The Dentalpreneur Podcast Archives - Dental Success Institute

On today’s episode, Dr. Mark Costes sits down with Dr. Albert Voravong in Fiji during a Smile Outreach International mission to talk about dentistry, entrepreneurship, family, and purpose. Albert shares his parents’ immigration story, his path into dentistry, and how he went from launching a rural startup to building a multi-practice organization in Canada.

They discuss the lessons that came from both successful and difficult practice growth, the importance of strong operational leadership, building the right team, navigating acquisitions, and creating alignment around a long-term vision. Albert also reflects on mission dentistry, the influence of his parents’ sacrifices, and how service has become an important part of defining success beyond business growth.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Mark Costes explores the connection between prioritization, leverage, simplicity, and the people we choose to surround ourselves with. He shares lessons from his travels and mission work, including how service, gratitude, adaptability, and reducing unnecessary complexity have reshaped the way he approaches both business and life.

Mark also challenges listeners to evaluate their first-quarter progress, eliminate negative patterns, improve fulfillment, and focus on no more than a few meaningful priorities at a time. He closes with a practical breakdown of labor efficiency, overhead, profitability, and “the spread,” showing how better stewardship of every dollar can create a stronger, more sustainable dental practice.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Steve Dove and Dr. Beau Sparkman breaks down practical ways dental teams can move beyond casual AI use and start building repeatable workflows that actually improve the practice.

They walk through tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and NotebookLM, explain how to build stronger prompts, and show how AI can support everything from PR responses and Google reviews to SOPs, team training, research, and decision-making. They also discuss automations, AI agents, HIPAA considerations, and why the real advantage comes from systemizing AI instead of simply asking random questions.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Lior Tamir speaks during the Dental Success Summit 2026 about using AI, systems, and intentional follow-up to grow a more efficient and profitable dental practice. Drawing from his experience building a marketing agency, returning to dentistry, and scaling multiple practices, Dr. Tamir explains why patient experience, social proof, marketing, and a clear sales process are essential for growth.

He breaks down the hidden opportunity in unscheduled treatment, why most follow-up systems fail, and how practices can use dedicated “setters,” scripts, financing conversations, and consistent outreach to help patients move forward with needed care. Dr. Tamir also shares how AI agents can support dental teams by identifying outstanding treatment, drafting personalized outreach, tracking conversations, and helping practices create more human, trustworthy patient experiences without replacing the people who make those relationships work.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Mark Costes takes the stage at The Practice Launchpad event to share the business lessons he wishes more dentists learned before becoming practice owners. Drawing from his experience owning 16 practices and making nearly every mistake along the way, Mark breaks down why so many dental practices struggle with profitability, leadership, systemization, team retention, and cash flow.

He explains the importance of building a systems-dependent practice instead of a people-dependent one, creating a strong patient experience, understanding the numbers behind the business, and surrounding yourself with the right support. Mark also shares the Four Futures framework and why financial success means very little if your health, relationships, mindset, and overall quality of life are falling apart.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Mark Costes sits down with Mark Rasmussen, CEO and co-founder of Moolah, to unpack the company’s journey from general payment processing to a dental-focused technology platform serving thousands of practices. Mark shares how an introduction to the Dental Success Network helped spark Moolah’s move into dentistry, why narrowing the company’s focus accelerated growth, and how staying committed to simple pricing, no SaaS fees, and strong customer support has shaped the business.

They also discuss PMS integrations, the shift toward cloud-based software, automated accounts receivable, building a strong visionary-integrator relationship, navigating private equity interest, and why customer experience continues to drive Moolah’s growth.

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On today’s episode, Kyle Francis speaks during the Dental Success Summit 2026 about recap reality and what dentists need to understand before entering a recapitalization event. Kyle breaks down how assets, liabilities, equity, and risk all factor into practice ownership, and explains that recaps can include anything from refinancing debt to selling a majority stake to a private equity-backed group.

He clarifies why recap events became so common during the low-interest-rate years, why today’s market has created longer hold times and more scrutiny, and how private equity groups evaluate dental platforms using growth, margin improvement, acquisition arbitrage, and discounted cash flow models. Kyle also unpacks rollover equity, earn outs, earn ups, joint venture versus holding company equity, pari passu rights, liquidity expectations, founder syndrome, and the importance of understanding a buyer’s funding structure, track record, and incentives before choosing a partner.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Mark Costes hosts the Milestones in Motion transformation contest during the Dental Success Summit 2026, featuring powerful stories from Dental Success Institute members who have created major growth in their practices and personal lives. Dr. Josh Hall shares how DSI helped him shift from scarcity to abundance, expand into a larger facility, build a stronger team, and create more time for family experiences.

Dr. Kelly Grubbs and Dr. Marianne Weatherford discuss how partnership, culture, systems, and faith over fear helped them transform Ridge Dental and Aesthetics while navigating real-life challenges. Dr. Andrew Kung and Kathy Lin share how Vitality Dental evolved from a scratch startup into a healthier, more team-led practice, while Dr. Mary Margaret Vaughn tells her inspiring story of taking big leaps before feeling ready, expanding her practice, building systems, growing her team, and creating more freedom while raising two sets of twins.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Mark Costes welcomes back Brannon Moncrief of McLerran & Associates for a timely conversation about the current dental transition market, DSO consolidation, and how practice owners should evaluate their exit options. Brannon breaks down why the DSO market has shifted since the white-hot acquisition years of 2021 and 2022, how higher interest rates and more disciplined buyers have changed valuations and deal structures, and why alignment between sellers and DSOs matters more than ever.

He also compares DSO affiliations with private doctor-to-doctor sales, explaining how revenue, EBITDA, cash at close, work-back expectations, equity risk, and operational support all factor into the decision. Together, Mark and Brannon discuss when a private sale may make more sense, when a DSO deal may be worth exploring, and why understanding both the economics and the “why” behind a sale is essential for making the right transition decision.

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On today’s episode, Dr. Mark Costes is joined by Dr. Michael Dienberg and Bethany Dienberg for a Dental Success Network webinar on integrating frenectomies into the general dental practice. Dr. Dienberg shares how tongue and lip ties often go undiagnosed in dentistry, despite their connection to breastfeeding challenges, speech concerns, orthodontic relapse, airway issues, tension, migraines, sleep concerns, and oral dysfunction across patients of all ages.

Together, Michael and Bethany explain the difference between frenectomies, frenotomies, and frenuloplasties, how CO2 laser releases compare with traditional techniques, and why coordinated care with lactation consultants, speech-language pathologists, myofunctional therapists, pediatric providers, and bodywork professionals can help create better outcomes. They also discuss practical implementation, including consult flow, post-op care, medical and dental billing considerations, referral networks, patient education, and how general dentists can begin identifying tongue and lip ties already present in their existing patient base.

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2594: From Immigrant Roots to Building a Dental Group With Purpose

2593: The Leadership Habits That Make Work and Life More Sustainable

2592: From Cavities to Code: How AI is Revolutionizing the Dental Workspace

2591: Using AI Agents to GSD – A Practical Approach to Patient Relationship Management and Scaling Outreach

2590: From Clinical Burnout to Business Ownership That Works

2589: Building Better Dental Payments Without the SaaS Overload

2588: Recap Reality: Understand the Truth Behind Recapitalization Events

2587: Milestones In Motion

2586: How to Choose the Right Practice Exit Path

2585: How Frenectomies Can Unlock New Patient Care