The Right Way to Grow: Dental Practice Strategies That Protect Your Time and Margin
On this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune delivers a reality check for dentists chasing growth. Many dentists move too quickly—adding associates, taking on more locations—without the right foundation. Scott outlines a smarter, more calculated path to expansion that prioritizes profit, sustainability, and freedom.
This episode dives deep into when to hire a dental associate, how to protect your dental office profit margin, and what it really takes to build multi location dental practices that don’t burn you out. If you’re thinking about the next stage of dental practice growth, this is required listening.
Check out the Dental CEO Mastery Seminar
About the Episode
This is not just a business lesson. It’s a strategic roadmap.
Dr. Leune opens the episode with a bold claim: most dentists expand the wrong way. Instead of building stability, they pile on stress, erode their profit, and end up more handcuffed to the business than before. He contrasts the common approach with a model he teaches—a path built on strong margins, specialty focus, and strategic scheduling.
The goal isn’t just growth. The goal is freedom—with time, money, and clinical control. Through personal examples, numbers, and mindset shifts, Scott redefines how to think about expansion and long-term success.
About the Host
Dr. Scott Leune is one of the most respected voices in dental business strategy. With years of experience growing dental practices, Scott now helps other dentists avoid common traps. His focus is clear: equip owners with the tools to scale successfully, without giving up control or sacrificing their lives in the process.
He believes that growth should be profitable—not punishing. His approach is grounded in real-world results, not theory. When Scott speaks, he’s not guessing. He’s guiding from experience.
Key Highlights of the episode
Don’t Expand on a Weak Foundation
Scott believes many dentists jump into expansion without fixing the fundamentals. Before hiring or opening a second location, your current practice must be profitable. And that doesn’t mean just “doing well”—it means generating very high profit margins.
- A practice with 50% or lower overhead is the benchmark;
- Accepting too many insurance plans with low fees kills your margin;
- Scaling without fixing this leads to stress and financial instability;
When to Hire a Dental Associate
Hiring a dental associate isn’t the first step—it’s a later step.
Scott teaches that your schedule being full doesn’t automatically mean it’s time to expand. Instead, ask:
- Can I raise my fees and reduce low-paying plans first?
- Can I improve my marketing and retention before adding a provider?
Hiring too early creates risk. A new associate brings costs, complexity, and often lower production per patient. If your current practice isn’t highly profitable yet, that associate could reduce your take-home pay—not increase it.
Prioritize Margin Before Scale
Scott explains how dentists should become “margin machines” before even thinking about growth.
Here’s what that looks like:
- Drop low-fee PPOs and raise your average case value
- Improve case acceptance and diagnosis rates
- Become a master at filling your schedule with high-quality patients
Once those systems are in place and your overhead is lean, you’ll have both the money and stability to expand.
Growth Strategies for Dental Practices: Go Specialty, Not Volume
Scott Leune teaches that the smartest way to scale is by evolving your role. As you bring on associates, don’t keep doing general dentistry. Shift to high-dollar, low-time procedures.
That means:
- You do implants, Invisalign, Botox, sleep apnea;
- Associates handle cleanings, fillings, basic restorative work;
- You reduce your clinical hours while increasing per-hour income;
The result? More revenue, more free time, and more control.
Multi Location Dental Practices Require a Different Owner Role
Scaling to multiple practices only works if you stop being the technician and start being the CEO.
Scott emphasizes:
- Use your part-time clinical role to create a “micro practice” within your existing offices
- Focus your energy on systems, staff retention, and leadership—not just production
- Build practices that generate profit without you in the chair
This model gives you time to oversee growth, clean up inefficiencies, and protect the foundation.
Learn more in our Multi-Practice Mastery Seminar
De-Risk Growth with Strategic Scheduling
Scott introduces the concept of the owner’s “micro practice.” If your associates cover all fixed costs and you’re using leftover chair time for high-dollar treatments, your overhead drops to nearly zero. That’s 90%+ take-home profit for you, working only a couple of short days per week.
He explains:
- Two days of focused work can generate $800K–$1M in revenue
- If you plan it right, your clinical work funds growth and doesn’t consume your life
Reverse Engineer Your Career
Scott’s ultimate message: reverse the way you think about success.
- Don’t expand because you’re overwhelmed. Expand because you’re already free.
- Don’t hire because you’re busy. Hire because you’re profitable.
- Don’t chase volume. Chase smart, sustainable growth.
If your goal is freedom, financial security, and long-term equity, you have to build that outcome by design. Not by default.
Final Thoughts
This episode reframes the growth conversation. Dr. Leune doesn’t just ask when to hire a dental associate—he challenges you to rethink why you’re hiring in the first place. If your practice isn’t already lean, profitable, and full of opportunity, adding more people or locations will only multiply the problems. Instead, build a practice that funds your freedom. Then use that freedom—both in time and money—to grow on your terms. It’s not about chasing size. It’s about creating a model that supports the life you want.