The Best Practices Show with Kirk Behrendt 918: Maximize the Value of Your Dental Assistant – Renae Graeff
You might think you're great at multitasking — but you're really not! In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings in Renae Graeff, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, to share how to maximize your dental assistants’ skills so you can fully utilize them to better your practice. Don't try to do it all! To learn how to empower your assistants so they become more capable, more fulfilled, and a better partner for patient care, listen to Episode 918 of The Best Practices Show!
Learn More About Renae:
- Send Renae an email: renae@actdental.com
- Follow Renae on ACT’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actdental
- Send Courtney an email to learn more about ACT: courtney@actdental.com
More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:
- Subscribe to The Best Practices Show: https://the-best-practices-show.captivate.fm/listen
- Join The Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpa
- Download ACT’s BPA app on the Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/best-practices-association/id6738960360
- Download ACT’s BPA app on the Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.actdental.join&hl=en_US
- Join ACT’s To The Top Study Club: https://www.actdental.com/ttt
- Get The Best Practices Magazine for free: https://www.actdental.com/magazine
- Please leave us a review on the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-best-practices-show-with-kirk-behrendt/id1223838218
Episode Resources:
- Watch the video version of Episode 918: https://www.youtube.com/@actdental/videos
- Register for ACT’s To The Top Study Club (July 18th, 2025): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climb-with-us-register-for-july-18-2025-ttt-study-club-tickets-1205460116659
- Register for ACT’s To The Top Study Club (July 25, 2025): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/climb-with-us-register-for-july-25-2025-ttt-study-club-tickets-1205497959849
- Register to ACT’s BPA for their 3-3-3 Onboarding Tool: https://join.actdental.com/users/sign_in?post_login_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fjoin.actdental.com%2Fc%2Fpractice-coaching-tools%2F3-3-3-onboarding-model#email
- Register to ACT’s BPA for their Check-In Agenda: https://join.actdental.com/users/sign_in?post_login_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fjoin.actdental.com%2Fc%2Fpractice-coaching-tools%2Fcheck-in-agenda-editable#email
- Register to ACT’s BPA for their Ideal Day Scheduling Guide: https://join.actdental.com/c/practice-coaching-tools/color-coding-block-scheduling-and-ideal-day-scheduling
Main Takeaways:
- When you empower dental assistants, the entire practice benefits.
- Proper delegation will allow dentists to focus on high-value procedures.
- Eliminate the “I can do it faster myself” mentality to start freeing up your time.
- Find out the full scope of what your dental assistants can legally do in your state.
- Your dental assistants are more than just “support staff”. They are key contributors.
Snippets:
0:00 Introduction.
2:11 Why this is an important topic.
4:45 Why dentists don't fully utilize dental assistants.
7:30 Find out what dental assistants can legally do in your state.
9:19 The true value of a dental assistant.
12:20 How to utilize your dental assistants.
13:30 Dovetail scheduling, explained.
14:19 Final takeaways.
15:48 ACT’s BPA.
Renae Graeff Bio:
Renae Graeff is a lead practice coach who focuses on establishing trust and communication to help practice leaders and teams achieve their personal and professional goals. With over 18 years of combined clinical experience as an EFDA and office management, she understands the necessity for a healthy and aligned team firsthand. Over the years, she has worked with many doctors, specialists, hygienists, assistants, and admin teams with this in mind and has helped to improve communication and understanding in the office.
Renae resides in a suburb of Philadelphia with her long-term boyfriend and blended family of four children, Vivian, Lucy, Alex, and Aubrey. They all love spending time with their beloved family dog, Axel. She enjoys watching the Eagles and Phillies games, reading, and traveling to her summer "home away from home" outside of Cape May, New Jersey.