Coachman
Designing Smiles with Coachman 06.-07.11.2026. Kaptol Boutique Cinema Zagreb This upcoming November, “DBL Group” and “MedLink” are bringing to Zagreb one of the world’s biggest names in dental medicine – Dr. Christian Coachman, founder of the globally popular concept “Digital Smile Design” (DSD). Save the dates November 6th and 7th, 2026, in your clinical education calendar, because that’s when we will spend two days with Dr. Coachman at the Kaptol Boutique Cinema in Zagreb. “Designing Smiles with Coachman” is a working course intended for anyone who wants to advance in dentistry and has the following challenges: You know something is wrong with the smile of the patient whose dental work has just been delivered, but the exact reasons are not always clear to you. You don’t get exactly the smile design you wanted from the dental lab. You’re not sure if the problem was your instructions or a lack of communication. You would like to design smiles yourself, when necessary, but you do not have the right skills. You do not have a high-quality system developed for analyzing dental work received from the dental laboratory and generating clear instructions on possible changes. You lack the skills to correct temporary and final restorations. The dental work delivered is not always ideal, so you often have to rely on others to improve or correct it. It’s hard for you to convince patients that you are not only an excellent clinician but also an excellent smile designer – patients take the aesthetics of your restorations for granted. Why is smile design skill important? Smile design determines the aesthetic outcome and the quality of the treatment. For the patient, the aesthetic outcome represents the quality of the entire treatment – this is what patients pay the most attention to. This outcome is closely related to the “DSD Guided dentistry” guidelines. The smile design determines the treatment plan and is its starting point. The appropriate smile design is the reference point for decision-making in treatment planning. This outcome is closely linked to the “DSD Comprehensive Dentistry” guidelines. Smile design influences acceptance of the treatment plan because it creates an emotional connection between the patient and the treatment plan. This outcome is associated with the “DSD Emotional Dentistry” guidelines. We will soon be publishing a detailed program and opening early registrations. All additional information about the course can be obtained at [email protected] About the speaker Dr. Christian Coachman is a 6th generation dentist in Brazil. He graduated in dentistry from the most prestigious South American university in São Paulo in 2002, where he also earned his degree as a detail technician in 1995.
Build your own machine
If you invest enough time in systematically thinking about your business, the problems you need to overcome will become clear to you. Over time, you will begin to distinguish symptoms from causes and start addressing root causes instead of merely treating symptoms.One of the key roles an owner must never delegate is ensuring that the final outcome and destination of the business are crystal clear — as well as the starting point from which the business currently operates. In addition to having a “map” with clearly defined steps and instructions on how to reach the final destination, you also need a clear vision of all the obstacles that lie between point “A” and point “B.”Based on this information, the owner must build a “machine” that will take them as safely as possible to the final destination, using the map and overcoming all obstacles along the way. But be careful — a great idea that cannot be implemented is simply a bad idea. To simplify: the “machine” the owner must build has to be good enough to change the current situation and improve it. It must overcome obstacles along the way and bring us closer to the goal. This “machine” may require a new strategy to be implemented, a change in the existing business model, a change in distribution, marketing message, or the media used. It may also require expanding the business from a local to a regional market. Regardless of the change, company leadership led by the owner must change priorities if the new “machine” is to be effective. A change in priorities always leads to a change in resource allocation — the most common cause of failure is management’s indecisiveness in shifting focus, human resources, and financial resources. In other words, the owner’s unwillingness to allocate and assign the necessary resources that are essential for change. “Machines” require people to operate and manage them. If you place average people in charge of a world-class machine, it is only a matter of time before the first problems arise. It is a major mistake to “dream” about a machine while neglecting the people, execution, and key resources needed to build and maintain it. Even the most optimistic plans fail without quality execution. Consistency in execution requires standards, measurability, performance indicators, key activities that drive the “machine,” progress tracking, rewards, and continuous training of the people who operate the “machine.” What we measure, we can manage. What we manage can grow exponentially. Siniša Drobnjak
Business Model Adjustment
In situations where profit is too low and cash flow begins to dry up, the biggest mistake we can make is trying to force our sales “onto steroids” by doing the same things as before, only louder. The most common mistakes are creating a new website, changing visual identity, increasing activity and posting on social media, hiring additional sales representatives, and similar actions. Or to put it differently — if we have a “tumor” in our business, this strategy will only make it grow. Along this path, we often go through periods of reduced profit and cash flow as a result of our “intensified” activities. The “dopamine culture” (the hormone of happiness) fostered by technology and smartphone use, which creates a constant and uncontrolled need for “micro-excitement,” plays a major role here — it is far more exciting to “pump up” marketing and sales activities than to take the necessary time to identify the real problems in the business. However, an experienced business owner has a wide range of tools and levers in their entrepreneurial arsenal to increase profit and cash flow without falling into the trap of disproportionate investment in marketing and sales. In some situations, it is not enough to simply reallocate resources in a new way or improve efficiency; sometimes it is necessary to change the existing business model. When it comes to growth and profitability, we rarely reach for major changes to the business model — yet sometimes that is exactly where the root of the problem lies. There are five key questions that must be answered when it comes to the business model: How many resources (time, effort, money) must we invest? Over what period of time? How much revenue do we want to generate? Is that revenue sufficient to justify the costs of investment and maintenance, with adequate profitability? Can we achieve a return on investment within the planned timeframe? In our efforts to become more successful, most of us tend to see the solution only in increasing revenue, instead of taking enough time to gain clarity on the answers to the questions above. Signs that we have outgrown our current business model usually become visible when the business starts to “creak” and inefficiencies begin to surface — in other words, when more “drama” than usual appears in the workplace as profitability declines. At that point, we need to change the business model, not the marketing strategy, nor commission a new visual identity or new website. Siniša Drobnjak
From the hospital to her own practice: Ana Štanfel Hauser’s story about aesthetic medicine, ethics and entrepreneurship
Aesthetic medicine in Croatia has been experiencing strong growth in recent years, and among those who have left their mark on the scene is Dr. Ana Štanfel Hauser, a general surgery specialist with extensive experience in abdominal surgery. In an interview with the DBL Podcast, Ana spoke openly about her professional journey, the challenges of transitioning from the public to the private sector, but also about the ethical dilemmas that every responsible doctor faces. “Being a doctor and being an entrepreneur are actually two different worlds and it’s hard to somehow fit them into one system that moves together,” Ana pointed out, describing how the coronavirus pandemic was a turning point for her transition to private practice. Returning from Dublin and the closed hospitals prompted her to open her own practice: “I had a lot of calls from people… and then I realized that it would actually be good, I had to call that private hospital every time and ask when they had an appointment, then I realized why I shouldn’t have my own practice, because I see that I actually have my own patients and that’s how it started.“ Challenges and responsibilities of aesthetic medicine Ana comes from a family of doctors and emphasizes how much the experience of working at Vinkovci Hospital, with fellow war surgeons, shaped her professional attitude: “Working with people who gained experience in war is something completely different… growing up with them was a privilege. I couldn’t have received a better education anywhere in the world at that time.“ She entered aesthetic medicine gradually, first out of curiosity, and later out of a desire to offer more with her knowledge and experience: “My surgical experience actually helped me understand these injectable things. In the end, I can now say that I solve other people’s complications every day, which makes me happy.“ However, she warns of the dangers of frivolity and a superficial approach: “These procedures are not for everyone and not everything is for everyone. We can all have everything operated on and put everything in. But do we need that?… Nothing is simple in aesthetics and it’s not cosmetics, it’s medicine,” Ana points out. Ethics, education and attitude towards patients Ana emphasizes the importance of education and ethics among doctors: “I think the problem is both with doctors who approach this in a way as if it were a trade, and with patients who don’t understand the consequences, perhaps because they are not well educated. And as doctors, we actually have an obligation to educate them, that nothing is harmless, that nothing is completely destructive, and that everything has its consequences.“ For her, the patient always remains a patient, not a client: “I always say patient precisely because I make the decision and I’m the one who will do something or not… I very often bring patients back and they actually leave happy with the comment ‘Thank you for telling me that.’“ Trendovi, društvene mreže i budućnost struke When asked about trends and the influence of social media, Ana is clear: “The word trend in medicine, including aesthetic medicine, should not exist. I think it all comes down to the education of doctors and ethics.” She is particularly concerned about young people: “Young girls and boys have a problem here. I think they have a big problem. This perception of their beauty, how they should look… No one talks about where they will go to school and what they will be when they grow up. They just take pictures and look at their contours and physiognomy.“ Although the legal regulations are not yet strict enough, Ana believes that consultations with a psychiatrist should become mandatory before major procedures: “Maybe something like that should be done for the future. That a consultation with a psychiatrist is required before a major procedure.“ Entrepreneurship and personal development Opening her own practice was a combination of vision, determination, and family support: “The most important thing for you is to wake up at five. When everyone is sleeping… You’ll get there. That’s for sure, I’m sure of it.” She is driven by perfectionism in her work, but also by responsibility towards her patients: “I constantly care for my patients… I don’t think there’s any fear. They recognize that, too.“ Finally, Ana tells her young colleagues: “It’s not that scary if you read the rules. It’s not difficult to open a practice. You should master as many skills as possible during your specialization, no matter what your profession in medicine is. And in fact, when you master the skills and knowledge, there is no fear, no matter where or what happens.“ ——- This is just part of the conversation from the new episode of the DBL Podcast – watch the whole show on our Youtube channel and don’t forget to subscribe!
