Most dental practices do not get into trouble because the doctor lacks clinical skill. They struggle when the wrong kind of outside help leads them to optimize the wrong things.

That is part of what makes the source of guidance so important. A strong coach or advisor does not exist to hand out motivation or generic advice. They help a practice see patterns earlier, ask better questions, and avoid mistakes that become expensive if they are allowed to compound.

There is a concept from Rory Sutherland’s book Alchemy called the “Doorman Fallacy,” and it has a lot of relevance for dental practice owners deciding where to turn for help.

The Story Behind the Fallacy

Imagine a five-star hotel hires a consulting firm to improve efficiency. The consultants survey the operation and notice the doorman. He costs forty thousand dollars a year. Their recommendation: install an automatic door and eliminate the position. On paper, it looks like a clear win.

But over time, the hotel starts to struggle.

The doorman was not just opening doors. He was greeting guests by name, identifying security issues before they escalated, helping with luggage, calling taxis, recognizing repeat customers, and quietly communicating important details to the team inside. The consultants optimized the visible task and completely missed the invisible value.

That is the Doorman Fallacy.

Where This Hits Home in Dentistry

When a consultant who does not truly understand dentistry walks into your practice, they tend to focus on what is easy to measure: production numbers, procedure speed, scheduling gaps, overhead percentages. These things matter. But they are only part of the picture.

A consultant working from a generic business framework may recommend cutting positions, reducing appointment times, or standardizing systems in ways that look efficient on a spreadsheet. They might push a bonus structure designed to drive production. They might focus on filling the schedule without understanding what fills it well.

But they can easily miss what actually drives a great practice.

They might not see:

• The front desk team member who builds genuine trust in the first thirty seconds of a phone call
• The assistant who calms an anxious patient without anyone else in the room noticing it happened
• The hygienist who builds patient loyalty through years of consistent, personalized conversations
• The small touches that turn a one-time patient into a lifelong advocate for the practice

A dental consultant who actually knows dentistry understands that these invisible pieces are often the most valuable parts of the business. They know what to protect, not just what to optimize.

Efficiency Matters. Context Matters More.

Numbers are not the enemy. Overhead matters. Production per hour matters. Collections percentage matters. But when those numbers are read without context, and when the person reading them does not understand what dentistry actually feels like from the inside, the recommendations that follow can do real damage.

The practices that grow well over the long term are not just well-optimized. They are well-understood. The best advisors know the difference between a team that is underperforming and a team that has simply never been set up to succeed. They know that case acceptance is not just a scripting problem. They know that patient experience is not just a front-desk problem.

They know dentistry.

What This Really Comes Down To

As you look for help improving your practice, consider where that help is coming from. A community like Dental Success Network is led by dentists who own and run dental practices. People who understand the invisible numbers. People who have sat in the same chair you are sitting in and made the same decisions you are trying to make. Schedule a free call today to see what DSN can do for you!

For dentists who want more personalized support, Dental Success Institute offers quarterly in-person meetings and coaching calls with a group that truly understands high-achievers and what it means to build the right practice for your life. These are people who know what your doorman is actually worth.

Efficiency matters. Numbers matter. But context matters more.

If you want to understand this idea at a deeper level, Rory Sutherland reads Alchemy himself in the audiobook version. It is well worth the time.

Be well and do well,

Addison Killen
DSN Owner and Co-Founder