Dr. Samson Liu Of SOHDental: 5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career As A Dentist
An Interview With Jake Frankel
There is no such thing as a perfect patient. Patient care is more important than the types of patients walking through the door.
Let all team members be patient advocates
Understand and embrace the importance of having great patient communication skills
There is no such thing as a perfect patient schedule
I’m not perfect, I make mistakes and take chances, I fail forward
As part of our series about healthcare leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Samson Liu.
Dr. Samson Liu, the author of Grit Your Teeth: Building a People-First Organization Through Tenacity and Purpose, is the founder of SOHDental, a national dental support organization that is purpose-driven, people-first focused, and legacy-minded. Before starting SOHDental, Dr. Liu was a veteran senior executive at Heartland Dental for more than 18 years. A frequent speaker, he has a dual master’s in business administration and corporate finance and a master’s in the Academy of General Dentistry.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! What is your “backstory”?
My family and I moved from Hong Kong to Canada when I was 12 so I grew up with a strong work ethic of nothing is handed to you, you have to earn it yourself. After graduating from the University of Toronto, I accepted a scholarship to Northwestern University in Chicago. It was there that both my personal and professional journey began. I met my wife in dental school, started my first job with Heartland Dental in 1999, and for 18 years was an integral part of Heartland Dental’s growth from 13 practices and $13 million in revenue in 1999 to 800 practices and ~$1.3 billion in revenue in 2017.
In mid-2018, I left Heartland Dental after its sale to KKR and started SOHDental, a dental partnership organization that is purpose-driven, people first and legacy minded. Many clinicians embraced this approach, and the organization grew rapidly to support over 48 practices in nine states in 2024.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
When I first started with Heartland Dental, I attended orientation and fell asleep right in front of the CEO during his presentation. Next thing I knew, I was dragged into his corner office like a high school student in the principal’s office. He proceeded to yell at me for several minutes, but he let me off the hook. I was so upset that I swore to myself I was going to become the best dentist he ever knew. Something just clicked from that point on; I turned my practice around completely. In two years I was able to turn it into the top-performing office within Heartland Dental. After achieving that milestone, I wrote a letter to the CEO recounting the story and we all had a good laugh. He became my mentor, and I became a partner of the company. That letter is still framed and hanging in his corner office to this day.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I first accepted the offer to work for Heartland Dental, they sent me to a rural practice in Springfield, Missouri. When I arrived and looked out the window, I gasped, “Holy cow!” Not because the practice was in bad shape, but because there were literally cows in my parking lot. Apparently, earlier in the day, the cows from a neighboring farm hopped over the fence and planted themselves in my parking lot!
Are you working on any new or exciting projects now?
We are actively exploring how to implement AI to increase the quality and efficiency of patient care. This can be broken down into three main areas, 1) Patient communications — appointment scheduling and confirmations, etc., 2) Revenue cycle — billing patients and collecting payments, verifying insurance and filing claims, and 3) Diagnosis and treatment planning — improving consistency and quality of clinicians’ diagnosis to enable patients to better understand and accept necessary treatment in a timely manner.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My father has always been a mentor figure to me. One of the biggest lessons my father taught me when I was young is that actions always speak louder than words. I used to be a typical rebellious teenager who complained about the bitter cold every winter when I commuted to school, which meant standing in freezing temperatures waiting for the bus every day. I would complain to my father constantly about the pain of standing in knee-deep snow hoping to hitch a ride. My father was understanding but grew visibly annoyed by my relentless badgering. About a year passed by, and one winter day as I approached the bus stop, a heated shelter appeared out of nowhere. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to let my father know about this recent development. When my father returned from work, I proceeded to describe the heated shelter to him. To my bewilderment, my father was calm and did not seem surprised at this miracle. He waited till I finished my story, then said to me, “I know son, because I helped put it there.” He continued, “While you were complaining about the cold, I decided to do something about it. I have been calling the TTC [Toronto Transit Commission] every day first thing in the morning when I arrive at work, and then again before I get off work, logging two petitions every day to build a heated shelter. After a year and over 500 petitions later, the TTC approved the petition and built the heated shelter.” I was shocked, and it taught me an important lesson about determination, although I might not have fully appreciated the lesson then. In time, though, this has been a cornerstone for me, along with the importance of having mentors.
Is there a particular book that made an impact on you? Can you share a story?
The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner. It was a gift given to me by a senior colleague when I first started my professional journey as a dentist. I brought it on my honeymoon and once I started, I couldn’t put it down. It was my first book on the subject of leadership. The information was powerful, practical and very applicable to a dental setting. I remembered wondering why they never bothered to teach us about leadership in my dental school. Afterwards, I became an avid reader, always looking for ideas to improve myself through books. If a book can offer one or two nuggets of wisdom, then it is worth the time to read it.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
My goal is to build a People First organization that treats people with respect, and not as commodities. I believe by fostering this People First culture in multiple dental practices within our organization, we will empower other doctors and team members to pay it forward to their patients, triggering an exponential impact on better patient access to care and better quality of oral care for all patients.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story about how that was relevant to you in your own life?
“Don’t wish it was easier; wish you were better” by Jim Rohn. It forces us to look in the mirror and take responsibility for our own actions. I have always embraced that motto in everything I do. When I started my company, SOHDental, in 2018, although I worked for a Dental Support Organization previously, I had never bought a practice myself. My team and I decided that if we were going to build a People First organization and partner with many dental practices in the future, we are going to not only have to learn the process but become masterful at it, or the company would not survive. We set out on the hardest journey of our lives, stumbling every step of the way. After our first full year we ended up with 25 dental practices. Not only did we succeed in learning how to buy a practice, we became masterful at it through lots of sweat and tears!
Can you share your top three “oral hygiene tweaks” that will help people look and feel great?
Everyone has a different definition and perception of what makes them look and feel great. Generally, healthy and white teeth are what most patients desire. Part of a dentist’s role is to seek to understand and deliver what each patient needs, desires and deserves. People should consult with their own dentists, strive to be open and honest about what they are looking for, and commit to following through with their treatment recommendations.
Ok thank you for all of that. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Successful Career As A Dentist” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
1) There is no such thing as a perfect patient. Patient care is more important than the types of patients walking through the door.
The most common dental school “brain damage” teachings are:
- Patient base is the most important, we should only make an effort to serve those that can afford treatment
- We know everything that there is to know right out of dental school
- We shouldn’t offer discounts or promotions to patients because we are professionals
The reality is that we are in this field to serve patients, not to serve ourselves. It is about them, not about us. Patients today also have a wide selection of providers to choose from. Don’t wait for the perfect patient, because the perfect patient is already in our chair right now!
2) Let all team members be patient advocates
I was never taught how to lead or delegate to team members in dental school and subsequently, did not do so in my first few years. I eventually learned from mentors and various books about the importance of leadership and empowerment. Nowadays, I delegate and empower as much as I am allowed to legally because it is important to:
- Create a culture where all team members are advocates. Allow them to give us candid feedback for the sake of the patient
- Give them freedom and flexibility to discuss the treatment and address concerns with the patient
- Let team members make mistakes, learn, and become better at what they do. Don’t delegate and disappear
Most importantly, praise team members as positive reinforcement is key. Team members want to know we care. It is the single best way to help others get better at what they do. Trust and verify, then coach. When I trust my team, efficiency goes up and the cost goes down.
3) Understand and embrace the importance of having great patient communication skills
My informal survey of multiple doctors who had early successes in the first five years of their careers all said they owe their success to their ongoing commitment in mastering patient communication skills. Why?
- It allows us to break through barriers quickly to build long-lasting trust with the patients sooner
- It enables us to really listen to our patients and their concerns resulting in more customized and successful treatment
- It fosters professional growth in team members from being assistants to patient advocates
Moreover, creating a standardized system to gather patient information and reviewing it beforehand is key to holding accountability and achieving desired results. I attribute the success of my practice to my implementation of communication systems and processes even more so than honing my clinical skills.
4) There is no such thing as a perfect patient schedule
Most dentists focus their entire careers in mastering the “perfect patient schedule” before finally realizing it does not exist. I did the same in my early years until I realized that:
- Behind every perfect schedule, there lies a lazy doctor and a lazy team. It fosters the belief that, “if we can build the perfect patient schedule, then we can just cruise the rest of the day and not put in any extra effort to deal with patient disruptions”
- The reality is that patient disruptions happen throughout the day and a constant focus is needed to manage it. (Tip: Use headsets to help better manage the day)
- A perfect patient schedule is equivalent to having a perfect game plan before the start of a football game, and then acting surprised when it is disrupted by the other team
The perfect game plan and the perfect patient schedule is the one where we deal with each disruption quickly and efficiently, then turn it into our advantage such as audibles and conversions. That is how we win a football game.
5) I’m not perfect, I make mistakes and take chances, I fail forward
After practicing a few years and reversing the “brain damage” from dental school, I recognized that I didn’t know everything there is to know about being a successful dentist. I set out to learn, to take chances and to make mistakes till I become better:
- In order to grow professionally and personally, the key is to accept the fact that we have to take calculated risks and correct our mistakes
- Build a strong support system around us; start by having a team of specialists to consult with and refer to, and having quality peer study groups and mentors to help us see our blind spots
- Be open, flexible, and positive. Try implementing new systems, new protocols, and new treatment modalities
Eventually I learned that practicing dentistry bears a lot of similarity to skiing. Initially, I have to fall down multiple times to get better. I would practice on the bunny slopes before moving on to green, blue, and eventually black diamond slopes. Failing forward is about having that courage to learn and grow from our failures.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I firmly believe the consolidation of dental practices will deliver the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people. That is because the traditional solo dentist approach is falling behind the times, both in terms of lack of quality control and lack of professional management.
In the traditional model of solo practitioner, the dentist is his/her own quality control. If the dentist thinks he/she does good work, there are no peer dentists to say otherwise. In addition, dentistry puts a lot of physical stress on the body. As a result, most dentists work four or fewer days per week, severely hampering patient access to care, especially in underserved areas. If the practice is part of a group, then there are peer-to-peer interactions to improve both quality of care and access to care.
Similarly in management of the practice, dental schools often do not teach students how to manage their practices up to standards expected by the public. After COVID-19, the increase in regulatory complexities and the cost of running a practice made it much less desirable for solo owners to continue ownership. The group practice model offers a scalable and cost-effective solution over solo practitioners in keeping costs down, along with professional management that enables the clinicians to pass on those savings and efficiencies to the patients.
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Thank you so much for these wonderful insights, and for the time you spent on this interview. We wish you continued success and good health!
