September 25, 2025

Imagine your dental practice as a dynamic learning environment where challenges are met with curiosity instead of fear.

In a private dental practice with a small team, everyone plays a critical role in shaping the patient experience and culture. A growth mindset, the belief that skills and abilities can be developed with dedication, allows dentists and their team to thrive in an industry where techniques, technologies, and patient expectations constantly evolve.

Contrast this with a fixed mindset, where abilities are seen as static and mistakes are viewed as failures instead of opportunities to improve. In a small practice, a fixed mindset can be toxic. One staff member who avoids feedback or resists learning new systems can slow the entire team down. But when a growth mindset becomes the shared expectation, mistakes become stepping stones, feedback becomes normal, and every day brings the chance to get better for both staff and patients.

Hire for Mindset, Train for Skill

Recruitment is often seen as filling technical roles, but mindset is as important as skill in dentistry. Every hire in a small practice influences culture. Choosing a candidate who is adaptable, curious, and eager to learn will benefit the practice far longer than hiring someone with extensive experience but who resists new ways of doing things.

In a fixed mindset lens, the "perfect résumé" dominates decisions, assuming competence is already set in stone. However, a growth mindset approach prioritizes how a candidate handles struggle, whether they can adapt, and if they will contribute to a collaborative atmosphere. This matters for solo practice owners, where one rigid hire can derail culture far faster than in a larger office.

Team Activity: Interview Role Play

Have your team practice interviewing each other with growth mindset-style questions like "Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly." This will get your staff involved in shaping the culture and show them what traits matter when welcoming new teammates.

Onboarding that Sets the Tone

Onboarding should communicate more than just tasks and compliance. It should send a cultural message: Here, we value effort, curiosity, and teamwork. Assigning a buddy, providing a 30-, 60-, or 90-day roadmap, and encouraging every question frames the practice as a safe place to grow.

In a fixed-mindset environment, new hires quickly learn to hide uncertainty out of fear of looking incompetent. In a growth-oriented office, saying "I'm not confident yet" becomes a sign of honesty and commitment to progress. For practice owners, this distinction is critical. Employees who feel safe to learn quickly contribute more, while those silenced by fear stagnate.

Team Activity: Storytelling Session

At the end of a new hire's first week, hold a short huddle where each team member shares one story of a time they learned something through struggle. This normalizes vulnerability and establishes that learning is valued more than perfection.

Continuous Learning as a Habit

Dentistry is constantly advancing, and staying stagnant is not an option. Growth mindset culture thrives when learning is part of the weekly rhythm. Lunch and learns, peer skill swaps, and micro debriefs normalize the idea that everyone is continually improving.

Fixed-mindset teams often avoid new technology or resist training, saying, "That's not how we've always done it." Growth-mindset teams approach these same changes with curiosity, seeing them as a way to enhance patient care and make work more rewarding. For dentists, the payoff is obvious; adaptability strengthens the team and positions the practice competitively.

Team Activities

• Skill Swap Mini Workshop: Each quarter, one team member teaches a short lesson on a skill they excel at.
  
  
• Lunch and Learn Series: Rotate topics monthly, alternating between clinical updates and soft skill training.
  
  
• Micro Debriefs: After a challenging procedure, spend five minutes asking, "What worked? What should we adjust next time?"
  
  

Communication That Builds Trust

Clear, honest communication is the backbone of a growth-oriented culture. Daily huddles and open dialogue keep the team aligned. When mistakes happen, the growth mindset response is, "What can we learn and change for next time?" In fixed-mindset teams, the response often leans toward blame or silence, which breeds fear and inefficiency.

Building this open communication loop matters because even minor missteps in a dental office, like an incomplete tray setup or a scheduling miscue, can throw off the day. A team that views issues as collective learning opportunities will recover faster and avoid repeating them.

Team Activity: Role Reversal Exercise

Have staff role-play different positions in the practice, such as assistants as patients, the front desk as the hygienist, and so on. This builds empathy and helps everyone appreciate the challenges each role faces.

Feedback and Improvement as a Way of Life

Feedback is oxygen for growth. In a growth mindset culture, feedback is frequent, specific, and seen as coaching. Staff members know they are being supported in their improvement. Leaders also ask for feedback, showing humility and reinforcing that learning applies to everyone.

In a fixed-mindset office, feedback is rare or threatening, often delivered only as criticism. Employees fear being judged, so they avoid risks and hide mistakes. For a private practice owner, this difference determines whether minor issues get addressed early or snowball into recurring frustrations.

Team Activities:

• Feedback Circle: Each quarter, sit together and have each person share one strength they see in a teammate and one suggestion for improvement.
  
  
• Fail Forward Wall: Use a whiteboard where staff post small mistakes and what they learned. When leaders add to it, the message is clear: mistakes are part of growth.
  
  

Lead with the Growth Mindset You Want

As the dentist owner, your behavior sets the standard. Owning mistakes, modeling curiosity, and delegating meaningful responsibilities tell your team that growth is expected at every level. In contrast, a fixed mindset leader projects infallibility, avoids admitting errors, and discourages input, which chokes innovation.

For a small practice, leadership by example is magnified. Staff mirror your approach. If you embrace change and learning, so will they. The team follows suit if you shut down feedback or resist new approaches.

Team Activity: Shared Learning Log

Keep a notebook or digital document where each team member records one thing they learned that week. Share highlights in huddles. It reinforces that everyone, from the dentist to the front desk, is always learning.

Team Meetings and Growth Activities

Regular meetings can either energize a team or drain it. In growth mindset cultures, meetings become spaces for reflection, goal setting, and shared teaching. Staff share wins, discuss lessons learned, and set actionable goals. Over time, this routine cements learning as part of daily life. For private dental practices, meetings built around growth keep small teams aligned, motivated, and resilient in the face of daily pressures.

Fixed-mindset meetings, if they happen at all, are often top-down and focus only on problems.

Team Activities:

• Failure Résumé: Each team member lists one past failure and a lesson learned. Share one during a meeting to normalize learning from setbacks.
  
  
• Goal-setting Workshop: Have each person set one short-term and one long-term professional goal. Share aloud for accountability and support.
  
  
• Kudos Round: End every meeting by having each person give kudos to another teammate for effort or improvement.
  
  

Recognition that Reinforces Growth

Recognition is powerful when tied to effort and improvement. In a growth mindset culture, praise focuses on persistence, collaboration, and learning curves. Recognition shows the team that progress matters more than perfection.

Fixed mindset cultures overemphasize natural talent or flawless results. This creates pressure to appear perfect and discourages effort when outcomes are uncertain. For solo dentists, shifting recognition to process and growth ensures long-term staff motivation and reduces turnover.

Team Activity: Culture Champion Award

Create a rotating award, something fun and visible, that is passed each month to the team member who best demonstrated persistence or learning. Keep it lighthearted but meaningful. Trophies are always fun!

The contrast is stark. A practice with a fixed mindset avoids risks, fears mistakes, and eventually stagnates. A practice with a growth mindset embraces challenges, treats mistakes as lessons, and consistently improves patient care and team performance.

For dentists, this distinction is not theoretical. It directly impacts efficiency, patient satisfaction, staff morale, and long-term viability. In a field where change is constant, only practices with a growth mindset culture will adapt and thrive.

The message is simple but powerful: a growth mindset is not just a philosophy but the engine that sustains your practice. Choose it daily, model it consistently, and your team and patients will feel the difference.

Not sure where to start? Contact us today!

References

Dweck, Carol. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books, 2007.

Gallo, Carmine. “5 Signs You’re Hiring People With Growth Mindsets.” Inc.com, August 29, 2023.

“Hire People for Their Mindset, Not Their Pedigrees.” ScaleHR, 2023.

Kern, Jeanette, DDS. “10 Ways to Create a Team Culture of Success in Your Dental Practice.” Dental Economics, September 1, 2022.

“How to Use a Growth Mindset at Your Dental Practice.” Apex Reimbursement Specialists, January 22, 2024.

“6 Things Growing a Dental Team Teaches You About Leadership.” American Orthodontic Society, July 23, 2025.

“5 Growth Mindset Team Building Activities to Strengthen Your Business.” Select Training, October 23, 2024.

“8 Steps to Achieve a Growth Mindset in Your Team.” Insights Blog, 2021.

“5 Strategies for Building Company Culture with Your New Hires.” BambooHR Blog, 2022.