Shows
Accelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Introduction to Dr. Sam's JourneyEpisode 34: In this episode we introduce Dr. Sam! Join us as Dr. Sam goes in depth on her unique startup experience, building a patient base, hiring and training challenges, and so much more!
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction to Dr. Sam's Journey
2:50 The Unique Startup Experience
9:10 Building a Patient Base
16:23 Hiring and Training Challenges
18:44 Navigating Team Dynamics in Startups
24:16 Reflections on Financial Foundations
27:39 Setting Goals for Growth and Stability
Malika Azargoon
ZarDentalConsulting.com
https://www.linkedin.c...2025-05-0933 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Introduction to Patient Retention in DentistryEpisode 35: In this episode we are joined by Special Guest, Angela Davis Sullivan! Join us as we discuss Building relationships with patients, Retention challenges and solutions, Effective patient scheduling techniques and so much more!
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction to Patient Retention in Dentistry
1:57 The Importance of Communication and Team Training
6:06 Building Relationships with Patients
9:50 Personalized Care and Follow-Up Systems
14:53 Converting Emergency Patients into Regulars
18:19 Emergency Preparedness in Healthcare Teams
19:59 Personalized Patient Care Strategies
21:26 Retention Challenges and Solutions
22:09 Effective Patient Schedu...2025-05-0933 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Introduction to Compliance Challenges in DentistryEpisode 36: In this episode, we are joined by special guest Linda Harvey! Over the years, you may have known Linda Harvey as an OSHA/HIPAA consultant and trainer. What you might not know about Linda is that she's the Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer for the Dental Compliance Institute. DCI is an educational and membership-based organization focusing on a wide range of relevant risk management and compliance topics. DCI provides an added layer of assurance and peace of mind to your existing policies and procedures and annual compliance training. They accomplish that through one-of-a-kind Train-the-Trainer courses, a vibrant compliance co...2025-05-0731 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Enhancing Patient Experience and HandoffsEpisode 33: In this episode Michelle and Malika discuss Enhancing patient experience and Handoffs. Everything from the importance of follow-ups and communication to navigating financial conversations with patients!
Chapters:
0:00 Enhancing Patient Experience and Handoffs
9:58 The Importance of Follow-Ups and Communication
18:36 Measuring Case Acceptance and Treatment Plans
25:21 Navigating Financial Conversations with Patients
Malika Azargoon
ZarDentalConsulting.com
https://www.linkedin.c...
malika@ZarDentalConsulting.com
Michelle Affanato
affinitymanagement.co
michelle@affinitymanagement.co
2025-02-2133 min
Accelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Introduction to Alternative Hygiene Scheduling ModelsEpisode 32: Intro to Alternative Hygiene Scheduling Models
In this episode Malika, Michelle, and special guest Rachel Wall discuss the importance of understanding Traditional, Assisted, and Alternative hygiene models, Benefits of incorporating Alternative hygiene into your practice, overcoming financial concerns in assisted hygiene, Implementing assisted hygiene into your practice, The role of dentists in hygiene care, and so much more!
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction to Alternative Hygiene Scheduling Models
1:29 Understanding Traditional vs. Alternative Hygiene Models
3:32 Benefits of Alternative Hygiene Scheduling
7:13 Assisted vs. Accelerated Hygiene Explained
9:19 Overcoming Financial...2025-02-1334 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Team RetentionEpisode 31: Team Retention
In this episode, Michelle and Malika discuss the critical topic of team retention in dental practices, exploring innovative strategies to keep team members happy and engaged. They emphasize the importance of understanding generational differences in work values, the need for creative incentives, and the role of open communication in fostering a positive work environment. The conversation also highlights the necessity of adapting to changing work dynamics and the significance of educating team members about the financial aspects of running a practice.
Chapters
00:00 The Importance of Team Retention
2025-01-1433 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Insurance with MalikaAccelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 30, Insurance with Malika
This time, Malika and Michelle offer insight on Insurance! The team discusses how long it takes for startups or acquisitions to start seeing insured patients and what this looks like as well as information on working with third-party administrators. Malika also discusses timelines, how to navigate the insurance process, and even small pearls of wisdom that you do not want to miss!
00:24 Introduction and Malika Introduces The Insurance Topic
01:30 How Quickly Can You Get in Network – The #1 Question
02:40 ...2024-11-1329 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Team Building with Dr. Josh KuykendallAccelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 29, Team Building with Dr. Josh Kuykendall
On this month’s episode, Malika and Michelle are joined by Dr. Josh Kuykendall. Dr. Kuykendall owns a practice in Spring, Texas and has heaps of knowledge on team moral, keeping employees motivated, and building a good office culture. Dr. Kuykendall shares specifics about the office culture he has created and the types of team building activities he facilitates throughout the year. The team discusses why these types of events are so important and what they truly mean to the employees that part...2024-10-0946 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Mastering Time Management
Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 28, Mastering Time Management
On this episode, Malika and Michelle discuss time management within a practice. Join the team as they dive into how everyone in the office can become more efficient when they really focus on finding time for uninterrupted work and getting creative with the way that they do work. With their combined knowledge of clients and working in offices themselves, Malika and Michelle push further to really understand and breakdown where improvements can be made to the office schedule which is a major way to improve time management as well...2024-09-1131 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Staffing
Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 27, Staffing
On this episode, Malika and Michelle tackle staffing within the practice. Topics such as proper onboarding, why checking references is so important as well as things to go over when presenting an offer letter are discussed. Malika and Michelle pull from client experiences and other issues that they have come across to give advice on everything from scheduling, to hiring the right HR company. For those with practices that need structure within the realm of staffing, this episode is full of valuable information to set a practice up for success.
2024-07-1031 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Growing Your Practice with Dental Practice Expert Dr. David Maloley
On this episode, Malika and Michelle are joined by Dr. David Maloley. Dr. Maloley is a dental expert, author, speaker and coach focusing on creating dream dental practices. On this episode, hear Dr. Maloley’s takes on how to improve the practice as a whole, including topics like burnout, how to focus on the what drives employees, as well as how to create a productive office culture. The team dives deep into tricky employees, hiring the right fit to the team, as well as where to be able to compromise and balance. Finally, Dr, Maloley shares a final note an...2024-06-1239 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Optimizing Your Practice with Billing and Outsourcing Expert Amanda DeMoura
Accelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 25, Optimizing Your Practice with Billing and Outsourcing Expert Amanda DeMoura
On this episode, Malika and Michelle are joined by Amanda DeMoura. Amanda is the Founder of Essential Dental Services, a dental billing company made up of dental practice managers. Amanda and Essential Dental Services are ready with custom help with claims, billing and insurance tasks. Amanda shares insights on what makes a more cohesive team, keeping an office productive as well as getting on top of proper documentation and why it is so important. The team pinpoints the top things that...2024-05-0825 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Optimizing Your Practice with Office Manager Beverly Wilburn
Accelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 24, Optimizing Your Practice with Office Manager Beverly Wilburn
On this episode, Malika and Michelle are joined by Beverly Wilburn. Beverly is an office manager for a successful dental office that specializes in periodontics and dental implants. Beverly is an AADOM Diplomate who also recently won Practice Administrator of the Year. Topics including what to do and what not to do in the office, building and cultivating relationships within the office, different types of office managers as well as what it takes to have the role are discussed. Being an Office Manager...2024-04-1032 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Optimizing Insurance and Financial Planning with Nick CepparuloAccelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 23, Optimizing Insurance and Financial Planning with Nick Cepparulo
This month, Malika and Michelle are joined by Nick Cepparulo, Vice President of CFS Dental Division. Nick talks about how their financial services can assist in optimizing a practice’s finances through insurance evaluation and assistance in assessing finances. Nick discusses the benefits of looking at insurance policies often to understand them better and also to get the most out of the purchased coverage. A deep dive on the different types of insurances startups might need is talked about as wel...2024-03-1335 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Marketing Your Practice on Social Media with Minal Sampat
Accelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 22, Marketing Your Practice on Social Media with Minal Sampat
This month, Malika and Michelle are joined by Minal Sampat. Minal is a Marketing Strategist, Bestselling Author, and Speaker who is passionate about what Social Media can do for practices. In this episode Minal discusses all aspects of how marketing on social platforms can really help practices stand out from the rest. She discusses how to get started and even what the best way to get started is. Minal also gives advice on how to create a natural and organic atmosphere on...2024-02-1435 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Knowing Your KPIs
Accelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 21, Knowing Your KPIs
This episode is all about Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs. KPIs can give practices a good idea on what the practice is looking like from a data standpoint. Malika and Michelle discuss their favorite KPIs and what these mean for a practice. No two practices are the same and personalized analytics can tell a very unique story about a practice. Michelle and Malika, with their experiences in offices across the country, give insight on how these analytics can be used and the expectations as...2023-12-1328 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Dental Warranty with Brad Titensor
Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 20,
Dental Warranty with Brad Titensor
This episode’s guest, Brad from Dental Warranty, sheds light on the new way that patients are protecting their dental investments. Dental Warranty is working with practices nationwide to provide peace of mind to patients by covering their dental procedures for up to six years. This also allows for practices to see an increased case acceptance rate as well as allow for patients to feel good about coming back to keep up maintenance on their investments knowing that they are protected. Dental Warranty is also gi...2023-11-0834 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Communication
Accelerating Your Dental Practice Episode 19, Communication
Effective communication is essential for an efficient dental practice. By establishing clear expectations and reminding patients ahead of time of office protocols and policies, you can prevent costly last-minute cancellations and tardiness. Equally important is maintaining clear communication with your staff to avoid redundancy in questioning patients. Instill trust and clarity in both your staff and patients. Remember, respect is a two-way street!
0:22 Conversation starts 1:15 Paperwork woes 6:54 Cancelation protocol 9:25 Late patients
11:30 Patient handoff
15:04 Morning huddle 15:50 Office communication 19:50 Leadership
25:20 In closing
Malika Azargoon
2023-10-1125 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Accelerating Your Dental Practice with AI and Technology
Accelerating Your Dental Practice
Episode 18, Accelerating Your Dental Practice with AI and Technology
AI is the future and dental practices are no exception. AI technology can provide accurate diagnoses, bill for services, make X-rays easier to understand, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. AnnMarie DePalma predict that AI will be a critical component to density in just a few short years. She’s a published oral health professional, consultant, trainer, speaker, and writer. Looking at the big picture, AI will help dentists work smarter, not harder. From buy-in to cost savings, a wide rang...2023-09-1332 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYPD: Back to School
Successful dental practices need to plan ahead to handle both slow and busy periods throughout the year. Back-to-school/September is a common scheduling slump, when families prioritize school and after- school actives. However, offices are slammed in December when patients rush to use their dental benefits in time. This summer has also been slow, with a record number of families taking vacations abroad. Malika and Michelle offer a variety of creative solutions to take advantage of these slow and busy times.
0:22 Back to school scheduling 4:40 Marketing
8:10 Incentives
8:43 Football mouthguard 10:20 True active patient number 14:10 Team building2023-08-0930 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYPD: Online Presence
Just how important is a dentist office’s online presence and Google reviews? To answer this in depth, Malika and Michelle bring on an expert. Dr. Len Tau is a retired dentist, dental consultant, speaker, podcaster, author, and the General Manager of Dental Vertical at BirdEye, a patient experience platform. His private Facebook group “Raving Patients,” is a place for dentists to discuss marketing and social media to make their offices more visible and credible. Today, Len shares how to handle a bad review, what the ideal rating is, how to ask for a review, and how to respond to rev...2023-07-1240 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Focus on Patient CareMalika and Michelle focus on patient care. How can dental practices ensure that patients feel
valued and cared for? To start, have systems in place to avoid excessive re-scheduling and long
wait times. Dentists shouldn’t take on more patients than they can handle, especially if they are
short-staffed. Decide what kind of experience you want patients to have when they walk in the
door. This might mean re-training your front desk, outsourcing work overseas, and turning away
new patients.
0:22 Topic of conversation
4:38 New patient number
9:45 Short-staffed offices
13:50 Sch...2023-05-1732 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Maximizing Your Dental Assistant’s PotentialKevin Henry is a dental assistant champion, the Co-Founder of IgniteDA, and the host of the
Dental Assistant Nation Podcast. He’s been in the dentistry industry since 1999 and has seen a
shift in power dynamics as the demand for friendly, punctual, and reliable dental assistants has
skyrocketed. Kevin recommends that dentists steer clear of micromanaging and conduct biannual
“stay interviews” to ensure that dentals assistants feel appreciated, understood, and empowered.
0:22 Introducing Kevin
2:06 Hiring crisis
6:20 Power shifts
7:06 Leadership
8:17 Leadership Course by Mark Murphy
9:10 Stay interviews
12:52 Pitfalls of dentist...2023-04-1225 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Practice AppraisalsIn this episode, Malika and Michelle welcome guest, Dr. Tony Stefanou. Tony is a trained dentist turned businessman and Certified Business Intermediary. He is the CEO and Founder of Connect the Dents, a business development consulting and M&A (Merger & Acquisition) advisory company specific to the dental industry.
Whether you plan to sell, want to expand, or are bringing on an associate, it's a smart idea to get an appraisal to know the value of your dental practice.
0:22 Introducing Tony
4:42 Practice evaluations
9:06 Expanding practice
16:10 Private buyer evaluation VS DSO
26:52 Over/under va...2023-03-0829 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Incentive PlansHaving an incentive program in place is a terrific approach to recruit in and retain staff members. Investing in your team not only makes them feel valued, it’s a fun way to reach goals in the office.
For more examples of bonus programs, email Malika or Michelle with "Incentive Program" in the subject line at malika@ZarDentalConsulting.com and
michelle@affinitymanagement.co
0:22 Introducing
1:52 Bonus programs
3:55 Timing incentives
6:14 Get creative
10:14 Metrics and goals
19:10 Team building
23:20 Email us
25:18 Outro
Malika Azargoon
ZarDentalConsulting.com2023-02-0925 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAYDP: Your Practice is Your Best AssetIn this episode, Malika and Michelle welcome guest, Natasha Gillis. Natasha is a dental and medical business lawyer with the Gillis Firm. She represents dental practices in their start-up needs, acquisitions, partnership changes, and sales.
Today, she offers some general legal advice. Topics covered: associate retention, acquisitions, partnerships, contracts, taxes, and trademarking. Natasha says, “treat your practice as a true business asset.”
0:22 Introducing Natasha
1:08 Practice is a business asset
5:40 Employee contracts
9:16 Partnership agreements
16:10 Startups vs acquisitions
21:30 Trademarking
31:02 Outro
Natasha Gillis, Esq of The Gillis Firm
ht...2023-01-1231 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAccelerate Your Practice By Closing Out 2022 StrongWith only a few weeks left of 2022, Malika and Michelle reflect on some of the wins and challenges dental practices faced this year. Now is the time to re-visit your vision and mission statements, increase fees, and set new goals. Dentists should feel in control of their practices by setting boundaries and expectations of their patients.
1:38 Reflecting on 2022
5:30 Wins and challenges for dentists
9:30 Set boundaries and expectations
11:40 Ideal patient
13:36 Vision and mission statements
16:50 Re-train and raise fees
24:30 Hopes for 2023
28:55 Outro
Malika Azargoon
Z...2022-12-1429 min
Accelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAccelerating Your Practice: Find, Hire and Retain StaffThe shortage of dental assistants and hygienists is causing hiring challenges for dentists. It's harder than ever to find and retain talented staff who will stick around when their job opportunities are abundant. Malika and Michelle share advice for finding, onboarding, and incentivizing staff to stay. Foster a positive environment at your office where people feel valued and appreciated.
1:30 Staff challenges
4:10 Work environment
7:08 Bonus incentives
9:20 Retaining and onboarding
17:32 Overhead of staffing
21:10 Avoid hiring mistakes
31:00 Closing words
Malika Azargoon
ZarDentalConsulting.com...2022-11-1132 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAccelerating Your Practice With Omnipresence MarketingIn this episode Malika and Michelle speak with Shane Simmons, the Founder and CEO of Crimson Media, a digital marketing agency. In order to attract their ideal patient, practices need to create a trustworthy online presence that tells a story. Optimizing your internal and external marketing will put your practice above the rest and guarantee an healthy influx of business
0:23 Introducing Shane
2:15 What's your story
5:56 Authentic advertising
9:15 Avoid stock photos
12:40 Find your why
18:06 Office culture
20:20 Reviews and videos matter
27:50 Where to post and how to track2022-10-1937 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAccelerating Your Practice By Discovering Your Rhythm with Guest Teresa DuncanMalika and Michelle welcome their first guest to discuss discovering your rhythm in the dental practice. Teresa Duncan is a dental speaker on insurance and management topics, coach, podcast host and the owner of Odyssey Management. The three of them discuss staffing, reviews, recession, checklists, calendars, workplace security and more. Don't wait until the end of the year to get on top of your dental practice business!
0:23 Introducing Teresa
2:05 Today’s topic
5:25 Google Calendar
8:00 Training and reviews
10:30 Checklists and check in’s
17:54 Buying clubs and referrals
20:20 Workplace security
21:55 Goal planning...2022-09-1441 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAccelerating Your Practice During a Looming RecessionMichelle and Malika offer practical advice to help dental practices survive during a
recession. They advise being cautious when it comes to dropping insurance plans,
concentrating on keeping current patients, establishing a membership program, and
taking into account the use of third party financing companies, bearing in mind that
patients will be more anxious than ever about the expense of dental procedures.
0:22 Todays topic
2:30 Accepting/dropping insurances
8:32 Accounts Receivable (AR)
16:40 Re-care system
23:34 Membership plans
25:50 Preserving revenue— needs, wants, rainy day fund
29:56 Wrapping up
32:20 Closing words
M...2022-08-1030 min
Accelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAccelerating Your Practice By Automating SystemsMalika and Michelle talk about the advantages of automating systems in your dental office on the second episode of "Accelerating Your Dental Practice". It's important to streamline as much as possible during this staffing shortage. Scheduling, treatment planning, payments, appointment reminders and review processes can all be automated to save valuable time and money. Another bonus- most patients prefer automated systems over phone calls and physical mail!
0:22 Today's Topic
1:38 Scheduling
6:50 Treatment Planning
11:45 Patient Reminders
19:26 Online Payments
26:56 Reviews
29:40 Money and time savings
32:20 Closing words
Companies menti...2022-07-1132 minAccelerate Your Dental Practice with Malika and MichelleAccelerating Your Practice By OutsourcingWelcome to the first episode of "Accelerating Your Dental Practice" with your hosts, Malika Azargoon and Michelle Affanato, Dental Management Consultants. Starting off, Malika and Michelle discuss the advantages of outsourcing front office tasks in the midst of the hiring drought. Dental practices can save a lot of time and money by outsourcing tasks including new patient calls, insurance verification and claims processing and follow-up.
2022-05-2530 min