The Thriving Dentist Show

Episoder

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  Should You Run Google Ads? When Paid Search Beats Waiting on SEO 16.09.2026 37min

  Should you run Google Ads for your dental practice? Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah settle paid search vs organic SEO: why ad patients cost 5 to 10 times more, the four cases where Google Ads make sense, the 15% cap on ad management fees, and the five ways dentists waste ad budget. Book a free marketing strategy meeting at ekwa.com/td or a free coaching session with Gary at thrivingdentist.com/csm.
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  Work-Life Balance vs. Work-Life Integration 09.09.2026 38min

  Two thirds of dentists in the largest private dental Facebook group said they would not advise their own son or daughter to become a dentist. Gary Takacs reads that as a work-life balance problem and argues balance may be the wrong goal. Gary and Naren Arulrajah separate work-life balance from work-life integration: a practice you enjoy so much you have no reason to escape it. They work through Dan Sullivan's three-year question, and Gary makes the case that three clinical days can produce what four produces now. Plus Dr. Kristin Yont's 30-second chairside reset and Naren's marketing tip on Google reviews and call conversion. Marketing Strategy Meeting: https://ekwa.com/td Coaching Strategy Meeting with Gary: https://thrivingdentist.com/csm
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  5 Specific Scheduling Recommendations for a Thriving Practice! 02.09.2026 42min

  Dental practice scheduling is the difference between a $2,000 day and a $7,000 day in the same eight hours. One solo dentist saw 41 patients and finished feeling like he'd been run over by a Mack truck. Gary Takacs gives five specific scheduling recommendations - a defined daily production goal, a dedicated scheduling coordinator, rock production blocks, new patient blocks, and protected time to fill the schedule - then walks through the two-column template hour by hour. Naren Arulrajah opens with the three-marketing metrics every dentist should check monthly.
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  Dental IT, Cybersecurity & HIPAA Essentials with Dr. Lorne Lavine 26.08.2026 51min

  Dental practice cybersecurity is a patient-retention problem, not an IT problem. Health and Human Services counts a ransomware infection as a reportable breach, and Dr. Lorne Lavine has watched practices lose a quarter of their patients after mailing that notification letter. He and Naren cover why an out-of-date operating system is a HIPAA violation by definition, why patient information can never go into ChatGPT, and what AI search is doing to how patients choose a dentist. Dr. Lavine is offering listeners a complimentary security audit, no cost and no obligation: https://thedigitaldentist.com/call See how your practice shows up in AI search — book a Complimentary Marketing Strategy Meeting (Gift for our listeners) : https://ekwa.com/td Gary is taking new coaching clients (Reserve Your Free call): https://thrivingdentist.com/csm
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  Startup vs Acquisition, Which Path Actually Wins? 19.08.2026 41min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah on the startup vs acquisition decision that shapes a dental career. The three situations where a startup actually makes sense, and why most dentists do not qualify for any of them. A real coaching client who was collecting $700,000 on $1 million in production, replaced $300,000 in annual PPO write-offs with $15,000 in Ekwa SEO marketing, and grew collections to $1 million in year one. The 35-year client story on why you connect with patients before you renovate. The financial comparison: organic SEO at $60 per patient versus paid ads at $300 to $400. Plus Dr. Darryl Burke on the three essential CBCT views for every implant case.
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  The Strategic Planning Episode 12.08.2026 48min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah on the one question that separates thriving dental practices from stuck ones: if your practice was as good as it could be, what would that look like? Three real coaching case studies — Invisalign starts from 3 to 29, solo to two-doctor, PPO-heavy to fully out of network by June 30th. The 68% statistic. The office manager hallway story. Why PPO plans are 30 times more expensive than SEO. Naren on turning every Google review into a multi-channel marketing asset.
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  Is Your Marketing Actually Working? The Few Numbers Every Owner Should Watch 05.08.2026 42min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah on the five marketing numbers every dental practice should track and most do not. The two-chasms model. The conversion grading scale: A is 70%, national average is 33%, failing is below 50%. A coaching client who went from 12 to 38 new patients per month with zero extra marketing spend after their team's first real phone training. Plus, the bonus problems: missed calls, stale reviews, broken booking links. Dr. Greg Toback on the iPhone Send Later feature that changed how he leads.
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  How to Make Your Hygiene Exams as Effective as Possible! 29.07.2026 45min

  In 2025, 60% of all high-value cases across Gary Takacs's coaching client base came directly out of the hygiene exam. This episode covers the full system: intraoral camera protocol, verbal pass-off, the personal detail that makes patients feel remembered, AI-powered patient note preparation, and how to balance efficiency with genuine connection. Plus, Naren on the 40% of the population actively searching for a new dentist, what makes Google reviews produce patient acquisition, and how paragraph reviews written in the patient's own voice outperform any paid ad. Dr. Darryl Burke on ridge preservation and socket grafting decisions.
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  How to Become THE Practice for the Dentistry You Love 22.07.2026 46min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah on the one strategic move that separates the happiest dental practices from the rest: the signature service. How to choose it by following your heart rather than market data, build it through lab-fee cases and the right ambassador patient, schedule around it with a dedicated template, and market it through consistent organic search presence, landing pages, before and after photos, and paragraph reviews. A coaching client went from 3 Invisalign starts per year to 1 per week after making it his signature service. Plus, Naren on why organic SEO at $60 a phone call produces 6x more trust than a Google ad at $400. Worth a listen!
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  5 Specific Steps to Take Before You Resign from a Single PPO Plan 15.07.2026 46min

  Gary Takacs has coached dental practices in all 50 states through PPO resignation - and has seen what happens when it is done without preparation. One practice lost half its revenue. This episode is the checklist that prevents that. Five specific steps in sequence: know your numbers, assess your relationality, train every team member, find out the hygiene copayment plan by plan, and get your marketing producing results before the first resignation letter goes out. Plus Dr. Ekta Pandya on air abrasion and a 40% bond strength boost, and Naren on the review and phone conversion standards a practice needs before dropping any plan.
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  How to Build a Practice Growth Plan That Actually Works All Year 08.07.2026 42min

  Most dental practice growth plans fail by January 10th. Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah explain exactly why, and exactly what to do about it. Four specific rocks, individual champions, a three-meeting cadence, and the team incentive that took one practice from two Google reviews a month to twenty-six. Plus, Naren on AI search for dental practices, the five benchmarks that define a real patient acquisition engine, and cost-per-lead tracking that shows which channels to scale and which to drop. A mid-year reset episode with real time left in 2026 to act on it.
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  The Role of your Admin Team in a Thriving Practice 01.07.2026 49min

  Most dental marketing advice focuses on getting the phone to ring. This episode covers what happens next. Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah break down the admin team traits that drive dental practice growth, the hiring mistakes that quietly cost practices new patients, and the systems behind one practice's jump from 25% to 76% phone conversion, more than tripling new patient acquisition from the same marketing spend. A practical episode on dental practice management, hiring, and turning marketing investment into real results. Plus, a clinical tip from Dr. Jared Williams on protecting the nerve during wisdom tooth extraction.
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  Increasing Treatment Acceptance! 24.06.2026 53min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah on the most requested topic from Thriving Dentist listeners: how to increase treatment acceptance. Three benchmarks, four common mistakes, the family member technique, Dr. Frank Spear's six photos, the hygienist script, the consultation room argument, the 60/40 split for high-value dentistry, and the stat that stops every practice owner: less than 6% of insurance patients ever accepted non-urgent treatment.
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  Find the Marketing Gap That Will Increase Your New Patient Flow — A 30-Minute Dental Competitor Audit 17.06.2026 45min

  Want to know how your dental practice really stacks up against your local competition? Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah walk you through a 30-minute dental competitor audit you can run yourself, covering keyword rankings, Google reviews, local SEO, and service landing pages, so you can find the gaps that are costing you new patients. Plus Dr. Jeff Buske on why patients say no to how treatment is presented, not the treatment itself. Get your free Audit Report at ekwa.com/td
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  How to Make Every Year Your New Best Year! 10.06.2026 50min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah reveal how to make every year your new best year, from the four reasons growth matters to the exact strategies that take a plateaued practice to record production. You will also hear why 2026 is the year to master local search and what an appropriate marketing budget really looks like.
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  How to Serve Patients Who Put Off a Visit to the Dentist Because of Fear 03.06.2026 50min

  42% of Americans put off the dentist indefinitely because of fear and most of them are already in your market. In this episode, Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah unpack one of dentistry's biggest untapped opportunities: the anxious patient. They cover why fearful patients stay silent, the psychology of control and the simple "stop signal" that puts patients at ease, sedation options worth knowing, and the SEO and landing page strategy for reaching patients who search "afraid of going to the dentist." Plus, a live discovery - men are far more likely to avoid the dentist than women, an underserved segment hiding in plain sight. Want to know how many anxious patients you're missing and where your practice is leaving growth on the table? Book a free 30-minute Practice Growth Assessment with an Ekwa dental marketing advisor. You'll get a review of your new patient acquisition, an audit of your top 3 growth bottlenecks, and a simple action plan to keep. No pitch, no pressure. Book yours at ekwa.com/td
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  Important Details to Consider when Adding an Associate Dentist 27.05.2026 59min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah on the complete guide to hiring an associate dentist: why the DDS is not a hiring filter, the 54% indifference statistic, Gary's four-area screening framework, the #1 mistake practices make, compensation on adjusted production, and the mentoring rhythm that determines long-term success. Plus, Naren's AI search marketing segment.
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  An Effective System to Respond to After Hours Inquiries from Potential New Patients and for New Patient Calls that go to Voice Mail 20.05.2026 40min

  Most dental practices lose new patients the moment a call goes unanswered - and most don't know it's happening. In this episode of The Thriving Dentist Show, Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah break down the after-hours and missed-call response system every dental practice needs in 2026. Inside: why 95% of new patients won't leave a voicemail, the 60-second response standard, when Book Now buttons help (and when they kill new patient numbers), and the simple audit every practice should run on its own phone system. Plus the wake-up call: a $15M multi-location practice that was missing 1,400 calls a month with no idea it was happening. Bonus guest segment from Dr. Jeff Buske on the work-to-home transition no one in dentistry talks about. Want to find out how many calls YOUR practice is missing? Book a free Marketing Strategy Meeting with Ekwa - we'll pull your actual call data: ekwa.com/td Want help building the after-hours response protocol? Book a free Coaching Strategy Meeting with Gary Takacs: thrivingdentist.com/csm
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  How to Determine an Appropriate Fee Schedule 13.05.2026 45min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah dig into why dentists underprice their work, how the UCR percentile system sets fee ceilings in your zip code, what insurance companies actually pay (and where they downgrade), and why only 0.24% of dentists — 1 in 400 have fees set at the 80th percentile of their market. You'll also learn the annual fee-increase rhythm Gary recommends, how to handle the patient conversation without ever "announcing" a fee increase, and when value pricing works in a dental practice. Essential listening for any practice owner reviewing their dental fee schedule in 2026.
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  Dos and Don'ts in the World of AI Search and Zero-Click Search 06.05.2026 47min

  Gary Takacs and Naren Arulrajah on how to stay visible and trusted in the new AI search era. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Bing AI are already recommending dental practices and the signals they use are different from traditional SEO. This episode tells you exactly what to fix, what to build, and how to get your AI report card.