Fixing Treatment Coordination From the Grass Roots of Dental Practice
Why so many clinics come to me, the OG, after their first attempt at a TCO doesn’t work — and the questions they now wish they’d asked.
For years now, I’ve been called into dental practices where the Treatment Coordinator role technically exists — but nothing is quite working.
The systems feel clunky.
The team is unsure.
The TCO is underused, overwhelmed, or misdirected.
And almost every time, the practice owner says the same thing the moment everything finally clicks:
“We wish we had chosen someone who understood the TCO role from the grassroots of dental practice.”
This has always been my USP, because it’s true.
I didn’t learn the TCO role in theory or online.
I learned it in the clinic — working the role myself, training teams, managing dual sites, building systems that worked in the real world, and running a successful private practice as a business partner.
So when I walk into a clinic, I instantly recognise the same recurring patterns:
The TCO is treated like a “leads handler”
They’re only used for free Invisalign consultations
They haven’t been integrated with clinicians or treatment planning
They’ve received no structured confidence, verbal skills, or influence training
The patient journey is disjointed
The wider team doesn’t understand how to work with them
And most importantly… the operational purpose behind the role is missing
None of this is the practice’s fault.
It all stems from one thing:
They were taught an incomplete version of the TCO role.
Once I implement the correct systems — the ones I personally created and used as a manager — the transformation is extraordinary. The TCO becomes confident, the clinicians feel supported, the patient journey flows, and acceptance levels rise.
And it’s at this point that practice owners say:
“We didn’t know what we didn’t know.
We should have asked better questions.”
So I began collecting those questions — the ones they wish they’d asked before choosing someone to train their TCO.
What follows are the questions that come directly from them.
These aren’t criticisms.
They are lessons learned through experience — and they now help other clinics avoid the same costly mistakes.
10 Questions Every Practice Must Ask a Consultant Claiming to Train TCOs
A checklist created from real clinic owners who rebuilt their TCO function the right way.
1. Have you ever worked as a Treatment Coordinator inside a clinic?
Owners realised: you cannot train what you’ve never lived.
2. How many years did you personally fulfil the TCO role?
The TCO role is not a few Invisalign options meetings. It’s complex, multi-layered, and operationally integrated.
3. Have you personally trained a TCO while working as a practice manager, using systems you built and used yourself?
Because real implementation requires hands-on, in-practice experience.
4. Have you run or managed a private dental practice?
Without operational understanding, the TCO role is only ever surface-level.
5. Have you held a leadership or management role within dentistry?
True TCO integration relies on teamwork, communication, and alignment with clinicians.
6. Do you have HR and people-management experience?
Behaviour change doesn’t happen through slides — it requires real leadership skills.
7. Have you implemented the TCO role successfully across multiple practices?
Consistency across different teams and environments signals real expertise.
8. Have you been responsible for case acceptance, revenue, or performance targets?
The TCO role exists to support business performance. Training must reflect that.
9. Do you understand that the TCO role is NOT a ‘handling leads’ role?
This misunderstanding alone has cost clinics thousands.
10. Are you willing to role-play full consultations and verbal skills live with my team during training?
Clinic owners found that scripts alone don’t change behaviour — real role-play does.
The Truth Clinics Have Learned
You can’t shortcut the TCO role.
You can’t learn it from theoretical slides, online modules, or watching from the sidelines.
The role only works when taught by someone who has lived it, managed it, trained it, and embedded it into the daily operations of a functioning clinic.
Someone who understands it — not from above —
But from the grassroots of dental practice.
“I don’t just teach the TCO role — I built it from the grassroots of dental practice. For the last 30 years, I’ve worked in clinics, trained teams, managed dual sites, run private practices, acted as a business partner, and fulfilled the TCO role myself. Every strategy, every system, and every piece of training I deliver comes from real-world experience — not theory.”
