The Dental CEO Podcast

Dr. Dan Auprix sees patients just two hours a day, and his practice is on track for $6.8 million.

In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune sits down with Dan, a 36-year-old dentist in Ottawa, Canada, who bought a three-operatory practice collecting $450,000 a year and grew it into a seven-operatory practice trending toward $6.8 million, while cutting his overhead from 57% to 42%.

The turning point? Cutting his clinical schedule to 14 hours a week. Dan explains why stepping out of the operatory made him more productive, and how he used the extra time...

Only 15 to 20% of dental practices are on the cloud. Curve Dental CEO Dave Cormack explains why the rest may be about to fall behind.

In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune sits down with Dave Cormack, CEO of Curve Dental, chairman and majority owner of Scotland’s Aberdeen Football Club, and a 44-year software veteran who has built and sold multiple companies.

Dave explains why he believes the dental software industry is heading into a “death spiral” that not every company will survive, and why Curve is investing $200 million more i...

The rules of dental student loans just changed, and most dentists have no idea what it means for them.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act capped federal student loans at $200,000 for dental students, down from a system that previously allowed borrowers to cover the full cost of attendance. For dental schools that cost $600,000 to $1,000,000 to attend, that means the gap now has to be filled with private loans at rates as high as 18%, requiring co-signers and offering zero forgiveness options. In practical terms, the Big Beautiful Bill just made dental school twice as expensive for most...

Selling your dental practice to a DSO? Some dentists who took part of their payout in DSO equity may end up with nothing to show for it.

In this episode, Scott Leune sits down with Kevin Cumbus, founder and president of Tusk Practice Sales, to break down what's really happening in the DSO market today and how to protect yourself before you sell. Kevin's firm has completed about $1.5 billion in dental practice transactions over the last decade, exclusively representing dentists who are selling.

Of the roughly 150 private equity-backed DSOs today, about half have...

Dr. Divya Patel was two years out of dental school when she made a decision most dentists take a decade to make: open her own startup instead of buying an established practice.

In this episode, Scott sits down with Dr. Patel to unpack why she walked away from Toronto's acquisition market and built Pearl Dental Studio from the ground up instead. They break down the real math behind "buying a practice twice," once to acquire it, and again to actually fix it into your vision, and why that math made a startup the lower-risk path for her...

ChatGPT just rolled out ads for small businesses, and dentists are already testing it, often with no idea what they're doing.

In this episode, Scott Leune sits down with Bill Donato, founder of DentalMarketing.com, to break down what's actually working in dental marketing right now: ChatGPT ads, Google Ads, AI-powered SEO, and a channel most dentists have written off as outdated: direct mail.

Bill has spent over a decade running marketing for dental practices across the U.S. and Canada, and he pulls back the curtain on where new opportunity actually lives...

Last week's episode challenged the traditional path to retirement. This week, Scott Leune gets tactical: what should you actually be doing in dentistry, right now, at your specific age, to make that philosophy real?

In Part 2 of this series, Scott walks through the exact practice models that align with the semi-retire-twice framework, breaking down what each decade of a dental career should look like and why.

Scott breaks down:

What if the traditional retirement plan, work hard for 40 years and finally retire at 65, is actually the reason so many dentists end up burned out, broke on experiences, and full of regret?

In Part 1 of this two-part series, Scott Leune revisits a post he wrote 16 years ago that challenged everything he'd been taught about building wealth and retiring. Instead of one big retirement at the end of a career, Scott lays out a philosophy of semi-retiring twice: once during the years your kids need you most, and again once you've built enough wealth to slow down...

Episode 80: There's a good chance you've never heard of DHP. While Schein, Patterson, Darby, and Benco dominate the conversation around dental equipment and supplies, DHP has quietly built a 35-plus-year, privately held, family-owned business that Scott says delivers strong pricing and personal service, without the brand recognition to match.

Scott sits down with Dale Roberts, DHP's founder and CEO, and Nick Roberts, COO, to unpack what makes the company different, across both equipment and everyday supplies. Rather than steering dentists toward a narrow list of premium brands, DHP shows the full range of options, from budget-friendly...

Episode 79: In 2019, a 22-year-old flew from Dublin to Texas to take three of Scott's courses back-to-back, so eager to learn he came back a second time just to finish the one he missed. Eight years later, that same dentist has built Truly Dental into Europe's largest full arch implant group, 15 locations across Ireland and the UK, on pace to cross $100 million in annual revenue. Now he's setting his sights on the U.S., and he says he can do it cheaper, and just as good.

In this episode, Scott sits down with Mo Shirin to unpack...

Episode 78: Scott sits down again with Justin Warcup, a pediatric dentist in Dallas-Fort Worth, to break down the numbers behind pediatric airway dentistry and the system he built to scale it, called the BRĒTH Method. Cases run $4,000 to $9,000, case acceptance sits at 52%, and in just three months of focused marketing, Justin scaled from 4–5 cases a month to averaging $130K+ a month, increasing his profit by an estimated $1.4 million on top of his existing practice revenue.

They dig into the real math: why the procedure costs so little to deliver, and why Justin says it's simpler cli...

Episode 77: Is there ever really a "right time" to start a practice? In this episode of the Dental CEO Podcast, Scott sits down with Dr. Stamatis Kouniaris and his wife Katarina, a practicing attorney, to talk about one of the boldest timing decisions a young family can make: launching a dental startup in Canada while raising three kids under five, including a newborn just one month old.

Just a month after opening Ilios Dentaire, Stamatis and Katarina are already booked out three to four weeks, adding a hygienist, and hiring a second assistant, all while juggling...

Scott Leune sits down to give young dentists the advice he wishes someone had given him. He breaks down the four numbers every associate should be tracking, why a high-income associateship matters more than a signing bonus, and why waiting to feel "ready" for ownership is usually the exact reason people never get there. It's a blunt, no-fluff take on why so many careers stall out in mediocrity, and what it actually takes to avoid it. Whether you're a dental student, a new associate, or years into your career, this episode is a reset on what success in dentistry...

Radiologic AI was just the beginning. In this episode, Scott sits down with Ophir Tanz, founder and CEO of Pearl, to unpack how AI has evolved from a single feature into an entire layer running underneath the modern dental practice, handling everything from CBCT analysis and ambient charting to claims, insurance verification, and scheduling. They get into where this is headed next: a world where AI doesn't just assist your team, it becomes the operating system your practice runs on. If you haven't engaged with AI in your practice yet, this episode makes the case for why now, not...

$4 million in debt. A business partner who walked away. That's the position Dr. Omar Virani was in, and it would have ended most people's dental careers right there. Instead, he turned it into a thriving two-location practice in Vancouver, Canada, one with 19 operatories, associates who actually want to work there, and the kind of balanced schedule most owners only dream about. In this episode, Omar walks through exactly how he rebuilt from rock bottom, and Scott and Omar break down what U.S. dentists can learn from Canada's very different approach to associate pay and insurance. This is what...

Virtual administrative teams are already helping thousands of dental practices handle insurance verification, billing, claims, and phones, and now AI copilots are layering on top of that support to speed up claim resubmissions, improve call conversion, and lift overall work quality without adding any burden to your onsite team. This episode breaks down how task-specific AI copilots rewrite denied-claim narratives, surface the right attachments before resubmission, and coach calls in real time, plus why a human-in-the-loop still matters even as automation improves. If you've wondered whether AI can help your practice run leaner without dumping more work on your...

Why do some associate dentists produce five times more than others seeing the exact same number of patients? In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune breaks down the four numbers that actually drive associate production, exam volume, diagnostic percentage, treatment plan size, and case acceptance, and shares the national averages versus top-performer benchmarks for each. He walks through exactly how owners should report these numbers to associates on a weekly and monthly basis, so performance gaps become obvious without triggering defensiveness, and how to respond when an associate blames the team, the schedule, or the practice...

In this solo episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune reads three real profit and loss statements line by line and shows you exactly where practice profit hides. Watch a "respectable" 1.8-million-dollar practice find roughly 160,000 dollars in EBITDA and nearly a million in sale value, and a two-practice owner uncover about 650,000 dollars a year in cash flow and 4.2 million in equity at sale, all without a single clinical change. Scott breaks down the six expense categories, the target percentages every owner should know, and the quick "rent test" for whether you're too small or simply overspending. His bottom...

A dentist got an unsolicited $9.8M offer to sell his practice — and on paper it looked incredible. So why is walking away the smarter move? Scott Leune breaks down the real offer line by line and runs the actual math, exposing the traps most dentists never see: the cash up front, the "rollover equity," the multi-year stay requirement that quietly erases years of owner profit, and the "hopium" of future multiples that rarely pay out. He shows how selling now nets roughly $9.4M while transitioning out first nets up to $14M+, and what to do instead if your practice is...

After 33 years of marriage and 33 years practicing side by side in 700 square feet, Dr. Elisa Mello and Dr. Ramin Tabib could have coasted to the finish line. Instead, at 61, they bet on themselves again and moved into a 2,500 square foot space built around a brand they just trademarked: The Smile Code. Scott Leune sits down with the New York City couple to talk about holding the line on fee-for-service when the pressure to take insurance felt relentless, what it really takes to work with your spouse for three decades without losing your marriage, and why the heart of a...

There is a lot of bad location advice in dentistry. A dentist goes on a podcast, says demographics do not matter because they opened in a weak market and made it work, and suddenly "build it and they'll come" sounds like a strategy. It is not. It is luck, and as Scott Leune puts it, a blind man can hit a home run, but that does not mean the rest of us should swing blindfolded. On this episode of the Dental CEO Podcast, Scott sits down with Kent Miller, founder of Dentagraphics, to make the case for trusting the...

Two married dentists. One startup. 222 new patients in their first full month. On this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune sits down with Drs. Alex Hill and Kristina Slavik of Hill Dental Studio to break down exactly how they built the demand, why they're already booked out two months, and what Scott says they need to do right now to handle the success before it crushes them.

In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune is joined by Bill Donato, Founder of DentalMarketing.com, to break down why your website is no longer the biggest driver of new patient calls. As patient search habits change, Google My Business, local search visibility, reviews, hyperlocal content, and real-time search queries are becoming more important than ever. Scott and Bill explain what dental practice owners need to understand about the new rules of dental SEO and how practices can improve visibility, compete locally, and generate more new patient opportunities.

A single Instagram post from Dr. Scott Leune sparked major conversation across the dental world, raising a question many dentists are thinking but few are saying out loud: is becoming a dentist still financially worth it? In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott breaks down the post, the backlash, and the numbers behind the debate, including income, debt, delayed earning years, and why business ownership may matter more than ever.

In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune breaks down how dentistry is moving toward a new practice model built around automation, simplified staffing, patient hosts, presentation stations, and more efficient systems. He explains why traditional front office roles may become less necessary, how clinical team members could take on a more complete patient experience role, and how owners may be able to reduce chaos, improve consistency, and manage the practice with fewer bottlenecks. Scott also discusses how a personal assistant can help protect the owner’s time, support implementation, and create more flexibility in both bu...

PPO plans are putting intense financial pressure on private dental practices through low reimbursements, high write-offs, stagnant fees, and rising operating costs. 

In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune sits down with Natalie Soda of PPO Profits to expose how shared networks and hidden fee schedules can force dentists to produce more while collecting less. They also discuss how practices can fight back by renegotiating fees, untangling insurance contracts, and strengthening revenue cycle management.

What does it actually look like to go straight from dental school into building your own practice? In this episode, Scott Leune sits down with Dr. Emily Magee just five weeks into opening her startup to walk through her journey from associate to owner. She shares how she made the decision to start early, secured financing, built out her office, and what the first few weeks of ownership really feel like. From hiring and training a team to managing patient flow and stepping into a leadership role, this is a real-time look at the pressure, uncertainty, and early wins...

In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune sits down with Kathryn Gaysinski, founder of DeStyle Design, to break down what it really takes to design a modern dental practice. From material selection and layout to balancing cost, function, and aesthetics, they explore how smart design decisions directly impact patient experience and long-term profitability. If you are planning a startup or renovation, this episode will give you a clear understanding of how to build a space that is both beautiful and highly functional.

In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune sits down with Dr. Kye Williams, founder of Dental House, to break down how he built a fee for service startup from scratch to over $3 million in annual collections in under three years. Kye shares the real drivers behind his success, from relentless marketing and phone conversion systems to delivering an elite patient experience and building a high-performance team. This conversation challenges conventional thinking around insurance, startups, and growth, offering a practical blueprint for dentists who want to take control of their careers and build a truly profitable...

Redo dentistry is one of the most overlooked, and expensive problems in private practice. 

In this episode, Scott breaks down the uncomfortable reality most dentists face: when treatment fails, we absorb the cost, strain the patient relationship, and create unnecessary tension within the team, yet none of it is clearly tracked or accounted for. From failed implants and broken crowns to patients moving away or associates re-diagnosing work, "redos" quietly erode profitability and control. 

This conversation unpacks why most dentists already have a “warranty” system and why it doesn’t work while offering a more structur...

What if the key to working less and making more as a dentist isn’t opening more practices but focusing on the right procedure? In this episode, Dr. Justin Warcup shares how scaling too quickly nearly hurt his business, how he eliminated $300,000 in annual waste, and how focusing on one high value treatment increased cases from one per month to more than 13 a month while reducing his clinical hours. Learn why more practices do not always mean more profit, how leadership and accountability systems create sustainable growth, and how dentists can build real wealth without sacrificing family, health, or fr...

In this episode of the Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune sits down with Tom Angeloni, National Sales Director at Bank of America, to discuss the current state of dental lending. They break down startup loan amounts, what banks evaluate when approving funding, and why quality acquisition opportunities are becoming harder to find. The conversation also explores how production history, cash flow, and debt ratios influence a dentist’s ability to open their first, second, or even multiple practices.

Dentists talk about overhead, EBITDA, and take-home pay all the time—but most aren’t actually calculating them the same way. In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune breaks down what these numbers really mean, how to calculate them correctly, and the benchmarks healthy practices should aim for. He explains the difference between true overhead and discretionary spending, how EBITDA should be calculated after doctor compensation, and why many dentists with 60–65% overhead are unknowingly losing hundreds of thousands in potential income each year.

What would happen if you treated your practice like you just bought it? In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune breaks down a practical 90-day strategy to rapidly grow collections and profitability. He explains the key drivers of new patient flow, diagnosis, case acceptance, fees, and expenses and the specific actions that can quickly move the needle, from improving marketing and phone systems to implementing AI diagnostics, simplifying treatment plans, optimizing insurance fees, and tightening major expense categories like supplies, labs, and staffing.

Is buying a dental practice really the safer move, or has the equation changed? In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune revisits the buy versus startup debate and explains why his thinking has shifted in today’s market. He defines what a modern well executed startup actually looks like, including lower build costs, smart lease negotiations, optimized footprints, advanced cloud based systems, AI integration, ideal equipment selection, and a fully designed patient experience. He then contrasts that with the realities of acquisitions, from compromised locations and outdated systems to cultural resistance, upgrade costs, and limited lo...

Should your next move be a startup, an acquisition, or even a merger? In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Dr. Scott Leune explains why repeating the same growth strategy over and over can stall momentum and how a blended approach creates smarter expansion, easier funding, healthier cash flow, and stronger long term equity. He breaks down how bank underwriting changes after your first location, why stacking too many startups can strain your organization, how acquisitions can deliver immediate profit improvement, and how mergers and larger group structures increase overall valuation through EBITDA multiple expansion. If your goal...

Most dental startups struggle not because of location or marketing, but because the weeks leading up to opening are rushed, unstructured, and poorly planned. In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune breaks down exactly how to open a startup practice cleanly and confidently by focusing on hiring the right team, training with intention, building systems before day one, and choreographing the patient experience from the first phone call to payment. This conversation outlines the operational decisions that separate organized, profitable startups from those that open stressed, reactive, and behind from the start.

Legacy dental IT systems were built for a different era—and continuing to rely on them is becoming more expensive, more disruptive, and more limiting every year. In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune breaks down why server-based setups, patchwork software integrations, and outdated infrastructure are no longer sustainable in modern dentistry. The conversation explores how cloud-based platforms, integrated imaging, automation, and AI-ready systems are reshaping clinical workflows, reducing IT costs, and improving both patient and staff experience. From startups and new builds to existing practices and multi-location groups, this episode explains when it is time to...

Dental imaging was never designed for today’s reality of AI, multi-location practices, cloud workflows, virtual teams, and data-driven decision-making—and it’s starting to show. In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune sits down with Dustin Johnson, Co-Founder and CTO of SOTA Cloud, to explain why server-based, siloed imaging systems are quietly costing practices time, money, and growth, while limiting access to the very data modern dentistry depends on. They unpack how cloud-based imaging transforms referrals, case acceptance, data security, staff accountability, and scalability, why startups must get this right from day one, and why establ...

Rising construction costs have made dental office design one of the biggest financial risk factors in a startup. In this episode of The Dental CEO Podcast, Scott Leune sits down with Chris Raba, owner of Lean Dental Design, to explain how poor space planning, bloated layouts, and inefficient design decisions quietly drive up construction costs and leave dentists over budget before they ever open. They break down why usable square footage matters more than total size, how small design choices can create massive cost swings, and why detailed planning and value engineering are now essential in today’s construction cl...