Bulletproof Dental Practice

Recent Episodes

1. Cialdini's 7 Principles, Ranked for Dentists

   Jun 30, 2026

   Dr. Christopher Phelps, a Cialdini-certified persuasion expert and dental practice owner, discusses how Robert Cialdini's seven principles of persuasion apply to dentistry. Phelps shares his journey from struggling practices during the 2008 financial crisis to building thriving multi-office dental operations by applying behavioral science principles to patient case acceptance, team management, and practice leadership. The episode covers Cialdini's principles (reciprocity, liking, unity, authority, social proof, scarcity, and commitment/consistency) and ranks their applicability in dental practice.

2. Hotline Call: The Hygienist Shortage Is Real

   Jun 25, 2026

   A new dental practice owner in a rural area calls the Bulletproof Dental Practice hotline to discuss an acute hygienist shortage. With one hygienist on maternity leave returning only part-time and no available candidates in the region, Jesse seeks solutions. Hosts Peter and Craig discuss the national hygienist shortage data, share their own staffing challenges, and provide actionable strategies including creative video recruitment, referral bonuses, social media outreach, and total compensation transparency.

3. Let AI Do the Front Desk Job Nobody Wants

   Jun 23, 2026

   Peter and Craig discuss the rapidly evolving role of AI in dental practices, specifically focusing on AI receptionists and front-desk automation. The conversation covers how AI can handle patient intake, appointment scheduling, and administrative tasks while freeing human staff to focus on patient experience and higher-value work. They debate adoption strategies, address fears about job displacement, and emphasize that early adopters who embrace AI—either offensively for growth or defensively to handle incoming agent calls—will outpace those who resist the technology.

4. The 39% DSO Tipping Point?

   Jun 19, 2026

   Ian, a dental industry analyst from the Bahamas, discusses the "39% DSO tipping point" with hosts Craig and Peter, examining consolidation trends in dentistry. The episode analyzes conflicting data on DSO affiliation rates, private equity's impact on practice quality, and why dentistry has resisted the 70-80% consolidation seen in dermatology and veterinary medicine. The conversation covers insurance arbitrage as a hidden DSO economic driver, technology as an equalizer for independent practices, and the case for remaining independent.

5. Why Your Team Ignores You (And It's Not Their Fault)

   Jun 16, 2026

   Craig and Pete discuss leadership versus management in dental practices, emphasizing that true leadership means inspiring teams to want to do work rather than simply directing them. The episode explores how lack of vision clarity and misaligned incentives cause teams to underperform, and highlights the importance of immersive learning experiences like the Bulletproof Summit to drive organizational change.

6. The AI Wake-Up Call for Dentists

   Jun 11, 2026

   Pete Lieberman hosts Blake and Shane from the All In Podcast to discuss an upcoming AI summit for dentists. The episode covers the rapid evolution of AI from novelty chatbots to agentic AI systems, the misconceptions dentists have about AI adoption, and practical frameworks for implementation. Blake and Shane announce a first-of-its-kind AI dental summit (DentalCon.AI) scheduled for August 9th alongside the Bulletproof summit, designed as a community-driven workshop to help practitioners move from AI curiosity to real business automation.

7. Hotline Calls: Team Buy-In and Your Non-Clinical Days

   Jun 9, 2026

   This hotline episode features two calls from dental practice owners seeking advice on leadership challenges. The first caller, a systems-focused dentist, struggles with team buy-in despite multiple initiatives; hosts Pete and Craig emphasize the need for incentive alignment, deeper leadership work, and potentially reassessing team composition. The second caller, an associate dentist working under his father, seeks guidance on structuring a new admin day; the hosts advise against assuming responsibilities outside his core competency and recommend first diagnosing practice KPI problems before pursuing marketing or administrative tasks.

8. "I Hate Dentists" Is a Cry for Help

   Jun 4, 2026

   Host plays a Naval Ravikant podcast clip on sales and influence, then discusses how the principles apply to dentistry—specifically addressing the taboo of "selling" in dental practice. Craig and the host explore how dentists often fail to connect with patients, leading to negative perceptions ("I hate dentists"), and argue that true patient enrollment comes from understanding what patients value and authentically serving them, not from sales tactics.

9. If We're All Gonna Eat, Someone Has to Sell

   Jun 2, 2026

   Host and Craig discuss Ken Griffin's famous $10 plaque quote 'If We're All Gonna Eat, Someone Has to Sell' and its application to dental practice leadership. They explore how selling—whether to team members, banks, associates, or patients—is essential to building a business, and how dentists often resist this concept. The conversation covers rejection resilience, clarity of vision, the distinction between transactional selling and enrollment, and the importance of adding genuine value.

10. Raise Your Fees: The Math, The Fear, The Fix

    May 28, 2026

    Craig Spodak and Pete (co-hosts) discuss fee increases as a lever for dental practice profitability. They explore the psychology of raising fees, the mathematics of profit margin expansion, and provide actionable strategies including annual fee adjustments (3-5%), benchmarking against zip-code data, identifying underpriced codes, and training teams to address patient objections. The episode challenges the misconception that raising fees results in proportional profit increases, demonstrating that a 10% fee increase can yield 25-33% profit growth due to fixed overhead costs.