Dental News - Eleven tips for success in your dental clinic Part II: CAPS & CLIMB

Eleven tips for success in your dental clinic Part II: CAPS & CLIMB

Dr Anna Maria Yiannikos

Tue. 14. February 2017

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Today, I will share with you the knowledge I have gained within the past 25 years of managing and evolving my clinic so you can always be one step ahead and avoid mistakes I have made in the past. The third very important tip that I am going to share with you today in order to be and remain successful at your clinics is how to regain your power.

We learn a lot of things during our studies in the dental schools. We learn how to make the best fillings with great contours and biocompatible materials; how to treat a tooth that needs a root canal therapy, but do we really learn anything on how to find the best employee that will make our life and daily routine easier?

Firstly we should make a job analysis by listing the CAPS of the candidate. If we do not take the time to complete this process, we will not know from the beginning exactly what we are looking at and by this we will increase the risk of making the wrong choice.
If, for example, we go to the supermarket without our shopping list, what will we end up doing? We will most probably buy unnecessary things or even forget the things that we went in the beginning there for. My point here is that when we decide that we need to hire an employee we should know upfront what we are looking for, otherwise we might make mistakes that will cost us money and time!

Let’s have a look now what does CAPS stand for:
– Capacities: The mental and physical abilities required to do the job. How smart and how strong (physically capable) must the successful applicant be?
– Attitudes: such as customer service, orientation, team player, reliability, honesty, willingness to follow rules, problem-solving, loyalty, safety-consciousness, ability to follow through—Imagine having a receptionist who, although she is doing the job without a mistake, complains about everything all the time. Is that a person that you would love to have as part of your team?
– Personality: traits such as competitiveness, assertiveness, attention to detail and sociability—Also search whether the person will manage his or her personality to get the job done, since as social scientists declare about 60 per cent of our personality traits are inherited and most of them are set by age nine. In other words: personality can’t be taught and it doesn’t change much over time.
– Skills: Expertise required to do the job—Skills are the easiest job requirements to identify. We could do that by asking the candidate to perform certain tests. For example, if we are trying to find a receptionist we could ask her to translate an article, or through role playing to check how she responds in certain scenarios.

Have always in mind the quote ‘we hire them for the skills but we fire them for their attitudes’!

So finally we found our A-star employees and now what do we have to do in order to keep them?
The fourth very essential tip of today’s article that I would love to share with you is the different ways that we can use to retain our A-star employees.

Apply CLIMB to retain your team!

Now let’s explain a little what does exactly the acronym CLIMB stands for:
– Challenge: Studies have shown that the main reason that our employees resign is that they are dissatisfied with their tasks. That’s why we should give them challenging duties to accomplish. And what will the result be? They will feel useful and they will find it difficult to leave from a job that offers them different and unique experiences.
– Loyalty: Be human with your employees and do not be afraid that you will lose your power. Show interest in their problems and lay back in times that they cannot handle any more pressure.
– Investment: Invest time and money to them so they will feel appreciated. During my lectures I get regularly the question that we reward them by giving them bonus and still they are not motivated enough, what shall we do? My answer here is that you must renew your reward system regularly.

Sometimes you can give them cash (as bonuses) or maybe you can offer them other kind of incentives, like buying them a free trip for vacation on Christmas, for example. Research has proven that the more powerful and effective incentives are the ones that are specific, tangible and non-cash.

Also please remember to ‘Reward not the best in sales but the best’ A major mistake that we usually do is to only reward the ones that bring money to our clinics. Instead we should reward the best in our practices, the ones that are completing their tasks in excellence unconditionally to what this task is.
– Measurement: Conduct a fair performance appraisal every six months.
– Building: Demonstrate your commitment to them by showing them opportunities of career development.

During the next issue we will analyse two new tips that will reveal new opportunities and potential of our dental clinics. Till then, remember that not only are you the dentist in your clinic, but you are also the manager and the leader.

You can always send me your questions and request for more information and guidance at:
dba@yiannikosdental.com or via our Facebook account.

Looking forward to our next trip of business growth and educational development!

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KAYSERI, Turkey: Although the Hall technique is highly effective in managing dentine caries in primary molars, silver fluoride offers the prospect of a simpler, less resource-intensive alternative. A recent 18-month randomised split-mouth clinical trial compared both alongside conventional restorations, assessing clinical and radiographic success, treatment duration and the patient experience. The findings raise questions about the reliability of the silver fluoride protocol as a longer-term treatment, despite its practical advantages.

In the single-centre trial, the researchers evaluated 165 primary molars in 55 children aged 4–8 years. Each child had three molars with active Class II carious lesions and radiographically confirmed proximal dentine involvement, and one molar was randomly assigned to each of the treatments. The Hall technique was performed using stainless steel crowns. The silver fluoride protocol consisted of application of an ammonia-free, water-based 38% silver fluoride solution, followed by potassium iodide and fluoride varnish at the start of the study and at six-month intervals. Conventional treatment involved complete caries removal and compomer restoration.

After 18 months, no clinical or radiographic treatment failures had occurred in the Hall technique group, and treatment success did not differ significantly from that of conventional restorations. Conventional restorations showed only minor failures, related to restoration loss or secondary caries. The silver fluoride group had significantly poorer outcomes than the Hall technique group, and most failures were classified as major, predominantly involving irreversible pulpitis or abscess formation.

Gingival index scores were significantly higher around the stainless steel crowns during follow-up, despite similar plaque index scores across the groups. Whether this difference had clinical consequences was not assessed.

The minimally invasive approaches were three times quicker to perform on average. Children reported lower pain scores with silver fluoride than with the Hall technique, but the clinical relevance of the difference was uncertain. Their behaviour during treatment was similar across groups.

The findings highlight the importance of balancing treatment success with chairside efficiency and the patient experience in children. Research is also examining whether established minimally invasive techniques can be improved for managing deep dentine caries. A 24-month randomised clinical trial investigated whether removing the outermost necrotic dentine before stainless steel crown placement would improve treatment success. The results suggest that partial caries removal might reduce the consequences of inadequate crown fit.

The study, titled “18-month outcomes of three caries management strategies in primary molars: A randomized split-mouth trial”, was published online on 12 October 2026 in BMC Oral Health, ahead of final publication.