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Hey there, dental professionals and industry enthusiasts.

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Picture this. It's October, and you're in the

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middle of one of the most transformative

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experiences of your career. You're at the Becker's

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fall future of dentistry roundtable in the vibrant

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city of Chicago, fresh off an incredible 3

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days at the Hyatt Regency. Imagine yourself inspired

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and invigorated after attending captivating keynote sessions by

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none other than the legendary boxing world champion

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and CEO, Lila Elite, and the extraordinary professional

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basketball player, Caitlin Clark. See yourself engaged in

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lively discussions, exchanging ideas, and collecting a stack

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of business cards from fellow dental experts and

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potential partners. You've networked with over 350

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attendees and learned from more than 80 speakers

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who are at the forefront of dental innovation.

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You sat in on educational sessions exploring topics

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that elevate dental care as a critical element

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of whole person health. You've witnessed firsthand how

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digital technology is revolutionizing

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patient outcomes

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and how both large DSOs and independent practices

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are flourishing.

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Get ready to transform your career and don't

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miss out on this incredible opportunity. The Becker's

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fall future of dentistry roundtable is from October

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30th to November 1, 2024.

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Get registered by going to beckersdental.com

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and clicking on the events page.

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Hello. This is Arianna Portallatin with the Becker's

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Dental and Dental Review podcast.

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I'm thrilled to be joined today by Doctor.

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Tamika Nickelberry of TLN Family and Cosmetic Dentistry.

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Doctor. Nickelberry, thank you so much for being

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here today. Thank you for having me. Yeah.

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To start off, can you introduce yourself and

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tell us a little bit about your background?

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Sure.

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I am a general dentist practicing in the

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Houston area.

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I've been practicing since

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2,005.

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I currently own 3 de novo locations.

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I started my own practice around 2009,

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and have just been,

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kind of trending in the de novo space

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since then. I acquired a practice about midway

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through, and eventually

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sold that practice. And so now I'm just

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focused

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on my practices, growing my practices, growing my

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doctors,

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really trying to enhance, and increase the patient

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experience.

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Great. Thank you for that. And what are

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some of the biggest issues that you're following

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in the dental industry that's here?

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One of the things I think that has

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become a big issue is just building a

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team.

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I think it's become more challenging

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to build a

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qualified,

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capable, and loyal team that really loves the

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practice

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of dentistry and loves patient care.

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Something has happened since COVID, and that has

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just made that more of a challenge where

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you've got team members that,

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you know, I think are harder to please,

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that are just looking for something different, trying

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to figure out whether or not dentistry is

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really for them. Through the Through those type

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of teams delivering excellent patient care has just

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become more

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difficult.

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I also think insurance participation versus practice profitability

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is a really big issue in dentistry

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right now, being a really big issue in

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dentistry right now, being a

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profitability is a really big issue in dentistry

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right now. Being able to stay in network

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and stay profitable,

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along with the rising cost of staff wages,

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or having to make the decision to go

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out of network,

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and then figure out how you can continue

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to be busy and profitable is also a

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major issue in dentistry right now.

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Okay. Yeah. Is that a decision that you've

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had to make at your practice as far

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as staying at network or leaving a network?

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You know, it's something that we've gone back

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and forth with. We are predominantly

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in network providers, but I do have some

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of my associates that we have tried to

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go out of network with.

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And it has not come without its challenges.

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Mostly just getting the team

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up to speed and well versed on how

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to

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relay that message to the patient

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in a way that they can understand it

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and makes the patient want to stay and

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be a part of the practice,

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patient

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the team up to speed so that they

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can relay that message to the patient effectively

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is really

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an issue. I think one of the solutions

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to that, however, is

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learning a skill set to provide dentistry

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outside of what insurances typically cover. And that's

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your implants, your cosmetic cases, your clear aligners,

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things that really build value for the patients

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that may not be within the confines of

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their insurance plan.

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Right.

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Okay. And regarding some of the staffing challenges

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that you mentioned,

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earlier in your response, are there any specific

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roles that are particularly being affected at your

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practice?

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I think we're all seeing the crunch for

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getting,

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hygienists

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on board. Hygienists

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are really starting to matriculate

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in

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the temporary space where they would rather fill

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their weeks with,

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you know, part times here and there, or

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temping,

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instead of committing to a full time engagement

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with the office. So we have definitely

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felt that we're having to be creative by

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way of using,

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you know, new graduate dentists to help back

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fill some of our hygiene, where they're able

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to,

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you know, turn treatment out of hygiene range.

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So that's definitely been an issue.

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But not just that, I think, just in

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totality,

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just finding assistants

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that truly love dentistry and love patients.

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That is something that I'm big on. I'm

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big on the patient experience.

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I am big on making sure they're having

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an exceptional experience and getting amazing dental care

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that is beyond the quality and the standard

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passionate about that. So, you may find team

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members, but a lot of times, it's, this

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is just my job. I just want to

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do my job. But, you know, we're looking

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for people that want to go beyond that,

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that want to continue doing continuing education, and

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just really want to

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Okay.

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All

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Okay. All right.

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And I'm also curious, what are you most

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excited about when it comes to dentistry right

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now, and what makes you nervous?

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I'm most excited

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about the opportunity for growth in dentistry.

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I

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still think this is an amazing space to

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be in. The opportunity to grow your practice,

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whether it is just growing your practice within

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the walls of the location that you have,

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or whether it's expanding

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to other de novos or practice acquisitions, I

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still think the opportunity is really amazing for

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that. And so, I'm very excited about that.

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I'm very excited about the scalability

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of dentistry

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and just doing it the right way.

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I think the thing that makes me the

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most nervous is kind of relates back to

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the teams,

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is having teams to grow with. While this

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is an amazing

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opportunity and space to grow in, you have

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to have the people.

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I am nervous about some of the talent

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that's being released in the marketplace,

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and just our ability to

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effectively

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grow and groom that talent. I think there

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is a lot of growth and grooming that

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needs to happen. A lot of education,

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a lot of enhancement

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of skill sets for the team. So, I'm

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nervous about the ability to do that, having

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the platforms for that and really being able

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to see that through so that you are

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able

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to take advantage of this opportunity for growth,

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but do it the right way with a

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high standard and a high level of care.

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Okay.

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And last question here. What will the most

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effective healthcare leaders need to be successful in

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the next 2 to 3 years?

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Hands down, I think the ability to lead

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and build a team. I think everything flows

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through that. I think if you can

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acquire a team, train the team,

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build a team,

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create an amazing work culture for them, and

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lead them through that, everything else will take

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care of itself. They will then be motivated

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to get the continuing education they need. They'll

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be motivated

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to go above the call of duty to

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serve patients. If you can nail down that

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piece of building the team, and learning how

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to really lead them and meet them where

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they are, and create a culture

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that makes them want to come to work,

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that makes them want to be a part

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of the dental space,

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I think nothing but excellence comes after that.

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Great.

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Well, thank you for joining us today, Doctor.

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Nickleberry. It's been a pleasure speaking with you,

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and I look forward to connecting with you

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again in the future.

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Fantastic. Thank you so much for having me.

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I enjoyed it.