The more you learn, the more you can offer, the better for your patient, the better you feel about yourself, the more you earn, the more you can give.
Dr. Jensen’s passion for dentistry started early in life by working at his father’s dental office in Hastings, Minnesota. He graduated from high school with honors in 1978 and from there, spent the next four years at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. After graduating Cum Laude, with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry, he attended the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry. Upon completing his formal education in 1986 he was given the opportunity to spend an additional year in a General Practice Residency, also at the University of Minnesota.
His office, Smile Design Dentistry, is in Plymouth, Minnesota. Since starting in private practice in 1987, Dr. Jensen has accumulated over 2,300 additional hours of advanced education in his continued pursuit of excellence. In 1994, he received the Distinguished Fellowship Award from the Academy of General Dentistry in recognition of his many academic achievements. In 2015 Dr. Jensen became one of only 2200 dentists in the world to receive his “Master” recognition by the Academy of General Dentistry. This is a true testament to his pursuit of excellence in the care that he provides to his patients.
With his years of experience and devotion to learning, he has developed a reputation for extraordinary skills in many areas of dentistry, but his deepest passion is with family, cosmetic and orthodontic dentistry. Dr. Jensen is a past board member of the Minnesota Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and has created thousands of the most beautiful smiles found in the Twin Cities.
Over the last two decades, Dr. Jensen has been honored by his peers multiple times as “TOP DENTIST” and “TOP COSMETIC DENTIST” and for the last 8 years been named as a “HALL OF FAME DENTIST’ by Mpls/St. Paul Magazine.
Over his career, Dr. Jensen has developed Smile Design Dentistry into one of the most highly respected dental practices in Minnesota and the country. By continuing to lead his team towards advanced education, continued growth and a focus on excellence our patients can be confident in the exceptional care they will receive.
Dr. Jensen maintains memberships in the:
• American Dental Association
• Academy of General Dentistry
• Minnesota Dental Association
• Minnesota Academy of General Dentistry
• Minneapolis District Dental Society
• 21st Century Study Club
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I have never been a production driven doctor who focuses on numbers or puts pressure on my staff to reach specific production goals. It is my belief if both I and my team stays busy and works hard all day long that the productivity will be there. I preach to my staff that it is our goal to make strong relationships with with our patients. We allow extra time for every procedure to assure that our patients are receiving the highest quality of care we can offer, will not feel rushed and will leaving feeling like they are leaving friends behind.
How do you bring ideas to life?
We were taught the concept of team mastermind sessions. At minimum my office manager, my partner and I meet to review new ideas and create action plans on a weekly basis. We try to hold one person accountable for each item and require a “by when” date. We also meet with our team monthly and ask them for their ideas on how we might improve. We try to live by the concept ” if you are not growing you are dying” We are constantly trying to find new, better and more efficient ways to provide our care to patients. We believe that new ideas cannot be forced on the team; instead we have to develop these ideas together and implement them together.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I love technology. We were early adapters having gone fully digital in 2002. Since then we have continued to embrace new technologies as they become available. No one can argue that technology, used properly, can improve efficiency and quality the of care. Our profession could get very old very quickly if we were not constantly learning, growing and trying new techniques. It would be very easy to just use the tools that we were taught in school but to provide the best care available to our patients we must constantly learn and use the new tools that are introduced to our profession.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I have always been very efficient with my time. I live by the idea 0f “work hard and play hard”. When we are at the office there is very little down time but when I get home I am able to leave my work at the office and fully enjoy my free time. The other habit that probably has had even a greater benefit towards our success is a continued thirst to learn. Having spent thousands of hours seeking out the top advanced education gives me the confidence and skills to offer comprehensive treatment to my patients. I have come to understand the comment” The smartest I ever was as a dentist was my first year out of school.” I know today, after spending 30+ years ‘in practice’ that you don’t know what you don’t know.
What advice would you give your younger self?
As hard as I worked to educate myself as a young dentist I wish I would have done even more. The further my education took me the more confidence I acquired, the more treatment I was able to provide, the better dentist I became and the more I was able to produce in a given day. I would remind myself of the importance of balance.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?
I think that being a dentist is the greatest profession on earth. Not sure how others would feel of if the majority agrees or disagrees. Dentistry allows me to wear many different hats throughout the day. I am an artist, an entrepreneur, a manager, a scientist, a repairman, a building manager, a partner, a boss, a friend, an support system….and the list goes on and on. I cannot think of another job on earth that allows a person to have such diversity in a day. One thing for sure – life never gets boring!
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Education… the more you learn, the more you can offer, the better for your patient, the better you feel about yourself, the more you earn, the more you can give…
Work hard. I don’t think anyone can reach a high level of success without hard work each and every day. My goal is to go to bed every night and think back over my accomplishments that day and wonder how I ever accomplished all of that.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
Surrounded myself with successful people, learn from the best and hire the best staff and consultants you can afford. It would take a life time to learn all of these strategies on my own but you can very quickly avoid mistakes from learning from others. A great team will make you better. Hiring the best accountants, financial advisors and consultants allows you to quickly move to the top.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
All in all I have very few regrets in my career. My one failure would be choosing the wrong person to associate with. Just like a marriage, it is easy to become starry eyed early and make a commitment. It is however much more difficult to end a relationship than it was to put it together. Choose your associates and employees very carefully.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Everyone needs to make their own decision on the style of practice they want to deliver. Is it going to be high volume with less concern about quality of high quality with a lower volume? My advice is to become the best at what you do and avoid the high volume practice model. Educated people are looking for professionals that are driven to excellence.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I recently made my largest personal donation of my lifetime to the recovery efforts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Owning a small piece of property in SW Florida that somehow survived the storms make me thankful for our luck this time. I felt that it was my duty to help the other less fortunate people in their recovery efforts. It is nice to reach a point in life where I am able to help out others with a more sizable contribution than I’ve been able to in the past.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
We recently switched to a new SEO specialist. The person we recently hired uncovered many disappointing surprises about our previous company. We were confused why we were so difficult to be located on the web and learned that the company we had been using was using us to build their own web presence instead of ours.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
Oneness by Jeffrey Moses. In this book the author took shows that every major religion of the world has similar ideas of love and the same goal of benefiting humanity through spiritual practice. As an example he takes writing of many major religions and shows how they paraphrase the Golden Rule.
What is your favorite quote?
I’ve always loved the golden rule. Do on to others as you would have them do on to you. I did however hear a revised version by Tony Robbins. “Do on to others beyond what you would expect to be done on to you.” If we could all live like this most of our world problems would be solved.
Key Learnings:
- The more you learn, the more you can offer, the better for your patient, the better you feel about yourself, the more you earn, the more you can give
- Become the best at what you do and avoid the high volume practice model.
Connect:
www.smiledesigndentistry.com
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Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.