What You’ll Learn
- Why most dental technology dies on the shelf and who is actually responsible
- The real reason team members resist AI and new software
- How fear of job replacement runs deeper than most dentists realize
- The implementation specialist role that changes everything
- A step-by-step process for getting technology adopted the right way
The Closet Every Dental Practice Has
Laci Phillips Newland has walked into hundreds of dental practices over her 30-year career. She knows exactly what she will find when she opens a certain closet or that spare operatory nobody uses.
“You open it and it’s just floor to ceiling technology, tools, things that haven’t been implemented,” Laci told Adrian Lefler on a recent episode of the Byte Sized Podcast. “AI is the newest thing that’s sitting on the shelf.”
The pattern repeats constantly. A dentist attends a conference, sees an exciting new tool, signs up on the spot, and brings it back to the practice expecting the team to make it work. Three months later, the software subscription is still running, but nobody has logged in since week two.
The problem usually comes down to one consistent factor. The team was never told why it mattered.
“We as leaders do not have a conversation prior to the buy, much less after the buy, and really have team buy-in,” Laci explained. “Without the buy-in from the team, it’s never going to happen.”
The Fear Nobody Talks About
Team resistance to new technology isn’t laziness or stupidity. Much of it comes from a fear that runs deeper than most practice owners realize.
“There’s always the fear that this new cool amazing thing could take the place of my job,” Laci said. “Especially with AI.”
This fear is not new. Laci saw it decades ago when the Florida Probe was introduced in the late 1990s. The device allowed hygienists to automatically log probing depths into practice management software instead of calling out numbers to an assistant or stopping to chart manually. It should have been an obvious win.
But hygienists hesitated. Would the doctor think they needed less chair time? Would automation diminish their value to patients?
The same psychology plays out today with AI receptionists, automated scheduling, and voice systems. When a front desk team member hears that an AI agent will handle missed calls, they don’t hear “your job just got easier.” They hear “your job might disappear.”
Adrian shared his own experience developing an AI receptionist product. “We see resistance from the dental teams across the board,” he said. “Their job description up until this point has been to answer the phone.”
The Incentive Misalignment Problem
There is another layer to this resistance that practice owners rarely consider. Team members paid by the hour have no incentive to work faster.
“Asking a team member who’s being paid by the hour is like, I don’t want to speed up any activity because it doesn’t incentivize me at all anyway,” Adrian explained. “I’m just going to be asked to do more with the amount of time that I have.”
If an AI handles all the voicemails, that front desk person doesn’t get to leave early. Nope! They just get assigned more tasks. From their perspective, learning a new system creates work without creating reward.
Laci was direct about what this signals.
“That’s maybe not the human being we want working in the next level practice,” she said. “We want people on the team who align with the passion, the mission, the excitement of doing the right thing for patients.”
Practices that successfully implement technology tend to be higher level operations with teams already aligned around patient care rather than clock watching. The technology adoption problem often reveals a deeper culture problem.
The Control Issue With Scheduling
One specific resistance point comes up constantly: automated scheduling.
“Team members, business team members are not going to like it when you ask AI to schedule appointments,” Laci warned. “That’s the biggest pushback.”
The objection sounds practical. Only a human understands which appointments can sit across from each other. Only someone who knows the doctor’s rhythm can schedule efficiently. The AI will mess it up.
But underneath the practical objection is something else entirely.
“It’s a control thing,” Laci said. “I can’t give up my schedule. I know what appointments go across from what appointments. I know how the doctor can skate from room to room.”
Laci speaks from experience. “[…] in the dental practice, we like to have control over the things that we’re responsible for. When an outside unknown entity is going to come in and take over some of that, that’s not a good feeling.”
The solution is to address this concern directly through conversation before the purchase ever happens.
The Implementation Specialist Model
Adrian shared a structural solution his own company adopted after he repeatedly failed at rolling out new technology to his teams.
“My business partner and my COO came to me and said, ‘All right, you’re not talking to the company anymore,'” Adrian laughed. “What we’re going to do is create a team of two or three people who will be the product development implementation team.”
The process works like this. The idea person investigates a new tool and builds the case for it. Then they hand it off to the implementation team, who researches every downstream effect: which roles change, which workflows break, which policies need updating. They spend a month or two thinking it through. They create documentation. Only then does it launch.
Laci confirmed this model works in dental practices too. She described a large oral surgery practice in Indiana with three locations building toward a fourth.
“We’ve seen so much greater success when you have the idea person and you have the implementation specialist,” she said. “People know, oh, I can go to Stacy if I’m feeling weird about this, if I’m not sure this is going to work.”
The key is that somebody owns the implementation. Somebody is accountable. Somebody tracks the 30, 60, and 90 day milestones.
| Role | Responsibility |
| Idea Person (Doctor) | Identifies technology, builds initial case |
| Implementation Specialist | Maps workflow changes, creates documentation, manages rollout |
| Team Members | Participate in demos, voice concerns, execute new processes |
The Correct Implementation Process
Laci laid out the full sequence for implementing any new dental technology correctly.
Step 1: Conversation before the purchase. The entire team discusses what problem needs solving and what the technology should accomplish.
Step 2: Team evaluation. Everyone sits down and asks how this will enhance their work, the practice, and the patient experience. What obstacles can they already see?
Step 3: Vendor demo with full team present. Not just the doctor. Everyone who will touch the technology needs to see it and ask questions.
Step 4: Post-demo discussion. Another conversation to process what they learned and voice remaining concerns.
Step 5: Assign an implementation owner. Someone takes responsibility for delivery dates, install dates, onboarding schedules, and who needs to be trained.
Step 6: 30-60-90 day check-ins. Structured reviews asking whether the technology is working as expected and what obstacles have emerged.
Step 7: Quarterly reviews. Ongoing assessment of whether the tool is delivering value or needs adjustment.
Step 8: Document everything. Each implementation teaches lessons that make the next one easier.
“By the time a couple of years rolls around, it’s not a big deal,” Laci said. “Let’s implement it.”
The Conversation That Actually Changes Things
Throughout the episode, Laci returned to one theme: you can do this without conflict through conversation.
“I say this all the time and I truly mean it,” she said. “Take a deep breath and say, ‘I’m just going to have a conversation with my team.’ The more you do that, the less it’s conflict and the less it’s uncomfortable.”
Teams need to understand why the doctor got into dentistry in the first place. They need to hear the passion behind the practice. When they understand that the owner took on massive debt and years of training because they genuinely want to help people, it changes how they answer the phone. It changes how they present treatment plans. It changes how they feel about technology that frees them to spend more time with patients.
“If you knew truly why they got into this profession and why they do what they do every day, it would help you answer the phone,” Laci said. “It would help you have conversations. It would help you feel comfortable.”
The technology will keep coming. Dental AI technology is not slowing down. The practices that thrive will be the ones that figure out how to talk about it before they buy it.
In This Episode:
Laci Phillips Newland
Laci Phillips Newland is a dental practice consultant who has worked in and around dentistry since 1992. She started as a chairside assistant and has spent her career helping practice owners and their teams bridge the gap between buying exciting technology and actually changing how the practice runs. She specializes in communication, change management, leadership development, and building systems that stick. Laci works with practices of all sizes and is known for her no-drama, conversation-first approach to building high-performing dental teams.
Adrian Lefler, CEO and Co-founder of My Social Practice
Adrian Lefler, CEO of My Social Practice, is a seasoned expert in the dental marketing industry with 14 years of experience. He is widely recognized for his engaging and informative presentations. Based in Suncrest, Utah, Adrian shares his life with his wife, four children, and a lively mix of pets. My Social Practice is a leading dental marketing company, and Adrian is passionate about helping dental professionals succeed in this dynamic field.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does dental technology fail after purchase?
Most dental technology fails because the team was never included in the decision and never told why the technology matters. Doctors often buy tools at conferences and hand them off to teams with unclear expectations. Without buy-in, training, and clear implementation timelines, even excellent software ends up unused.
How do I get my dental team to adopt new AI tools?
Start with a conversation before you purchase anything. Involve the team in evaluating the problem the technology solves. Let them participate in vendor demos and voice concerns. Assign an implementation specialist to own the rollout. Check in at 30, 60, and 90 days to address obstacles and celebrate wins.
Why do dental team members resist AI and automation?
Resistance typically stems from fear of job replacement, loss of control over responsibilities, and misaligned incentives. Team members paid hourly have no motivation to work faster since efficiency just means more tasks. Addressing these concerns directly through honest conversation reduces resistance significantly.
