Your schedule is full, your team is working harder than ever, and yet profitability continues to shrink. The problem may not be your production. It may be the insurance contracts attached to it.

In this episode, Dr. Greg Grillo examines dentistry’s growing “fiscal squeeze,” including rising wages, stagnant reimbursement, hidden write-offs, leased networks, claim friction, and the wave of dental insurance reform now sweeping the country. He explains why a busy practice is not necessarily a healthy practice, how low-margin appointments can quietly consume your most valuable capacity, and why more dentists are reconsidering their network participation.

This isn’t an argument to abandon insurance or patients. It’s a framework for evaluating each contract objectively. And building a practice where excellent care, a supported team, fair compensation, and financial sustainability can coexist.

Every month, dental practices diagnose thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of dollars in treatment that never gets scheduled.

Not because patients don't need it.

Not because they don't trust the doctor.

Often because life gets in the way... and the follow-up simply isn't there.

In this follow-up episode of CEO Chairside, Dr. Greg Grillo welcomes entrepreneur and dental technology innovator Devyn Grillo back to continue one of the podcast's most talked-about conversations. After building and selling a seven-figure dental marketing company, Devyn discovered an uncomfortable truth: generating more leads isn't the biggest challenge for most practices. Converting the opportunities they already have is.

Together, Greg and Devyn explore why treatment acceptance has become one of the most overlooked drivers of practice growth, why most offices unintentionally allow patients to fall through the cracks, and how AI can strengthen—not replace—the human relationships that build trust.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why treatment acceptance may be a more important KPI than new patient numbers

• The hidden revenue sitting in unscheduled treatment reports

• Why patients who say, "I need to think about it," are rarely saying "no"

• The surprising data behind why major purchasing decisions require multiple follow-up touchpoints

• How personalized, AI-assisted communication can help practices stay connected without adding more work for the team

• Why the future of dentistry belongs to practices that master both technology and human connection

If you've ever wondered whether your practice is investing too much in attracting new patients—and not enough in helping existing patients move forward with care—this conversation will change how you think about growth.

Sometimes the biggest opportunity isn't finding another patient.

It's helping the patients you've already diagnosed say "yes."

Learn more at www.caselift.io

Not every season of life or practice is meant for growth.

Some seasons are for building. Others are for pruning, recovery, harvest, or finally confronting what has been quietly ignored. The challenge is recognizing what season you are actually in—and having the courage to do the work that season requires.

In this midyear episode, Dr. Greg Grillo reflects on leadership, change, time, and the danger of carrying old strategies into a new season. Drawing from dentistry, Stoic wisdom, and the ancient stories of Heraclitus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Cincinnatus, he explores why success is not always about doing more and why some of the most important progress remains invisible for a long time.

This is a thoughtful summer reset for practice owners who want to lead with greater clarity, protect what matters, and enter the second half of the year with intention rather than momentum alone.