The Dental Lighthouse with Dr. Jason Tanoory

In this episode, Dr. Jason breaks down why meetings get such a bad reputation and how to turn them into one of your most powerful leadership tools. He walks through the core meeting types every practice should consider, how to structure them, who should be in the room, and why agenda discipline matters more than you think.

You’ll learn how to avoid meetings that turn into complaint sessions, how to use data to drive real decisions,...

Your best employee is reliable, loyal, and gets everything done. They are the one you trust. The one who picks up the slack. The one who always figures it out.

And they are probably exhausted.

In this episode, Dr. Jason unpacks a real coaching conversation with a high-performing office manager who finally said the quiet part out loud. She was overwhelmed, burning the candle at both ends, and running out of capacity.

This episode di...

January is busy. The schedule is packed. Production looks great. And a lot of dentists walk around feeling pretty good about it.

Here’s the hard truth. A full January does not automatically mean you are running a healthy practice.

In this episode, Dr. Jason breaks down why early-year busyness is often borrowed momentum from last year, not proof that your systems are working. Patients delayed treatment. Insurance reset. January alwa...

In this episode of the Dental Lighthouse Podcast, Dr. Jason Tanoory takes you behind the curtain of a real coaching call with a fast-growing practice owner who knows the truth every leader eventually faces. Growth breaks systems before it breaks revenue.

The practice is thriving. Revenue is climbing. The team is growing. And yet the wheels are starting to wobble because the hard conversations keep getting postponed.

This episode ta...

Part Two gets real practical, real fast.

J.D. pushes the conversation past “feedback is important” and straight into the messy scenarios leaders actually face: buying a practice with an existing team, inheriting an old culture, and trying to introduce a new set of expectations without lighting the place on fire.

Jason breaks down:

• What you’re really buying in an acquisition (hint: cash flow and culture… and sometimes baggage ...

What happens when the rules are not posted and everyone is driving at a different speed?

In Part One of this episode, Jason Tanoory is put in the hot seat by returning guest J.D. for a real, unfiltered conversation about feedback, accountability, and leadership inside a dental practice.

This is not theory. This is lived experience.

Jason breaks down why feedback is not optional if you want a healthy team, why avoiding hard conversa...

This is a replay of one of our most downloaded episodes. If you’re newer here, this one’s a must-listen. In this insightful episode, we dive into the challenges of fostering teamwork and accountability within dental practices. Host Jason Tanoory unpacks common tensions among team members, from feelings of inequity to misunderstandings around workload. He introduces actionable strategies like prioritizing "team-focused" over "I-foc...

This is a replay of one of our most downloaded episodes. If you’re newer here, this one’s a must-listen. This hour-long episode is exactly what the title promises—Jason’s no-fluff guide to the actual habits, mindsets, and behaviors that define great leadership in a dental practice. Pulled straight from his coaching work and years in the trenches, this isn’t about lofty ideas. It’s about clarity, consistency, and courage.

He covers...

This is a replay of one of our most downloaded episodes. If you’re newer here, this one’s a must-listen. In this insightful episode of The Dental Lighthouse, Jason Tanoory sits down with Blake and Colin, two ambitious young dentists who are redefining what it means to succeed early in their careers.

The conversation dives into their approaches to managing debt, building strong relationships with banks, and making calculated decisi...

This is a replay of one of our most downloaded episodes. If you’re newer here, this one’s a must-listen.

In this episode, we dive deep into the world of patient care and treatment coordination with Michelle, a seasoned expert in helping patients navigate complex dental decisions. Michelle shares her unique approach to building trust with patients, guiding them through treatment options, and finding creative financing solutions that...

This is a replay of one of our most downloaded episodes. If you’re newer here, this one’s a must-listen.  In this episode of The Dental Lighthouse, host Jason Tanoory welcomes Dr. Paul Goodman, known affectionately as "Dr. Nacho," to discuss the intricacies of dental insurance and the art of managing patient expectations. With years of experience as a practicing dentist and a passion for helping other dental professionals, Dr. Goo...

Every dentist knows the panic of looking at a once packed schedule and suddenly seeing empty space where production should be. Is this just a seasonal dip, or a warning sign that something upstream has shifted? In this episode, Jason unpacks an email from a doctor who is drowning in hygiene checks and new patients yet somehow watching his production tank.

Jason walks through the real culprit behind most schedule slowdowns. Spoiler:...

This episode tackles a question every growing practice eventually hits. If the revenue looks good and the numbers are solid, do the little systems really matter? Jason’s short answer is yes. His long answer is a masterclass in how culture cracks form long before they show up in your production report.

Jason breaks down real scenarios from coaching calls, including missed prescriptions that blow up into angry reviews and assistants ...

This episode dives straight into one of the most uncomfortable and most common realities of growing a practice. You bring on a new associate who is eager, competent, and settling in well. Then out of nowhere, your existing associate starts to feel threatened. A few passive aggressive comments here, a little eye rolling there, some whispered critiques about clinical work, and suddenly the culture you worked so hard to build has a ha...

This episode is for the implementers. The people who want to feel better, lead better, and live better without overcomplicating it. Jason breaks down the new Better Than Yesterday Four Futures Challenge, a simple framework built around mind, meaning, muscle, and money that helps you tighten up your habits, get honest about your daily rhythms, and actually improve your life one day at a time.

You will hear why we are rolling out a s...

What does it really take to grow from one practice to ten thriving locations without losing your mind or your margins? In this episode, Jason sits down with Dr. Hardik Chodavadia, co owner of a ten location group in Austin, Texas, to unpack the real story behind rapid but sustainable growth. From signing his very first lease sight unseen to leading a team of more than 80 people, Dr. Hardik shares what worked, what almost broke the ...

Payroll feels heavy, team feels “busy,” and your profit is not where it should be. Are you actually overstaffed or just underperforming in the right places? This episode breaks that down so you can stop guessing and start leading.

Jason walks through clear, practical benchmarks that tell you if your practice is staffed correctly or bloated, and what to do when the numbers say you have a problem. No drama, just data and hard truths.

Most dentists grind today so they can live “someday.” Bigger practice. Bigger check. Then finally unplug, be present, and enjoy life. This episode challenges that mindset with a story that changed my life for good.

I share the real lesson behind my friend Steve’s battle with brain cancer at age 47 and how his journey forced me to rethink the entire idea of grinding now so you can live later. If you think you’ll finally be happy aft...

Ever feel like you’re stuck in “research mode,” analyzing your goals to death but never actually doing the thing? In this episode, Jason breaks down the simple three-step framework he’s been coaching heavily in his one-on-ones, group sessions, and even applying in his own strength training and weight loss journey.

He unpacks:

Initiation Why the hardest part is just starting. How overthinking kills momentum, and why imperfect...