When Is the Best Time to Start Working with a Coach?
Before we answer that, let’s start with a question every dentist and dental team member knows the answer to: When is the best time for a patient to see their dentist?
Most of us would agree that the best time is when the patient is healthy — for their regular six-month examination. This way we can focus on prevention, maintain health, and avoid problems developing in the first place.
We know there are many patients who think I don’t have any problems, why do I need to see a dentist? They simply don’t know what they don’t know about dental health, and that you can prevent problems, simply easily and effectively
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The second-best time is as soon as they notice a small niggle. Perhaps a bit of sensitivity, occasional bleeding on brushing, or tenderness. At this stage, the earlier they come in, the more options they have, and treatment is likely to be simpler, quicker, and less costly. Yet, we’ve all had patients who think, “I’ll just muddle through, I can work it out on its own. I’ll use some desensitising toothpaste” or “I’ll Google it.” The classic ostrich, head in the sand, if I ignore it, it will go away, its not bothering me that much. We know patients can’t self-treat dental disease — and delaying treatment invariable results in things getting worse
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The least ideal time is when they are in acute pain. At this point, they can’t sleep, can’t work, and their life is consumed by the problem. They want a quick fix, but treatment options and appointment availability are now more limited. The solution often extends well beyond the one tooth that’s screaming at them, and restoring health becomes more complex, costly, and time-consuming.
Now, let’s take this analogy and apply it to working with a coach.
The Best Time to Work with a Coach
This is when you are psychologically healthy and problem-free in your career or practice. Coaching can then focus on the future — developing yourself, exploring ideas, refining systems, building your team, and planning strategically.
If you’re thinking about buying a practice, the ideal time to start coaching is around three years before purchase. This gives you time to prepare, build the skills you’ll need, and avoid common stressful time consuming pitfalls.
The Second-Best Time
This is when you’ve noticed the early niggles.
For an associate, this might mean rising stress levels, uncertainty about your career path, or realising that you want more control over your professional future.
For a principal, it might mean discovering that practice ownership isn’t quite what you expected. Perhaps you’re feeling the weight of leadership or struggling with areas like team engagement, profitability, or time management.
You might be tempted to “muddle through” and figure it out yourself. But just like patients can’t self-treat their dental problems, the truth is that professional challenges are best tackled early — before they escalate. You were only taught clinical skills at dental school and not essential business, psychology, communication skills. Your coach will help you develop your non clinical skill enable you to be the dentist you to be the type of dentist you always wanted to be.
The Least Ideal Time
This is when you’ve reached breaking point.
As an associate, that could mean burnout, feeling trapped in a toxic practice, overwhelmed by an impossible NHS workload, or earning less than you need.
As a principal, it might be when the burdens of ownership have built up to the point you can’t sleep, you’re constantly distracted, and the only option you can see is to sell the practice, and you know you really don’t want to and you have not yet found another way that works.
Just as you can help your patients whether they are healthy, showing early signs of trouble, or in crisis, I can help you at any of these three stages:
- Healthy and problem-free – focusing on growth and development.
- Early niggles – addressing issues in your career, well-being, or practice performance before they escalate.
- Overwhelmed and struggling – creating a path forward when you feel stuck or ready to walk away.
“I wish I had met Jane 10 years ago, I could have saved myself so much stress.”
Bertie Napier, Principal
If you’re in a desperate situation and want to speak with someone quickly, you can book an appointment via my website www.iodb.co.uk using the Speak with Jane button. There are options for both associates and principals, plus the opportunity to book a free one-hour Friday coaching session between 6:00 am and 2:00 pm. I 100% guarantee there will be no upsell — this is a safe coaching space for you.
If you’d like to do a health check on your practice, there are several free online options:
- Brilliant Practice Evaluation – looks at 12 key areas of your practice. https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/Brilliant-Practice-Evaluation-BPE
- Life Balance Survey. https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/Life-balance-survey
- Evaluate Your Patient Communication Skills. https://uk.surveymonkey.com/r/Evaluate-your-approach-to-patient-communication
- Review Your Patient Journey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Perfect-Patient-Journey
If anything in this blog resonates with you and you’d like to talk further, email me at Jane@IODB.co.uk and we can arrange a conversation.
