10 min read

Why Some Dentists Put on a Show & Hide the Truth Behind Success

Picture of Four Quadrants Advisory Four Quadrants Advisory Updated on August 7, 2026

psychology

Why Some Dentists Put on a Show & Hide the Truth Behind Success

Casey and Jarrod dive into the psychology of dental practice owners and why some feel the need to “perform” in group settings. From flashy hobbies to multiple locations, they explore the reasons behind the showmanship and what it really says about finances and mindset.

In this episode, they uncover the truth behind surface-level success, imposter syndrome, and the pressure to keep up with peers. Listen as they share insights, real-world stories, and practical takeaways for running a confident, profitable, and stress-free practice.

Announcer:
Hello everyone. Welcome to The Millionaire Dentist Podcast, brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work.

Casey Hiers:
Hello and welcome. This is Casey Hiers, back at The Millionaire Dentist Podcast, in studio with co-host Jarrod Bridgeman.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Casey, how are you?

Casey Hiers:
Man, last time we talked, you had a different number before your age.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I did. I turned 40 recently, which is gross.

Casey Hiers:
That's a big one.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's a big one. I'm like, "Wow. You think I'd be an adult?"

Casey Hiers:
Welcome to the 40s, jerk.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right. It's pretty soon I'm going to be getting my AARP mail in. I'm getting ready for that.

Casey Hiers:
Enjoy every age, because it's only going to get worse.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right, right. Casey, you recently got back into town from Houston. You spoke and hosted an event out there. Why don't you run me through how that turned out for you?

Casey Hiers:
I've heard Houston called the Armpit of Texas, and I'm not sure that's true. It was lovely. It was a nice little trip, man.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I'd like to go sometime. I've been to Dallas and I've been to Austin, but I've heard some great things about Houston. Good food.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, downtown was clean, and I mean, for us, we stayed at a decent hotel. Venues we're at are solid.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
They have a Super in front of the 8.

Casey Hiers:
The old motel.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right. Listen, Casey, when you do these events, and we had quite a great turnout for this, a lot of people out there hungry for advice on what to do with their practice finances or personal finances, how that ties into everything. Before you get started, especially this one, this was like a bourbon cocktail, kind of a tasting event. I'm sure there's a lot of dentists and peers talking with each other and having a good time, and just communicating with each other. What's something you notice when you're floating around the room, taking everything in?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, good question. And for our tasting events, those who do not want to partake in tasting bourbon, that's not a requirement by any means.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
No. There's food there too.

Casey Hiers:
Lots of good food.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And they have water.

Casey Hiers:
That's right. That's right. No, it's a good question. We've touched on this before, but going to hosting our own CE events and then also attending national and regional meetings, it's very common for practice owners when they get together, they're excited right there, they're not needed by their patients or their staff. They, actually, can take a breath and enjoy being around peers. Now-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And it's nice for them too, to be able to talk about things to people who also understand a lot of the same problems.

Casey Hiers:
Very good point. So they take that deep breath, and they talk about their team or their staff or patients or insurance, or challenging cases. That's typically where they go, and they enjoy those. But I will say there's a degree of posturing within those events as well. And I'll hear people talking one way amongst their peers, and then when we have one-on-one conversations, they'll get into cash flow, tax management, lack of income, uncertainty, and retirement.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
So in these group dynamics, when you hear them talking or any of them complaining about the amount of money they make, do they bring that up, or is it like, are they saying, "Oh man, I'm terrible. I could be doing so much more."

Casey Hiers:
What I've noticed is, there's sort of a couple different groups. There's the quiet people, there's the people that want to complain about staff or talk about dentistry, but then, man, there's some of those. They get into horses and aviation and multiple practices and multiple locations and all the technology and EBITDA, and what's their latest crypto transaction. And it reminds me of just cocktail party talk. Everybody's at a cocktail party being the best version of themselves. And so I'll hear that-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You want people to like you. You want that girl to wink at you.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. And some of the best people, they're not talking, but I hear more and more, it's almost like a distraction. They don't want to talk about all the insurances they take. They don't want to talk about their high overhead. It's easier to talk about horses and aviation and-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right. And that's high points.

Casey Hiers:
... four locations, and there's nothing wrong with those things. We have clients that enjoy those things the right way because they have plenty of money to do it. It's funny when I talk to those people and we look at their data, and it's like, "Wow." So they don't have much going for them except these things, which is what their identity is. It is almost yours.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
So, why do you think they kind of dive into that, stick to more of their high points instead of... I mean, obviously you're not going to be like, "Dude, I have so many horses, but I can't afford rent."

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. The why, right? I think that I don't have to speculate. Dentists and specialists tell me, dentistry isn't quite what I thought it was going to be. I envisioned a certain lifestyle, and I'm living that lifestyle, but I'm not very... I'm a house of cards right now. I feel like I'm living month to month, even though I have all the nice things. And it's almost like a disappointment. They almost feel frustrated. And again, these are successful people with a few million bucks in the bank, and they might be making three or 400,000, but they're extending and overextending themselves because dentistry, what it's provided, is good but not quite as much as they thought. So they're filling that void with the shot of adrenaline of buying the next cool thing.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It kind of makes me think about NFL or NBA stars who first sign on, and the first thing they do is turn around and buy a multimillion-dollar home for themselves or for their mom.

Casey Hiers:
Well, I mean, NFL, it's documented like 79% of NFL players go bankrupt, and-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's before the brain damage.

Casey Hiers:
I mean, I think dentistry's a little different.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I think part of the psychosis really is, for some of these people is, breaking it down to, "Does it feel better to you to pretend to have everything going okay or actually have everything going okay?" Right. I mean, you can have that surface-level thing, but are you in the back of your mind actually, wanting to fix the situation? Do you want to be that guy who's got everything ready to go, or are you acting?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, and again, there's nothing wrong with these things, but it's doing it the right way. And I think one point I want to get across is, and we've said it before, there's a way to be sexy, be boring. You have your $1.2 million practice, you make 500, you save a hundred, you're on track for 12 million, and you can have a lot of freedom. But again, I think so many practice owners, they get into huge practices in multiple locations and all the technologies, and it's a look at me lifestyle, but their actual financial situation is hollow. It's a house of cards.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Would it be like surface rich too? It's that guy who wants to buy the $400 designer T-shirt.

Casey Hiers:
Man.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Just to make it look like he's got money.

Casey Hiers:
$400 T-shirt, that's terrible. No, I think that's why our event is so nice is because ultimately, we get into these topics, and everybody's pretty vulnerable and pretty real, and pretty... I mean, listen, we talk to people who already make $700,000 in dentistry. Well, why aren't you making a million? Because your practice should warrant that. And they don't know the answer, and they're willing to find out.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, and what's so great about being one of our clients and talking to us is, we are cool with your hobbies. We just want to help you find a way to make it work.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. We have clients that live a very simple life and they don't spend much money. We have clients who have very expensive hobbies. We are custom. We will help people get where they want to go. What they have in common is, they don't want to waste their practice, their skills, their talents. Wasting it makes people frustrated. That's a good common denominator, but just like people used to call each other posers back in the day.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You're a poser.

Casey Hiers:
Unfortunately, it's the imposter syndrome. You're a doctor, you're a dentist, you're a specialist, and you're making a lot, but you're spending more than you're making in your [inaudible 00:08:23]. The finances are trash, and so they lead with the look at me stuff when, in reality, some of the wealthiest dentists I know, that's not how they communicate because they're already confident in themselves, but ultimately, it's how do you know? That's a big framework of our events. How do you know if you're maximizing the profitability? And there's not one answer, but a lot of people come to us and they want to know. A lot of people want that affirmation, and we'll look at something and go, "Yeah, you're doing fine."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
There's lots of different answers, but we'll find it out.

Casey Hiers:
But it's fine. Good enough. I think that's important too. For some people, it is. And that's certainly okay.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right. If you're happy with what you've got, more power to you.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. The technology aspect too, in dentistry, so many people, they want to keep up with all their peers/competitors down the street, and so they'll get all the latest equipment, and they really advertise it for all the same-day things. And that's good if you have a profitable practice and if you utilize that. But if you're an insurance shop and you're already taking an $800,000 a year haircut on insurance, yeah, you have the best equipment, the best turnaround time, you can trend that out five years, and you're losing a lot of money.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Casey, let me ask you. These folks who often at these events and cocktail parties and all that, the ones that do tend to stand out by trying to be a little flashier and kind of talking about their successes more, do you find that they tend to open up quicker? When you catch them off to the side? Are they more likely to be like, "Oh, shit. That was..."?

Casey Hiers:
No. I would say, in our process, what do we say? We have six steps and a whole bunch of things. But yeah, a lot of times the first step and a half, it's fluff, but ultimately we get down to it real quick or we just stop talking. But no, a lot of times, this is hard. These are things that people, they've been successful their whole life, so not being able to figure out lowering overhead, and bettering their income, and having cashflow, but they're frustrated. And so there's shame involved. There's guilt involved. There's a lot of these things that keep people from talking about it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And money is not an easy subject in general.

Casey Hiers:
No.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I don't find.

Casey Hiers:
No, nobody can counter. I've got a McLaren, I've got a jet, I've got a horse farm. That's great. If your deal's big leaking everybody. Now, the people we know with those things don't lead with them. They're good people. They work hard.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Now, they may be towing their horse trailer with the McLaren with them. That's fine.

Casey Hiers:
No, I mean, the people we know with those things that they're great people, they've worked hard and done it the right way, got out of their own way, and put themselves in a position where, you want that? Yep, you can have that because you have done it the right way, and it's what's ego cost you. Right? So let's get back to that. At the cocktail party, everybody wants to sound good and feel good, and so they're talking about all this stuff. If you get your ego out of the way, and you run your practice the right way, and you have a good team to help you, you put yourself in a position real quick to be able to decide what color of said thing do you want.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And be set for retirement, for what we have.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. It's not going to wreck your retirement. We talked to so many people that they'll have this thing or this dream, and it's a shot of adrenaline, is what it is. And materialism never fills the void. But they want that shot of adrenaline, so they're going to screw up cashflow and retirement and legacy to get the thing, and then they get the thing and it sets them back, and it's this whole cycle.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And then you need the next cool thing.

Casey Hiers:
The next shot of adrenaline.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep.

Casey Hiers:
There's a movie called Neighbors, where Zac Efron has a fraternity house, and next door, it's a newlywed couple with a small baby, Seth Rogen in it, but the friends of theirs, they're a disaster marriage. And so their idea is, "Well, our marriage is almost on a disaster. Let's have a kid that'll fix it." "Let's have a kid that'll fix it." Are you kidding me? But so many practice owners are like, "Well, I'm just going to buy this thing and it's going to fix it."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. I'm going to buy another practice. Or I'm going right there.

Casey Hiers:
That's it. You know what? I'm going to go talk to a practice broker because they're going to make me feel good about how great I am to go buy another practice.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep. Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
It's, again, distractions and cocktail party talk.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Listen, if you want to come and distract Casey, do you know where you're going to be next? Do you know where our next event is? You're going to be in Charlotte, buddy, on September 20th and 21st.

Casey Hiers:
It's a busy week. We've got a dental society in the state of New York, and then a little Charlotte action.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep. Little Charlotte action, and then in October, we're going to be in Chicago-Naperville area, doing another bourbon tasting and CE event. Again, if you are not a drinker, you don't want to drink, you don't have to. This is-

Casey Hiers:
That's a Gibson Steakhouse. You can get a great filet and some Coke, and a smile there.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I'll be there. I'll be coming. And so keep an eye out. Go to fourquadrantsadvisory.com/events. If you have not subscribed to our podcast, you can always do that on the site as well. Please give us a review and give us a like, and it always helps us out. And if you know another buddy out there who owns a practice, maybe doesn't, just wanting to, and is looking for some good advice, turn them onto our podcast. Thanks so much, Casey.

Announcer:
That's all the time we have today. Thank you to our guests for their insight and for sharing some really great information. And thank you to you, the listener, for tuning in. The Millionaire Dentist Podcast is brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. To see if they might be a good fit for you and your practice. Go on over to fourquadrantsadvisory.com and see why, year after year, they retain over 95% of their clients. Thank you again for joining us, and we'll see you next time.