The Real Cost of Associate Turnover: Why Dentistry Has a Behavior Problem | Dr. Eric Roman

One associate leaving can quietly cost a practice $100,000 or more, and most owners never see the bill. Dr. Eric Roman built and sold his own dental group, retired from clinical practice at 39, and now coaches dental groups and their associates. He explains why groups fail at the associate level, why the gap between generations keeps costing dentists, and why he thinks dentistry has a behavior problem, not a clinical one. He's recorded over 50,000 dentist-patient conversations, and the scores might surprise you. In this episode: - Why associate turnover is "the biggest hidden profit leak" in dentistry - What one associate leaving really costs: recruiting, training, credentialing and lost patients - Grinders vs. the next generation: work-life balance with $600,000 in student debt - Why doing great dentistry and developing great dentists are two different skills - Are you getting what you expected out of dentistry? Jennifer, Eric and Chad answer - The 20-60-20 rule: which associates solve their own problems - Dentistry is leadership: why "that's not my problem" sinks associates - Case acceptance is behavioral: what 50,000 recorded patient visits show 📰 Plus dental news from May 2026: the new digital accessibility rule for dental offices, federal student loan changes, and antibiotic premedication for joint replacement patients. And big news: Dentists in the Know is now on Glidewell TV! Dr. Eric Roman is a dentist, coach and former dental group owner. He built multiple practices and a dental group before exiting ownership in 2019, and he now trains clinical leadership teams and associate dentists on how to find, develop and keep great dentists. He and Dr. Jennifer Bell started dental school together in 2003 and did their residency together. 🙌 Special shout out to Curve Dental for making this episode possible! Learn more about Curve: https://fanflet.com/dinks/curvedinks Chapters: 0:00 Intro 2:15 "Dentists don't love doing fillings" 8:43 Big news: DINKs is now on Glidewell TV 11:07 Glidewell CEO Stephanie Goddard steps down 12:51 News: the digital accessibility rule for dental offices 14:17 News: federal student loan changes 16:26 News: antibiotic premedication and joint replacements 18:57 News: trouble at an Oregon ortho office 22:34 Meet Dr. Eric Roman 27:28 From group owner to coach 28:53 Why groups fail with associates 30:02 DSOs chase same-store sales, not dentists 32:00 Chad's associate story 34:28 What one associate leaving really costs 35:03 Recruiting and generational differences 36:58 $600,000 of debt and one day a week 37:45 Chad's student loan surprise 41:37 Doing great dentistry vs. developing great dentists 44:18 Are you getting what you expected out of dentistry? 52:46 Trading known problems for unknown ones 54:05 The 20-60-20 rule 55:28 Why public trust in dentists is dropping 57:41 "Not my problem": dentistry is leadership 59:04 Case acceptance is behavioral, not clinical 1:00:42 What 50,000 recorded patient visits show 1:03:23 Why Eric works with Curve 1:06:06 Thank you, Dr. Roman 🎧 Listen to the podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dentists-in-the-know/id1543254763 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Elfj6LX0hCUyp0AgdTsij 📺 Make sure you subscribe to catch new episodes live every Wednesday at 8pm ET! https://www.youtube.com/@dentistsintheknow 🌐 Check out our brand new website: https://dentistsintheknow.com 🌟 Stay up to date on all the latest dental trends when you follow the DINKs: https://fanflet.com/dinks/social-2