Episode summary
How Sustainability Can Improve Your Dental Practice
The Dentist Money Show
· · 45 min · Hosts: Taylor · Guests: Jackson Boone
Summary
Taylor Sutterfield talks with practice owner Dr. Jackson Boone about how sustainability became both a values-driven choice and a business strategy in his four-op dental practice. Boone says he was drawn to the outdoors growing up and wanted his office to reflect that worldview, but he also approached the changes as a way to lower overhead, improve efficiency, and strengthen the practice’s long-term economics.
He breaks the changes into tiers. The easiest wins were paperless workflows, e-statements, e-prescriptions, LED lighting, smart thermostats, and basic waste audits. Boone says those moves have reduced labor and utility costs, with paperless systems and lighting upgrades delivering meaningful annual savings and faster workflows for the team. He also points to larger investments like digital radiography, intraoral scanning, and a refurbished CBCT unit as upgrades that improved speed and care quality while avoiding unnecessary spending.
The conversation also highlights less obvious sustainability moves, including reusable sterilization pouches and a glove-recycling partnership with Polycarbin, which Boone says has cut waste dramatically and even become a visible point of patient engagement. The host argues that Boone’s experience shows sustainability and profitability are not in conflict, and that the model could be especially useful for smaller practices competing against larger groups.
Key takeaways
- Boone says simple operational changes like paperless charts, LED lighting, and smart thermostats produced immediate cost savings and efficiency gains.
- The host argues that Boone’s sustainability upgrades can translate into roughly $75,000 to $180,000 of five-year financial impact for a typical small practice.
- Boone says the practice’s paperless workflow reduced repetitive charting and administrative work, freeing staff time for other tasks.
- Boone says his team embraced sustainability and even suggested waste-cutting changes, showing a cultural benefit beyond cost savings.
- Boone says his office recycles about 50 pounds of gloves a month through Polycarbin, making waste reduction visible to patients.
Notable quotes
“I invest how I want to see the world become more than you know trying to necessarily make a profit”
“there are two lever levers you can spend whether it's um your business finances or personal finances”
“we have saved roughly depends on the time of year obviously, but I would say annually probably 15% on our electric bill”
“the most financially responsible thing that a dentist can do right now could also be the most environmentally responsible thing”
“we are the first dental office in the country that has partnered with them to ship off all of our nitro gloves and then have those recycled through Polycarbon”
How the episode opens
Consult an adviser or conduct your own due diligence when making financial decisions. General principles discussed during this program do not constitute personal advice. This program is furnished by Dennis Advisers, a registered investment adviser.
All right. Hello everyone and welcome to the Dennis Money Show. Uh, I think for the first time ever, I am the host today, uh, Taylor Sutterfield.
So, you've probably heard me before on the show, but this is my first time ever putting on the big boy pants and and stepping into the hosting role. And, uh, today's guest I'm really excited to have on. Um, I've known Jackson for a few months now and just really impressed with everything that he and his wife have done so far together and really excited to have him on the podcast.
So, Jackson Boon is his name. He told me just before we jumped on that this is his first ever podcast. So, hopefully this goes well, but we're excited to have Jackson on the podcast today.
So, just to give you guys a brief intro to Jackson, Jackson is famous internally because Jackson came on board with us a few months back and in his discovery questionnaire, I pulled this up. Um, and just so give you guys background, everyone listening out there, the discovery questionnaire is something we send out to prospects before they jump on with us. And we ask them a bunch of questions just to get some background.
And one of those questions that we asked is, "As you consider your options for wealth management, what is it about Dennis Advisors that interests you? And Jackson responded,"I really appreciate your approach to financial planning and advising compared to other adviserss. Plus, I trust Robbie to manage my portfolio.
Guy is a walking talking cash GPT.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- dental practice sustainability
- paperless office systems
- dental technology upgrades
- waste reduction
- patient loyalty
Watch the episode
Watch “How Sustainability Can Improve Your Dental Practice” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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The Dentist Money Show, this episode and its artwork belong to Dentist Advisors - Financial Planning and Investment Management. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
