THE RESEARCH SAYS
StrongEP.17
Is Single-Visit Endo as Successful as Multi-Visit?
A 47-trial Cochrane review (2022) finds single-visit root canal treatment heals as well as multi-visit, with a bit more first-week pain.
Sep 8, 2026 · 10 min
Ryan Smith, DDS
Build a practice that runs without you.
Dentist, multi-practice owner, author & educator
I’m Ryan Smith, DDS. I’ve owned and managed more than 20 dental practices. Now I share the lessons through videos, books and practical education for dentists, and work with dental brands that fit that mission.
Free scorecard: ten questions, about three minutes.
YouTube subscribers
100K+Plus tens of thousands of followers across other social platforms.The record
20+Practices owned & managed
7×Production growth on the first turnaround
4Companies founded outside the operatory
100K+YouTube subscribers
Every figure here is on the About page and in the articles. The turnaround is one practice, told in full; the benchmarks the course teaches are targets and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Watch
The channel, every week.
Join 100,000+ subscribers for videos on the business of dentistry, each paired with an article that goes deeper.
Leadership Lessons From Running 16 Dental Practices
Video · read the article, 4 min
PPOs: Stay In or Drop Out? A Dentist’s Real-Numbers Breakdown
Video · read the article, 4 min
5 Systems That Make Your Dental Office Run Itself
Video · read the article, 4 min
The Dental Grind
How a practice actually works, every Monday.
My free newsletter and podcast for dental students, associates and new owners. One part of the practice each week with real numbers, the week in dentistry with my take, and one thing to do. About five minutes to read.
Get it free (opens grind.dental)
Free, every Monday. You sign up on grind.dental, the newsletter’s own site. Unsubscribe in one click.
What’s in each issue →Latest: Your crown fee isn't the problem. Your speed is. · Oct 19, 2026 (opens grind.dental)
Work with me
Three ways in, depending on where the practice is.
A course if you want the whole system and will do the work. Coaching if you want it done on your numbers with me in the room. A partnership if you want to own a practice and not carry all of it alone.
Coming next
Tell me whenA course for buying your first practice, a peer group and two books.
Practice Acquisition course, Business Mastery Group, You’re the Dentist Now (book), Buy the Practice, Not the Problems (book). One list, one email when each opens.
The problem
“You cannot out-produce a leadership void.”
Most dentists are stuck in the operator trap: working in the practice, putting out fires, instead of on it. The way out is not working harder or adding another column to the schedule. It is building an operating system the practice runs on, so the business holds itself up whether or not you are standing in it.
The story
“We dropped Medicaid (more than 70% of the patient base), and production grew instead of collapsing.”
I joined my father’s Medicaid-based practice out of school and found out fast that excellent dentistry does not guarantee a healthy business. That practice ended up at seven times its original production, and it taught me what systems are actually worth.
- Owned and managed 20+ dental practices
- Founder of a multi-location dental assisting school, a dental supply company and a dental lab
- Grew an inherited Medicaid practice to 7× its original production
- Real estate across commercial, medical, short-term rental and land development
Insights
Written for owners, not for algorithms.
145 articles on management, profitability, acquisitions and clinical efficiency. No theory I have not used myself.
Resource library
Take the documents with you.
15 checklists, worksheets, scripts and letters pulled straight from the articles, plus a printable protocol card for every Research Says episode. Your name and email once, and all of it is open.
For dental brands, products and services
If you sell to dentists, I want to work with you.
Sponsored videos, newsletter and social sponsorships, product reviews, ambassador roles, speaking and advisory, from a dentist who has been your customer more than twenty times over.
Next step
Ready to build a practice worth owning?
Tell me where you are and what you are trying to fix. I read every message and reply personally, usually within 48 hours.