The Dentalpreneur Podcast w/ Dr. Mark Costes 2298: Fixing the Divide Between Hygienists and Dentists
Jul 25, 2025
Wendy Briggs, a Registered Dental Hygienist and co-founder of The Team Training Institute, shares her expertise on addressing the rift between hygienists and dentists. She discusses the hygiene crisis impacting dental practices, driven by wage expectations and cultural misunderstandings. Wendy offers strategies to enhance hygiene department productivity and elevate patient care standards. With insights into preventive and periodontal therapy, she emphasizes the importance of collaboration and a revamped definition of hygiene roles in modern practices.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Widening Dentist-Hygienist Divide
- The divide between dentists and hygienists is at its widest due to wage pressures and misaligned expectations.
- The most successful practices are those with high-functioning hygiene teams operating at the top of their license.
Maximize Hygienist Roles
- Maximize hygienists' roles as preventive therapists, periodontal therapists, and patient treatment advocates.
- Use personalized risk assessments to recommend preventive therapies, enhancing patient buy-in and care.
Unlimited Earning Potential For Hygienists
- Challenge hygienists to build unlimited earning potential rather than settling for fixed hourly wages.
- Shift mindset from hourly employee to producer with production-based compensation models.
