Kick off AADOM27 with an inspiring opening day of education designed to set the tone for an unforgettable conference experience.
Brenda J. McNulty | ALL Levels
Joanne Miles | ALL Levels
Katherine Eitel Belt | ALL Levels
Tito Albino | ALL Levels
Opening Keynote
Adrianne Haslet
Ballroom Dancer | Amputee & Survivor of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings | Motivational Speaker
Adrianne Haslet’s story is nothing short of extraordinary. A seasoned professional ballroom dancer at the peak of her career, Adrianne's life was forever changed when she survived the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, losing her left leg in the attack. With an unwavering spirit and fierce determination, she met this challenge head-on and rose from the ashes of tragedy, embodying the Boston Strong mentality.
From dancing full-time to navigating a completely new life, Adrianne quickly adapted and found new ways to redefine herself. Her emotional honesty and resilience have made her an international beacon of strength, earning her appearances in major media outlets, including the cover of People, Sports Illustrated, Time, and a Super Bowl commercial with her friend, Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz.
Adrianne's commitment to using her platform to advocate for others has led to countless opportunities to share her message globally. She has spoken alongside notable figures such as then-Vice President Joe Biden, President Bill Clinton, and the President of Nepal. Her debut TED Talk captivated over 18.5 million views, and she has delivered commencement addresses at prestigious institutions like Baylor College of Medicine, Curry College, and Worcester State University. She has received two honorary doctorates for her efforts to inspire and enact change.
Her story has resonated deeply with so many, and she has been honored with numerous accolades, being named one of Cosmopolitan's Most Powerful Women and one of Bing's Most Inspirational Women. Her courage and leadership have also earned her recognition from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which honored her at the Kennedy Center for her work speaking out against terrorism, anti-Semitism, and hate. Adrianne’s campaign efforts to overturn the ‘one leg a lifetime’ law in New York and fight Medicare’s proposed prosthetic coverage cuts further underscore her advocacy for underserved communities. Her documentary, The Survivor Diaries, created with Anderson Cooper, shares the raw realities of her first year as an amputee, offering a window into her transformative journey. Along with recently accepting a permanent part time teaching position at Tufts Medical School teaching Perspectives in Medicine. The dean said ‘not one physician graduating from our medical school should graduate without studying your story of resilience.”
Adrianne has gone on to compete professionally in multiple Boston Marathons, most recently securing 4th place in the inaugural division for blade runners - an achievement she fought hard for, advocating for six years to create that division. Just two months later, she took home the win at the B.A.A. 10k. Her athletic journey speaks to her unyielding spirit to push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Adrianne’s most recent project, starring in the IMAX film The Heart of New England, is yet another milestone in her remarkable career. Through it all, Adrianne’s mantra remains steadfast: "I refuse to be called a victim. A victim is defined by something that happened in their life. I am a survivor, defined by how I live my life." This statement echoes her ability to overcome adversity and serves as a beacon of light to those facing dark challenges in their own lives.
Stop Carrying The Practice Alone
Brandy Trout, DSL
From Good To Grace Training & Development
The most capable dental practice managers often become the people everyone depends on. They answer the questions, solve the problems, connect the departments, follow up on unfinished tasks, and step in whenever something falls through the cracks. What initially feels like effective leadership can eventually create an unintended consequence: a practice that struggles to function without the manager constantly holding everything together.
This interactive session challenges the idea that strong leadership means carrying more. Attendees will explore how habitual rescuing, unclear roles, underdeveloped leaders, and inconsistent systems can create leadership bottlenecks and team dependency.
Using the Carrying Audit™, participants will evaluate responsibilities through four practical lenses: ME, LEADER, TEAM, and SYSTEM. They will identify what truly requires their leadership, what can be owned by another leader, what the team can appropriately own, and what should be supported by a repeatable system rather than human memory.
Drawing from nearly 15 years of multi-location dental leadership experience and doctoral research examining strategic leadership, employee engagement, and retention, this course connects practical leadership behaviors with the organizational structures that help teams thrive.
Attendees will leave with strategies for transferring responsibility without sacrificing accountability and a 30-day action plan for reducing a leadership bottleneck and increasing ownership within their practice.
Learning Objectives
- Identify leadership behaviors and organizational gaps that create manager dependency and bottlenecks.
- Categorize responsibilities using the Carrying Audit™: ME, LEADER, TEAM, or SYSTEM.
- Apply role clarity and accountability strategies when transferring responsibility.
- Develop a 30-day plan to reduce one leadership bottleneck and increase team ownership.
Speaker
Brandy Trout, DSL
From Good To Grace Training & Development
Dr. Brandy Trout is an educator, speaker, author, and dental practice executive with 17+ years of experience leading teams within a multi-location dental organization. She holds a Doctor of Strategic Leadership and is a Kolbe Certified™ Consultant, Maxwell-certified speaker, and MAADOM. Her doctoral research explored how strategic leadership practices influence employee engagement and retention in healthcare organizations. Brandy is founder of From Good To Grace Training & Development and author of The Conference Companion and Grace Over Perfection. Through practical frameworks, research-informed strategies, and real-world experience, she helps leaders build stronger teams, create accountability, and lead with greater intention. FromGoodToGrace.com
It Makes Perfect Sense! — Creating an Unforgettable Patient Experience Through the Five Senses
Brenda J. McNulty
DSO FACTS and Root and Vine Specialty Dental Consulting
Our patients are forming an opinion of your practice before anyone ever picks up an instrument. What do they see when they walk through the door? What do they hear while sitting in your reception area? What does your office smell like? What do they taste, touch, and most importantly—how does the entire experience make them feel?
In this fun, interactive session, we'll explore the patient experience through five familiar senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Attendees will learn how seemingly small details can influence a patient's perception of the practice, their comfort level, their trust in the team, and whether they ultimately become a loyal patient who refers others.
We'll walk through the patient journey from the moment they arrive in the parking lot through check-in, the reception area, the clinical experience, financial conversations, and check-out. You'll begin seeing your practice through your patients' eyes and discover details your team may have stopped noticing simply because you see them every day.
Is your reception area welcoming or cluttered? What conversations can patients overhear? Does your office have a distinctive smell? Is the temperature comfortable? Could a soft blanket, beverage, warm towel, lip balm, music, or another thoughtful touch turn an ordinary appointment into a memorable experience?
Attendees will participate in a Five-Sense Patient Experience Audit and learn how to conduct the same exercise with their own teams. You'll identify opportunities to make meaningful improvements without assuming that creating an exceptional experience requires an expensive remodel or luxury amenities.
You'll leave with a fresh perspective, practical ideas, and a framework you can immediately use to evaluate and improve your own patient journey. Because patients may not remember every detail of their appointment, but they will remember how your practice made them feel.
It just makes perfect sense!
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the patient journey through sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Recognize how small environmental details influence patient comfort, trust, and perception of care.
- Conduct a Five-Sense Patient Experience Audit within their own practice.
- Implement simple, practical changes that create memorable experiences, strengthen patient loyalty, and encourage referrals.
Speaker
Brenda J. McNulty
DSO FACTS and Root and Vine Specialty Dental Consulting
Brenda McNulty is a nationally sought-after dental consultant, speaker, and owner of DSO FACTS and Root and Vine Specialty Dental Consulting. With more than 33 years of experience in clinical and business operations, she helps practices build stronger systems, develop confident leaders, and create cultures of accountability. Brenda is known for blending practical strategies, humor, and real-world experience into engaging sessions that inspire immediate action. She has presented at major dental conferences nationwide, is a 2026 Denobi award winner for her outstanding contributions in the field of dentistry and is the author of Smile On.
When a Good Day Goes Bad — A Disaster Planning Workshop
Debi Carr
DK Carr and Associates LLC
A disaster rarely follows a planned script. Emergencies can interupt patient care, disable technology, and cause harm to team members and the practice. HIPAA requires all practices have a disaster plan.
This mini workshop places attendees inside a rapidly changing emergency and asks them to make decisions that protects, patients, team and the practice. The exercise will help attendees create a practical and clearly understood plan to meet 45 CFR 164.308(a)(7).
Learning Objectives
- Review HIPAA Disaster and Contingency Planning requirement.
- Gain understanding on how to create and implement a disaster plan.
- Learn how to identify gaps in the practice's current plan and steps for improvements.
Speaker
Debi Carr
DK Carr and Associates LLC
Debi Carr is recognized as a leader in Cyber Security and Compliance, a Speaker and a Consultant. Having over 30 years in healthcare and technology, she assists healthcare entities in obtaining and maintaining cyber security and HIPAA Security Rule compliance in their practices and assists doctors navigate through a ransomware and other cyber-attacks. Debi holds several internationally recognized certifications including a HealthCare Information Security and Privacy Practitioner by ISC2 as well as being certified by HIMSS as a Certified Associate Healthcare Information and Management Systems and is a member of AADOM, ADMC, HIMSS, ISC2, ISSAC, InfraGard, NSCHBC, and Women of Cyber Security.
How to Be An A** Kicker In Your Own Economy
Dr. Emily Letran
President - Exceptional Leverage Inc.
Running a successful dental practice is about more than producing dentistry. It requires the ability to lead yourself, lead your team, protect your energy, focus on what matters, and create systems that allow the practice to grow without consuming your life.
How to Be an A Kicker in Your Office** is a practical, high-performance leadership and practicemanagement course designed to help dental professionals become more intentional about how they operate their practices—and their lives.
Drawing from more than three decades of experience in dentistry, business strategy, leadership, and highperformance coaching, Dr. Emily Letran introduces a framework built around the high-performance principles of Clarity, Energy, Productivity, Necessity, Influence, and Courage.
Rather than simply asking, “How can I work harder?” participants are challenged to ask better questions: What do I really want? What matters most? What should I stop doing? How can my team perform more effectively? And how can I build a successful practice while still creating the personal life I want? The course moves from personal clarity and leadership into team alignment, energy management, productivity, technology, influence, and intentional growth.
Learning Objectives
- Clarify: Write your three most important personal and professional goals.
- Align: Communicate the top three practice goals and expectations to your team.
- Energize: Implement one daily habit that increases your physical or mental energy.
- Eliminate: Remove one recurring distraction from your workday.
- Recover: Find at least five minutes of wasted time per hour.
- Delegate: Transfer one task that does not require you.
- Automate: Identify one process technology can simplify.
- Influence: Choose one leadership behavior you will intentionally model.
- Mentor: Connect with someone who can help you reach your next level—or someone whom you can help reach theirs.
Speaker
Dr. Emily Letran
President - Exceptional Leverage Inc.
Dr Emily Letran is a serial entrepreneur, CEO of multiple dental practices, and private coach to many professionals. As an international speaker, she has been on TEDx and shared stages with countless business leaders including Sharon Lechter (Co-Author Rich Dad Poor Dad), Dan Clark (Hall of Fame Speaker), Dr. Howard Farran (Dental Town), and Linda Miles (The Ultimate Mentor of Dentistry). She has been featured on Dental Town , The Profitable Dentist, Global Woman, See Beyond magazines, and mentioned on Yahoo!Finance, Forbes, Medium, USA Today, and FOX. She is a contributing writer for Dental IQ, DrBicuspid.com, and Dentistry Today. Dr Letran is the author of several books, the Founder of the non-profit Smile Champions, and the Founder of Exceptional Leverage Inc., a coaching and consulting firm. She hosts her signature events, ACTION To WIN seminar, in several countries, and shares her expertise in personal growth and business management through her ACTION To WIN Academy programs.
Dr. Letran received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from UC Riverside (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) in three years. She is a graduate of UCLA School of Dentistry (Dean’s Apollonian Scholarship) Class of 1993 and received her Master of Science in Oral Biology from UCLA during the same four years.
As a mother of three, Dr. Letran creatively balances work, family life, after-school life and her personal life as a growing entrepreneur. She continuously takes courses to improve her skills to better serve her clients. She is dedicated in helping business professionals maximize their potential in personal and business life, streamline business and increase profits, winning back time from work so they can enjoy that time with their family, children and pursue their passion. She truly believes we should always be the best version of ourselves.
Dr. Emily Letran is a Certified High Performance Coach, Certified Kolbe Consultant, and a member of Forbes Coaches Council.
Decode the Silent Barriers Keeping Patients from Saying YES
Sophia Dunkley
The Practice Navigator
Most treatment isn’t declined out loud. It stalls quietly behind “let me think about it,” “I need to check with my spouse,” or “I’ll call you back.” These polite exits rarely reveal the real reason a patient hesitates. Underneath are silent barriers patients almost never name: decision fatigue, emotional overwhelm, fear of judgment, and a team that isn’t telling one consistent story.
In this interactive session, Sophia Dunkley draws on nearly 30 years inside dental practices to help doctors and teams hear what patients aren’t saying. Attendees will learn to read the cues behind each barrier and separate the stated objection from the real one. They’ll see how visual co-discovery tools like intraoral scans, clinical photography, and iPad-based presentations turn treatment from something patients are told into something they see and own. They’ll leave with judgment-free verbal skills and a simpler way to present options and financial choices. They’ll also learn how to align every hand-off, from the first phone call to the financial conversation, so saying yes feels safe, clear, and easy to act on.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the four silent barriers to case acceptance (decision fatigue, emotional overwhelm, fear of judgment, and team misalignment) and the verbal and nonverbal cues that signal each.
- Distinguish a patient’s stated objection from the underlying barrier driving it, and respond to the real concern.
- Use visual co-discovery (intraoral scans, photography, and iPad presentations) to reduce overwhelm and help patients take ownership of their diagnosis.
- Simplify treatment and financial options to prevent decision fatigue, presenting clear choices instead of overwhelming detail.
- Apply judgment-free verbal skills that lower patient shame and create a safe space to voice concerns.
- Align team messaging and hand-offs so every patient hears one confident, consistent story from greeting to checkout.
Speaker
Sophia Dunkley
The Practice Navigator
Sophia Dunkley is an engaging speaker, coach, and consultant with 27+ years in dentistry. She brings a rare 360 degree perspective, spanning treatment coordination, operations, and team leadership, to elevate case acceptance, communication, and culture. As a certified Energy Leadership (ELI 360) professional with iPEC, Sophia blends mindset, leadership, and systems into practical frameworks that drive transformation, results and sustained performance. She specializes in high-value case acceptance, implant arch, and new patient journeys. Partnering with private practices and DSOs nationwide, she's a featured speaker at AADOM and the Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. Her guiding philosophy: making a stranger a friend.
Say Less, Hear YES: Financial Conversations That Move Patients From Hesitation to Health
Joanne Miles, DAADOM, RDA
Senior Investment Grade Practice Business Advisor - Productive Dentist Academy
The doctor has diagnosed the care. The patient understands why it matters. And then comes the conversation that can change everything: “What will this cost me?”
For many dental teams, this is where confidence drops, assumptions creep in, and a conversation about health suddenly becomes a conversation about money. Teams may unintentionally overwhelm patients with numbers, insurance limitations, paperwork, or too many payment options, or make assumptions about what a patient can afford before the patient ever has the opportunity to decide for themselves.
There is a better way.
In this engaging and interactive session, participants will learn how to approach financial conversations through the mindset of a patient healthcare advocate, not a salesperson or financial gatekeeper. By shifting from insurance-led thinking to patient-led conversations, teams can protect the value established in the treatment room while helping patients navigate the financial decisions that come next.
Through real-world scenarios, interactive exercises, practical language, and communication strategies participants can use immediately, attendees will learn how to connect before discussing money, uncover what matters most to the patient, present treatment investment with confidence, use intentional pauses and questions, and introduce payment solutions without creating overwhelm.
Participants will also examine how their own beliefs and assumptions about money can influence the conversations they have with patients and sometimes create barriers that were never there to begin with.
Because financial conversations aren't about closing a sale.
They're about opening trust and helping patients find a path from hesitation to health.
Learning Objectives
- Recognize how personal beliefs, unconscious assumptions, and insurance-led thinking can influence financial conversations and unintentionally create barriers to treatment.
- Apply a patient-advocacy mindset that allows patients, not the dental team, to determine what they value, what they can afford, and how they want to move forward with recommended care.
- Use purposeful questions, active listening, and intentional pauses to uncover patient priorities, timing, and financial concerns before introducing payment solutions.
- Present treatment investment clearly and confidently while keeping the conversation focused on health, value, and patient choice rather than allowing cost or paperwork to lead the discussion.
- Match patients with appropriate payment solutions based on what they have shared rather than overwhelming them with multiple options or making assumptions about affordability.
Speaker
Joanne Miles, DAADOM, RDA
Senior Investment Grade Practice Business Advisor - Productive Dentist Academy
Joanne Miles is a dynamic force in dental practice growth, often described as the “Swiss Army knife of dentistry” for her versatile expertise and innovative solutions. With decades of experience helping practices nationwide, Joanne has mastered the art of guiding dental teams toward success, whether they’re launching a start-up or scaling a multi-practice organization.
Joanne is passionate about transforming dental practices by focusing on the pillars of success: team engagement, patient experience, leadership development, and operational excellence. Her proven methods empower dentists and their teams to grow with confidence, staying aligned with their core values and purpose.
A champion for elevating others, Joanne believes that the most successful practices thrive not only on numbers but on meaningful connections and a commitment to excellence.
The Leadership Communication Trifecta: Mastering Three Essential Leadership Conversations to Create a Company of Superstars
Katherine Eitel Belt, CSP
LionSpeak
Synopsis: The workforce has changed, and we must adapt our leadership communication if we want our teams to operate at a high level, communicate maturely, think for themselves, and compete in the marketplace. If your team struggles with turnover, low performance, negativity, petty conflicts, or a lack of focus… a total team transformation is easier than you think IF your leaders and team have mastered these three critical conversations: The Invitation Conversation, The Coaching Conversation, & The Courageous Conversation.
In the current employment market, you and your team can’t afford to lose employees just because you hold them to high standards, ask for accountability to team agreements, or push them to achieve goals and benchmarks… and the good news is… You don’t have to! You CAN do both. You CAN hold your standards AND maintain or even strengthen the relationships...and Katherine will show you how.
Katherine Eitel Belt, America’s Unscripted Communication Expert, believes personal leadership and high-performing teams are created with clear and inspirational communication from their leaders. In this engaging presentation, she adamantly rejects stale methods of leadership thinking and canned scripts and shares a fresh, instinctive approach to building a team that thrives. She will teach and demonstrate how the new science around coaching, feedback, and leadership can give you a huge business advantage in a highly competitive employment and business environment. You and your team will never be the same again.
No more excuses...and no more limits.
Learning Objectives
- Strengthen their leadership communication using three distinct conversations by learning when and how to have each one.
- Engage in more successful Courageous Conversations with team members using a simple 4-step framework.
- Lead and coach others to unlock their potential and create more alignment and accountability.
Speaker
Katherine Eitel Belt, CSP
LionSpeak
Katherine Eitel Belt, CSP, Dentistry’s Unscripted Leadership Communication Coach, is a globally recognized expert in leadership communication. For over 35 years, she has helped hundreds of organizations—including Procter & Gamble, Care Credit, and Henry Schein—build aligned, accountable, high‑performing teams. As one of 17% of speakers worldwide to earn the CSP designation, Katherine is a trusted voice featured on major podcasts, in the documentary Women Shaping Dentistry Tomorrow, and on the cover of Dental Entrepreneur Women Magazine. Her upcoming book, Lead Yourself, Lead Your Team, equips leaders to transform team performance through her Leadership Conversation Trifecta and A.R.C.H. Framework.
Crisis or Opportunity? Navigating the Dental Hygiene Shortage
Katrina Sanders
The Dental WINEgenist
The dental hygiene shortage has challenged practices across the country… but is it truly a crisis, or is it an opportunity to rethink how we lead, support, and grow our teams? While workforce shortages may be beyond any one practice's control, the culture, leadership, and systems within your office are not.
In this thought-provoking webinar, internationally recognized dental hygienist and practice consultant Katrina Sanders explores the realities behind today's dental hygiene workforce, separating industry myths from the factors that truly influence recruitment and retention. Participants will examine how workplace culture, communication, leadership, and operational decisions shape the hygienist experience, and ultimately determine whether exceptional clinicians choose to join and remain with a practice.
Designed specifically for dental office managers and practice leaders, this course shifts the conversation from frustration to opportunity, offering practical insights into the areas where leadership can have the greatest impact. Whether you're currently navigating staffing challenges or simply looking to build a stronger, more resilient hygiene department for the future, you'll leave with a fresh perspective on your role in creating an environment where hygienists feel valued, supported, and inspired to thrive.
Because while no practice can solve the national workforce shortage alone, every practice has the opportunity to become the place where great hygienists want to work.
Learning Objectives
- Examine the realities behind today's dental hygiene shortage and separate industry myths from practice-level opportunities.
- Assess how leadership decisions, workplace culture, and operational processes influence whether hygienists choose to join, and stay, with a practice.
- Apply leadership strategies that foster an engaged hygiene team, strengthen retention, and position the practice as an employer of choice.
Speaker
Katrina Sanders
The Dental WINEgenist
A clinical dental hygienist, author and international speaker, Katrina is passionate about elevating the dental profession by creating an undeniable movement that educates, encourages, and empowers the profession to rise in its power. Known as the “Dental WINEgenist™,” she pairs her desire for excellence in the dental profession with her knowledge and passion for wine. She is the Clinical Liaison for Hygiene Excellence at AZPerio, founder of Sanders Board Preparatory and has been published in various publications including RDH Magazine and Today’s RDH. Recently, Katrina proudly received the University of Minnesota Distinguished Alumni Award and the 2024 Sunstar Award of Distinction. @TheDentalWINEgenist
The Practice MRI
Kelley Johnson
Core Dental Solutions LLC
The biggest challenges in a dental practice are rarely the ones everyone is talking about.
When I walk into a practice, I don't start by asking what isn't working. I start by observing. I watch the morning huddle. I listen to how the phones are answered. I follow a patient through the front office. I review scheduling patterns, treatment acceptance, insurance workflows, collections, and provider performance. Before making a single recommendation, I'm looking for patterns.
Over the years, I've learned that every symptom tells a story—but not every story points to the real problem.
Low collections aren't always a collections problem. An overloaded schedule isn't always a scheduling problem. Team conflict often isn't a people problem. More often than not, these are symptoms of deeper operational breakdowns that have gone undiagnosed for months—or even years.
The Practice MRI™ is the diagnostic process I use to uncover what is really happening beneath the surface of a dental practice. Rather than reacting to daily fires, attendees will learn how to evaluate the practice as an interconnected system, identify root causes, and prioritize the changes that create the greatest impact.
Through real consulting case studies, audience participation, and interactive diagnostic exercises, participants will experience how small observations can reveal significant opportunities for improvement.
They'll discover how to separate symptoms from root causes, interpret practice data with greater confidence, and develop a structured process for making decisions based on evidence instead of assumptions.
Attendees won't leave with another checklist. They'll leave with a new way of seeing their practice—one that helps them identify problems earlier, ask better questions, and lead meaningful operational improvements with confidence.
Learning Objectives
- Distinguish symptoms from root causes. Recognize how operational issues such as scheduling bottlenecks, declining collections, team conflict, insurance delays, and patient retention often originate from deeper system failures rather than isolated events.
- Perform a Practice MRI™ assessment. Apply a structured diagnostic process to evaluate workflows, communication patterns, financial indicators, patient experience, and team accountability to identify the highest-impact opportunities for improvement.
- Interpret practice analytics as diagnostic tools. Move beyond simply reviewing reports by learning how production, collections, accounts receivable, treatment acceptance, hygiene performance, and scheduling metrics reveal the operational health of a practice.
- Prioritize the right improvements first. Develop an action plan that addresses the underlying causes of operational challenges, allowing leaders to focus their time and resources where they will create the greatest measurable results.
Speaker
Kelley Johnson
Core Dental Solutions LLC
Kelley Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Core Dental Solutions LLC, where she helps dental practices strengthen operations, improve profitability, and build high-performing teams. With more than 25 years of experience in dental practice management, technology, and consulting, Kelley has guided more than 500 practices through operational challenges, growth, and change. She is the creator of the 12 Muscle Groups™ of Practice Management and The Practice MRI™, two proprietary frameworks that help leaders diagnose root causes and build lasting systems. Kelley is known for delivering practical, engaging education that attendees can implement immediately in their own practices.
They’re Not Lazy - They’re Unled. Leading The Next Generation To Show Up Fully
Tito Albino, EFDA, DAADOM
Today’s workforce is more diverse than ever, spanning multiple generations with different communication styles, values, motivations, and expectations. Yet many leaders find themselves frustrated, labelling younger team members as disengaged, entitled, or lacking work ethics. What if the issue isn’t a lack of commitment—but a lack of leadership?
In this engaging and thought-provoking course, Tito Albino, MAADOM, shares practical leadership strategies designed to help dental leaders better understand, connect with, and inspire the next generation of team members. Drawing from personal experiences, leadership successes and failures, and real-world dental practice examples, attendees will learn how to move beyond assumptions and create environments where team members feel valued, empowered, and motivated to contribute at their highest level.
Participants will explore the impact of generational differences, communication gaps, accountability, coaching, culture-building, and emotional intelligence. This course challenges leaders to shift from managing behaviors to developing people, creating stronger teams, healthier workplace cultures, and more sustainable practice growth.
Attendees will leave with actionable tools to foster trust, increase engagement, improve retention, and lead with greater intention—helping every team member show up fully and perform at their best.
Learning Objectives
- Understand the key characteristics and motivations of today’s multi-generational workforce.
- Identify leadership behaviors that unintentionally create disengagement and turnover.
- Develop communication and coaching techniques that build trust and accountability.
- Create a culture where team members feel seen, supported, and empowered to grow.
- Implement practical leadership strategies that improve engagement, performance, and retention.
Speaker
Tito Albino, EFDA, DAADOM
Tito Albino’s journey from humble beginnings in North Philadelphia to a respected leader in dental practice management is rooted in resilience, passion, and perseverance. Beginning his career as a medical assistant, Tito soon discovered his passion for dentistry and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in patients’ lives. Over the past 16 years, he has served in clinical and administrative roles across community health centers, corporate dentistry, university faculty practices, and private practice. His experience as a dental assistant, clinical coordinator, and office manager helped him discover his true passion: leading teams, creating strong practice cultures, and supporting exceptional patient care.
In 2024, Tito was named AADOM Office Manager of the Year. In 2026, he achieved Diplomate status (DAADOM), reflecting his continued commitment to education, leadership, and the dental practice management profession. Known for building thriving teams, streamlining systems, and encouraging professional growth, Tito brings practical experience and a personal approach to helping others lead with confidence and purpose.
Beyond dentistry, Tito is the founder and owner of Urban Raíces by Plant Papi, established in 2024. Through this venture, he celebrates his Puerto Rican heritage while sharing his love of plants and community. Caring for plants has also deepened his understanding of dental leadership: growth takes patience, consistent care, and an environment suited to individual needs. He brings those lessons into the practice, recognizing that each team member needs different support to thrive. Whether managing a practice, speaking to fellow leaders, or growing his business, Tito remains grounded in the importance of connection, creating opportunities, and lifting others as he grows.
