negative things in dentistry

[genius519]

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What is one negative and one positive thing you found in your expierience in dentistry?

thanks

 

[youngmc27]

It is really expensive to go to school but it will be worth it in the future when you pay off your loans.

 

[dentwannabe]

so far, just a D2, but.. ones i often hear from dentists..

cons: the physical stress on your body (back, neck, shoulders), loan stress (especially early on)

pros: good lifestyle (8 to 5, solid pay, relatively low stress), the work can be challenging and satisfying (although i hear within 10 years of graduating dentistry gets boring).

 

[GunnerDMD617]

'

 

[NyCzPeter]

Con: Yuckie mouths of patients who don't keep hygiene

Pro: Chillen schedule and of course the CaChinggg

 

[La fea]

Pros- Nice schedule, can have some semblance of balance.
Cons- stress, kills my back(esp if I go w/out exercise)

 

[capisce?]

Pro: business owner and don't have to answer to anyone
Cons: Patient and staff management

 

[gryffindor]

Pro: Work as little or as much as I want, tailor my practice in any direction I want
Con: Didn't realize how much business education I need to go out on my own

 

[OceanDMD]

The removable pros patient who is never happy....arrggg...

 

[Dr. Dai Phan]

The removable pros patient who is never happy....arrggg...

They key to successful pros case is PATIENT EDUCATION! DP

 

[armorshell]

They key to successful pros case is PATIENT EDUCATION! DP

The key to a successful pros case is to specialize in endo and never worry about it again. 😉

 

[desert rat]

Positive: The money and respect

Negative: Bad patients you hate

 

[Daurang]

The key to successful pros case is to refer them to Dr. Dai Phan.

 

[OceanDMD]

They key to successful pros case is PATIENT EDUCATION! DP

Regardless, there are always the PITAs with inconceivable expectations.

 

[jdmdd]

CONS: as a specialist I know that I am always one small step away from losing a referral. Say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, forget to include something in a letter. Hell, if I spell something wrong in a referral letter I look like an idiot. So it can be very stressful knowing how thin the line is between getting someone to send a pt to our practice, or sending them down the street...lots of restless nights.

PROS: I work Mon-Thus, and have a full 3 days off. I take home basically the same money as my I banker/Lawyer/other professional friends....Which means from May to Sept I beat the Shore traffic by leaving on Thursday night!!!!

All in all, I can say that even though my career has been short to this point, I feel I made a good decision. Especially in these times - our practice may be slower than last year, but it beats the crap out of working for Lehman Brothers!!!!!

 

[NyCzPeter]

CONS: as a specialist I know that I am always one small step away from losing a referral. Say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, forget to include something in a letter. Hell, if I spell something wrong in a referral letter I look like an idiot. So it can be very stressful knowing how thin the line is between getting someone to send a pt to our practice, or sending them down the street...lots of restless nights.

PROS: I work Mon-Thus, and have a full 3 days off. I take home basically the same money as my I banker/Lawyer/other professional friends....Which means from May to Sept I beat the Shore traffic by leaving on Thursday night!!!!

All in all, I can say that even though my career has been short to this point, I feel I made a good decision. Especially in these times - our practice may be slower than last year, but it beats the crap out of working for Lehman Brothers!!!!!

Amen Brother. What specialty are you? Pedo? Endo?

 

[jdmdd]

Perio
Pediatric dentists and orthodontists are a lucky - they're specialists, but they rely much less on the referral system as everyone else - which is in my opinion, the most difficult thing in private practice. Its tough as a young dentist to break into existing referral patterns.

As an aside, I would like to hear from other young specialists - particularly OMFS, endo, prosth on things they are doing to help build their referral system.
Obviously we do a bunch of lunches, study club etc.. We have begun doing lunch and learns with some of the big groups around here - offering lunch and 1 hr of CE...Its especially good for their hygienists, who are always looking for CE credit.... Interested to see if any new referrals come out of it.

 

[charlestweed]

CONS: as a specialist I know that I am always one small step away from losing a referral. Say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, forget to include something in a letter. Hell, if I spell something wrong in a referral letter I look like an idiot. So it can be very stressful knowing how thin the line is between getting someone to send a pt to our practice, or sending them down the street...lots of restless nights.

So true….today, my wife (also a periodontist) has to cancel our son's swimming class so she can help this GP to remove a broken implant screw. Of course, she won't get paid for doing this.

Jdmdd, it's good that you have enough patients to keep you busy 4 days/week. My wife only works 1.5 days/week at her office. She has to work at 7 different GP offices as in house periodontist.

Pediatric dentists and orthodontists are a lucky - they're specialists, but they rely much less on the referral system as everyone else - which is in my opinion, the most difficult thing in private practice. Its tough as a young dentist to break into existing referral patterns.

As an aside, I would like to hear from other young specialists - particularly OMFS, endo, prosth on things they are doing to help build their referral system.
Obviously we do a bunch of lunches, study club etc.. We have begun doing lunch and learns with some of the big groups around here - offering lunch and 1 hr of CE...Its especially good for their hygienists, who are always looking for CE credit.... Interested to see if any new referrals come out of it.

I've had the ortho practice for 3 years and I only have enough patients to work there 8 days/month. Last month, I bought another existing ortho practice so I could fill my 5days/week schedule and quit my associate job. Without the GPs' helps, I would make very little profit since 50% of my new patients are from the GP referrals.

Like you, I constantly worry about losing the GP referrals. I've been doing the same things that you've been doing…lunches, movie tickets for GPs' staff, discounted fees for GPs' relatives etc.. I even let the dentist next door use our panoramic x ray machine.

 

[jdmdd]

This is abit off topic, but I will go over my transtion for anyone interested.

I am in an area where the demographics are favorable. The dentist to patient ratio is about 1/2500, and there are only 3 periodontist in the area - of which one is retiring. This is not a saturated area at all - I couldnt do this in another demographic.

I started out in 2 pactices as an associate, and I bought into this one about 3 months ago. Its a big practice (grosses about 1.1M), so the cash flow is there to support the seller being there 125 days a year and myself 4 days a week. Seller will cut back to 1 to 2 days a week at year two, then he will retire. I could write a book on buying a dental pracitce - what an experience!

If need be, I could work as an independant contractor in a GP office on fridays - but I would have to drive pretty far from my town - so as to not piss off our current referrals. Transition is going well, and I value my time off, so maybe in the future if cash flow drops.

Being an independant contractor like your wife can be quite profitable. I just knew right out of my program that I was going to buy this practice ASAP....Another great thing about dentistry - different strokes for different folks.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Perio
Pediatric dentists and orthodontists are a lucky - they're specialists, but they rely much less on the referral system as everyone else - which is in my opinion, the most difficult thing in private practice.

Especially with pedo, I think many pediatric dentists would rather not get referrals. Those referral patients (and their parents!) often carry the baggage of poor prior dental visits and can be difficult cases.

 

[Stephie3]

genius519, sometimes when you're a genius, it's hard to deal with the common people that sometimes lack some kinds of perceptions.

 

[NyCzPeter]

Especially with pedo, I think many pediatric dentists would rather not get referrals. Those referral patients (and their parents!) often carry the baggage of poor prior dental visits and can be difficult cases.

So where do you get the patients then? Do insurance companies automatically send kids to pedos? I remember I always saw a general dentist when I was young

 

[yuppers]

neg: nothing
pro: everything

 

[UCSF2012]

Cons: Plastic teeth suck, and the operative burs the school gives us burn out in 30 seconds flat.

Pros: Natural teeth are awesome, and the 245 carbide rocks my socks.