Dental Unfiltered Episode 154- The Power of the Front Desk w/ Laura Nelson
Dec 30, 2025
Laura Nelson, founder of Front Office Rocks and a phone-skills coach in dentistry, emphasizes the importance of the front desk in a dental practice's success. She discusses common pitfalls like poor call management and the need for non-dental hires with strong customer service skills. The conversation highlights using AI to improve patient engagement without losing the human touch, alongside a preview of her upcoming 12-week phone skills training to enhance patient interactions and operational efficiency.
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Episode notes
From Practice Videos To Training Platform
- Laura Nelson started Front Office Rocks by recording real front-desk procedures from her own practice at night.
- She turned those videos into a subscription site so other practices could learn practical phone and front-office skills.
Measure Phones And Train Before Hiring
- Monitor phone data (call volume, missed calls, peak times) because you can't fix what you don't measure.
- Do not put new hires on phones without structured training; train to your office's way even if they have dental experience.
AI Clears The Phone-Call Fog
- AI call summaries and sentiment analysis clear the 'fog' about what happens on calls and enable quality control.
- That clarity lets you diagnose no-shows, cancellations, and ineffective reactivation or confirmation calls.