Options for disabled dentist

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hank120

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Hello all,

I graduated in 2014 and have been practicing dentistry in the military for the last 4 and a half years, including 1yr AEGD.

I sustained a spine injury (neck and upper back) during judo training 4 yrs ago and have not been able to recover despite extensive medical treatment and therapies over the years. I live with pain daily, and will be medically discharged from the military in near future. Although I really enjoy clinical dentistry, I have come to accept the fact that I may never be able to practice dentistry again. It was a hard pill to swallow but I need to look ahead and figure out what’s next.

How realistic is it to open and establish a practice as the owner/managing dentist without being chair side? I am entrepreneurial so this route is most appealing to me. At this point, I would say my body can only take being chair side maximum 2 days/week. Fortunately I have zero debt. We have a child and plan to have another soon.

What other options do I have?

Thanks for your help.
 
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If I were in your shoes, I’d be applying to dental anesthesiology residencies. Unfortunately, it looks it’ll be a challenge to apply this cycle. 4 of the 7 programs, according to PASS, have application deadlines of September 1st or 15th. The others are October 16th. It’d be a rush, but you could catch those 3.

Good luck whatever you end up doing.

Big Hoss
 
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hank120 said:
Hello all,

I graduated in 2014 and have been practicing dentistry in the military for the last 4 and a half years, including 1yr AEGD.

I sustained a spine injury (neck and upper back) during judo training 4 yrs ago and have not been able to recover despite extensive medical treatment and therapies over the years. I live with pain daily, and will be medically discharged from the military in near future. Although I really enjoy clinical dentistry, I have come to accept the fact that I may never be able to practice dentistry again. It was a hard pill to swallow but I need to look ahead and figure out what’s next.

How realistic is it to open and establish a practice as the owner/managing dentist without being chair side? I am entrepreneurial so this route is most appealing to me. At this point, I would say my body can only take being chair side maximum 2 days/week. Fortunately I have zero debt. We have a child and plan to have another soon.

What other options do I have?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

You can look into faculty jobs at dental schools. Also in the the military don’t you increasingly become more administrative as you go up in rank? Is it possible for you to stay in the military?

Was your judo training a part of being in the military?
 
Would you consider working for an insurance company as a dental consultant?
 
You could also consider pursuing a Juris Doctor degree.
 
Big Time Hoosier said:
If I were in your shoes, I’d be applying to dental anesthesiology residencies. Unfortunately, it looks it’ll be a challenge to apply this cycle. 4 of the 7 programs, according to PASS, have application deadlines of September 1st or 15th. The others are October 16th. It’d be a rush, but you could catch those 3.

Good luck whatever you end up doing.

Big Hoss
Click to expand...

Thanks, I’ll look into it.
 
AVB2104 said:
You can look into faculty jobs at dental schools. Also in the the military don’t you increasingly become more administrative as you go up in rank? Is it possible for you to stay in the military?

Was your judo training a part of being in the military?
Click to expand...

It was not part of military training, just something I’d been doing on my own. While it’s true I can switch to admin role, it’s not something I enjoy or am passionate about...
 
This is why I never lift weights or do MMA.

As for the OP, do you have enough capital saved to do a startup and hire new grads/associate dentists? Either that or academia might be an option for you.
 
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studentdent00 said:
This is why I never lift weights or do MMA.

As for the OP, do you have enough capital saved to do a startup and hire new grads/associate dentists? Either that or academia might be an option for you.
Click to expand...

Uhm that’s a little exaggerating lol. Lifting weights is fine for sure. Otherwise how can you maintain dem big biceps and chests???
 
Saddleshoes said:
Would you consider working for an insurance company as a dental consultant?
Click to expand...

I'm more interested in starting my own business. Preferably in dentistry, but if not, then other business... Thank you.
 
studentdent00 said:
This is why I never lift weights or do MMA.

As for the OP, do you have enough capital saved to do a startup and hire new grads/associate dentists? Either that or academia might be an option for you.
Click to expand...

Not much capital but currently have zero debt so I don't think getting a startup loan will be an issue...
 
AVB2104 said:
Uhm that’s a little exaggerating lol. Lifting weights is fine for sure. Otherwise how can you maintain dem big biceps and chests???
Click to expand...

Definitely yoga and weight training (moderation) to maintain health. Dentistry is hard on your body so take care of yourself!
 
Dental Anesthesiology is a lot of OR training which means the awkward lean over to intubate the patients daily. Then sitting on a stool in the OR for hours may not be so great on the back either.
 
You may want to look into oral path. Or possibly get your JD and maybe become a malpractice lawyer? From my understanding (and the check ins I did with a few banks years ago), it's nearly impossible to get a business loan without enough disability insurance to cover the loan. You may be able to get one if you have something to put up as collateral. House or co-signer or the like.
 
setdoc7 said:
Dental Anesthesiology is a lot of OR training which means the awkward lean over to intubate the patients daily. Then sitting on a stool in the OR for hours may not be so great on the back either.
Click to expand...

No. Intubating patients in an OR is not physically demanding or strain your back. Sitting is optional.
 
You said you can do dentistry 2 days/week, then how about starting a small low overhead 2-3 chair office for under 100k? With low overhead and without any loan, you can afford to work fewer days and do procedures that won’t hurt your back much. Don’t overbook. Have a light schedule and take small breaks in between patients. That’s what my sister, who is a general dentist, is doing right now. She used to work 6-7 days/week to pay off loans. Now she only works 3 days/week. On some days, her office only has 2-3 patients and she only needs to work 1-2 hours….and then she goes home to pick up her 3 kids from schools. She paid off all her loans. She bought and already paid off the office building. Since the overhead is so low, anything she produces goes straight to her pocket. Life is beautiful.

If your practice grows so fast that you (and your back) can no longer handle the large patient volume, then isn’t this a good thing? Who doesn’t want to have a busy successful practice? You can hire an associate dentist work for you. With your presence in the office, the associate dentist and your staff will not mess around….. they will work hard to make you happy.
 
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beannaithe said:
You may want to look into oral path. Or possibly get your JD and maybe become a malpractice lawyer? From my understanding (and the check ins I did with a few banks years ago), it's nearly impossible to get a business loan without enough disability insurance to cover the loan. You may be able to get one if you have something to put up as collateral. House or co-signer or the like.
Click to expand...

Looks like I first need to explore the possibility of getting a disability insurance with my preexisting back issue. Great information, will look into it. Thanks
 
nealofgrafton said:
why not stay in the military and try to do a residency in oral path or oral radiology while still in.
20 years then get a 'decent' retirement then go academics. you'll never have to work faster than your coffee cools then 😉
Click to expand...

True, While staying in the military is stable and secure, it is not my calling.
 
charlestweed said:
You said you can do dentistry 2 days/week, then how about starting a small low overhead 2-3 chair office for under 100k? With low overhead and without any loan, you can afford to work fewer days and do procedures that won’t hurt your back much. Don’t overbook. Have a light schedule and take small breaks in between patients. That’s what my sister, who is a general dentist, is doing right now. She used to work 6-7 days/week to pay off loans. Now she only works 3 days/week. On some days, her office only has 2-3 patients and she only needs to work 1-2 hours….and then she goes home to pick up her 3 kids from schools. She paid off all her loans. She bought and already paid off the office building. Since the overhead is so low, anything she produces goes straight to her pocket. Life is beautiful.

If your practice grows so fast that you (and your back) can no longer handle the large patient volume, then isn’t this a good thing? Who doesn’t want to have a busy successful practice? You can hire an associate dentist work for you. With your presence in the office, the associate dentist and your staff will not mess around….. they will work hard to make you happy.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. I'm definitely interested in this route. Where does your sister practice?
 
hank120 said:
Thank you for your reply. I'm definitely interested in this route. Where does your sister practice?
Click to expand...
She is practicing in Southern California. She doesn’t hop from chair to chair like when she worked for he Corp office years ago. She sees one patient at a time. She has 6 chairs but they are for me because I do ortho ortho at her office. She only uses 2 chairs….one for patient tx and the other chair is for her assistant to take x ray and to prepare the next patient.
 
hank120 said:
Hello all,

I graduated in 2014 and have been practicing dentistry in the military for the last 4 and a half years, including 1yr AEGD.

I sustained a spine injury (neck and upper back) during judo training 4 yrs ago and have not been able to recover despite extensive medical treatment and therapies over the years. I live with pain daily, and will be medically discharged from the military in near future. Although I really enjoy clinical dentistry, I have come to accept the fact that I may never be able to practice dentistry again. It was a hard pill to swallow but I need to look ahead and figure out what’s next.

How realistic is it to open and establish a practice as the owner/managing dentist without being chair side? I am entrepreneurial so this route is most appealing to me. At this point, I would say my body can only take being chair side maximum 2 days/week. Fortunately I have zero debt. We have a child and plan to have another soon.

What other options do I have?

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
As someone who trains MMA this is very scary.
 
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702 said:
How can such an extremely low production office be sufficiently profitable?
Click to expand...
Low overhead is key. My sister's office rent used to be $1200/month. Now, it's $0/month because my sister bought (and she paid it off in 4 years...she could have paid it off sooner but the bank would charge her prepayment penalty if she paid if off sooner than 4 years ) the office building at very cheap price (during the 2008 recession) and moved her patients there. She only has 2 employees: employee #1 (office manager) can work both front and back and employee #2 only works 4 days/week. She rarely refers cases out because she has an in-house periodontist, who can handle most difficult extractions and other surgical cases. And I do ortho at her office. The passive income from in-house perio and ortho should be more than enough to pay staff salaries and other fixed expenses. Whatever she produces from doing general dentistry is pure profit.
 
Do oral radiology. Tack on a group practice and maybe practice general dentistry 2 times a week max for more income. So you can interpret x-rays standing or sitting. And you can stay active in dentistry 2 days a week part time. Best of both worlds so you aren't completely sedentary this way.

And agree with charlestweed. Get in house specialists to come once a month to help those patients. Good passive income.
 
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Associates can be very difficult to deal with. Great associates move to ownership quickly, so as soon as you think you have a good one, they’re on to the next best thing. That’s obviously a generalization, but it’s many dentist’s experience. If you want to build a small dental empire, you need to be capable of being chair side 40 hours a week as you cover for associates who have either left, are on vacation, or you had to fire. Same with hygiene which is a different applicant pool altogether. Of course it can be done, but not being able to be chair side as you build up this business is very difficult.

You should consider specializing in dental anesthesiology as was suggested...or going into education, but sounds like you want to own your own business. If that’s the case, you could also learn a new skill and take a different career path altogether...that’s probably what I’d do in your situation if you’re set on building something bigger than yourself although staying in the military might not be a bad option given your circumstances but I don’t know how it would work for you as a dentist with a disability there....If you have a disability policy, I’d take the disability and go learn CS or something else to supplement your disability income while you build a business you’re excited about.

You’re not necessarily stuck, and there are options even though it may not feel like it yet.
 
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DA is good. But if you have physical problems, then driving everywhere and lugging equipment is probably not a good idea. In addition, the residency is very physically and emotionally demanding so something you should do "just cuz".
 
Also, you could consider working through a scope. Limit practice to 3 days a week and have a partner.
 
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