Written by: Eric Block, DMD
Dentistry is a demanding profession. Most dentists enter the field because they enjoy helping patients, performing clinical procedures, and making a comfortable living. But many quickly realize that running a dental practice involves much more than clinical dentistry. In many ways, operating a dental office is like running a mini hospital.
As a result, many dentists feel overwhelmed by the practice management side of their work. Most of us received very little training in leadership, staff management, or business operations in dental school. Yet the moment you graduate, you are often thrust into a leadership role.
Suddenly, the entire team looks to you for answers. Staff rely on the dentist to solve problems, and training new employees requires significant time and energy. When a key staff member leaves, the office can feel like it’s being held together with duct tape. One of the most effective ways to reduce this chaos is not sexy but very effective: Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs.
In my book “The Efficient Dental Practice,” I discuss how documenting systems, workflows, and protocols can help practices become more organized, more productive, and significantly less stressful. The goal of SOPs for a practice is to create repeatable systems, so staff know what to do and how to do it, and don’t have to stop and ask you or a teammate for help.
Legacy Knowledge
Many dental practices rely heavily on what I call legacy knowledge. Certain staff members who have been there a while know how to do specific tasks, but that knowledge may only live in their heads. This becomes a major problem if they leave the office. And onboarding a new staffer to replace them is often time- and energy-intensive. When this happens, production and revenue can take a hit.
How SOPs Help
SOPs can significantly reduce the daily frustrations of running a dental practice.
Take answering the phones, for example. In many offices, new front desk staff are thrown to the wolves with very little training and are expected to handle calls from both new and existing patients immediately. Those callers often have questions that the new staff member may not know how to answer.
In my office, we have a SOP that clearly outlines exactly what is included in our membership plan and what is not. But if that information isn’t documented and easily accessible, the staff member has to put the patient on hold and come find the dentist for the answer. Even worse, they may ask a teammate for help, which can create a “double whammy”—2 team members stopping what they are doing and potentially putting 2 patients on hold to answer 1 question.
Here’s an example of a clinical workflow that I use every day and that is paramount to helping my assistants, whether new or not, stay on the same page with the materials and instruments I need, in the correct order.
Anterior Composite Filling Workflow (Example of Chipped No. 8 Central Incisor)
Preoperative views (Figures 1 to 2).
Figures 1 and 2. Preoperative views of chipped No. 8 central incisor.
Materials and Setup
This includes the intraoral camera, patient mirror, composite instrument set up (blue color), highspeed and lowspeed handpieces, composite bur kit, and polishers, Mylar strip and wedges, primer, bonding agent, OMNICHROMA BLOCKER, OMNICHROMA Flow, and OMNICHROMA (Tokuyama Dental America), curing light, articulating paper, and local anesthesia (if needed) (Figure 3).
Figure 3. An organized setup assists with the workflow.
Procedure Steps
Steps 1 to 3: Prepare the site
Always take a pre-op photo with intraoral camera. Bevel with diamond bur, then etch and rinse (Figure 4). Next comes the matrix and isolation followed by the primer and bond.
Figure 4. Preparing the site by etching and rinsing.
Step 4: Initial composite layer
Place OMNICHROMA BLOCKER as first layer followed by light curing.
Step 5: Final composite buildup
Place OMNICHROMA using the composite instrument to adapt incremental layers as needed; light-cure each increment (Figure 5).
Figure 5. OMNICHROMA is placed with the composite instrument.
Steps 6 and 7: Matrix removal and adjustment and occlusion
Final polish, show patient with patient mirror for approval, then take final intraoral photos (Figures 6 to 7).
Figures 6 and 7. After the final polish, show patient results with patient mirror for approval.
How to Get Started
The idea of documenting everything in a dental office can feel overwhelming. But the good news is that you don’t need to create hundreds of SOPs overnight.
Choose one task that causes frustration or confusion in the office, eg, the steps for checking out a patient with insurance. When doing a task, write down the process step by step. Keep it simple, as repeatability is the key. Review it with the team, make sure everyone understands the workflow.
The Long-Term Payoff
Practices with strong systems run more smoothly. Teams communicate better and staff members are more confident. Dentists spend less time solving operational problems and more time focusing on patient care and leadership. The goal of an efficient dental practice with SOPs isn’t just productivity; it’s less chaos.
For more information, visit tokuyama-us.com.
