Who moved my cheese—in my dental practice?
Inspired by Spencer Johnson’s business classic —reimagined for today’s dental practice owners
Your clinical skills didn’t shrink your schedule.
Your patients didn’t disappear because of the economy.
They followed someone willing to adapt while you clung to what used to work.
Let me rip the Band-Aid off. This isn’t going to be a comfortable read. Because this mistake—the refusal to take full, unflinching responsibility—is the silent killer of most dental practices. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t scream. But it’s there, slowly draining your momentum, your morale, your margins.
Let me tell you about a man standing in front of a mirror.
There’s a man named David Goggins. You may have heard of him. Navy SEAL. Ultra-endurance athlete. Toughest man alive, depending on who you ask.
At 297 pounds, he was a walking contradiction: a man who wanted more from life…but wasn’t doing a damn thing to get it. He was scrubbing grease off kitchen floors at 2 a.m., killing cockroaches for a living, angry at the world, blaming his abusive childhood, his surroundings, his body, his lack of opportunity.
Until one night… something snapped. He looked in the mirror, and for the first time, really saw himself. And what stared back wasn’t just a man out of shape. It was a man full of excuses.
Read related article: Are you the Netflix of dentistry—or the next Blockbuster?
That’s when he asked the now-famous question: “Who’s going to carry the boats?”
The answer? Nobody. No one was coming. No one was going to save him.
If his life was going to change, he had to change it. No excuses. No blame. Just 100% radical, personal responsibility.
And he did. He lost over 106 pounds in 3 months. He became a Navy SEAL. He ran 100+ mile ultramarathons. Wrote a bestselling book. He became one of the most mentally tough humans alive.
But the turning point wasn’t perfect morning routine or a motivational journal. It was that one moment in the mirror—where he stopped being a victim and started owning everything. Not because he found the perfect morning routine or bought a motivational journal. But because he got honest—with himself—and took 100% responsibility.
Now, let’s bring it back to you.
Let’s talk about dentists
You might wear a white coat and have a dozen letters after your name. But let’s not pretend dentists don’t make excuses like the rest of the world.
You’ve probably heard or said things like:
- “We just can’t find good staff anymore.”
- “My hygienist keeps running late.”
- “Patients only want what insurance covers.”
- “My associate isn’t committed and doesn’t think like an owner.”
- “We’re swamped with emergencies; I don’t have time for systems.”
- “We tried that training before—it didn’t work.”
- “My area is saturated. Too many dentists. It’s different here.”
Sounds logical, right? But it’s not logic. It’s a permission slip to stay stuck.
Because here’s the truth most dentists don’t want to hear: If you’re still blaming, you’re still bleeding. And every time you point a finger outward, your practice suffers inward. One slow, silent leak at a time.
Here’s what radical responsibility looks like inside a dental practice
Let’s stop sugarcoating and start calling things what they are.
- Schedule full of holes? Don’t blame the front desk. Track reappointment and reactivations. Monitor call conversion. Rework your scripting. OWN IT.
- Low treatment acceptance? Don’t whine about “price shoppers.” Learn how to present value. Follow up. Rehearse your pitch. OWN IT.
- Team underperforming? You hired them. You trained them. Or worse—you didn’t. OWN IT.
- You’re burned out? You built a machine that only runs when you’re in the chair. OWN THAT TOO.
Still with me? Let me tell you about a dentist I worked with. He was stuck at $700K/year in collections. Working five days a week. Drowning in cancellations and low-case acceptance. He said the same thing many dentists say: “People around here just don’t value dentistry.”
But we looked closer. He had no follow-up system. No payment flexibility. His team didn’t prep patients before case presentations. He never tracked acceptance. He never trained his staff.
The problem wasn’t his patients. The problem was him. And to his credit, he took it on the chin. He said: “You’re right. This is my fault. I’ve been the bottleneck.”
From that moment on, everything changed. He put in systems. Trained his team. Elevated his presentation. Tightened scheduling. Eighteen months later? He hit $1.5M in collections. Took Fridays off. Confidence back. Practice humming.
Because he did the one thing most dentists won’t: He took 100% responsibility for the results inside his four walls.
Why most dentists never escape this trap
Dentistry breeds isolation. You don’t have a boss breathing down your neck. You don’t have shareholders pushing for quarterly growth. You have the illusion of control… but no one holding your feet to the fire.
So, what happens? You lower your standards. You tolerate excuses. You let missed opportunities slide. You lie to yourself: “It’s just a rough month.” “My staff isn’t motivated.” “It’s not me—it’s the economy.”
Sound familiar? Over time, these excuses compound into something far more dangerous: learned helplessness. You stop believing change is possible. You stop investing in solutions. You stop expecting growth. You settle.
Until one day you look around, and you’re 20 years into ownership, still working 4–5 days a week, no exit plan, no passive income, no real freedom. And worse? Deep down, you know… it didn’t have to be this way.
This is the line in the sand
No sugar-coating. No safe space. No blame game. If your practice isn’t where you want it to be—you are the reason. Not your location. Not your staff. Not your patients. Not your marketing company.
You.
And that’s not a dig. That’s power. Because the moment you take ownership is the moment you get your power back. You can change what you control. And if you control everything? You can change everything.
Bottom line
This isn’t motivational fluff. It’s the foundation of leadership. Radical responsibility is what separates dentists who struggle from dentists who scale. So go look in the mirror today. Ask yourself the question Goggins did.
“Who’s going to carry this practice?”
The answer better be: “Me.” That’s when it all starts to change.
But there’s another trap—just as dangerous, and far more deceptive. Because once you stop taking full responsibility… you don’t just stall. You start shrinking. You avoid the hard calls. You play it safe. And playing it safe? That’s the next silent killer.
About the author
Dr. Galia Anderson graduated from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Dentistry and built a successful private practice in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she served patients for 15 years. Today, as the founder of Dental Business Experts, Dr. Anderson is committed to empowering dentists to achieve substantial growth in their practices. Schedule a no-obligation strategy call with Dr. Anderson to get started: www.yourdbexperts.com/call
