Looking at bonuses and benefits, and my piece of advice to Louisiana dental assistants

    April 19, 2011
    Dental Assisting Digest™ Editor Kevin Henry talks about the latest bonus and benefits survey, as well as offers some advice to dental assistants as he travels the country.

    By Kevin Henry
    Editor, Dental Assisting Digest™

    It’s been a great month for me as I’ve had and will have the chance to speak to many dental assistants around the country. From April 14-16, I spoke on “Battling and beating the demons of dental assisting,” in New Orleans at the Louisiana Dental Association meeting. A big thank you to the Louisiana Dental Assistants Association for the invitation and the hospitality!

    While I was in New Orleans, I had the chance to hear from many dental assistants about what was going on in their practices. Many of them were happy, and I could see the passion they had for their jobs. In our last installment of the best and worst places in the United States to be a dental assistant (click here to read the article), Louisiana ranked 48th in the country. But that’s certainly not what I saw from my new friends in the Big Easy.

    My biggest piece of advice I shared with them (and I will share with you as well) is to network with other dental assistants in your area. Find someone outside your office ... someone you can talk to and discuss the good and bad things happening in your practice. I think you’ll be amazed with the problem-solving skills that can be unleashed when two or three dental assistants get together to talk. Give it a try.

    Later this week, I fly to Boston to speak to the New England Dental Administrative Team study club. We’ll be celebrating Earth Day a little late as I’ll be speaking on “Going green in the dental office,” so if you’re in New England and would like to attend the lecture, drop an email to my friend Michelle Kratt at [email protected]. I hope to see you there!

    Speaking of networking and learning ...

    Levin Group has launched its Tip of the Day, a free practice-management educational tool for dentists, specialists, and the entire team to improve and grow the practice. These daily tips will educate, motivate, and inspire you to bring ideas to the table, open a dialogue with the doctor and coworkers, and reenergize the practice. A wide range of practice-management topics are covered in the Tip of the Day including scheduling, case presentation, marketing, leadership, team-building, overhead, collections, production, and profitability.

    This new resource is easy to get. Sign up to receive the Levin Group Tip of the Day by clicking here.

    I hope you’ll take every advantage to network and learn. As I’ve said many times, my hope is that dental assistants don’t just look at what they do as a job, but rather as a career and a passion for helping people. Take the next step down that path and soak up every learning opportunity you can.

    It’s survey time!

    It’s now time to update the Dental Assisting Digest™ bonus and benefits survey, so would you please take a few moments and give me your opinions? I would really appreciate it. Click here to take the survey.

    Want to see the results from last year? Click here to view them.

    Read on, this is your e-newsletter ...