26 Dental Student Questions, Answered.

I’ve been learning a lot on Twitter lately, and I came across these tweets this morning from the 2014 ASDA National Leadership Conference. I wanted to answer all of them as best as I could just for fun. I’m sure the panelists gave great answers; these are great questions.  Any dentists that take the time out of their schedules to help dental students on a panel like this are cool in my book and great for the profession. This conference looks awesome, too! I wish I had been more involved in ASDA as a dental student.

Just to give you an idea where my perspective is coming from, I graduated in 2008 from Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine. I went straight into practice after school, so I’m in my seventh year of practice. I worked in every practice setting you can imagine before I opened my own practice almost three years ago with my wife. I taught part time at the UTHSCSA for two years and I’m chair of the Texas Dental Association Committee on the New Dentist.  I enjoy giving back to dental students and new dentists.

Richard E Bauer ‏@reb_cubed
What types of post employment issues do you need to worry about after a corporate experience ie tail insurance etc #agdatnlc

Consider just getting your own policies right from the start, even if you sign up for a corporate gig. Corporate opportunities like to pay for that stuff for you to entice you, like you just signed up for some all inclusive spa package. I think they do it just to make it harder for you to leave. The thing with any non-ownership position you get as a dentist is that when it’s time to go, it’s time to go. If a work environment becomes a negative thing for you, or a better opportunity presents itself, you want to be able to make a smooth transition without worrying about little insurance policies. I’ve had my own policy since day one through every position I’ve had. If you’re in Texas, send me a message and I’ll put you in touch with the right people.

desiree mcmillen ‏@desiree3140
How do you suggest making your application stand out for a residency program graduating from a pass/fail school? #agdatnlc
I have no idea, sorry! If I were you I’d search Dentaltown for inspiration on this one.

Kaisha Brown ‏@kaishajbrown
#AGDatNLC what are your thoughts on purchasing on a practice vs starting up your on practice?
My thoughts are yes, do it. Seriously, entertain both options before you make a decision. Only you know what’s the right decision for you, but get informed and don’t just ask others what you should do because it really gets down to timing, location, and opportunity for you. If the right purchase opportunity presents itself in the right place and the right time for you, take advantage. If there’s a perfect location for a startup and it’s the right time for you, take it. Find a practice transitions/practice broker in your area and schedule time to visit four or five practices for sale. It’s like looking for a home and it’s fun. Ask all the questions. Start learning the language and the numbers that this industry talks about. Take the first day of Dr. Leune’s Breakaway Practice Seminar on start ups. Once you’ve equipped yourself with all of that information, you’ll know your own answer.

UMich ASDA ‏@UMichASDA
How do you work to maintain the connections and relationships you made in dental school? #AGDatNLC
This is hard, because everyone goes in different directions! Staying involved in organized dentistry is the best. Social media. Phone calls. Take CE together, if possible, to relive the glory days!

Neal Singh ‏@nea2themax
How did you develop your business acumen, since students nowadays don’t get much training in running a business while in school? #AGDatNLC
Read every article you can and take every CE class that comes your way on practice management. Get some mentors that you can speak candidly with about money. Imitate their practices and philosophies. Follow all of the dental practice consultants and coaches on social media for daily thoughts and lessons. Compare notes with your friends in other customer service industries.

Stony Brook ASDA ‏@StonyBrookASDA
What is your reason for choosing general dentistry over specializing? #agdatnlc
I felt like I had been in school my entire life and just wanted to get out and get on with my life. I didn’t have my heart set on any specialty, either. I didn’t feel like I had enough experience to know what I really liked. Years later I realized I had a knack for pedo and I love doing it, but I love seeing adults, too. There’s no law that says you have to make that decision in dental school, either.  If you’re making that decision because you think you’ll make more money as a specialist, that’s not necessarily true and isn’t a great reason anyway.

Ramzy Lotfi ‏@RamzyLotfi
How often do you take CE courses? #AGDatNLC
Every month! If you’re involved in your local dental society and AGD, there’s probably something going on every month or at least every other month. This might not be an option for everyone, but it’s a nice way to stay current and maintain your dental social network.

Stony Brook ASDA ‏@StonyBrookASDA
Since many programs prefer their own, what is the best way to show interest in a residency program if you’re from different state? #agdatnlc
If you’re trying to come to Texas, wear some boots to the interview. Just kidding, seriously, I don’t know. Good luck!

desiree mcmillen ‏@desiree3140
#AGDatNLC How did you become educated on the business side of dentistry once in the “real world”?
My education on the business side of dentistry started in school. I had faculty in school that mentored me on how to take care of people, how to present yourself, and how to set standards for myself as a clinician. That’s the foundation.  All of the other little details about running a business come from reading, listening, and making connections with people. Tax questions?  I have an accountant. Doing payroll?  I have a company.  Marketing?  I read a lot and work with marketing companies.  When something or someone isn’t meeting my business needs any more or providing value to me, I move on. Build that network.  You can’t run a business by yourself.  Attend meetings and educational courses for dentists.  Get to know the vendors and sponsors for these events that work with dentists. They can teach you a lot.  In dental school, all of your teachers are dentists, so you get this idea in your head that any information you get that’s not from a dentist isn’t valuable or shouldn’t be trusted.  This isn’t true.  Want to know where to buy or build a practice?  Ask a realtor that focuses exclusively on dentistry.  They exist.  Your favorite teacher from dental school that taught you how to do a pin retained amalgam doesn’t know the answer to this question, so don’t ask him/her.

UMich ASDA ‏@UMichASDA
Are there particular areas of continuing education you’d recommend in the first years in practice that would benefit a new dentist?#AGDatNLC
Practice management, even if you aren’t an owner yet, just to get inspired and learn things you don’t get in school. Take one hour courses here and there that sound interesting to you to get flavors of what’s going on out there. Don’t invest in any $5000 continuum’s right out of school. Wait a few years on that stuff!

Ryan Martz ‏@ryandmartz
#AGDatNLC why would you recommend someone start at a corporate dental office?
There’s two things you need when you get out of school besides income. One of them is mentorship and one is experience. Corporate positions are more likely to be heavy on experience and light on mentorship. Private practice positions are more likely to be heavy on mentorship and light on experience. You somehow need to get a balanced diet of both in the first few years of your career. A busy private practice can be a great opportunity, but it might be hard to find. You can typically get more experience in a corporate setting, just stay involved in organized dentistry so you don’t lose out on outside mentorship.  Those are some massive generalizations, but I hope I illustrated my point.

Caitlin Gunn ‏@GunnCaitlin
What strategies should a dental student utilize if they desire to practice in a city they have never lived in? #AGDatNLC
I’m not sure what you’re asking, but I guess my answer is get involved and get your name out there in the community once you’re there. Get on Dentaltown and Dentalpost and look for opportunities. Get a recruiter. I wrote about this extensively here.

NSU ASDA ‏@nsuasda
What should students focus on in school to prepare for real-world dentistry? #agdatnlc
Doing awesome dentistry, serving others, projecting confidence.

M.C. ‏@MMMarinee
What is considered a reasonable pay rate/percentage/salary for an associate and what is reasonable negotiation? #AGDatNLC
Somewhere between 25%-30% of production is a good starting place. Less than that is a red flag. No lab fees is awesome, a percentage is ok, 100% is not cool. If it’s hourly pay, don’t seriously consider anything less than sixty an hour. Guaranteed money that you pay back and advances can create sticky situations, so be careful. Don’t discuss money with every dentist you meet. Keep a very small network of close colleagues that you discuss money with. Anything else is considered unprofessional.

David ‏@djCole61
In a private practice setting, how do you incorporate new techniques or materials without compromising care to your patient? #AGDatNLC
If you use a technique or a material and the result is not to your satisfaction or to the patient’s satisfaction, redo it at no charge.  If you don’t feel comfortable or confident in what you’re doing, don’t do it.  Let’s say you’ve never done a stainless steel crown on a child before and you’re doing it for the first time in private practice.  Watch your local pediatric dentist do a few and get a bunch of pointers. Pick an easy case as your first one.  That means easy tooth, well behaved child, cool parent.  Book a ton of time first thing in the morning for your first case so there’s no pressure.  Project confidence and believe in yourself.  If there are complications later, fix it and learn from it.  After you get some successes under your belt, take on more challenging cases.  Baby steps!

Hunter Housley ‏@DrHunterHousley
Which CE courses would you recommend as a new dentist to get your skills up to speed? #AGDatNLC
Dental school has taught you so much more than you realize! Get out there and practice. If you develop an interest in a niche or product, pursue CE around that. If something cool comes up in your local society or AGD group, check it out. Save the expensive courses and continuum’s for later in your career.

Carlos Benavides ‏@ElNavides
What do you think are the most challenging aspects of transitioning from being a dental student to being in practice? #AGDatNLC @ASDAnet
Not having someone check your work and giving you constant advice! Making a diagnosis or treatment decision and presenting it to a patient without running it by a faculty member first. Learning how to build professional relationships with staff in the dental office. When school ends, there’s no script anymore which can be scary. Going to school every day from age 5 to age 26 and doing what you’re supposed to do is easy. Now there’s no one telling you what to do, you can do anything and you’ve never felt that feeling before! It’s tough, but once you realize it’s awesome, it’s awesome.

desiree mcmillen ‏@desiree3140
How do you suggest making your application stand out for a residency program graduating from a pass/fail school? #AGDatNLC
Didn’t someone already ask this? I’m going to say some super sweet stationery! Seriously, just kidding, I have no idea.

Ryan Martz ‏@ryandmartz
#AGDatNLC how do you know you are ready to go into private practice?
The state board sends you a license in the mail. Seriously, though, there’s always going to be challenges and feelings like you aren’t ready during those first few months of practice. Keep close relationships with your colleagues and cheer each other on. Do what you know, and your confidence will build.

Ryan Martz ‏@ryandmartz
#AGDatNLC how do you find a good mentor if you don’t have family in dentistry?
Organized dentistry. Go to meetings every month. Have lunch with specialists. Get involved in a committee or leadership in your local society.  If someone invites you to their practice to shadow or go out to eat or something, take them up on the offer.  You will be amazed how many dentists out there want to help you succeed!

Lauren Ashley ‏@yourstrulyLAC
What was it about your experience as an associate that made you realize it wasn’t for you? #AGDatNLC
I’m not too great with people telling me what to do! I wish I had the personality to just work anywhere with anyone and do anything, be a go with the flow type of guy. I’m just not wired that way, I have to be in charge and do things my way.

Jared Gibby ‏@jaredgibby
What’s the advantage of being a member of AGD if you’re planning on doing a specialty program? What are the benefits? #AGDatNLC
Let me tell you this. If you’re a specialist and you also have FAGD on the end of your name, every GP in your area is going to think you’re awesome and refer patients to you because of your commitment to general dentistry. Pedo and prosth can exist on their own in most settings, but if you’re doing endo, perio, ortho, or OMFS, you better know your general dentistry. Most of the specialists I work with know more general dentistry than I do.  AGD is a really cool group.

NSU ASDA ‏@nsuasda
What resources can we utilize while searching for associate positions before graduating? #agdatnlc
Dentaltown and Dentalpost are great, but don’t discount getting a recruiter. I talk about that here. 

Ryan Martz ‏@ryandmartz
#AGDatNLC what are benefits of corporate dentistry vs private?
Corporate opportunities straight from school generally offer a higher income and more experience. Private practice associateships are generally lower income and maybe less experience, but likely better mentorship and freedom to be yourself and try different things. There’s excellent opportunities for new grads in both settings. There’s also less than excellent opportunities in both settings. Don’t discount either. If you can, position yourself to try both in the first few years.  Unless you have a great opportunity, don’t be afraid to try a few different things.

Shak Feroz ‏@ShakFeroz
What was the most challenging aspect of your transition #AGDatNLC
Finding the right professional opportunity for me to learn and grow and succeed was extremely tough for me. I worked in emergency clinics, public health clinics, a denture office, a corporate office, and a top notch private practice. I learned so much from all of those experiences. It took me a while to settle in to one place, and by the time I did, I was ready to move on and start my own practice.

M.C. ‏@MMMarinee
What are the positives and negatives of doing a GPR? #AGDatNLC
The positive is you can learn a ton of stuff that you’ll probably never get the opportunity to learn in a private practice setting. It looks great on your resume if you’re applying for a specialty residency. Negatives? You could be out there practicing, pursuing goals to open a practice and give back to your community. Earning income, paying off debt, and getting real world dental experience is a good thing. Evaluate the program closely and talk to current or former residents to get a feel for the ones you are interested in. If you’re going to come out sedation certified or having placed 100 implants or extracted 1000 impacted third molars, I say go for it, that will come in handy. If you’re not going to get something out of it like that, why are you doing it?

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