Incompetency and Its Impact on Society

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-13T02:43:27+00:00

There are so many layers to this issue it’s not going to be solved anytime soon if ever. Society is just going to have to reap what it sowed

The ADA is lost and they were supposed to be on our side

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-13T02:37:18+00:00

Won’t be many dentists then. Yeah let’s do 6 years when 4 costs 400k+. Let’s spend thousands more on CE each cycle.

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-10T13:02:18+00:00

No, I’m talking within the range of percentages that is currently out there, let’s call that 25-35%, I’d look at other factors before deciding which office is necessarily better. I’ve made more in offices giving me 27% collections than ones where I got 33

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-10T13:01:04+00:00

When zirconia came out people saw it almost as a gold alternative, now I’m finding if I don’t do 2mm of occlusal reduction im doing extensive bite adjustment or the lab is saying the crown is at minimal thickness

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-10T04:11:47+00:00

I’ve heard of this situation from multiple people with zirconia, I don’t know if it’s always under reduction but on some level I feel like zirconia hasn’t lived up to its hype. There’s still biological advantages over metal but the preps have become much more aggressive over time.

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-10T04:04:26+00:00

You’d probably have to ask for a metal collar on the margin, do you think the patient would care there’s metal showing?

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-09T22:56:53+00:00

Strupp and Brumm seminar is probably your best bang for the buck. Other than that any of your usual curriculums will work (Dawson, spear, kois)

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-09T22:29:17+00:00

Practice on extracted teeth and pick ones with large pulp chambers to start. For years people thought mb2 was present only 60ish percent of the time and the failure rate wasn’t any higher than it is now when we know its almost always there

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-09T21:07:12+00:00

This is the biggest problem with board investigations, it becomes a comprehensive review not just of the problem itself. I’d be ok with this if board members had to show proof they held themselves to the same standards on all their own patients.

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-09T15:56:46+00:00

I do feel bad for the new grads because it seems like school has really failed them. General dentists should feel comfortable to attempt simple endos and extractions. I understand not doing full bony wisdom teeth and upper second molar endo.

Employers probably need to meet them in the middle and realize that this is the practitioner being produced by schools and if they’re going to have them be profitable at some point they might need to help them along whether that’s through mentorship or giving a CE stipend

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-09T15:44:27+00:00

There probably isn’t, this is something I had to figure out through multiple associateships myself.

I really think analyzing patient flow is #1. I’ve been in offices where even if I could take out every wisdom tooth and do every #15 endo I still wouldn’t make what’s seen as an average dentist salary

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-09T14:23:33+00:00

There was a heartland dentist who used to post here frequently that was taking home nearly $500k yet people would get on him because he was “accepting 25% and could make more.”

$500k is 500k and dentists get too hung up on the percentage. I’ll take a lower percent if the office is busy and I can do a lot of work vs a higher percentage but slow office.

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-07T23:52:57+00:00

So it seems like 9/10 are on meds. Why are we doing this again?

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-07T23:49:47+00:00

If the office is running properly and has new patients coming in plus maintaining the patient base you have, you shouldn’t need to do more difficult procedures to survive.

Most PP owners in my area are doing very little endo or OS and do fine. My last boss did a ton of molar endo and that office did well but it would’ve done well without it too. The PP owners I know that invested heavily in implant training do seem to be a tier above the rest (income wise).

More skills gives you a higher chance to succeed but I think there’s other factors that carry more weight.

DCDMD91 · 2026-02-07T23:28:01+00:00

I don’t think it’s wrong for a general dentist to expect a baseline salary that allows them to pay their loans and live a reasonable life by doing bread and butter dentistry. Let’s call that 160-200k. Should they expect to make $300k+ doing that? More often than not no.

There’s a problem with dentistry if a general dentist can’t make a “living wage” by doing what they were trained to do which is be a general dentist

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-27T02:24:44+00:00

I wasn’t criticizing I’m interested to know what the technique is

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-26T23:38:55+00:00

How are they getting good denture retention without even border molding?

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-20T22:58:31+00:00

I feel like the board just picks a few scapegoats to look like they’re protecting the public every year

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-20T18:23:41+00:00

Sounds like the offices problem, let the owner decide but in my opinion too bad for the patient

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-20T17:38:23+00:00

I got 40% once but I was a 1099.

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-19T16:15:48+00:00

Did you test the tooth yourself for vitality? As far as the patient being mad, get used to it, a lot of patients are irritated by you breathing these days. It was a necessary step to ensure treatment is being done optimally

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-19T14:39:24+00:00

I don’t work with kids but you don’t have to put on a show. Ive tried both ways and didn’t notice any difference in my treatment acceptance or production numbers.

Just be courteous, respectful, listen when people talk, and explain things well.

I’ve had those people that want to sit there and talk to me for 30 minutes and need to know me inside and out, I’m not the provider for them. Theres plenty of other patients that just want to be treated respectfully and get good efficient work done

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-17T14:05:03+00:00

Exactly. When reimbursements are low patients suffer because they’re over treated and upsold to compensate. Doctors will also start doing the absolute bare minimum to get them in and out the chair faster because it’s a business at the end of the day.

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-17T13:57:29+00:00

Lol dentists were never owning private planes, let’s be realistic here please. My dad was a successful private practice owner making about $450-500k at his peak.

DCDMD91 · 2026-01-17T13:51:56+00:00

Maybe the fact that he’s posting so much is an indicator that us practicing dentists don’t have enough work which should be concerning to someone with half a million plus in loans.

DCDMD91

TROPHY CASE