to install computers in dental offices? For Dayna Johnson, that unexpected detour in 1989 launched a 35-year journey that would revolutionize how dental practices use technology. From working with DOS-based software and paper charts to becoming a certified Dentrix trainer who has delivered 187 podcasts and transformed countless practices, Dayna has witnessed—and driven—the evolution of dental practice management. In this eye-opening episode, she reveals why 60% of patient appointments are booked after hours (and what you're missing without AI receptionists), how redundant software is quietly draining your budget and efficiency, and why that "we're booked six months out" excuse is actually a scheduling problem, not a marketing victory. If your team is still using three-ring binders for unscheduled treatment or hunting for notes in 12 different places, this conversation will change everything.

Dayna Johnson's path to becoming a dental technology expert began with an unexpected crisis. As a 20-year-old college student in Washington state pursuing marketing and business, she was six months into a paid internship at a local bank when it filed bankruptcy. Suddenly jobless with a mortgage and bills to pay, she went to work for her uncle Dave's computer company that installed computers, networks, and software into medical and dental offices. This was 1989-1990, and Dayna found herself literally building computers and stringing wire through ceilings and floors with screwdrivers. Her introduction to dentistry came through the technology side, and she quickly discovered she had a knack for it. After working at two dental practices in Washington, she encountered a practice in 1994 that felt like stepping back in time—only two computers (one in the doctor's office, one at the front desk), DOS-based software requiring colon backslash commands, and file cabinets full of paper charts.

Dayna made it her mission to upgrade that practice with modern computers and software, but the doctor resisted for nearly a decade. Finally in 2003, he agreed to upgrade and put Dayna in charge of leading the transition. They purchased Dentrix, but Dayna struggled enormously due to complete lack of training, onboarding, and resources—something that simply wasn't available at that time. Determined to master the software, she became a certified Dentrix trainer in 2005, originally just wanting to be an expert in her own office rather than planning to train others. But what transpired changed her career trajectory entirely: she started the Dentrix Office Manager blog, began speaking from stages, and trained offices on transitioning from paper charts to electronic health records. By 2014, she left the dental practice entirely to focus full-time on software onboarding, workflow optimization, live events, and speaking—a career that has now produced 187 podcasts and transformed countless practices nationwide.

The challenges Dayna sees today mirror her own early struggles but are amplified by massive industry turnover and staffing shortages. New team members—often from outside dentistry—are told to "just start doing it" with no real onboarding process, leading to persistent use of manual systems like Post-It notes everywhere, three-ring binders for patients wanting earlier appointments, and notebooks for unscheduled treatment follow-up. Practices are also bleeding money on redundant third-party software that overlaps functionality, forcing teams to log into multiple dashboards when their PMS could handle much of it. The data entry inconsistency creates legal vulnerabilities (the PMS is a healthcare record that must withstand audits and subpoenas) and breaks marketing attribution when notes are scattered across Dentrix's 12 different documentation locations. At the Greater New York Dental Meeting, Dayna witnessed AI's explosive integration into 60-70% of daily dental tasks—from insurance verification that contacts carriers and syncs benefits automatically, to AI receptionists capturing the 60%+ of appointments booked after hours, to five-star x-ray ratings that prevent claim payment failures, to transcription services that convert dictation into polished SOAP notes. Her golden nugget for office managers clinging to paper systems and manual appointment control: embrace automation and technology. And for practices claiming they're "booked six months out" so they don't need marketing—that's a scheduling problem requiring block scheduling for new patients, perio maintenance, and SRP appointments, not an excuse to stop telling the world what makes you different.

What happens when a chemical engineer accidentally stumbles into dentistry, becomes a university professor for 18 years, then crashes and burns in private practice—only to rebuild and scale to eight clinics, 80 DSO locations, award-winning restaurants, and a hotel on the beach? Dr. Arun Garg has lived one of dentistry's most remarkable entrepreneurial journeys, going from earning $50,000 annually at the university to collecting $500,000 per month in private practice—a literal 52X transformation. In this powerful episode, Dr. Garg shares the hard lessons from his "school of hard knocks" crash, why today's younger dentists face different challenges than the 40-55 year-old avatar of a decade ago, and how he's trained more general dentists on implants than anyone in the industry. Whether you're considering adding implants to your practice or looking to scale beyond your first location, this conversation delivers the real-world wisdom only decades of entrepreneurial battle scars can provide.

Dr. Arun Garg's path to becoming one of dentistry's most successful entrepreneurs started with an unlikely detour. Growing up around medicine with a physician father, he was told to avoid healthcare's long hours and pursue engineering instead. After completing a chemical engineering degree and realizing it wasn't his passion, he tagged along with a friend applying to dental school—and discovered he actually enjoyed it. For 18 years, he rose through academic ranks at University of Miami, eventually becoming one of only two full professors in his department. The university handled everything—hiring, firing, legal issues, marketing—while he focused purely on clinical work and educating residents. When he finally left for private practice, he collected $500,000 in his first month, a staggering 52X increase from his $50,000 annual university salary. Then everything came crashing down.

The crash came because clinical excellence doesn't translate to business knowledge. Dr. Garg admits he was "atrocious" at hiring, joking that he'd recruit cashiers from grocery stores. He didn't understand systems, software, or the operational side of running a practice. After six phenomenal months coasting on pent-up demand from patients who had been waiting for him, reality hit hard. He responded by taking every practice management course he could find—industry-specific and general business alike. While 80% was repetitive, each course offered nuggets of wisdom. It took 18 months of implementing and ingraining these systems before the practice stabilized and began growing again. That's when his latent entrepreneurial streak emerged, leading to eight fee-for-service clinics (half built from scratch, half acquired), an equity position and CCO role in a DSO now spanning 80 locations across half the states, award-winning restaurants with Michelin stars, a James Beard-recognized bakery, and a beachfront hotel in the Bahamas.

Through his education company—now rebranded as Garg Institute—Dr. Garg has trained over 20,000 dentists on implant placement, more than anyone in the industry. But the audience has fundamentally shifted: a decade ago, attendees were typically 40-55 year-old practitioners with established practices looking to expand services. Today, they're 30-45 year-olds still carrying massive student debt. In response, he condensed the program from 11 weekends to 4, slashing both tuition and travel costs by 65% while maintaining curriculum quality. For those wanting to dip their toes in, he offers two-day introductory courses and $99 symposiums featuring 16 world-class speakers in vacation destinations like Hawaii and Las Vegas. His mission remains consistent: empowering general dentists to safely and profitably expand their scope. As Dr. Garg powerfully summarizes his golden nugget—channeling Nike's famous slogan—the biggest regrets come from delayed decisions. Once you've done your due diligence, just do it. Those two years he spent mentally ready to leave academia but physically staying are his only regret from an otherwise extraordinary career.

What if the difference between a patient saying "yes" to treatment and walking out the door came down to one simple question? After 30 years connecting with patients—from embarrassed adults with missing teeth to nervous kids dreading expanders—Dawn Scott has discovered that authentic human connection isn't just nice to have, it's the X-factor that makes patients choose your practice over the dentist on every corner. In this powerful episode, Dawn reveals why talk-through-the-walkthrough matters more than your clinical skills, how to "read between the lines" of patient body language and health histories, and the psychology-backed techniques that make going to the dentist feel comfortable, safe, and truly positive. Whether you're competing with DSOs on price or struggling with case acceptance, this conversation will fundamentally shift how you think about the patient experience from the moment they find you online to the moment they enthusiastically say "let's start."

Dawn Scott never intended to build a 30-year career in dentistry. As a teenager working at a furniture store credit department, she planned to work for Coca-Cola, travel the world in international business, and eventually get a PhD to teach college. But when her dentist came in to open an account and later hired her for the front desk, dentistry began its persistent pursuit. What started as a means to pay for school evolved into a seven-year journey earning her bachelor's degree while learning dentistry "by default" to manage scheduling effectively. Even landing her dream job in business intelligence at Brassler USA—teaching sales reps how to use customer data to grow dental practices—couldn't keep her from dentistry's gravitational pull. After her husband's deployment to Afghanistan, life shifts and four children later (including surprise twins), Dawn found herself as an orthodontic treatment coordinator, finally embracing what had been calling her all along.

The transformation came when Dawn realized the profound impact of authentic human connection in dentistry. Patients walk through the door carrying shame about missing teeth, fear about costs, or anxiety from decades of bad experiences. Traditional treatment coordinator approaches felt directive and inauthentic—"this is us and this is what you need"—rather than meeting patients where they are. Dawn developed a different paradigm: "I sell hope. The dentistry is yes by default." Her "talk through the walkthrough" technique eliminates surprises by narrating every step—from adjusting the x-ray machine before they bonk their head to explaining what the black spot on their scan actually means. She reads health histories to understand if she's talking to a radiologist or someone with virgin teeth, adjusts her language accordingly, and creates space for patients to unpack their baggage, whether it's "a little box" or "a U-Haul truck beeping at the door." The science backs this up: Robert Cialdini's research shows even small touches like offering a warm drink creates warmth toward the person you're with.

In an era where DSOs compete on price and there's a dentist on every corner, the X-factor is how people feel when they're in your office. Marketing gets patients to the front door, but what happens when they walk through determines everything. Dawn's golden nugget—the question that unlocks every door of doubt—is deceptively simple: "How do you feel about today's visit?" Nobody asks how patients feel, only what they intellectually understand. This one question creates the platform for vulnerability, addresses hidden objections before price is even discussed, and transforms the patient experience from transactional to transformational. As Dawn powerfully states, when patients know you want their treatment as much as they want it, when they feel you're on their side navigating HSAs and FSAs together, when they experience genuine connection—they say yes all day long, even if you're more expensive or less convenient, because feeling safe and comfortable is worth everything.