A conversation with Praxis Valadez, Co-Founder of Principle (Practice Management Software), on modernising dental practices — and how video is the secret weapon practices are missing.
When patients walk into a dental practice today, they’re not just looking for clean teeth. They’re looking for an experience — something that feels less like a clinical obligation and more like walking into an Apple Store. So when 230 Media sat down with Praxis Valadez, Co-Founder of Principle (Practice Management Software), it was clear we were talking to someone who gets it.
Principle is a cloud-based PMS built for dentists across Australia and New Zealand, and Praxis’s obsession isn’t just software — it’s patient retention, practice culture, and the workflows that quietly hold everything together.
The real problem: nobody wants to go to the dentist
Let’s start with an uncomfortable truth that Praxis puts front and centre: no one actually wants to be at the dentist. And yet, practices need those patients to keep coming back. That tension — between patient reluctance and practice survival — is exactly what Principle was built to resolve.
“We took it very seriously that we’re not going to be a practice management software that copies something that’s already existing.”
— Praxis Valadez, Co-Founder, Principle PMS
Rather than just filling the diary or offering a glass of water at the door, Principle pushes deeper. The question they kept asking was: how do we create workflows so automated that staff can stop thinking about admin and start actually caring about patients?
Automation that feels human
The magic of Principle’s approach is that it automates the mechanical so that the personal can shine through. Lab jobs tracked automatically. SMS and email campaigns that fire off on a schedule you design — first thing Monday morning, then a week later, then three days after that — all without anyone lifting a finger after the initial setup.
The system refreshes its patient lists daily, so new people automatically enter the campaign and move through the sequence. It’s a hands-off engine running quietly in the background while the receptionist focuses on greeting patients by name, remembering whether they take milk in their coffee, and making the visit feel genuinely warm.
| AUTOMATION SMS & email campaigns run on custom schedules with zero manual effort after setup. | RETENTION Treatment-connected messaging keeps patients engaged before and after every appointment. | WORKFLOWS Tasks, lab jobs, and post-care calls are tracked automatically — nothing falls through. | PERSONALISATION Because it’s tied to treatment, every message feels relevant — not generic. |
Where video fits in — and this is where it gets exciting
This is where our worlds collide. During our conversation, Praxis shared a moment that perfectly illustrates what’s possible when great software meets great content strategy.
A practice 230 Media had worked with previously had invested in a full studio shoot — a whole day filming answers to the ten questions dentists get asked most. Beautifully lit, on-brand, genuinely useful content. Then they plugged those videos directly into their PMS automated messaging system.
“They filmed all these frequently asked questions — and that’s actually what they used in those texts. Let’s say someone got a Phillip Zoom Teeth Whitening done and needed to know how to look after the surgery site. The dentist explains it, but then that video asset goes off to the patient automatically.”
– Tye Bate, CEO & Co-Founder, 230 Media
Think about what that does. The dentist has explained the post-care instructions verbally. But five minutes after the patient walks out the door, they receive a polished, branded video walking them through exactly what they need to know — at the moment they actually need it. No receptionist task to remember. No risk of it being forgotten. Just seamless, professional care that continues beyond the chair.
Australia is behind — and that’s the opportunity
Praxis is candid about where the Australian dental market sits right now. Too many practices are still running on spreadsheets, relying on paper, and burning receptionist hours on phone calls nobody answers. Meanwhile, patients — particularly this generation — expect more. They’re not picking up calls. They respond to texts. They want to feel like they’re in good hands before they even arrive.
The receptionists placing those unreturned calls aren’t wasting time out of incompetence — they’re using the tools they’ve been given. The fix isn’t working harder; it’s working with smarter infrastructure.
Switching PMS: the pitfalls to avoid
For practices considering a move — whether to Principle or any modern system — Praxis’s advice is clear: prioritise data integrity above everything else. When you migrate from one PMS to another, the data in your new system has to look recognisable. It has to feel like yours.
Change management is hard enough. If the data also looks foreign, trust collapses before the software even gets a fair chance. The information needs to be as complete and as familiar as what staff are used to — that’s the foundation confidence is built on.
Principle takes this seriously with dedicated onboarding: Google Meet-based training sessions, demo environments for staff to practice in, and a clear expectation from leadership that the transition is taken seriously. The practices flying after switching, Praxis says, are always the ones where the owner leads from the front.
The practice as an experience
There’s a shift happening at the top end of the market that both 230 Media and Principle are helping to accelerate. The best practices in Australia, the UK, and the US aren’t just clinically excellent — they’re experientially excellent. Walking in feels like an Apple Store or a five-star hotel. Every interaction, from the first Instagram post to the 6 monthly hygienist follow up, feels considered.
That’s not an accident. It’s the product of intentional content, smart software, and a team that’s been freed from mindless admin to focus on the human stuff. And in a country like Australia — where patients are largely funding their own dental care — that premium feeling is increasingly what earns referrals and drives retention.
“If they’re happy, if they’re confident that the software is working for them, they can give that patient care that everyone’s concerned about.”
— Praxis Valadez, Co-Founder, Principle PMS
What this means for your practice
Whether you’re a dentist still running spreadsheets or a practice manager looking to level up a system that’s starting to creak, the message from this conversation is consistent: the tools exist, the results are proven, and the gap between where most practices are and where the best ones are is closing fast.
At 230 Media, we help practices build the content that can help make the software experience even more exciting for the patient — the FAQ videos, the post-treatment guides that patients actually watch because they arrive at the right moment, looking and feeling like they came from a brand worth trusting.
Whether you want to explore Principle PMS or talk to 230 Media about building your practice’s content library, we’d love to help.