Dr. Joel Small is a retired clinical endodontist, Board Certified Executive Leadership Coach, and entrepreneur. He earned his DDS and completed his endodontic residency at the University of Texas School of Dentistry in Houston, later receiving an MBA with a focus on healthcare management from Texas Tech University.
A graduate of the UT Dallas Executive Coaching program, Dr. Small also holds a Team Coaching Foundations Certification from the Global Team Coaching Institute. He has studied with the NeuroLeadership Institute and is trained in the neuroscience of Leadership and brain-based coaching.
Throughout his career, Dr. Small has been a dedicated leader within the American Association of Endodontists (AAE), serving as a trustee and national spokesperson. He is a past president of the Southwest Society of Endodontists, a nationally recognized speaker, and the author of Face to Face: A Leadership Guide for Healthcare Professionals and Entrepreneurs. Now retired from clinical practice, Dr. Small still maintains an active coaching practice while living in Golden, Colorado, with his wife, Brenda, where they enjoy hiking and fly fishing.
We help leaders amd teams look inward to uncover the beliefs, blind spots, and strengths shaping how they lead—bringing clarity, authenticity, and purpose to the practice.
The result is lasting change—stronger leadership, healthier teams, thriving practices, and more meaningful lives that ripple into families and communities.
How Heart, Soul, Mind, & Strength Combine For Powerful Leadership
People rarely seek leadership development because they want to be better leaders. They seek it because something hurts, something is breaking, or something they care about is at risk. Leadership development is the language they use to solve a deeper problem.
You will learn:
Building An Unstoppable Team
Culture is who we are and how we work together to achieve our purpose. This program will provide a framework of the four phases of culture that are inspirational, practical, and most importantly for the busy dentist, actionable.
You will learn:
Part One: The Fundamentals of Leadership and Culture
Part Two – Purpose-Driven Clinical Performance
Part Three – Purpose-Driven Business Performance
Dentists all over the United States are seeking a more rewarding and profitable way to practice. The New Patient Process is a critical strategy to help to make that change. Mastering the New Patient Process can serve as the primary vehicle for how to work with your patients and build high-trust relationships and influence from the start.
This seminar is designed to inform team members on how to make the new patient experience the wonderful experience it should always be. As we look at the New Patient Experience through the lens of 20 years of teaching Essentials One at The Pankey Institute, the participating members of your team will learn:
Effective communication is essential to success in a dental practice. Communication with your patients, within your team, with other practices, and in your practice building efforts with the public is foundational for peak performance and a healthy culture.
In this interactive lecture we will explore communication models, strategies, the structure of communication, the elements of story, the nature of influence, and what is required to ask powerful questions and listen with intention.
Your team will learn:
Part One: Direct Restorations
As a dental assistant, you have a unique opportunity to maximize your contribution to the practice. In this high-energy session, we’ll focus on essential skills that empower you in your role. These skills include the principles of bonding, composite resin materials, matrix systems, occlusion, esthetics, and polishing materials and techniques. We will use Class II composite as our model to build clinical knowledge, and we will expand to other types of composite bonding as well. You will leave this day with an expanded view of what is possible for you in your role as a chairside dental assistant, a leader in your practice, and an advocate for your patient.
Part Two: Indirect Restorations
In this dynamic session, we will delve into the intricacies of single crowns, using them as a model to build your clinical knowledge and skills. But that’s not all—we’ll also expand our focus to multiple crowns and veneers. We’ll dive into specific procedure skills, clinical preparation, and communication. Understanding the nuances of each step ensures seamless patient care and efficient teamwork. Effective communication and a commitment to excellence are your allies. Let’s elevate your role together!
In the dynamic landscape of restorative dentistry, where teeth may be missing, damaged, or misaligned, and occlusion can deteriorate, clinicians face unique challenges. Where do you start and how do you finish when your normal reference points are missing and your goal is to restore your patient to a result that is beautiful, stable, and healthy? This course delves into these questions and provides answers.
Part One – Esthetic Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
We begin the day with a lecture that covers the fundamentals of esthetics and function and their relationship to one another. These fundamentals will guide our detailed look at treatment planning and decision making in both the complex and simple cases that come your way.
You will gain a deeper understanding of:
Part Two – Functional Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
After exploring the esthetic considerations of diagnosis and treatment planning, we’ll delve into the functional and occlusal considerations of creating a beautiful and healthy smile. We’ll continue to discuss treatment decision-making to harmonize esthetics and function to achieve optimal stability and naturally beautiful results.
You will gain a deeper understanding of:
The most important person that you will ever lead is yourself. The most difficult person that you will ever lead is yourself. When you are attempting something great, you will encounter every barrier, every trial, every resistance possible—and the entire range of emotions that travel with them. Great leaders learn to manage their emotions, rather than letting their emotions manage them. When the butterflies show up, great leaders align them in formation and put them to work.
You were made for a purpose and equipped with everything that you need to live that life. It just needs to become crystal clear to you.
In this presentation we will begin with building self-awareness and understanding of why you do the things that you do. Next, we will examine the mindsets that determine your growth or limit your growth. Your mission is to tear down, destroy, climb over, or run past any barriers to becoming who it is that you were created to become.
You will learn:
Impactful education is the best way to support the teams that support you. We offer two high-impact, half-day workshops designed to shift your practice from transactional to transformational. As a practice owner, you can invite our coaches to speak to your team, and referral sources at no cost—our way of investing in your growth and long-term success.” We will be speaking to the referring practices of the host specialists. It is their gift to the practices that send them patients.
