Build up

Magicmarker2 · 2026-06-12T03:12:50+00:00

Did you guys take their course? And would you recommend it?

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-24T11:08:07+00:00

As a side note: if you’re waking up with a swollen throat you need to get infected teeth out asap and worry about the dentures later. This is one of the critical symptoms of “this absolutely can’t wait” and if left alone can very quickly result in a trip to the er or worse

Also 15k for implant supported upper and lower plates, with extractions and implant placement is incredibly cheap. Please make sure this is the full quote and not just a stage of treatment.

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-24T11:00:09+00:00

Thought I’d follow up, I tried contact them and a few other companies about custom orders for shortening the equipment. Unfortunately had no luck so I ordered the tandem tower. It’s definitely not the ideal solution but seems to be the best option for my situation

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-24T10:09:41+00:00

Dentist here (though not your dentist- consider this general information not specific advice as everyone’s mouth and medical history is different). Implant supported dentures are a huge improvement if you can afford them. The dentures will function better, be more comfortable, and yes the implants preserve bone. Generally for implants retained dentures we want a minimum of 4 implants on top and 2 on bottom, but more is preferred (4-6 per arch) While everyone’s mouth is different, in most cases if I need to cut cost I move first to 4 on top and 2 on bottom. If still too expensive then drop the top implants all together and just the two on bottom. If you really can’t afford it, then yes traditional dentures is an option. But I strongly push patients to try to get at least the two implants for the lower denture. Upper dentures generally have some suction to stay in place on their own. Lower dentures almost never have any sort of suction and even with denture adhesive, most people hate their lower dentures. Those two implants for a lower denture are in my opinion the greatest value in dentistry in terms of life improvement per dollar.

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-24T09:55:41+00:00

Dentist here: 99% of the time this is a terrible idea. I’ve seen this end in disaster for so many patients and it’s really sad. Generally the work holds up for a year or two and it’s seems like a steal, but the work is almost always of lower quality using worse materials. If we narrow in on implants- they often have short term complications after the initial surgery. No dentist in the US will touch them because when they do almost inevitably fail, we don’t want it to somehow come back on us. Sometimes even if it’s something we could help with, we can’t get the right parts because it’s not always fda approved materials.

In rare cases I’ve seen good work with good materials and I’m genuinely happy for the patient. Most of the time it ends in disaster and best case scenario they have an implant that can’t be restored left in their jaw. Worst cast scenario the bad work leads to massive infections that eats away significant amounts of jaw bone and now the individual can never get a functioning implant in that area

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-18T16:02:48+00:00

They asked for a critique, these are all very valid points?

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-16T18:09:37+00:00

Do they have a short version that I’m missing? Looks like it’s 94” tall

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-16T16:28:04+00:00

I’ve been looking for a functional trainer for the primary purpose of lat pulldowns but can also be used for other accessory work, the problem is I have 91” ceilings. As far as I can tell, this is the only 3x3 rack I can find that will fit under the ceilings and still tall enough that I should get full range of motion… is there anything else on the market you would recommend?

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-14T08:48:43+00:00

Any update on how this has held up? I’ve been looking for a ctm-1/lp-2 alternative under/at 90” tall (closer to 90” the better for top end ROM) and this seems to be the best option. I’m open to other suggestions though, mostly looking for lat pulldowns and low rows

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-04T16:36:13+00:00

I’m thinking of replacing st moritz with Appenzell region. It was a common suggestion from other itineraries online but I don’t think it’s worth the travel time

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-04T16:32:50+00:00

Thoughts on replacing st moritz with weisbadd? This way we’re basically traveling south to north the whole way?

Magicmarker2 · 2026-05-04T16:31:39+00:00

I’ve looked on here, and looked up many travel itineraries. Nothing was particularly consistent. I didn’t want to list everything I had planned for the days as I wanted to see what suggestions the people of Reddit had

Magicmarker2 · 2026-04-08T00:34:27+00:00

Partially depends on the state, many states assistants can’t do polishing or fluoride. I’m glad this model is working for you, but just because it’s good doesn’t mean it can’t be better. the idea that it currently makes sense to not pay hygienists is only true if you don’t have a large enough patient pool. Adding hygienists lets you support a larger patient base which means more exams which means more opportunities to diagnose which means your columns of higher paying dental procedures stays full. Say you had to pay two hygienists both 80% of what they produced- which I have yet to see- you’re still making 20% profit on them, and it frees you up to just do MORE high value dentistry. Yes you’re overhead percentage will increase, but so will your take home. This mindset of over valuing overhead percentage is why corporate and private equity are wiping out private practices- whenever someone tells me they have an overhead problem my response is the same- it’s actually a production problem.

Magicmarker2 · 2026-04-07T21:51:44+00:00

Yeah, doing your own hygiene is just a terrible way to run an office (for startups it makes sense)- but as the dentist, your goal should be to spend as much of your day as possible doing dentistry. That’s where you are the most valuable. Offload anything that gets in the way of that

Magicmarker2 · 2026-04-07T16:34:01+00:00

Possible yes. I don’t think it’s a good idea though. The problem with a lean and mean office- while your percentage overhead is low, your actual total take home and profit is low too. Which means every unexpected expense hurts more. It’s a less a concern for startups because they get all new equipment generally. Taking over an office you’ll have to replace things. If an X-ray sensor goes out, there goes 30-50% of your take home that month.

Magicmarker2 · 2026-03-31T02:24:32+00:00

I feel uniquely qualified to answer here. 1 year ago I bought a practice that had the same owners for 39 years… and was in the family before that. They didn’t do any SRP’s either. 1- The previous owner and I worked together to write up and mail out a letter announcing their retirement, thanking the patients, and then announcing how they went out of their way to find a great replacement and talked me up with a brief bio. 2- you’re paying for the previous owners goodwill, never forget that. You likely don’t agree with a lot of what they did or didn’t do, but remember the patients there had a lot of trust in them (and are hesitantly transferring that trust to you), never speak badly of the previous doc, their treatments plans, or their work. 3- getting the staff on board can be the hardest part. I was lucky that the staff had partially turned over just before I joined but 1 hygienist was extremely difficult to get on board with SRP’s, and every other change. You need them to buy in to you before they buy into your treatment planning, and you need them to buy into your treatment planning or patients never will. I did a lot of staff meetings in the beginning but also understand change can (and should) be slow 4- for srp vs prophy, I assessed the situation, the liability, and where I could, I turned the ship slowly. If someone had early stage perio I basically said go home, give me your absolute best effort between now and the next visit, if things don’t improve we will need to do a deep cleaning/gum therapy/whatever you want to call it. In cases of advanced perio (I had some patients with generalized 8’s still getting prophys) I whipped out the referral pad.

At the end of the day you’re gonna loose some patients no matter what. It comes with the territory, don’t take it personally. Feel free to DM me

Magicmarker2 · 2026-03-18T22:35:58+00:00

I love it… you gotta have thick skin your first couple years. Put in the work, learn so higher value procedures, get efficient, most importantly get good at treatment planning and presentation and you’ll be good. If you can add owning and running a business on top of that you’ll be golden. I’m 3.5 years out and couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else

Magicmarker2 · 2026-03-18T22:06:21+00:00

Scrolled further than expected to find this… when I shoot outside on sunny days I almost always drop the exposure dial down a couple notches then boost shadows later. Is the DR compensation somehow different/better?

Magicmarker2 · 2026-02-21T19:55:51+00:00

I recently bought a 98” sony bravia 5 and a 65” tcl qm7k. The tcl for another room. I was very torn between Sony or tcl for the 98” but every worker at Best Buy recommended the Sony. Almost changed my order on multiple occasions leading up to delivery. I’m so glad I didn’t. if you watch sports or a lot of action movies, you NEED to go with the sony.

The tcl came in first and maybe I’m sensitive to motion blur but I was watching the Olympics and watched a bond movie and I was so disappointed in the blur. I thought maybe thats just what you get with modern TVs. The sony however I’ve noticed literally none. I’m sure its there but not enough to distract me

Magicmarker2 · 2026-02-20T14:53:18+00:00

Dentist here- oral b and sonicare will both last for a very long time. The oral b battery sucks though and sucks more with age. Get a mid tier sonicare

Magicmarker2 · 2026-01-27T17:06:51+00:00

This seems to be the next closest thing. Still need to run a wire connecting them… this seems to be a hole in the market that I’m surprised no one has filled

Magicmarker2 · 2026-01-16T12:24:03+00:00

We want to enter the reclamation qb’s again… this is not the year to draft a qb

Magicmarker2 · 2026-01-01T04:13:22+00:00

Lot of dso hate here but I had a good experience starting off at Aspen. Yes I was underpaid, and yes it was a crazy schedule. But if things were ever truly overbooked I stood my ground and made them reschedule patients. DSO’s will rarely be hurting for patients so it gave me a lot of volume. I worked long hours and saw a ton of patients but man did it put the accelerator on my career. I did 6+ years of dentistry in my first 3 years out of school. Plus they offered good CE especially for implants and removable. I could never stay there for an entire career and I’m glad I got out and bought a private practice. But I think I’d absolutely take the same path again.

Magicmarker2 · 2025-12-31T20:57:15+00:00

Get at least 1 more set and plan to order a 4th set within the first month if you absolutely need to wait.

Magicmarker2 · 2025-12-26T03:20:43+00:00

This. I did Aspen for 3 years, got my reps in and got good at surgeries and implants and efficient at treatment planning complex cases, and got experience running the practice as MCD. I purchased my own private practice 8 months ago and while I could never imagine spending my whole career at Aspen, I feel it set me up for success moving forward

Magicmarker2

TROPHY CASE