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783: How to Niche Your Practice to Increase Your Production and Get More Time Off – Dr. Haissam Dahan

If you're a general dentist, you do a little bit of everything. But there's a way to reduce competition, attract your ideal patients, and work less without doing it all. Having a niche is the best way to grow your practice, and today’s guest shares how to do it. Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Haissam Dahan, founder of The Dahan Center, to share his journey in becoming more profitable with TMD and sleep and how you can do the same by finding your niche. To learn the advantages of niching and how to get started, listen to Episode 783 of The Best Practices Show!

Learn More About Dr. Dahan:

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Episode Resources:

Main Takeaways:

  • Offer something the thousand other dentists in your area don't have.
  • Niching means not doing treatment you don't like. You can refer out.
  • More patients are interested in TMD and sleep. Get in on it early.
  • Create an assistant-driven practice. You can't do it all alone.
  • Marketing becomes easier when you niche your practice.
  • TMD and sleep aren't as hard as you think it is.

Quotes:

“At one time, I had three clinics at the same time. I was working evenings and weekends, six days a week, trying to keep all three things going at the same time. Then, I was burned out, to be honest. I realized that there's more out there. I had figured things out correctly, so I decided to scale back. I'm like, ‘This is not working.’ I had two sons, and not enough time at home. Literally, two weeks of vacation — barely, at that. So, I decided to pivot and niche into the one thing I knew I was really good at or that I could really position myself in as an expert, which was TMJ and sleep. And I guess the rest is history. I sold the other two practices to my partner, and I've been just doing TMJ and sleep, and I haven't looked back.” (4:12—5:17) -Dr. Dahan

“Most people have a misconception, and maybe rightfully so, that dealing with TMJ or pain patients is going to be a nightmare. It's going to be very difficult, and you're never going to be able to help them, and it's going to be draining. Certainly, I experienced that at the beginning of my career. But I learned over time what not to do. I was at a crossroad at one time during that burnout stage. I'm like, ‘I could give this up and just do general dentistry, and that's it. Or I could create the clinic that I want to create, see the patients that I want to see, do treatments I want, and then go for that.’ So, those fears were there, but I didn't let it take over. I'm like, ‘Put that aside. What do you want? If you could create a clinic of your dreams, how would that look? Well, then let's do that and forget everything else.’ I think that's what scares others, and that's what scared me. Also, you don't hear of other TMJ or sleep apnea clinics doing the numbers that I do now. So, I never thought of that model. I didn't have other doctors that did these types of numbers, or had that time off, or enjoy their days. So, I had to create that on my own. But I'm very blessed to be able to have done that.” (6:38—8:20) -Dr. Dahan

“Just last year, we were able to build $4 million in the practice just doing TMJ, sleep, and Botox — those three things. And I'm the only provider there. I'm the only dentist in the practice, and we're able to do that. But what I'm most proud of is that I work three days a week. I work Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and the clinic has been able to produce those numbers. I get 12 weeks off in a year. Every month, either we have a week off or two weeks off. We've been getting more time off — not just with me, but for my team. I'm actually very, very committed to a better work life for my team, so each team member gets six weeks off, paid. Within those 12 weeks, half of them are off, and then half are doing admin. They all get six weeks off in a year. So, obviously, I have a very happy team.” (9:03—10:10) -Dr. Dahan

“For one dentist to be able to produce that much dentistry, it can't be all in my hands. So, it's really an assistant-driven practice. I delegate as much as I can to my team. I train them, I believe in what they have to offer, and promote their independence.” (10:24—10:52) -Dr. Dahan

“I don't have any hygiene. My practice is, at this point, mainly referral based. A lot of dentists in my city refer to me. I refer all my patients back to them. So, we don't do any hygiene. We don't keep the patients there. No restorative dentistry. It's strictly just TMJ treatments and sleep. So, my team is very well-trained. I work in three rooms but, essentially, I'm just going in and overseeing what's happening. My assistants summarize the follow-up appointments. I have a treatment coordinator that does most of the intake questions and presents the case to me. She already presents the treatment. She knows what types of treatments I'll be suggesting and gets the patient to accept treatment even before I enter the room. So, it's really an assistant-driven practice with lots of systems in place. My whole team knows exactly what needs to be done.” (10:57—12:10) -Dr. Dahan

“What most dentists don't realize, especially if they're interested in doing TMD or sleep, is that most dentists don't want to do that. So, if you get training and you have a passion, or at least an interest in it, you don't have to market much. It's not like you are fighting the other hundred or thousand dentists in your town for implants or for cosmetic cases. It's actually quite a low-hanging fruit. You just need to get the confidence and know-how to treat it well. And it's easy. So, why I'm here is to tell people, if someone is interested, success is waiting. Those numbers, the time off, the production, is there — you just have to go and get it.” (13:14—14:11) -Dr. Dahan

“At the very beginning, I was literally going to dental clinics and giving out brochures and referral packs. I thought no one would want to refer to me [for TMD and sleep]. But I was shocked to realize that most dentists find it very tricky. They don't understand it and they're scared of it, so they'd rather refer it out. So, the marketing strategy — go meet doctors. Meet dentists. It's not just dentists — ENTs will refer to me, sleep physicians refer to me, neurologists refer to me, chiros, physios. So, we can offer something that helps other doctors. Probably after a couple of years, I realized they're not doing me a favor. In fact, I'm doing them a favor because they have these patients that they don't know how to treat. They're stumped, and they want help. So, then you go in with a sense of confidence and of service.” (14:13—15:21) -Dr. Dahan

“The industry and the field itself is going to increase. So, a smart dentist will be at the forefront of that, learn the skills, offer that very early on, and be that person in their town, in their city, wherever they're at, because most dentists still aren't doing this. And if you're already in the game a year, or two, or three, or five before anyone else, while you dominate the market — and that's what I ended up doing a couple of years ago. There are other dentists that came after me. But my name now is well-known in the community, and I am known for giving excellent treatment and excellent service. So, it's hard for a dentist that refers to me to go elsewhere. The same thing with your audience. If they start early, they'll be ahead of the game — and this game is only going to get bigger and bigger.” (20:34—21:37) -Dr. Dahan

“What can I do that will give me the most bang for my buck? What can I do that will make me an expert? Why would I want to be a dentist similar to the thousand others in my city and try to compete through social media? How about I compete with only three other people that are doing this, and then put my marketing into just being better than those three people? That's what I did. So, niching is actually, if you do this early and you go all-in, it's not that difficult. And the rewards are endless. We've increased our production year by year, believe it or not — $1 million every year — just by introducing something else.” (23:55—24:48) -Dr. Dahan

“Most dentists think, ‘Oh, I wouldn't touch TMJ. I wouldn't do that. It's so complicated.’ But, as I joked with you before we started, my treatment coordinator, one of my assistants, bosses me around. She knows what I'm going to suggest to the patient before I do. She goes and discusses the treatment plan with them, and they already said yes even before I come in the room. She's like, ‘Okay, I told them this, this, and this. Go. And don't screw it up.’ Basically, it's so easy that my assistant can do it. So, imagine if a dentist put in those hours to learn and figure out how to do this. It's a dream come true, and I'd love for others to do that. So, people shouldn't be scared.” (26:12—27:05) -Dr. Dahan

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

0:46 Dr. Dahan’s background.

2:57 Downsizing from three practices to one.

6:29 Misconceptions about TMJ and pain patients.

8:45 Having 12 weeks off and working three days a week.

10:13 Dr. Dahan’s practice model, explained.

12:53 Being referral-based.

16:11 Canadian billing and insurance, explained.

20:13 The future of TMJ and sleep.

23:19 What dentists get wrong about niching.

25:22 Final thoughts.

27:58 How to get in touch with Dr. Dahan.

Dr. Haissam Dahan Bio:

Dr. Haissam Dahan is a distinguished figure in the field of dentistry, offering a wealth of expertise in Temporomandibular Disorders (TMJ) and Dental Sleep Medicine. With a career spanning over two decades, Dr. Dahan’s journey in dentistry commenced at McGill University, where he earned his dental degree in 2005. He continued to excel academically, obtaining a master’s in dental education from McGill University in 2009 and reaching the pinnacle of academic achievement with a PhD in Dental Sciences in 2014, with a focus on Temporomandibular Disorders.
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