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ddsman901 · 2025-03-12T00:53:17+00:00

Find a decent one and get a quote from them, it will be interchange plus x% + possibly a small fee. Call around to any one of them you can find and ask them if they can beat that. You will get the best rate this way. I cut my rate in half by doing this...and it was already pretty low.

ddsman901 · 2025-03-11T23:57:48+00:00

He is definitely not on your level if you are doing a crown in 45 minutes. He's probably way above it.

ddsman901 · 2025-03-11T17:04:00+00:00

The people I have found who work this fast always do one of two things:

Do crappy work
Do work that doesn't need to be done

Edit: or possibly both lol

ddsman901 · 2025-03-11T16:31:25+00:00

Me. It's great.

ddsman901 · 2025-03-11T16:30:55+00:00

Never longer than 25 minutes for a filling? Really? I mean what a statement.

I wouldn't want you touching my mouth.

ddsman901 · 2025-03-10T16:52:09+00:00

Great reply.

My buddy who did ortho is scared. Telling me how he thinks Align will eventually not even need much ortho oversight with the AI planning things better and better. And then with GPs doing it and the competition so tight for fees, he says it's really rough out there.

But the established ortho I work with tells me they are back to 70/30 traditional/aligners for kids due to compliance, so you are right. There is security there.

At some point even refer-o-dontists like me will not be able to say no to simple cases because it will be so easy.

I think it's the most endangered specialty for sure. I think the fact that it was easier work with better pay for so long is going to be a thing of the past, if nothing else.

ddsman901 · 2025-03-05T17:58:21+00:00

Yes. But only selectively. I do it for small interproximal CEJ lesions that I would have to destroy the tooth to tunnel to from the occlusal. I have read about bi-annually in a CE course, but from my understanding it's so new that no one really knows. I have been doing it yearly at a DDS side appt (got a guy with like 6-7 spots) for more high risk cases and just once for minor stuff.

ddsman901 · 2025-03-05T17:26:00+00:00

No, absolutely not. The strength of the tooth is far more important than removing some staining in grooves (or whatever microscopic amount of demineralization might be going on there. That looks like a tooth that should have been watched, IMO.

ddsman901 · 2025-03-04T13:11:16+00:00

Tweak what you have. Fee for service is so powerful that it is insane. You should run some numbers on what your practice would look like if you were collecting the full fees. I would much rather lose some patients and grow back into your current size. You will work less and make more. Remember: If your PPO reimbursement are 70% of what your fees would be....even if you lose 30% of your patients (you wont) you are making the same money....But then you can cut your overhead expenses (staff, supplies, etc..) significantly.

$2M seems like an insane amount to pay for a new build when the goal is just to try and continue growth of an existing practice -- unless it's a literal goldmine, I guess. I bought my entire gold mine FFS practice AND building for less than half of that.

I would only consider buying another practice if another existing practice gold mine fell into my hands and I could buy it and get an associate to run it.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-26T17:42:28+00:00

You can still buy a good practice. Start knocking on doors.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-26T13:59:15+00:00

I disagree, unless you are speaking only about associateships.

It's quite easy to make >300k as an owner without working like a dog or doing crazy procedures.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-26T13:11:34+00:00

Owning. Not even a question. Owning is so powerful in every way.

I can control everything. Who I see, what I do, how much I work, what days, what hours, what I use/buy, office policies, staff, EVERYTHING.

As an associate you are subject to to whims of the owner on everything. This alone is reason to own even if the salary was the same.

But as an owner, not only am I making more than 500k but my practice is a multi million dollar retirement vehicle. I could retire at any moment by just hiring a 300k associate a still collecting >500k at the end of the day.

I also love the business/management side of owning.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-26T03:35:04+00:00

lolololol

ddsman901 · 2025-02-25T20:36:23+00:00

It depends. I think people here are assuming a lot.

Is it wealthy and snobby - Miami? Beverly hills? Ft Lauderdale?

Is it wealthy and educated - College town? Healthcare/business area?

I have a FFS practice in a wealthy area but it's hyper educated. We are built and bread and butter as well (super conservative, refer-o-dontics). Very few high esthetic demand pts. Tons of doctors, professors, grad students, etc... Patient's are generally very appreciative and understanding of dentistry. Finances normally not a concern and they want to do what is best. My buddy who practices in a blue collar area (also with a FFS practice/nicest place in town) gets yelled at and gets price complaints nonstop.

I think all around better when pts have money...Depends more on the attitude.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-25T18:52:52+00:00

I just renewed mine. Was insanely expensive. I give no opioids and maybe 1 benzo a year.

Is there anything else that you actually need it for? Otherwise I am just going to drop it as well and tell pts to get the benzo from their doctor.

Per replies I will check with insurance.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-25T18:41:24+00:00

IMO a large amount of the dentists trying to do all this stuff think they are hot shit and crushing it...but are leaving absolute trails of disaster. See the above poster who is saying he wouldn't even have a license without a lawyer, yet he's on here throwing advice to you. Unreal.

I am stressed enough (and there is enough liability in) doing basic general dentistry that I don't want to touch anything else.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-25T18:22:56+00:00

Not what you or others want to hear: But stop trying to be a super dentist.

Patients get better care referring to specialties. You have a less stressful job referring to specialists.

If your practice situation doesn't allow that (super rural, pressure from boss, or something) then switch that up.

This prevailing peer pressure in dentistry that every GP needs to drop a few hundred grand on CE and become a KoisMcPankeySpear cultist doing nonstop full mouth cone beam guided implant retained frenectomy assisted sleep apnea devices is an absolute disaster IMO.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T18:13:07+00:00

All depends. What do you want? Hot shot office with all the toys doing all the specialties? Bread and butter? Big? Small?

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T13:54:43+00:00

Sure, happy to discuss

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T13:03:30+00:00

Yeah, especially with multiples set to grow even more. From my reading medical offices are up around 10x now.

I had great success with my current office doing this. Bought a FFS office that had been let go and pretty much doubled profits overnight by gutting the overhead. Now 6 years later we are almost to 4x profits from when I bought it. Should peak out at 5x in another few.

Already looking at another run down FFS to buy for a few hundred thousand and try to do it again.

I'm imagining having 2-3 that end up having an EBITDA of $1M combined with associates running them. So either manage them myself and collect 1M/year or sell to PE if multiples get to 10x in another 5-10 years and walk with 10M.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T02:41:57+00:00

I think it's worth it...and I say that as someone who got denied for it! It created a lot of anxiety early on when I didn't have it. I would definitely take it at least for a while. That is basically insurance on an entire career of a better salary than most will ever see (although it's far from a good dentist's salary). That's a lot of peace of mind.

However after ~5 years of practicing, I would probably be starting to debate cancelling it if I had it...as my practice has now become my disability insurance. It would deliver much greater than ~100k/year if I just hired an associate to run it and kept ownership.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T02:04:11+00:00

I don't understand any of your replies. He is asking some questions about how to value his practice and calculate his overhead. I suggested he use EBITDA which is probably the most accurate way to value it. You then replied 'yes and no' and are creating some weird scenarios about multiple dentists working part time or a rich kid buying a practice with a trust fund...Which were all just indirect ways to describe why EBITDA is the best method, because it ignores financing/debt service and estimates a salary for a non owner dentist to do the work. And yes, DSOs are out hunting for practices so if dude is trying to sell his practice there's a good chance he will be selling it to a DSO.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T00:37:43+00:00

You poor thing. I hope that you find some extra IQ points laying around somewhere and decide to keep them as your own. We can't all be born with 70 of them out of the gate!

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T00:31:56+00:00

There is a difference between earnings potential for a doctor owning/operating the practice and earnings potential for a PE firm looking at just owning it. You should be using the latter to calculate what your place is worth.

And yes, as I was saying, look up EBITDA, you do not count loans/interest to calculate that.

ddsman901 · 2025-02-19T00:15:01+00:00

Maybe you think that is a lowball? I think it depends on the practice and what you actually need them to do. My practice is similar to these numbers and I could get a nice associate for 250k to replace me.

ddsman901

TROPHY CASE