Orthodontist working in general dentist office

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

gntldds01

New Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2006
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hello all...I wanted any opinion/advice on this..
I am a recent orthodontist 2011 grad looking for an associatship/partnership..I have had 7 years of GP experience before getting into ortho school....as I am looking for a spot to practice ortho I have come to realize it is a tough market...
However, an oppotunity arrised to work with a six GP office (12 chairs, ten hygienist, parttime pedo)..there are three owners (two or former dental school classmates)..they have seen that they are referring 30-45 ortho patients out every month..so they asked me to join them..the office is an underserved area about 1 hour away from metro city
they offered a partnership after one year of associateship (paying 900/day or 50% of collections which ever is greater)...but to buy one quarter of their practice will cost 1-1.25 million (they gross 4 million)...
this is a little stressful for me since I dont know any ortho people that have worked inhouse with GP..any ideas ??? what do u guys think?? has anyone out there done this ??

thank you so much

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
I agree with the above poster. You will get more helpful responses, if you post this question in the Orthotown forum. The gp office you described above seems like a very busy and successful practice. You should have no problem getting 15-20 new starts every month. I am sure you will easily get the 50% of the collection, which is a great offer. However, there are 2 potential problems working a GP practice:

1. lack of experienced ortho RDAs. It is very frustrated to work with assistants who are slow and don't know much about ortho.
2. lack of dental chairs. It's a 6-doctor office. 12 chairs may not be enough. Ortho needs at least 5 chairs in order to see 60+ patients a day.

I work at 2 busy dental chain offices and they provide me 3 very experienced ortho RDA. When I work at my sister's gp office, I bring my own ortho RDAs.
 
Hello all...I wanted any opinion/advice on this..
I am a recent orthodontist 2011 grad looking for an associatship/partnership..I have had 7 years of GP experience before getting into ortho school....as I am looking for a spot to practice ortho I have come to realize it is a tough market...
However, an oppotunity arrised to work with a six GP office (12 chairs, ten hygienist, parttime pedo)..there are three owners (two or former dental school classmates)..they have seen that they are referring 30-45 ortho patients out every month..so they asked me to join them..the office is an underserved area about 1 hour away from metro city
they offered a partnership after one year of associateship (paying 900/day or 50% of collections which ever is greater)...but to buy one quarter of their practice will cost 1-1.25 million (they gross 4 million)...
this is a little stressful for me since I dont know any ortho people that have worked inhouse with GP..any ideas ??? what do u guys think?? has anyone out there done this ??

thank you so much

Hey, I hear you about the market being tough. Your situation sounds golden to me. 30-45 new patients per month without having to go around to general dental offices trying to schmooze and get referrals? Plus you don't have to worry if new orthos move to town since all your patients are in house. I wouldn't hesitate for a second if I liked the former classmates. I take that back. The only way I would hesitate is if it was a Medicaid clinic. Barring that, I would not hesitate. Heck if you aren't interested, PM me and I'll go work with them. :)
 
Top