Hello, my name is Jennifer Pearce.
My 22-year journey in dentistry began rather unexpectedly as an Office Manager. I was managing Christian Dior skincare for Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus when my best friend married a dentist and began to work in his office part-time. After several months, her new husband asked me to come run his office to save his marriage! I knew nothing of dentistry and didn’t want to ruin our friendship. But he begged, and I caved – and started the best career for me ever.
Jennifer and her son, Cole
About that time, I had my first and only child. My passion for dentistry and for being a mother grew together. And later, as you will learn, my personal transition to an empty-nester led to a critical transition in my career. During Over my first 17 years in the dental industry, I ran five offices, ranging from FFS to PPO mix and one DHMO transition practice – and I soaked up all those experiences like a sponge.
I dove into dentistry like a woman on a mission. The hygienist in that first office had a phase contrast microscope, and we plaque sampled every patient. I learned extensively about the disease progression of the periodontal disease – and how vitally important a healthy hygiene department is to every dental practice. In the process, I developed the didactics of everyday clinical dentistry that forms the basis of my instructing today.
With a good understanding of the mouth, I then set about applying business knowledge to the everyday systems of running a practice. And the critical foundation of those everyday systems was very much the same as managing Christian Dior’s skincare division – to maintain our patients’ loyalty, we had to treat them with the same high level of care and service as I had my high-end skincare and cosmetic clients. They expected the very best care and service – and rightly so.
I had been a single parent for many years when my son left home, and I was ready to occupy myself with a new, more challenging career path. A few years before, while running a location of a multi-group practice in DFW, I had the honor of working with the best clinician I had ever met –Dr. Charles Crouch. With my 17 years’ experience and his 32 years’ experience, we vetted one another while serving patients together. As soon as my son headed to college, Dr. Crouch and I opened the discussion to become partners in our own dental practice. In October 2014, we acquired a practice from an ailing clinician – and Summit Dental Group, LLC was born. In June 2016, we added our second practice.From my initial career as an Office Manager to my current position as Co-Owner of two dental offices, I understand ALL the pain points the doctors feel. I thought I knew the owner’s perspective as an Office Manager, but I quickly learned I did not! Now I have participated in every facet of the office. I have assisted, I have lived in the hygiene room for a year, I have managed many staffs, and I now fully understand the stress of overhead, payroll, patient care, and staffing. Because of this…I decided I wanted to give back to this profession I love. And, coincidentally but critically, my partner Dr. Crouch also had a great desire to share what he knows. In December 2017, he and I started a new venture, The Prosperity Dental Practice. Our motto is, “Love your practice – Love your life!”
Dentists have several pain points in their practices –
pain points with which they suffer and struggle alone. We know a dentist is a smart personal evidenced by their demanding education. However, a dentist may not know how to move from feeling at odds with the staff to feel in unison with the staff. If a dentist hits a struggle or a barrier, they may not know what to do to move beyond the issues. Running an office, treating patients, handling HR issues, and promoting their business bring on a sense of inundation. Overwhelmed with the responsibility of “wearing all the hats,” the clinician may wonder how they find themselves in this lonely place when what they really want to do is the career they trained for – to deliver quality dentistry to their patients. To be a great clinician, the doctor needs a well-trained team that frees them to practice the profession they love and to pursue continuing education to better their performance. With that well-trained team, the dentist truly can love their practice and love their life. Creating and empowering teams is just what I have been doing for the last 22 years. And it still inspires me to this day! After so many years, it is easy to become jaded or stuck. I know because I have experienced it myself. But even then, I realized I still LOVE what I do.
In my journey through this dental career, I have discovered that the dental practices I managed even five years ago are very different from the practices I co-own and continue to manage today. There are very rapid changes in dentistry! The ability (system) to integrate changes and to ensure those changes work is the greatest tool we have today to reach the point that we truly love our practice. This is my new passion. This is my new “why.” I can give back to this profession by training teams and thereby helping a dentist relax and breathe and find comfort in their practice so they can love their life. There may be doctors out there who can do it all. But for the ones who need support, we are here.
My intention in sharing a bit of my journey is to help others realize that we are fortunate in this profession – fortunate that we can give back to mankind through the healing arts. However, we cannot allow the“business of dentistry” to overwhelm our professional care and service to our patients and, beyond that, to diminish our personal lives and make us miserable. We must integrate systems and develop teams that give us balance in our professional and personal lives. With increased awareness of our need for balance, we can truly think about what we need to create that equilibrium, that place of genuine accomplishment. What do YOU need to achieve such a place of accomplishment in your life? And, knowing that what we think about expands, I ask you,“What are you thinking about? And what are you going to do about it? ”The Prosperity Dental Practice was born out of a driving desire to help Dentists and their staff love their practice and love their life.
How can we help you?
