January 13, 2026
If practice growth is part of your 2026 plan, you're in the right place. Over the past few decades, dentistry has changed in ways that aren't always obvious from inside a single practice. Working closely with practices across different markets has given us a front-row seat to those shifts — and what it all means for modern leaders doing their best to grow when the odds are stacked against them.
No matter where you are in your practice journey, one thing is true: Growing a dental practice is harder than it used to be. Growth once followed a straightforward path. Deliver excellent care, keep your schedule full, and let your reputation do the heavy lifting. But the business of dentistry has changed.
Thanks to rising costs, shrinking margins, and shifting patient expectations, the traditional playbook does not deliver in the ways it once did. Now, it's worth noting: These aren't inherently "bad ideas." In fact, they were once pretty good ideas. Most of them built great practices for decades. But the business of dentistry has changed, and the strategies that once worked automatically simply don't produce those same results today.
If growth feels harder than it should, it's probably because you're doing the right things inside an outdated framework. Let's take a look at how conventional thinking actually plays out for today's dental practices.
Myth #1: Work Harder
Conventional wisdom prescribes that the dental industry rewards hard work. Chances are, you personally know dentists who built successful practices under this simple strategy. See more patients, add more services, work more hours = make more money.
Modern Truth
It's a great hook and may seem logical, but more patients does not automatically equal more revenue. In most cases, it equals burnout. A big driving factor is PPO economics, which can push practices toward volume over value. Yes the schedule stays full in-network, but your margins don't keep pace — trapping you in a numbers game where "busy" prevails over "profitable."
Worse still, insurance conditions patients into a transactional mindset. Instead of choosing a dentist based on trust and expertise, many patients are trained to shop based on coverage and out-of-pocket cost. They show up once a year for whatever the plan "includes," then disappear until the next reset.
Over time, that volume-first treadmill makes it harder to attract the higher-value patients who do want a long-term relationship.
Myth #2: Go Local
Your patients are local. Who better to help you grow your dental practice than a local digital marketer? They know the landscape, the local customer, and speak fluent Googlease. Plus maybe you can meet them in person occasionally. It feels good to start close to home. But is that a competitive advantage?
Modern Truth
The short answer: No. Local doesn't always mean qualified — especially in dentistry. And that's because dental marketing is about so much more than visibility. It's an exercise in trust, education, and positioning. Done well, dental marketing can help you build the kind of practice you want. It's a lever to attract the kind of patients and work you want to do, and rebuild your schedule around the cases you prefer.
Most local marketers don't grasp how patients actually choose a dentist, the role insurance plays in patient behavior, or the business of dentistry. But in an effort to tap into specialized expertise, lots of dentists will cobble together local help where you need it. One guy for Google ads, the office manager's niece to post on Instagram, maybe even a local agency for the website. It resembles marketing, but functionally, it's just a patchwork of disconnected projects delivering inconsistent results.
The local specialist strategy doesn't work because dental growth doesn't happen in channels. It happens when messaging, targeting, patient education, and practice economics work together.
Myth #3: Great Care Sells Itself
For decades, referrals were the primary growth engine in dentistry. Maybe you can think of a few practices you know where that's still the case. Deliver great care, and happy patients will tell their friends, who will then become happy patients themselves.
The Modern Truth
Great care is essential. It's just not a growth strategy on its own. Patients can't value what they can't see. So, if your name and practice and specialties aren't landing in front of them, it doesn't matter how great they are.
Today's patients also demand more proof than previous generations. They research before they call. They read reviews, scan websites, compare options, and form opinions long before a referral ever turns into an appointment.
The most successful practices don't just deliver excellent care; they amplify it. They make quality visible, credibility clear, and trust easy to establish at every touchpoint.
The Bottom Line for Today's Dentists
If growth feels harder than it should, it's not your fault. The rules have changed for modern practices.
Working harder, staying local, and relying on reputation alone once built legacy practices. In 2026, sustainable growth requires better systems, clearer positioning, and strategies built for how patients actually choose care today.
If growth is on your radar for 2026, now is the right time to rethink what actually drives it. If you've got questions, we can help. Book a quick exploratory call to talk 2026 goals, strategies, or whatever else is on your mind.
Want to explore more on your own? Check out this popular whitepaper: Why Most Dental Marketing Fails — And What Profitable Practices Do Differently.
