Advice on Life after dental school

[star5569]

Did anyone else feel way in over their heard after first graduating and working? At school I was taught the bare minimum fillings, crowns, simple exts, no surgical exts, no molar endo or retreatment, no Invisalign, but working as a new grad I’m expected to do so much and be fast as well with no training. I was promised mentorship but so far I haven’t received any at all but I’m expected to do full mouth extractions w Alveo. When I ask for help it seems like I’m bothering the other “mentor ” who by the way just quit. Another dentist is supposed to come and “mentor” but now I’m just skeptical and frustrated. I dread going to work.

For the other new grads what is your typical day like. How many patients do you see in a day.
Also I’m thinking maybe I just don’t know enough and should pursue further training.
Does anyone know of any open a AEGD or GPR positions currently. Is it too late to join one now or does anyone know if there would be any opening in January 2023?
If anyone has any guidance or been in a similar situation I would appreciate to hear from you. I’m literally drowning please help.

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[TheWolverine]

I know how you're feeling. Graduated two months ago, May 2022, and felt like the expectations were too high too soon. The private office I work for is mainly medicaid patients but has a long record of hiring international dentists who come to the US and are "new grads" when they graduate but could have anywhere from 1-5 years experience in dentistry in their home countries and be a lot faster. So the office is used to experienced dentists who work fast, produce more, and can better manage a higher workload from the get-go.

My schedule is made up of 2 columns - usually has about 10-12 patients each before and after lunch - so a total of 20-24 patients a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. I found myself running around like a chicken with its head cut off my first month of working because I never had to manage seating 2 patients at once and taking care of them both while treatment plannings to the best of my ability all while trying to balance out getting faster but not rushing and doing crappy work.

Now, after 2 months, my production is slowly increasing because I'm starting to fire on all cylinders. My patients are returning and becoming familiar with me. Also I am constantly trying to improve my communication and treatment plan acceptance. I am pretty happy with how my speed is picking up and how the office and assistants are getting used to working with me and getting on the same page - I don't think going back to school to do a GPR/AEGD at this point would help me much more for the bread and butter dentistry I am trying to excel at daily. I'm doing the real learning out there everyday, no residency could've prepared me for 20-25 patients a day - this is the best "residency" I could've asked for, in my opinion.

We got this! PM me if you got any questions!

 

[CharlieAF]

So it seems like there are three issues in your question.

1. The speed. That definitely gets better with time. And yes its normal to feel slow. I wouldn’t worry about that. That will improve whether you do more training or you just practice longer. (In fact I’d guess your speed will improve more quickly in the practice setting.)

2. Sounds like they’re asking you to do procedures you don’t feel super comfortable with. That sucks. I think it’s normal to feel lost, but I also think it’s unfair of them to ask a new grad to do full mouth extractions with alveo. At any rate, for learning more procedures, a GPR can be a great option. If I were graduating today and heading for general dentistry, I’d absolutely do one.

3. Mentorship…again, a GPR/AEGD can help you here. I mean there are no guarantees. You might end up at a program that doesn’t meet your expectations in this regard, but I’d say overall you’re more likely to get good mentorship and teaching in a training program.

Ultimately both routes are viable. Stay in practice, take lots of CEs, embrace the suck and get through it. You’ll get there. Or do more training. You’ll have a bit more of a structured learning environment, and depending on your program’s set up and size, you’ll have your fellow residents to support you.

Either way, it sounds like you aren’t happy in your current position. So whether you do training or not, maybe a new job is in order?

 

[allDAT]

Most of the schools don’t prepare prepare their students well enough.

Not your fault really. You’ll learn, just try not to hurt people along the way.

 

[allDAT]

With regards to your current job. If you dread going to work, just leave. Find something else. You’re still a dentist and will find work.

Mentorship….hard to find one that will both be a mentor and employer. My honest opinion, you probably won’t find one. As a general rule, good dentists don’t hire new graduates; great dentists definitely don’t. And you need a great dentist to be a mentor. Find it outside of work.

 

[PerioDont]

What setting are you working in? sounds like a corp practice

 

[Boat on the Chesapeake]

Your current job sounds like it may just not be a good fit for a new grad. It will get better with time and CE, but keep an eye out for other jobs. Talk to friends from dental school or any other dental mentors in your life about clinical stuff, treatment plans, etc.

A dental license is like a driver’s license. Yes you can safely, legally drive but you might not be good at it or confident for a couple years, and eventually it’ll feel easy.

 

[FutureDent020]

At school I was taught the bare minimum, no molar endo or retreatment

Molar endo, sure. Dental students should understand the basic concepts or molar anatomy, access preps, instrumentation and obturation. All skills and knowledge that are needed to successfully perform molar RCT’s. But retreatments?? No school is going to teach a dental student the concepts, knowledge, or skills to do a retreat. The hardest part of retreats are understanding why it failed in the first place and then navigating the tooth to try and make it succeed the next time. And even doing it perfectly only result in a roughly 80% success rate. That’s way beyond a dental student’s capabilities. Maybe you were just on a roll thinking about things you haven’t done, but retreating a tooth is something you should sleep comfortably knowing you haven’t done and aren’t doing.

 

[redchesus]

Even way before the pandemic, dental school only ever taught the bare minimum. Don't feel bad you don't know a lot yet.

I did not feel comfortable with endo or rem prosth, I was decent with surgery because I sought out internships at an FQHC (thought I was gonna do public health dentistry)... even then I did a GPR as a stop gap, basically took a pay cut for guaranteed mentorship. Thank god because my first job (ended up in corporate lol) landed me in a situation where I was by myself within a few months. Just like you, I was promised a mentor but that mentor quickly left and they never brought anyone else in to replace. After that I had to seek out my own mentors and help outside my employer: at the local society, taking CEs or literally just group texting my old classmates for advice.

Good mentors seem like a rarity and a lot of us just have to find our own way.

 

[Faefly]

you can still apply to gpr now for next year! There is still time! I think you should do it!
My school is not preparing me for anything, what a joke! It is really unfair for us, especially class 2023, 2022, and 2020, we were hit so hard.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

A GPR won't make you faster. It COULD make you better. I am happy I did a VA GPR instead of going straight out. I am noticeably more knowledgable in certain areas than my coworker

 

[schmoob]

I didn’t do a GPR, it was trial by fire for me. I got comfortable with procedures and then I became faster. After 100 crowns your preps get better and faster. An implant crown is the easiest money you can make. With extractions you get better and faster. Take CE courses. I took an Implant Continuum and that really helped me. Watch tutorials online for some procedures. I have ran into paid CE that are also on YouTube.

The most important thing is knowing what cases to refer. It doesn’t make you a bad doc. A complex case for you is easy peasy for a specialist and ultimately better for the patient. Endo #15 goes straight to endo. I know I can do it but the specialist will do it better and fast. Then I get a beautiful easy tooth to prep. Same thing with extracting an RCT #19. Also, I CAN do it but it will be 2 hours of battling a tooth that is chipping by little pieces. Straight to OS or Perio if OS is really backed up. I also send them my implants that I know are too complex for me.

Focus on the basics and get good at them. If you can do an endo/BU/crown in the morning and the afternoon you will make awesome money.

 

[P7898]

Do what you can do predictably. For example, if I cannot do a procedure in an hour or less I refer out. As of now I do exts (but I pick and choose), Anterior and pre-molar endo (I refer all molar), crown, bridge, quads of fillings, dentures, partials, Invisalign, pedi treatment, no implants.

Above is plenty to keep you busy. I restore implants but do not place them. Basically do 90% of dentistry myself but if something takes me more than an hour (per procedure) so RCT/BU/CRN takes me about 2 hours of appointment scheduling time.

My rule of thumb is 1 hour or less per procedure and I know I can get a very good outcome. If it is questionable then refer. I know I can get a solid endo fil on every tooth except molars (nor do I want the stress of this) so I refer.

I did not do a residency and do very well financially doing this and am a recent grad.

 

[HatInTheCat]

I didn’t do residency.

I went straight to a DSO and had a great lead dentist that I worked with who had done a residency that was surgically heavy.

You’re just going to have to go through the growing pains of being a new dentist. It’s not easy but dental school gave you the tools to become resilient. Take CE. Get really good at diagnosis and tx planning. That’s the money maker.

Time will help you make better decisions. You’ll struggle through cases you should have referred, you’ll learn from your failures.


Key in general dentistry is to choose procedures that don’t take up too much time that cause the less stress to patients. Think about what you love and focus on that more.

 

[cmjacks5]

I know how you're feeling. Graduated two months ago, May 2022, and felt like the expectations were too high too soon. The private office I work for is mainly medicaid patients but has a long record of hiring international dentists who come to the US and are "new grads" when they graduate but could have anywhere from 1-5 years experience in dentistry in their home countries and be a lot faster. So the office is used to experienced dentists who work fast, produce more, and can better manage a higher workload from the get-go.

My schedule is made up of 2 columns - usually has about 10-12 patients each before and after lunch - so a total of 20-24 patients a day, sometimes more, sometimes less. I found myself running around like a chicken with its head cut off my first month of working because I never had to manage seating 2 patients at once and taking care of them both while treatment plannings to the best of my ability all while trying to balance out getting faster but not rushing and doing crappy work.

Now, after 2 months, my production is slowly increasing because I'm starting to fire on all cylinders. My patients are returning and becoming familiar with me. Also I am constantly trying to improve my communication and treatment plan acceptance. I am pretty happy with how my speed is picking up and how the office and assistants are getting used to working with me and getting on the same page - I don't think going back to school to do a GPR/AEGD at this point would help me much more for the bread and butter dentistry I am trying to excel at daily. I'm doing the real learning out there everyday, no residency could've prepared me for 20-25 patients a day - this is the best "residency" I could've asked for, in my opinion.

We got this! PM me if you got any questions!

How are you doing quality work seeing that many patients as new grad??? Cuz honestly dental schools not teaching much these days. You should’ve done a GPR. At least with a GPR you could’ve built more skill. Speed comes with time. Good luck to you. Seems miserable

 

[cmjacks5]

A GPR won't make you faster. It COULD make you better. I am happy I did a VA GPR instead of going straight out. I am noticeably more knowledgable in certain areas than my coworker

This!!!!