Is this what dentistry is coming to?

[hellofuturedentists]

Compromise: When you go out with friends, say to a restaurant, you don't have to get a full meal and drinks. When I've been strapped for cash and my friends want me to tag along, I go and just order and appetizer or something and eat beforehand. Unless your friends go to high end restaurants all the time (mine don't), this totally works.

Also, someone should make this its own thread if you guys want to keep discussing this. It's way off topic.

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[futureDDS2020]

@futureDDS2020 since you are trying to turn this into a personal attack by implying that anyone below your age is not competent to talk about financial matters, this will be my last post responding to you.

I do not believe that one must spend hundreds of dollars a month to have a social life and generate "referrals" from classmates. I do not believe that spending $30/meal is the only way to socialize.

Do I like spending heavily on occasion? Definitely. But are there other, more fun but also economical ways that one can grow friendships and enjoy life? Definitely. And I do these way more than the pricey times going out.

It's clear you and I disagree on our financial views and that's perfectly fine. Good luck to you.

Your finance understanding is sound, your lifestyle/budget however is flawed. Good luck turning down birthday dinners and dental class social events, let me know how alienating yourself from your classmates works out. If you signed up for dental school, you should know it's going to set ya back a few bucks. This reminds me of the story of someone who buys a 50,000$ car, and then passes on going out to lunch with coworkers or buying their coworkers a wedding gift because they are pinched for cash lol

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[Scumbag_Steve]

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[sumin5924]

On the topic of "is this what dentistry has come to", do you really think going to restaurants and spending money on food is the only way to build relationships with your classmates? Helping them, studying with them, volunteering with them, going camping with them, being roommates with them, none of these are ways to "build up a referral base"? I'm pretty confused actually.

:troll:

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[futureDDS2020]

I don't know if you're referring to me as a troll or him as a troll, but I certainly am not one and I don't believe he is one either. I do like this sign though. I wish it could be used more places than just SDN

1) I'm a girl
2) you aren't listening to anything I say (reference said statements on things such as bday dinners, class social events, weddings, ect)
3) I give up

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

,

 

[Incis0r]

Just as a side note for anyone still reading till this point:

Two fantastic resources to make amazing, satisfying food that is good for your body and very easy on your wallet:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MealPrepSunday/
https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/

 

[darknightzzz]

food in america is the least commodity everyone should worry about, aka it is very cheap. That is if you go buy it intelligently in the supermarket (american one not china town) and cook it yourself. If you spend time cooking on the weekend, it takes at most 250$ per person/month to eat luxuriously. If you are being super frugal, it only takes 40$ per person to eat per week. You dont have to believe this but this is how the american min wage population live by although other governmental assistance programs exist.

when you eat out like every single day, then that is your lifestyle choice. Because you did it and can't live without it, it does not mean everyone else has to do the same and will cry a river without it.

the same goes for car payment and phone payment and cable. I can't believe when someone pays 130-140$/month for a new iphone with unlimited data/talk/text for 2 year contract and 100$/month for cable. it just depends on your lifestyle choice. Thats why there are dental students with 150k in a hole for living expense and others only 60-70k in a hole for living expense.

idk why this thread is blown up to this.

 

[darknightzzz]

on the side note, we should switch focus of this thread and ask @Incis0r to share why he is on probationary status and what does that even do to him? LOL

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[futureDDS2020]

Sorry for referring to you as him. Bad habit.

Weddings are expensive. You're right. You have to cover the cost of your plate as well as a gift. I'm not an idiot, and understand you can't skip/avoid them. I'm listening to a lot of what you said, like how you can't go out to eat in SF spending only $30. Ike's says otherwise. Class social events. Do they have these at restaurants? I don't know I haven't started dental school yet. Maybe they do expect people with negative net worth to blow money on **** they can't afford, I just don't know and will apologize to you if that's the case, but I was under the impression that they are at the school or that if it's at a bar the school partially subsidizes the tab.

As far as birthday dinners, not everybody eats out at expensive restaurants. I associate with many people that are perfectly content to hang out and watch TV, cook something on the grill, sit around a fire, go hiking, etc. If you think that all social circles revolve around exorbitantly expensive activities, then I guess we just have different social circles. Birthday with myself or one of my friends? We all go in and split two 30's of Bud Light and play pong and listen to music.

So I give up trying to convince you that you don't need to spend money you don't have on things you don't need in order to accomplish a greater level of happiness and personal satisfaction than you'd get from engaging in such behaviors.

For what it's worth, the most successful dentists I know are humble, frugal and not materialistic. The periodontist I shadowed makes his referring GP's homemade gift baskets filled with crafts and artisan snacks, instead of the much more expensive and less thoughtful Edible Arrangement cop-out. They drive Fords, GMCs, Hondas, live in modest homes, and you would never in a million years guess how lucrative their practices are, because they're spending time taking their kids hiking, kayaking, fishing, or to the zoo.

You can build relationships and referrals by being genuine and not by digging yourself into a financial hole. Is there a "happy" medium (pun intended) between what you're suggesting and what I'm suggesting? You bet. Being sensible and frugal isn't for everyone, but neither is mindlessly blowing money just to keep up with the Joneses. I'll stick to mine and you'll stick to yours.

I give up.

Last comment and I'm done, Ike's is amazing and reasonable, but its the SF equivalent of jimmy Johns i.e. not a sit down restaurant for bdays, it's a grab-n-go. Cheers

 

[darknightzzz]

Or we could focus on the task at hand, petty arguing (guilty) about things that aren't relevant at all to the original purpose of this thread

btw congratz on Uconn . very impressive. looks like you are on your way of financially stable future.

 

[ncide]

Alright... back to the topic at hand.

The issue that some doctors have in having their patients accept treatment is not communicating the rationale behind their treatment. In the video, there were ample instances where doctors simply stated "you need x for tooth x" instead of justifying their treatment plan.

For some patients, a "let's just wait and see" approach will not be in their best interest. Sure, you can monitor a high risk site, but understanding the behavior and hygiene of the patient is key. In one patient you can inform them of the risk and help mitigate surgical treatment by prescribing high-fluoride toothpaste and possibly chlorhexidine, to help remineralize the site and lower bacterial population. But if they are non-compliant, and you have reason to believe that their oral hygiene will not improve, then minimizing future risk may require removing caries before more natural tooth structure is lost. This is where you find the grey area between aggressive and non-aggressive treatments.

As long as you are open about your thought process and provide evidence for your clinical findings, then the patient will trust you.

 

[Apramana]

On the topic of eating healthy on a budget, if anyone is tempted to try to maximize that route:

"A Day In The Life"
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=445707#p445707
[An example of a sample day following Novick's recommended dietary guidelines, showcasing the ease of implementation of the dietary principles to obtain all our dietary needs while minimizing all dietary risk factors.]
["As explained in the discussion on my SNAP meals, the above recipes take no more than 10 minutes, have 5 or less ingredients, are based on foods one can get anywhere, involve virtually no prep, clean up or waste and can be done for under $5/day per person. " - Jeff Novick, MS, RD]

 

[Incis0r]

On the topic of eating healthy on a budget, if anyone is tempted to try to maximize that route:

"A Day In The Life"
https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=445707#p445707
[An example of a sample day following Novick's recommended dietary guidelines, showcasing the ease of implementation of the dietary principles to obtain all our dietary needs while minimizing all dietary risk factors.]
["As explained in the discussion on my SNAP meals, the above recipes take no more than 10 minutes, have 5 or less ingredients, are based on foods one can get anywhere, involve virtually no prep, clean up or waste and can be done for under $5/day per person. " - Jeff Novick, MS, RD]

Bookmarked. This looks fantastic. Thank you!

 

[laserzpewpew]

Yes, unfortunately this is what dentistry is coming to, especially in cities and metropolitan areas. You can thank the oversupply of dentists (international grads, private dental school mills) for that.