As a consultant one of the first things I do is take on the role of being the patient.

So I leave without paying.

Just kidding. No, what I mean is that I try to eyeball your dental office as if I am a new patient. I stroll around the parking lot, take a seat in the lobby and view the surroundings. I visit the restroom. I sit in each of the dental chairs and look up at the ceiling.

What I sometimes uncover can really be stunning: Cigarette butts in the parking lot, weeds sprouting up from the cracks, dead flies plastered on windows, last years magazines stacked up in the reception area and chipped paint in the hallways. From the dental chair I spy cobwebs in the air vents and old water stains on ceiling tiles. At the doctor's desks and front office workstations, "post it" notes are stuck on top of post it notes that are stuck on top of post it notes.

You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Not that any of this applies to your dental practice. It's all those other dental offices.

So here's your homework assignment: Take time to stroll around your dental practice, inside and out, as if you were the patient. Make notes and get those things fixed. This is a simple action that only takes me about ten minutes. But it’s one of the easiest things a dentist can fix.

And I'm not suggesting you use any big bucks on renovations. Just a little elbow grease is all. 

Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a speaker in the mid-1990s, Kevin went on to become Cambridge’s senior consultant and eventually CEO. Cambridge Dental Consultants is a full-service dental practice management company offering customized dental office manuals. Frustrated? High overhead? Schedule a chat with Kevin at