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Show Notes

Most dental sleep courses are built for sleep-only practices. So when a general dentist tries to copy that model, the workflow buckles, the team stalls, claims get denied, and less than 5% ever make it off the starting line.

Dr. Erin Elliott runs a thriving general practice and treats a lot of sleep. In this episode, she and Jason Tierney get into what actually works when you want to do both, and why the way most dentists start almost guarantees they’ll quit.

Her first year? Three appliances. Then she stopped forcing the sleep-only playbook and built a process that fit a general practice. She talks through the long runway it takes, why leading with insurance is a trap, and how she went from three cases a year to blocking off whole days for sleep.

The turning point wasn’t a system or a billing hack. It was getting out of her own way and handing the program to a sleep champion who owned it, plus a hard look at the small early mistakes that were quietly killing case acceptance.

If you want to treat more sleep patients without going all-in on sleep, this one’s for you. And if you’re weighing full-time sleep, you’ll hear the other side of that argument too.

What’s on the Menu

• Why less than 5% of practices ever get their sleep program off the ground
• The one thing to stop leading with, and what to lead with instead
• Building a workflow that fits general dentistry instead of fighting it
• The hire that changes everything, and where to find them
• The early mistake that was quietly killing her case acceptance
• Reading a sleep study so the patient has the light-bulb moment
• When medical insurance actually belongs in the picture

A Few Threads You’ll Hear

Give it a long runway. Sleep isn’t a graft class you implement the Monday after. Dr. Elliott explains why the practices that quit almost always quit right before it clicks.

Lead with value, not insurance. An oral appliance can look like a piece of plastic or like a life back. The difference is entirely in how the conversation is run, and that’s a soft skill most dentists were never taught.

Make it team-led. The dentist can’t be in every op at once. Hear how she got hygienists, assistants, and the front desk speaking about sleep with real confidence, starting with the team’s own families in the chair.

Find your sleep champion. The single biggest unlock in her practice, usually someone promoted from within, given autonomy and the freedom to fail.

Resources & Links

• Dr. Erin Elliott — speaker, educator, and dental sleep bio: erinelliottdds.com
• Sleep Apnea Implementation Course (Dr. Elliott’s hands-on training, via 3D Dentists): 3d-dentists.com/courses/sleep-apnea-implementation
• Dr. Tarun “T-Bone” Agarwal / 3D Dentists — credited for the “don’t give away sleep studies” lesson, and a future guest: 3d-dentists.com
• Episode 18 with Dr. Mark Murphy — the communication and body-language conversation Dr. Elliott references: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1UiyHJMcTBgwMJ2rnwZCTA?si=6465280bef01484d

The Big Idea

You don’t need a sleep-only practice to change lives. You need a reason to help, a realistic runway, and a team that owns it.

Even three to five cases a month is a handful of people who sleep better, and who tell everyone they know.

Dr. Elliott’s challenge to every dentist on the fence: if not us, who?

Press play.