By: Dr. Vivek Solanki
In today’s dynamic dental landscape, continuous learning and skill development are essential for group practices. Clinical coaching has emerged as a powerful tool to bridge the gap between technical expertise and practice success. By focusing on clarity, confidence, and results, clinical coaching helps dentists refine their treatment planning, enhance patient interactions, and ultimately deliver superior care that drives practice growth.
Why Clinical Coaching Matters
Clinicians are the lifeblood of any practice. If they are experiencing challenges, no matter how smoothly the rest of the practice operates, it will be impossible to realize success. To fully optimize any practice, leaders should look at challenges specific to their clinical teams and address them for sustainable success and growth. Based on my experience working with a variety of practices, here are the most common challenges that most often hold back clinical leaders and teams from realizing success and how to approach resolving them.
Clinical clarity: Many clinicians struggle with treatment planning and patient communication, which are essential aspects of effective dental or medical care. A well-trained doctor should be able to assess radiographs and clinical charts efficiently, allowing for accurate diagnoses and informed decision-making. Additionally, they must develop multiple treatment options that align with both the patient’s needs and financial considerations, ensuring accessible and personalized care. Equally important is the ability to communicate these options clearly to the patient, empowering them with the necessary information to make well-informed decisions about their treatment.
Confident clinical leadership: Confidence is built through experience, mentorship, and hands-on training. Structured mentorship is a key contributor of confidence-building, which involves younger doctors receiving guidance on complex cases, allowing them to navigate challenging situations with expert support. Through treatment simulations and drills, they can refine their approach and enhance precision and decision-making skills. Additionally, structured mentorship helps them develop mastery over essential procedures such as surgical extractions, implant placements, and full arch rehabilitation, ultimately fostering competence and self-assurance in their practice.
Driving results: The ultimate goal of clinical coaching is to produce high-quality patient outcomes and business growth. This is not about increasing revenue through unnecessary procedures but ensuring that patients receive the best possible care. By developing well-rounded clinicians who can confidently execute treatment plans, practices naturally experience higher case acceptance rates and improved patient satisfaction.
The Pathway for Doctor Development
Not all dentists are at the same skill level, and Polaris’ clinical coaching approach provides tailored mentorship at different stages of professional growth. While clinics often see a mix of needs in our work together, here are a few common challenges I see based on years of experience:
Level 1 (New Grads & Early Career Dentists):
- Mastery of treatment planning, diagnostics, and basic surgical procedures.
- Improved patient communication and case acceptance skills.
- Hands-on experience with crown lengthening, surgical extractions, and single implants.
Level 2 (Intermediate Practitioners):
- Expansion into understanding terminal dentition and rehabilitations, overdenture cases, complex surgical procedures including multiple implants with restorations.
- Integration of advanced implant dentistry and perio-restorative solutions.
- Increased confidence in handling multi-disciplinary cases.
Level 3 (Advanced Practitioners/Group Practice):
- Implementation of a multi-specialty model that includes in-house specialists.
- Full arch all on x with a multi-specialty approach for same day teeth, full arch restorations.
- Leadership development to mentor and train junior colleagues.
The Future of Clinical Coaching in Group Practices
Clinical coaching provides a structured yet flexible pathway for doctors to grow within group practice environments. As group practices continue to evolve, the need for strong clinical leadership will only increase as a key ingredient for success.
If you’re interested in learning more about Polaris Clinical Coaching and how it can transform your practice, reach out to me directly at .
