The Dentalpreneur Podcast w/ Dr. Mark Costes
Author, speaker, dental business coach and practicing dentist, Dr. Mark Costes chats with the leader
The goal of this podcast is to assemble the greatest minds of the dental profession and to pass on their most valuable and succinct lessons, in order to help you to achieve your full potential in practice and in life. Let's face it. Dentistry can be a frustrating and isolating profession... but you don't have to be an island anymore. It's possible to become more profitable, less stressed and more fulfilled in your career and it's our mission is to help you get there. For a whole host of free…
Recent Episodes
2557: The Unfair Advantage - Fireside Chat With Gino Wickman
Jul 21, 2026Gino Wickman, bestselling author and creator of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), sits down with Dr. Mark Costas for a fireside chat at the 13th annual Dental Success Summit. They discuss the six essential traits of entrepreneurs (visionary, passionate, problem solver, driven, risk taker, responsible), the critical visionary-integrator partnership needed to scale businesses, and the five foundational EOS tools for organizational alignment and execution. Wickman also introduces his book Shine, which addresses the inner work entrepreneurs must do to achieve lasting fulfillment beyond external success.
2556: The Capacity Trap That Holds Practices Back
Jul 20, 2026Dr. Mark Costas hosts an 'Ask Me Anything' episode addressing four key questions from dental practice owners: choosing an ownership path as a new graduate, determining when to add a third dentist, timing for acquiring a second practice, and building a personal board of directors. Costas shares lessons from owning up to 16 dental practices, warning against the 'capacity trap' of undersized practices, emphasizing the importance of establishing a flagship black belt practice before expanding, and recommending a fractional family office structure with trusted advisors.
2555: Fired Up but Going Nowhere- Turn Today into the Day Everything Actually Changes
Jul 17, 2026Dr. Summer Kazmal, owner of multiple dental practices in Colorado, delivers a keynote address at the 13th annual Dental Success Summit focused on converting inspiration into actionable change. She discusses overcoming the "someday trap," achieving clarity on practice vision and personal values, understanding the true cost of change, and leading by example. Kazmal emphasizes that sustainable practice transformation requires deep clarity on why you want change, willingness to tolerate short-term discomfort, and consistent leadership standards—illustrated through a four-part framework for holding team accountability.
2554: Evolve - Thriving in Dentistry's New Reality
Jul 16, 2026Dr. Mark Costas delivers the opening keynote at the 13th Annual Dental Success Summit in Frisco, Texas, presenting his framework for navigating dentistry's current challenges. Using the metaphor of a lobster's growth cycle, he explores why the profession feels uncomfortable, examines critical workforce and demographic trends, and introduces the operating systems and philosophies required for dentists to thrive in the new reality of practice ownership.
2553: Inside a High Tech Dental Practice Built for Education
Jul 15, 2026Dr. Brett Titan, a second-generation general dentist from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, discusses his journey from taking over his father's practice to becoming a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) for Dentsply Sirona and digital workflow education. He shares his vision for a groundbreaking combined dental practice and teaching facility in Austin, designed to deliver hands-on education in same-day crowns, guided implant placement, and full-arch dentistry while providing affordable treatment to underserved patients.
2552: Paying Yourself & The Influence You Have Pt. 2
Jul 14, 2026Jake Conway, the numbers analyst at DSI (Dental Success Institute), presents part 2 of his Atlanta mastermind presentation focused on practical owner compensation, hygiene performance metrics, and practice valuation strategies. The episode covers how to establish owner distributions using monthly break-even calculations, cash flow management techniques, tax implications of S-Corp distributions, and how adjusted net income and EBITDA impact practice valuations in both doctor-to-doctor and private equity sale scenarios. Conway emphasizes how hygiene KPIs, overhead management, and owner production directly influence practice profitability and long-term sale value.
2551: Paying Yourself & The Influence You Have Pt. 1
Jul 13, 2026Jake Conway, DSI's numbers analyst, presents part one of a two-part deep dive on practice financial strategy, covering how dental practice owners should interpret financial data as information rather than treating their business like an ATM. The episode focuses on understanding overhead as a result of operational decisions, the symptom-cause-solution framework for identifying financial issues, and how cash flow clarity drives better business decisions. Conway emphasizes KPIs like hygiene efficiency ratios, exam counts, and production percentages as diagnostic tools for uncovering underlying practice problems.
2550: Smarter Phones, Better Teams, and Happier Patients
Jul 10, 2026Laura Nelson, VP of AI for Mango Voice, discusses her journey from dental office manager to influential entrepreneur across multiple ventures including Front Office Rocks, Brush Up on AI, and Sober Life Rocks. The conversation covers her origin story of being pulled into dentistry through her husband's practice, building Front Office Rocks as a subscription-based training platform for dental front office staff, selling the business to Uptime Health, and her current work developing Margot, Mango's AI phone receptionist that achieves 85% full conversation rates by strategically timing when patients learn they're speaking with AI.
2549: The Hidden Risks Inside Dental Office Leases
Jul 9, 2026Jazz Benga, co-founder of WeCare, North America's largest healthcare and dental real estate advisory firm, discusses the hidden risks embedded in dental office leases and how to navigate them strategically. He covers critical lease provisions like use clauses, triple net obligations, and assignment language that can derail practice sales or limit future growth. The conversation explores site selection methodology, the buy-versus-rent decision for dental practices, and how AI-driven market analysis identifies underserved communities for startup practices.
2548: Back to Basics: How to Lead Through Hard Conversations
Jul 8, 2026Ashley Hirschfeld, COO of the Dental Success Network, discusses leadership fundamentals with host Dr. Mark Costes, focusing on how to conduct difficult conversations with team members in dental practices. The episode covers establishing clear expectations, core values, accountability systems, and de-escalation techniques to reduce emotional drama in corrective conversations. Key themes include self-awareness, emotional intelligence, regular performance reviews, and the leader's responsibility to address toxicity early before it damages organizational culture.
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