dental SOPs
The Teenager Who Drove Himself
A seventeen-year-old with a license walks up to the counter by himself. May he be seen today, and who gets told what afterward? The first answer belongs to your state. The second is a federal rule most front desks guess wrong. Both belong on one page the doctor writes before he arrives.
October 12, 2026 · 7 min read
What the Front Desk Is Allowed to Answer
"Am I allowed to tell him that?" Most practices answer with "use your judgment," which is not an answer. The line between what the treatment coordinator can say and what goes back to the doctor already exists, drawn by the state practice act and the ADA's own consent guidance. Here is where it sits, and how to write it down in three lists.
September 7, 2026 · 7 min read
The Handoff Nobody Documents: From the Chair to the Front Desk
Every practice runs the same twenty feet dozens of times a week. The doctor finishes, the patient walks up front, and a different person takes over the conversation. Almost nobody has written down what is supposed to cross with them. The ADA has, and the word it uses for the person at that desk is worth reading twice.
August 31, 2026 · 7 min read
What Your New Front Desk Hire Cannot Even Ask About
The workarounds and exceptions and small decisions that never became procedure are the hardest part of a dental practice for a new hire to learn, because they cannot ask about what they do not know exists.
August 24, 2026 · 7 min read
What to Do When the Person Who Knows Everything Leaves
The list of everything only one person knows gets long fast, and almost none of it is written down. Some of it, though, is already required to be on paper. Start there, then work outward to the payer specifics, the workarounds, and the reasons behind the rules.
August 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Writing SOPs Your Dental Team Will Actually Use
Most practices are told they need SOPs and handed a template. The template is not the problem. Your office already writes and maintains required written procedures and keeps them current, which means the capability is there. What the operational procedures are missing is an owner, a review rhythm, and a place people can reach during a busy morning.
August 3, 2026 · 6 min read
Cross-Training Without Burning Out Your Office Manager
Cross-training is the most-talked-about operational fix in dentistry — and the most quietly failed one. Here's how to roll it out without burning out the office manager you're trying to protect.
June 22, 2026 · 6 min read
Why Dental Front Desk Training Keeps Breaking Down (and How to Fix It)
"Sit with Kathy for two weeks" isn't a training plan — it's a bottleneck. Why front desk training falls apart in dental offices, and four habits that make onboarding repeatable even through turnover.
June 10, 2026 · 6 min read