What is your favorite thing about being a dentist?
I love the ability to identify a need that can better the situation of a patient. It can be something as simple as enhancing their smile to reconstructing their entire dentition. Whatever their chief complaint, I hope to be a vessel to the patient’s needs.
You've done the startup thing, as well as the practice acquisition. What are some pros and cons of each? Do you have any advice for dentists looking to own who are considering both options?
There are advantages and disadvantages to starting a practice versus acquiring a practice. When doing a complete scratch practice, you can install both the equipment and systems you feel will be best for the practice as well as hire the staff you desire outright.
When you acquire, you inherit many systems and armamentarium already a part of the practice, not to mention the current staff. There may be some blowback to some simple tasks or systems you want to employ.
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However, when acquiring a practice, even if you completely reinvent the wheel, you have some production on the books and a staff familiar with the practice on day one. Patients are already used to showing up for care and receiving treatment at the facility you purchase. These factors can go a long way, even if patient attrition and staff turnover are high during the first year. There still is an entity to mold and guide versus completely reinventing when acquiring a practice. I would recommend thoroughly researching a practice acquisition versus a scratch practice when choosing to own a practice.
What procedures are the most predictable in your hands?
Crown preps seem to be the most predictable for me, even more so than direct restorations. Give me a crown prep versus a five-surface filling any day. Any crown done by me will have a much better result than any direct restoration.
What three products or services can you not live without?
I absolutely need an Isolite, an intraoral camera, and digital radiography.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the October 2022 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
