Thoughts on corporate dentistry

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gstead245

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I was pretty set on dentistry, but after reading articles about how there is a huge possibility of corporate dentistry taking over makes my stomach churn. I wanna be my own boss. This has occurred in fields like optometry where now theres huge pop ups of wallmart optometry, costco optometry, etc... which has hurt the profession in my opinion. What is your guys thoughts on this matter? Do you think dentistry is still a lucrative and viable career option? Honestly, reading about this makes me want to change careers. What career would you suggest is really good that has good pay, autonomy, balance in lifestyle?

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I was pretty set on dentistry, but after reading articles about how there is a huge possibility of corporate dentistry taking over makes my stomach churn. I wanna be my own boss. This has occurred in fields like optometry where now theres huge pop ups of wallmart optometry, costco optometry, etc... which has hurt the profession in my opinion. What is your guys thoughts on this matter? Do you think dentistry is still a lucrative and viable career option? Honestly, reading about this makes me want to change careers. What career would you suggest is really good that has good pay, autonomy, balance in lifestyle?

1) Some soft of God or diety
2) You could declare yourself a saint (St. Lifestyle and the holy trinity, for instance)
3) You could become and island. The pay isn't that great though:

4) Dermatology
5) Own 10 properties and rent them for 50K per year each.
6) Dentist, because corporate dentistry won't take over the market the way it did Opto, Pharm, etc... The reason is that people tend to trust one dentist--in other words, it is relatively difficult to commoditize dentists. Corp. dentistry market share will grow certainly, but it will be far less than other health care fields.
7) Being a CRNA is a pretty sweet gig, and in many states you could set up your own mobile anesthesia business: http://www.windycityanesthesia.com/. The training is also relatively dirt cheap: http://www.kpsan.org/

good luck.
 
I was pretty set on dentistry, but after reading articles about how there is a huge possibility of corporate dentistry taking over makes my stomach churn. I wanna be my own boss. This has occurred in fields like optometry where now theres huge pop ups of wallmart optometry, costco optometry, etc... which has hurt the profession in my opinion. What is your guys thoughts on this matter? Do you think dentistry is still a lucrative and viable career option? Honestly, reading about this makes me want to change careers. What career would you suggest is really good that has good pay, autonomy, balance in lifestyle?

Good pay+ autonomy + balance = Software Developer/Computer Programmer

Learn to code. Become a free-lance developer. Work by contracts on hours you set. Make six figures from your home. No brainer.
 
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I was pretty set on dentistry, but after reading articles about how there is a huge possibility of corporate dentistry taking over makes my stomach churn. I wanna be my own boss. This has occurred in fields like optometry where now theres huge pop ups of wallmart optometry, costco optometry, etc... which has hurt the profession in my opinion. What is your guys thoughts on this matter? Do you think dentistry is still a lucrative and viable career option? Honestly, reading about this makes me want to change careers. What career would you suggest is really good that has good pay, autonomy, balance in lifestyle?
I have loved practicing dentistry for a good number of years. My passion is teaching, Community Dentistry and Public Health. When I think of corporate dentistry, it makes me want to lie down on the floor and try to extract my own teeth in agony, lol. Just kidding. But I think you get the point. The things I've heard as my classmates and colleagues have shared over the years makes me cringe. But these are my personal feelings.
 
yeah but most important question I have is will corporate dentistry take over all of dentistry? That is what I am scared of the most
 
Dont be. People will always value good dentistry
 
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yeah but most important question I have is will corporate dentistry take over all of dentistry? That is what I am scared of the most
I really doubt that corporate dentistry will take over. You have so many good dental practitioners out here that won't allow that to happen. This is something you will never have to fear. There's a season for everything. Corporate dentistry will be around for some time but don't allow it to scare you. There's something in EVERY career field that's not good, but the positives always outweigh the negatives.
 
Corporate dentistry is like Wallmart. Convenient, maybe more affordable. Not everyone likes to shop there and quality...
 
great,The things I've heard as my classmates and colleagues have shared over the years makes me cringe. But these are my personal feelings.thanks
6WrS
 
Corporate dentistry are good become
* they offer low cost dentistry due to economy of scale
* they immediately put recent-grads into practicing dentistry without any business skills

I think they are increasing, and are here to stay.
 
Corporate dentistry are good become
* they offer low cost dentistry due to economy of scale
* they immediately put recent-grads into practicing dentistry without any business skills

I think they are increasing, and are here to stay.

Put recent-grads to work- yes I agree. The right corporate joint can be great testing grounds for a new grad. Your reputation isn't at stake so go crazy. I know I did. You can get really comfortable with molar endos and 3rds. Fellow docs are usually good about watching out for each other. Make as many mistakes as you can there. Don't know too many places where you can get paid to mess up.

Low cost. - not really. Their fee sched is pretty equitable to the avg solo practitioner if not greater. Its seems lower cost because they provide lower quality of care. Funny huh? "My fillings suck so I must have gotten a good deal price-wise!!" But in essence people are still paying private practice fees for shoddy overtreatment. Americans just don't know the truth.

I think they're decreasing. If they are here to stay, it'll be for GP's who don't place implants and dental therapists. With the aging boomer pop hitting us en masse, future looks good for surgically competent GP's.
 
Put recent-grads to work- yes I agree. The right corporate joint can be great testing grounds for a new grad. Your reputation isn't at stake so go crazy. I know I did. You can get really comfortable with molar endos and 3rds. Fellow docs are usually good about watching out for each other. Make as many mistakes as you can there. Don't know too many places where you can get paid to mess up.

Low cost. - not really. Their fee sched is pretty equitable to the avg solo practitioner if not greater. Its seems lower cost because they provide lower quality of care. Funny huh? "My fillings suck so I must have gotten a good deal price-wise!!" But in essence people are still paying private practice fees for shoddy overtreatment. Americans just don't know the truth.

I think they're decreasing. If they are here to stay, it'll be for GP's who don't place implants and dental therapists. With the aging boomer pop hitting us en masse, future looks good for surgically competent GP's.
Agree. I had estimates from HMO and PPO and PPO was a lot less. I mean full price, not just my portion. Couple of years ago I had no idea about those things
 
Corporate models and bodily orifices don't mix well. People will get corporate care if they don't have options, but if they do have options they're going to be shopping for a personal relationship, because no matter how old you are it's unnerving to have someone dig around in your mouth.

That said, I do think there's room for corporate dentistry to grow. But it won't take over for the same reason you're not going to see "Aspen Proctology" any time soon. And even if it were to make significant inroads, then any sufficiently industrious DDS would be in the ideal position to get in front of that trend and do it the right way. There will be room to practice how you want to practice if you make the right concessions -- like zip code.
 
Corporate models and bodily orifices don't mix well. People will get corporate care if they don't have options, but if they do have options they're going to be shopping for a personal relationship, because no matter how old you are it's unnerving to have someone dig around in your mouth.

That said, I do think there's room for corporate dentistry to grow. But it won't take over for the same reason you're not going to see "Aspen Proctology" any time soon. And even if it were to make significant inroads, then any sufficiently industrious DDS would be in the ideal position to get in front of that trend and do it the right way. There will be room to practice how you want to practice if you make the right concessions -- like zip code.

Not everyone wants a personal relationship. Some just look for the cheapest care, even some of the rich. Doesn't always mean the care is necessarily worse. I don't have any problem with corporate dentistry. We shouldn't generalize corporate dentistry as being a rip off or providing services not meeting the standard of care. Patients are free to choose where they want to get their dentistry done, and if they're willing to pay a pretty penny, than may the best businessman win.
 
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