What Dental School Never Taught You About Running a Practice | From A Dental CEO Maker | Shawn Peers

Most dentists were never taught to run a business and in today's fierce, high-overhead, burnout-heavy environment, that gap is exactly what's draining them. In this episode of The Dental Lens, Dr. Syeda Andaleeb Zaidi sits down with Shawn Peers, "the Dental CEO Maker," a lawyer with 14 years of experience who earned an MBA and now coaches dentists to lead their practices like CEOs. He's also the founder of Dental Peers, a group purchasing organization giving independent practices the buying power usually reserved for large DSOs. This conversation is a masterclass in the business of dentistry: why "I can do it all myself" is the most expensive belief in the profession, the crucial difference between saving and investing, how to sell ethically and lift case acceptance, when (and how) to adopt AI, the 5 KPIs every owner should track, and the surprising leadership lessons hidden in a book about Disney. In this episode: Becoming the CEO of your practice (and getting out of the trenches) Why you must support and never override your manager Saving vs investing: are you losing dollars to save pennies? "Sell" isn't a four-letter word, ethical case acceptance Shiny-object syndrome and the case for mastering the basics Adopting AI with intention, not anxiety The 5 KPIs every dentist should measure The Disney lessons on onboarding & patient experience 🎙️ Hosted by Dr. Syeda Andaleeb Zaidi, Founder and CEO of Techiedentist, a dental marketing and AI patient communication platform, on The Dental Lens: conversations on dentistry, business, AI, and building practices (and lives) that last. Episode filmed on: https://riverside.sjv.io/c/7434569/21... Related Episodes: From $800K to $2.2M in 12 Months: The Communication Secrets Behind Dental Practice Growth    • From $800K to $2.2M in 12 Months: The Comm...   How to Run a Profitable Dental Practice — Business Systems, AI & Operations | Dr. Vajahat Yar Khan    • How to Run a Profitable Dental Practice — ...   Connect with Dr. Andaleeb: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drandaleeb Instagram:   / drandaleebzaidi   Website: https://techiedentist.com/ Connect with Shawn Peers LinkedIn:   / shawn-peers-b7743932   Website: https://dentalpeers.ca/ Chapters 00:00 Meet Shawn Peers — the Dental CEO Maker 01:05 From 14 years in law to an MBA 02:25 How dentistry changed from the 80s to today 04:25 Fiercer competition & the burnout problem 05:48 What it means to be the CEO of your practice 07:53 Delegation & supporting your office manager 11:08 Shiny-object syndrome — get back to basics 12:52 The mindset shifts from clinician to business leader 13:04 "Sell" isn't a four-letter word 15:46 Saving vs investing — the crucial difference 16:27 Finding your area of genius 20:18 You don't need to be an extrovert to lead 22:13 The dentist they called "Patch" 28:51 The biggest lie dentists tell themselves 30:05 The first thing to outsource 31:14 AI in the practice — where to start 38:55 What Dental Peers (a GPO) actually does 41:48 Are you losing dollars to save pennies? 45:52 The habit separating struggling vs thriving dentists 48:22 The one-word definition of an ideal dental CEO 49:34 The book every practice owner should read 55:51 Does independent dentistry need a comeback? 58:22 The biggest takeaway for dentists 59:33 The 5 KPIs every dentist should measure Hashtags: #DentalPractice #DentalCEO #PracticeManagement #DentalBusiness #ClinicianToCEO #DentalMarketing #CaseAcceptance #DentalLeadership #TheDentalLens #DentalKPIs