6 strategies to resolve conflict and improve culture in dental practices

Organizational culture is the set of written and unwritten values and norms that give a group of people the notion of what is right and wrong and what is accepted and not accepted in that group.¹ Every dental practice has its own culture that permeates and affects every operation and is vital for it to stay healthy.

According to the American Dental Association, two of the six significant risks to retention of dental assistants and dental hygienists is communication concerns and a negative workplace culture.2 Literature shows organizational performance is affected by organizational culture,^3-4 and healthy cultures that include critical thinking in dental practices help reduce staff turnover.⁵

While conflict can have positive benefits, such as increased creativity from employees, it can also have a negative effect on work performance if it spreads and is not resolved quickly.⁶ Conflict is often masked by passive destructive behaviors: avoiding, which is ignoring the person or problem to avoid confrontation; yielding, which is choosing inaction over action, or giving in; and hiding emotions, which is withholding feelings, thoughts, and ideas.⁷

All these unconstructive ways of dealing with conflict destroy trust within a team and poorly affect its culture, performance, and staff retention. Two of the five common dysfunctions of a team are the absence of trust and the fear of conflict.⁸

6 strategies to help with conflict resolution

1. Establish a team environment that is conducive to honest discussions and colorful debates while preserving safety for all members.⁷

2. Start with the heart. Ask what you want for yourself, others, and the relationship of the people involved.⁹

3. Share each other’s path to action. How did you arrive at the conclusions and judgements you did? This technique will help you separate facts from story, understand your potential role in the problem, and see if the story you’re telling yourself may be at fault for creating wrong assumptions about others’ motives.⁹ Once people understand and separate facts from story, and potentially see themselves contributing to the problem, they may become humble enough to face one another with a new and unbiased understanding of their issues toward one another.

4. Be vulnerable, share your feelings, be curious, and be patient when others act out their feelings and opinions. Understand that emotions can run high and may need time to settle.⁹

5. Agree on the central issue at hand, build on what has been said by pointing out areas of agreement, add elements that were left out, and compare your understanding and how that differs from others’.⁹

6. Decide on what decisions to make, delegate tasks, create deadlines for accountability, and create a plan to follow up.⁹

Level of listening to the dental team

Use level II or III for a better kind of listening.¹⁰ While level I listening generally occurs most often and easily, it only informs a person about themselves and the things going on around them. Level II listening is more focused, with a sharp focus on the other person. This involves empathy, collaboration, and clarification.

Level III listening takes it one step further and includes everything you can observe with your senses—see, hear, smell, feel—the tactile as well as emotional sensations.¹⁰ This level is not easy to sustain for long periods of time and takes practice. This level allows someone to become aware of their environment, including the energy level, temperature, lightness or darkness, and goes beyond words toward the energy and emotion.

Using level II or III listening is the best approach to truly understanding others and it helps with better communication and conflict resolution, thus positively affecting culture and all its components.

To conclude, it’s best to engage in rather than avoid conflict by reaching out to the other person, working on understanding their interests, sharing feelings about conflict, and reframing the conflict so that all parties can work cooperatively to solve it.⁷

Everyone in the dental office can benefit by resolving conflict and leading constructive conversations, which ultimately improves the communication and culture. Poor communication and culture can contribute to the current dental workforce shortages.²

References

1. Lanzer F. Organizational culture and climate: understanding, maintaining, and changing. Independently published. 2018.
2. Dental workforce shortages: data to navigate today’s labor market. American Dental Association. 2002. https://www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/files/resources/research/hpi/dental_workforce_shortages_labor_market.pdf?
3. Soundarapandiyan K, Ganesh M. Employee retention strategy with reference to Chennai-based ITES industry–an empirical study. Global Mgmt Rev. 2015;9(2):1-13. Academia.edu/36096149/Employee_Retention_strategy_with_reference_to_Chen nai_based_ITES_industry_An_Empirical_Study
4. Zeqiri J, Alija S. The organizational culture dimensions – the case of an independent private university in Macedonia. Studia UBB Oeconomica, 2016;61(3):20-31. https://doi.org/10.1515/subboec-2016-0002
5. What a career in dentistry demands. American Dental Education Association. 2025. https://www.adea.org/godental/discover-dentistry/Why-be-a-dentist/Is-dentistry-right-for-you/what-a-career-in-dentistry-demands
6. Ferine KF, Aditia R, Rahmadana MF, Indri. An empirical study of leadership, organizational culture, conflict, and work ethic in determining work performance in Indonesia’s education authority. Heliyon, 2021;7(7):1-9. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07698
7. Runde C, Flanagan TA. Becoming a conflict competent leader: How you and your organization can manage conflict effectively (2^nd  ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc; 2013.
8. Lencioni P. The five dysfunctions of a team. Jossey-Bass; 2002.
9. Patterson K, Grenny J, McMillan R, Switzler A. Crucial conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High (2^nd ed.). McGraw Hill; 2012.
10. Kimsey-House H, Kimsey-House K, Sandahl P, Whitworth L. Co-active coaching: The proven framework for transformative conversations at work and life (4^th ed.). Nicholas Brealey; 2018.