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Dr. Shannon Johnson: Team Mistake image

Dr. Shannon Johnson: Team Mistake

S1 E11 · Dental Fuel
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111 Plays1 year ago

Working in teams can be tough! Shannon Johnson knows the ins and outs of working in a team but also working in a practice alone! 

In this episode, Shannon talks about some team mistakes that are commonly made and how she has come to appreciate team membes in her practice of dentistry.

Shannon Johnson grew up in a small coal mining town in eastern Kentucky. She graduated from the University of Louisville School of Dentistry in 2002 and completed her Advanced Education in General Dentistry Certificate at the University of Florida in St. Petersburg in 2003. Ever passionate about providing the very best care for her patients, Dr. Johnson is an avid continuous learner attending countless hours of continuing education each year from the professions best and brightest.

An educator at heart, Dr. Johnson has taught at both the University of Florida and the University of Louisville. She is an associate faculty member at the Dawson Academy where Dr. Johnson dedicates time to help dentists around the world master the skills necessary to predictably restore simple to complex cases with outcomes that are both beautiful and functional. She is the current President of the Dawson Association for Complete Dentistry and leads two Dawson Academy Study Clubs.

In her free time, Dr. Johnson enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter playing board games, visiting theme parks, attending various comic conventions, crafting, and scuba diving.

Connect with Ignitedds: @ignitedds

Ignitedds.com

Connect with Dr. Shannon Johnson: @supersmileychic

Connect with Tanya Sue Maestas: @tsmaestas.dds

Transcript

Introduction to Dental Challenges & Sponsorship

00:00:00
Speaker
Dental Fuel, the podcast that focuses on what no one else is talking about. Mistakes. The dental world is full of before and afters, and no one is talking about the middle. Dental Fuel brings you the unspoken in-between. Dental Fuel is brought to you by Doctors Disability Specialists, a team dedicated to helping dentists and physicians with disability insurance, life insurance, and comprehensive business planning.
00:00:23
Speaker
From owning a practice to now working on her own, Dr.

Dr. Johnson's Solo Practice Journey

00:00:27
Speaker
Johnson talks about team mistakes that she's made and how she won't make those mistakes again. Let's tune in. What does your team look like now? My team is fascinating because it's me, myself and I.
00:00:39
Speaker
Not always, but, but, well there are pros and cons to that, right? So going through the pandemic without having a large team was like huge, right? I mean, great. Because I watch all of my colleagues struggling with like hygienists and things like that. Now I do have an assortment of assistants whenever I'm doing larger cases or need help where, you know, they will come in and help me. But really it is me myself.
00:01:02
Speaker
So then you also start to realize that I hate talking on the phone. Do you set up all your appointments and everything? I do everything, literally. I tend to do a lot with text or you can actually online schedule with me and then I'll confirm it for new patients and things like that. So it's amazing how that can help.

Patient Communication & Pre-Screening Emphasis

00:01:24
Speaker
But it's kind of cool because I call all of my patients, right? Like, I have a conversation with them. So it's even like a pre-pre-screening. So I get to know them, what their needs are. I can schedule appropriately. I know if it's gonna be a limited exam because we have to be problem-focused on something. I know if they're gonna need a ton of work. I know if they've been regular in their care. So, yeah. And then on my own hygienist right now. Which is really interesting, too, because...
00:01:49
Speaker
Hygienists are amazing support folks, right? I love my hygienists and so I'm on my side in my mind thinking really hygienists might even do this better but patients really connect to the time that they have with me so then my patient acceptance is like really really hot you know and they like it.
00:02:10
Speaker
That's cool. Go figure, right? Yeah. Well, that's a great way to watch a patient's period status as well. Oh, it's huge. And I do salivary diagnostics and things like that and use adjunct therapies to help. And so I have a lot of folks who came to me with significant period that we've stabilized. So teeth that other folks are like, yeah, these need to go. Let's get them out. And I'm like.
00:02:35
Speaker
Do we really want to do that? I'm not so sure, you know? Placing implants and folks with poor periodontal health, those implants don't last this long. And I know we were talking about this on another case that had come through, right? It was all chatting and it's kind of like, all right, implants, do they last forever?
00:02:52
Speaker
No, they have a high survival rate, but the success rate is actually considerably less when you start looking at studies. So yeah, you might have an implant in there, but it might be pussy and oozy and all those good things. Pussy is not good. But if you can keep a natural tooth and you can help people get to health,
00:03:11
Speaker
What better outcome could you have? You're your own assistant as

Efficiency in Dental Tools & Assistant Roles

00:03:17
Speaker
well? I am. And some days I'd like to fire myself. I'm the worst assistant. So I use a dry shield, which is amazing. I use rubber damp, which is amazing. I'm a rubber damp fan. Right? I mean, a lot of people don't want to do it or deal with it, but it really elevates your dentistry, keeps your patients safer, and you deliver better care. So that's a whole nother.
00:03:41
Speaker
Oh, I can tell. I love my rubber dancing too. It protects the airway, keeps the tongue out of the way. I mean, dry shields are great as well too, but man, that rubber dam, I just hated it in dental school. Did everything I could to not use it.
00:03:58
Speaker
which is where people leave and then they're like, oh, I can just use cotton rolls in my system. Exactly. And honestly, yeah, I don't know. I wish people would have been more forceful on me than also, but now I use it and I love it. I don't see myself doing it any other way. My assistants love it as well, too. Well, that's the thing. I mean, the procedures go so much more smoothly and it's just better. So rely on that. It's been really interesting because when you're talking about like operating procedures and becoming more efficient, like
00:04:24
Speaker
I now really understand, like really, really understand what my assistants have to go through, you know, setting up and so it's like a lot of thought process has had to go into it. So like my documentation of like your standard operating procedures, clinical operating procedures has definitely improved for the day when I might have more than one chair if I elected by the practice that I'm in now when he's ready to sell. Or if I do a scratch start and take my patients that I've
00:04:51
Speaker
Built yeah, and then you know go to a place that I then create so I want to circle back on that thought here in a little bit But when you were in your own practice in Florida you had a team there.

Reflections on Team Management & Vision

00:05:02
Speaker
I did and we had I had four chairs I had a front office person one hygienist and one dental assistant So what mistakes did you make with your team?
00:05:16
Speaker
Making sure everybody was on the same page. You know, I think not having a clear vision initially, just kind of stumbling through things. They didn't really know who I was initially. And I did by my practice younger. And it was a transition where there was no transition. Literally, like, we signed the papers, the doctor was gone. I was on the next day. Like, we weren't there together at all, ever. Which is more common now.
00:05:43
Speaker
It is. And I mean, that's that can be good or bad. But, you know, the staff really didn't know. So they were told like the day after or the day that we signed the paper. So like the day next day, like here's the new boss. So I think setting up like your vision ahead of time where you want the practice to be was huge and then making sure that the people who are on the team were ready.
00:06:03
Speaker
And that took me a little bit to really establish and define. And I actually took my team out at that point, and we went out to sailing, and I took them to a little island where I had lunch. And I had made, we had made these little beads together, and I literally gave them my vision. I drew a line in the sand. And I said, I need for you to follow me, but if you can't, it's okay. This is where I'm going, and I need you to believe in it, and I need you to support it.
00:06:30
Speaker
and we can separate now, or you can come along this journey with me. And then I just went over there and sat on the other side of the sand and waited for people to come. And they would pick up the little words that resonated with them, and we created a necklace. And thankfully, they came with me. We had a really great time. But I was like, what if none of them come? You were sitting on the beach by yourself. Yeah. And it was also interesting, because again, I was younger at that point. So I came in, and folks were like, well, when's the doctor going to come in?
00:06:59
Speaker
And I'm like, I am the doctor. And now, like, come on, everybody can relate to that when you're younger. So you had to, like, get over that part because everybody in the office was much older than me. So, yeah, I would say that was probably some of the biggest issues.
00:07:15
Speaker
What would you do differently if you were to build a team now or if you are to in the next few years?

Strategies for Effective Team Building

00:07:20
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm really crystal clear on my vision. And I think having everything written down, the expectations of those job positions, and then just creating a culture of... I wouldn't expect them to do anything I wouldn't do for myself. Again, one of my mentors, Glen Dupont, he said, you know, you set the new standard when you walk by a mistake.
00:07:45
Speaker
So I think you have to be very disciplined in yourself to make sure you don't allow things. Like if you say, yeah, that impression's good enough, new standard, right? Like you don't want to do that. So you have to hold yourself to your vision and your team, but do it in a positive way. So for me, yeah, just having things more clearly defined and then having more discipline within myself, which definitely has improved.
00:08:12
Speaker
Be sure to tune in next week where Dr. Johnson will talk about her future and advice that she has for dentists.

Connecting with Dr. Johnson Online

00:08:18
Speaker
Be sure to connect with Dr. Johnson on Instagram at SuperSmileyChick and with IgniteDDS at IgniteDDS. You can find me on Instagram at tsmyss.dds. And while you're there, be sure to check out our sponsor, Doctors Disability Specialist.