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Elizabeth Kitevska(@advance_practice)'s profile avatar HD Profile

Elizabeth Kitevska

@advance_practice

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🦷 Dental Practice Consultant
✨ 30+ years in the dental industry
📈 Helping practices grow & thrive
🤝 Leadership • Systems • Team culture
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You don’t always realise the impact you’re making while you’re making it. You walk into a room filled with people at completely different stages of their careers. Some highly experienced. Some just starting out. Some somewhere in the middle. Yet all of them hungry to learn. And then you see it. The light bulb moment. The shift in perspective. The moment the eyes light up and you know they’re fully engaged, fully listening, fully absorbing. Then the feedback starts coming in. They implement. They communicate differently. Patients respond differently. Results improve. That’s the reward. The reason I do what I do has never been about teaching people how to “sell” dentistry. It’s about making an impact in the dental industry. It’s about helping shape the next generation of dental professionals who take this profession seriously. Professionals who understand that trust, integrity, ethics, and patient respect come first. The financial success is the byproduct. Because when you do great dentistry with honesty, confidence, and genuine patient care, people feel it. And when patients feel respected, they move forward for the right reasons. I feel incredibly blessed to be given the opportunity to make a real difference in this space. Thank you to every person who has trusted me enough to sit at my table, to learn, to listen, to challenge their thinking, and to grow. I never take that responsibility lightly. To be able to contribute, even in a small way, to the future of this profession means more to me than words can explain. #dentalassistant #dental #powerfulwomen taken in Sydney by @advance_practice
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5 months ago
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Sometimes the most damaging thing you can say after presenting the investment is... SOMETHING. You present the fee. The patient goes quiet. Three seconds pass. And suddenly WE become uncomfortable. So we start talking. "I know it's a lot..." "We can always look at something cheaper..." "You don't have to decide today..." "We could maybe stage it..." But the patient hasn't objected. They haven't said no. They may simply be processing a significant decision. We created the objection for them because WE couldn't tolerate the silence. THE LEAK CHECK™ Next time you present a significant investment... notice what happens immediately afterwards. Can you give the patient space to process? Or do you rush in to rescue the silence? Silence isn't automatically an objection. Sometimes silence is just... thinking. by @advance_practice
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5 days ago
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Patients can hear uncertainty... even when you never say, "I'm unsure." It can sound like: "Well, we could possibly..." "Maybe you could..." "There are a few things we could try..." "You don't have to..." "Another option might be..." Options are important. Informed consent is essential. But giving options and making a clear clinical recommendation are not mutually exclusive. A patient can be given every appropriate option AND still hear: "Based on what you've told me, and what I'm seeing clinically, this is what I recommend." That's clarity. Confidence doesn't mean pressure. And a clear recommendation doesn't take the decision away from the patient. THE LEAK CHECK™ Listen to how treatment is being recommended in your consultations. Is the recommendation clear? Or is the patient being given so many possibilities that they're left to diagnose their own solution? Clarity builds confidence. Pressure doesn't. by @advance_practice
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6 days ago
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Sometimes the most damaging thing you can say after presenting the investment is... SOMETHING. You present the fee. The patient goes quiet. Three seconds pass. And suddenly WE become uncomfortable. So we start talking. "I know it's a lot..." "We can always look at something cheaper..." "You don't have to decide today..." "We could maybe stage it..." But the patient hasn't objected. They haven't said no. They may simply be processing a significant decision. We created the objection for them because WE couldn't tolerate the silence. THE LEAK CHECK™ Next time you present a significant investment... notice what happens immediately afterwards. Can you give the patient space to process? Or do you rush in to rescue the silence? Silence isn't automatically an objection. Sometimes silence is just... thinking. by @advance_practice
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7 days ago
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There is a BIG difference between listening to a patient... and actually hearing them. I've listened to calls where the team member technically did everything right. They were polite. They asked the questions. They followed the process. They ticked the boxes. But the patient said something important... and we missed it. A small comment. A hesitation. A concern. A clue about what actually mattered to them. And instead of exploring it... we moved to the next question. That's the danger of becoming too focused on the process. A process should guide the conversation. It shouldn't stop you from having one. THE LEAK CHECK™ Listen to one patient conversation this week and ask yourself: What did they tell us that we didn't explore? Sometimes the most important question isn't the one on your script. It's the question created by the patient's last answer. Listen to understand. Not simply to respond. by @advance_practice
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8 days ago
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"But my receptionist is lovely on the phone." That's great. But being lovely and being effective are not the same thing. A team member can be: Warm. Friendly. Polite. Professional. And still completely miss the opportunity sitting inside the conversation. Because effective communication also requires: Curiosity. Listening. Recognising cues. Asking the next question. Understanding WHY the patient called. And confidently guiding them towards the appropriate next step. THE LEAK CHECK™ Listen to five enquiry calls. But this time, don't ask: "Was my receptionist nice?" Ask: Did we become curious? Did we understand what mattered to the patient? Did we hear the clues they gave us? Did we confidently guide the conversation? Being friendly is important. But curiosity is what makes the conversation effective. by @advance_practice
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9 days ago
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"We need better leads." Maybe. But before you blame the leads... what happens AFTER the phone rings? Because marketing can do its job perfectly and the practice can still lose the opportunity. A lead comes in. Did someone respond quickly? Did we connect? Did we become curious? Did they book? Did they attend? What happened in the consultation? Was treatment presented? Was there a clear handover? Did somebody own the next step? Was there structured follow-up? That's why I get nervous when practices immediately blame "lead quality." Sometimes the marketing isn't leaking. The patient journey is. THE LEAK CHECK™ Don't just ask: "How many leads did we get?" by @advance_practice
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9 days ago
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"I need to think about it." Shouldn't be the last meaningful conversation you ever have with that patient. Yet in many practices, follow-up sounds something like: "Hi, just checking whether you've decided if you'd like to go ahead with your treatment?" That's not really follow-up. That's asking for a decision. Good follow-up reconnects with the conversation that already happened. What mattered to the patient? What were they hoping to achieve? What questions were still unanswered? What was preventing them from moving forward? Did they need to speak with their partner? Was timing the issue? Was it financial? Or did we simply assume why they didn't proceed? THE LEAK CHECK™ Look at five significant treatment plans that didn't proceed. Who followed them up? When? What was said? And was the follow-up connected to what actually mattered to that patient? Follow-up shouldn't feel like chasing. It should feel like continuing the conversation. by @advance_practice
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9 days ago
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WHO OWNS THE PATIENT AFTER DIAGNOSIS? It's one of my favourite questions to ask a dental team. Because sometimes the answers are very interesting. "The dentist." "Reception." "The Treatment Coordinator." "Whoever checks them out." "We follow them up." Okay... WHO is "we"? That's where the leak starts. When everybody is responsible... sometimes nobody is responsible. A patient has just been presented with significant treatment. They don't proceed immediately. Now what? Who owns the next conversation? Who knows why they didn't proceed? Who follows up? Who knows when to follow up? Who makes sure they don't simply disappear into "pending treatment"? THE LEAK CHECK™ Ask your team: WHO OWNS THE PATIENT AFTER DIAGNOSIS? Ask them separately. If you get five different answers... you've probably found a leak. Ownership creates accountability. "We" isn't a person. by @advance_practice
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10 days ago
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If your Treatment Coordinator's main job is to tell patients the price... you're underutilising one of the most valuable roles in your practice. A Treatment Coordinator isn't there to: Print the treatment plan. Read out the fee. Ask, "Did you want to book?" And send the patient home if the answer isn't yes. Their role is much bigger than that. The dentist creates clinical clarity. The Treatment Coordinator continues the journey. They understand what matters to the patient. They answer non-clinical questions. They discuss the investment. They explain payment pathways. They uncover concerns. They help the patient understand what happens next. And importantly, they OWN the next step. Not to pressure. Not to "close." But to make sure a significant healthcare decision doesn't become an administrative transaction. THE LEAK CHECK™ What does your Treatment Coordinator actually do after the dentist's consultation? If the answer is mainly "go through the fees"... there may be a much bigger opportunity sitting inside that role. A Treatment Coordinator is not a fee presenter. They are the bridge between clinical recommendation and patient decision. by @advance_practice
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11 days ago
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If YOU think $40,000 is expensive... be careful not to make that decision for your patient. Because our own relationship with money can quietly enter the consultation. It can sound like: "I know it's a lot..." "We could always look at something cheaper..." "I understand if you need to think about it..." And sometimes the patient hasn't objected at all. WE have. Discomfort around money can lead us to overexplain, justify, apologise, offer alternatives too early or fill every second of silence. Our job isn't to decide what the patient can afford. Our job is to: DIAGNOSE. RECOMMEND. EDUCATE. CREATE CLARITY. Then allow the patient to decide. THE LEAK CHECK™ Next time you present a significant investment, notice what happens AFTER you say the fee. Do you give the patient space? Or does your own discomfort make you start talking? If you're uncomfortable with the investment, don't transfer that discomfort to the patient. by @advance_practice
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12 days ago
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We need more patients." Maybe. But before we talk about more leads... How much diagnosed treatment is already sitting inside your practice? $100,000? $300,000? $500,000? $1 million? Now the more important questions: Who owns that list? When was it last reviewed? Why didn't those patients proceed? When were they last contacted? And what was actually said? Practices can spend thousands every month generating new opportunities while hundreds of thousands of dollars in diagnosed treatment sits untouched in their database. THE LEAK CHECK™ Run your pending treatment report. Not just the number of patients. The VALUE. Then ask: Who owns this? How often is it reviewed? What is our process? Your greatest growth opportunity may not be another lead. It may already be sitting inside your practice. by @advance_practice
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13 days ago
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