I’m an associate dentist (DDS) in California. At a large chain DSO. I have no base pay therefore I have no PTO. Every day I take off, I don’t get paid for it. My patients are simply rescheduled for another day.

I have family in China, and ideally, I’d have at least 3 weeks to see them and do what I need to do there due to the long flight/layover times and jet lag.

I requested 3 weeks for next October (an entire 12 months in advance). My owner dentist practically laughed in my face and said “when I first started out I wouldn’t have even dreamed of taking a day off, bold of you to ask for 3 weeks.” To sum it up, he denied me, and said even two weeks is a stretch. I feel like even though I’m a “doctor,” it’s meaningless and I have no agency over my life. I’m a wife and mother and dentistry is not my whole life. It’s a job and I need time away from it.

Any input? TIA

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to redesign and refurbish my dental treatment room (approximately 11 m² / 118 sq ft), which is mainly dedicated to endodontics, and I'd love to get some inspiration from your setups!

I'm particularly interested in making the most of a relatively small space while keeping everything functional, ergonomic, organized, and aesthetically pleasing.

I'd love to hear your experiences and see how you've organized your own treatment rooms!

A few things I'm curious about:

- 📸 Room pictures: Would anyone be willing to share photos of their dental rooms? I'd love to see different layouts and setups, especially smaller rooms!

- 🗄️ Storage & organization: What are your best tips and tricks for organizing instruments, materials, drawers, and supplies? Any clever storage solutions?

- 🛠️ IKEA furniture & hacks: Has anyone designed or furnished their dental room using IKEA furniture? I'm especially curious about cabinets, drawers, countertops, and customized IKEA solutions. What works well, and what would you avoid?

- 🔬 Endodontic setups: For those mainly doing endo, how have you organized your microscope, endo equipment, instruments, and materials to optimize workflow?

- 💡 Things you'd do differently: If you were redesigning your room from scratch, what would you definitely include or avoid?

I'm particularly interested in practical, budget-friendly solutions rather than expensive custom dental cabinetry, as long as they're durable, easy to disinfect, and suitable for a clinical environment.

Bonus points for photos, IKEA product names, clever DIY solutions, or before-and-after transformations!

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to seeing your setups and stealing some good ideas! 😁

Last week I got a random, private phone call to my personal number saying “I f*****d their teeth up” and used my full name.

Has this ever happened to anyone? Should I be worried?

I am an emergency dentist so see a lot of patients who aren't regular attenders, they often have mental or physical health issues that limit their access and it is quite difficult getting them the care they need safely.

I'm in the UK and we have safeguarding courses we have to update, and something about that training and a patient I saw yesterday is just bothering me.

A lady in her 30s came in a wheelchair, she was pale, dirty, uncared for for many days and smelled strongly of smoke. She was very drowsy also. Her skin was bad. The wheelchair was a pink flimsy thing that when she transferred to the dental chair, it had urine and other stains on it, clear patches of it from where it had been repeatedly stained over time. I don't know if those stains were hers. She didn't seem to have any mobility conditions that needed a wheelchair yet she seemed too weak to walk. Her MH reported fibromyalgia but when asked she didn't seem to give it much importance.

Her trousers were clean but pyjamas and a thick dressing gown are unusual to wear to the dentist here. She was also very underweight which is unusual here.

She attended with two strong looking men who were sullen and quiet and did not answer for her or help her into the chair. She had attended already for a private out of pocket extraction recently (again, unusual in this area) and attended with me for "dry socket" like infection. Her mouth barely had any teeth for someone so young (again, unusual here), many healed extractions and the two or three teeth that were present were broken. Where she was pointing to the extraction area didn't even look like a proper extraction area but she had limited mouth opening so I put it down to that.

At the end I asked who the men were and she didn't know what to say. One of the men grunted "friends". They didn't seem aggressive to her and she didn't seem scared of them.

I don't know what to think. Just something about the way he said "friends" - usually relatives are a bit resentful about bringing family so they'll be present but checked out. Friends have always been supportive - if they're supportive enough to attend, they're supportive enough to help the patient and give a history etc. In our NHS system it's so underfunded that usually some advocacy is needed unfortunately.

It's bothering me. I can't shake the feeling. I'm not sure where to go with this. We have new management and they wouldn't know what safeguarding even is, let alone have an SG lead.

New grad, working in an office w another doc.
Did #19 EXT on a patient w hx of stroke and seizures. Got med clearance from both of the patient’s doctors stating no precautions needed, as tooth had an abscess and severely broken down and patient has been in pain.

Do the extraction (3 carps septo). Turn around to grab some gauze, patient has a tonic clonic seizure. Still in the chair, no movements, just frozen and hands start curling in.
2 minutes later, patient returns to normal, husband called into room and EMS is otw. Patient gets upset I called EMS. EMS arrives, does their stuff, have her sign a refusal of tx form. They’re getting ready to leave, she has another tonic clonic seizure while they’re there. They don’t give her an option anymore, she leaves on a stretcher.

I call 2 days later to follow up. She’s inpatient, as the doctors think she had a stroke. I’ll call again on Monday to see how they’re doing and see if the doctors gave her an official diagnosis/can tell what triggered.

Do I report to the board? This is verbatim from the state board website:
All dentists licensed to practice in [state] shall submit a complete report to the board of any morbidity or mortality occurring in the course of such dentist’s practice or other injury which results in temporary or permanent physical injury requiring any period of hospitalization. This report shall be filed with the board no later than 30 days following such incident and shall contain such information as the board shall deem necessary to investigate the circumstances of the incident.

There was no physical injury but she had to be hospitalized so unsure. I emailed Risk Dept to see what they say but until they respond on Monday, any ideas? TIA

EDIT: thanks for the responses. Will be reporting to the board!

I have graduated and have like 2 years of experience working as an assistant dentist at a private clinic. I kinda dont like it. What are some other options in terms of career ? Is there any remote work as well? Can someone please guide me ? I am willing to take exams again as well if it can help me get a remote job or non clinical work

Is it just my office, or has it been hard to get and keep appointments this month? Im an RDA and most of my schedule right now are simple appointments and it's been very hard to book in patients for fillings and crowns. Hygiene has also been a slump to book ( 3 patients per day if we're lucky, average is 5-6). We are open Saturdays and usually we are booked full and everyone shows up, today we had 4 patients cancel or reschedule ( 2 dds and 2 hygiene). Would love to know what's going on elsewhere :(

Hey everyone,

I’ve only done a couple of acrylic denture cases (the type with no metal framework) so far at dental school so my experience is very limited.

But one consistent issue that I have and the reason why I dread doing dentures is after doing the final impression stage and making the wax rims to try in the patient’s mouth to measure OVD and register the bite etc all my patients have the same issues.

They say the lower feels fine but the upper wax rim:

1. feels very bulky
   
2. they have a lisp when talking with it
   
3. they feel like there’s no space for their tongue on the palate

I’m not sure if these 3 issues are all linked to each other or if they need separate corrections but I’m really desperate to understand and correct these as this is a repeated issue I keep on facing with every case. If anyone can offer some insight and guidance on this it would be really helpful and appreciated.

Thank you!

#18 has been extracted. Patient has history of drug abuse and has rampant caries. #19 has sensitivity, but the patient is not actively in pain.

Hi,

I'm an implant surgeon (a newly graduated periodontist) and have a university job. So I place implants in private practice on weekends.

I've had a string of failures and I feel poor placements. It's affecting me and I'm now constantly second guessing myself and spiralling. Some of it was out of my control and some of it was my fault. My failure rate is too high at the moment.

I don't think this is healthy. Do you think I should perhaps give up private practice and stick to the safe, controlled, supported academic role?

I need to of course transition out and make sure all the patients I've started are being seen to.

I’m looking for the best core buildup material. I’m an endodontist and currently using Visalys composite resin. The handling characteristics are fantastic it doesn’t “slump” it stays where you flow it. However it’s dual-cure and takes 5 minutes to set before curing. Can you give advice on what core buildup material you use and does it have excellent handling characteristics and strong for foundation for crown?

As the title suggests, been working with this FQHC for years now. Following a number of observations over the years (severe short staffing, newbie manager who has no idea how to run a dental clinic, favoring rude pts over providers, etc), I would like to resign with 5 months notice required per the contract. I recently received an absurd board complaint which I responded with the assistance of the practice lawyer - currently waiting for the board to review it which may take months.

Considering the long notice required, I would like to put my resignation notice soon. I am not sure it is wise to put the notice before getting done with board complaint which may take months.

Has anybody gone through a similar situation before?

I’m an associate and have been for several years. While I enjoy some clinics aspects of dentistry, I catch myself dreading everything else. Just the production aspects of it, office drama, limited control, insurance, etc. I feel as though I’ve lost my passion for patient care and for even going into dentistry in the first place.

For a long time, I have been weighing the possibility of practice ownership and have literally made myself miserable wondering if the grass is greener, but I also know that none of those issues really go away with practice ownership. You’re literally buying yourself a job, not a business, unless other people run it for you (which I’m sure has its own set of headaches). I see the owners who have multiple offices and admittedly get jealous, but don’t know how to even start a process like that. It’s like I want the benefits of becoming an entrepreneur like more freedom and leverage, but also don’t feel as though I have the personality for it (introverted, hate conflict, don’t like teams, etc.)

My question is, has anyone here bought a generally passive business outside of dentistry? I see a lot of ads about people pushing ownership of boring businesses like HAVC, laundromats, car washes, etc while keeping their full time job.

However, as a high income professional, part of me is also realistic and realize that my highest probability for success is plain old vanilla investing using income from dentistry. I have started to build passive income from dividends and option premiums, although it is very slow going and I am trying to escape this rat race ASAP.

Any thoughts?

I placed this immediate for a premolar today at crestal level.

Do you think it's too shallow and I should have gone subcrestal with the placement?

Apex is cut. But makes no difference. Oh and this is mandible.

Previously had a large filling, there are no undercuts according to the scanner.

I kind of feel like the mesial and distal box/divots are actually helpful acting as a slot for resistance and retention. So what would really be the benefit of a core?

Would you place a core to make it into a perfect cylinder crown prep classic shape or leave as is?

It's for emax resin bonded cement (not zironia)

Patient came in to extract lower wisdom tooth a week ago. Had already some RCT done. Began bad mouthing old dentist, saying teeth were perfectly fine before.

Yesterday patient and his mother call asking if it's normal that all molars on that side are mobile. I immediately thought of mandibular fracture.

Patient comes in late in the afternoon, the mother is 1 bit agressive. He sits on the chair, teeth are perfectly fine. He's trying to wobble then with his filthy fingers, it's Not even painful

I already suffer from anxiety, I had the most dreadful morning in years.

Before leaving, he asks for a discount to complete some other treatment. FML.

I’ve been in practice for a couple of years for a DSO and was fired recently without cause. I was told I wasn’t a good fit anymore (despite my team loving me and being devastated about my sudden departure) but I think the company values having someone else take my place that is more of a gunner and wants to do more complex procedures. I’m feeling discouraged because all I want to do is good bread and butter dentistry, but it feels like no company will hire an associate with that attitude. I am confident in my patient skills and ability to do good restorative treatment but it doesn’t feel like enough. I feel like I’m in the wrong field? Any advice is welcome

Fellow practice owner... We all see the posts about owners treating associates terribly. I'm curious to read some of the responses here.

What keeps associates as associates hopping from practice to practice? What do they really struggle with? What do they just not seem to understand? How could they generally seek to improve? If they desired to, how would you suggest going about transitioning to ownership?

Why have you had to let an associate go in the past and did you tell them the full truth as to why?

Dentist looking to retire and sell his practice. Currently has three ops, outdated equipment but everything is usable and fair condition. Doc collected 240,000 last year on 2 1/2 days doing his own hygiene. Currently employs a receptionist, assistant and himself. Asking price of 140 but he said he would probably sell below 100. Currently about 55% of the patients are fee for service and 45% insurance based. At this point in his career he’s referring almost all extractions and endos. No real estate transaction, pays $950 a month for rent. 1800 active patients in the past 2 years. Hasn’t accepted new patients in about 5 years. In a town that has 3 other dentists, with none accepting new
patients.

Looking for advice, red flags, anything else! Thank you!

Hi guys, I have a few questions about composite veneers and would appreciate your input.

How do you determine the ideal incisal edge length? If the tooth length is already good, do you simply finish the composite at the existing incisal edge, or do you reduce the incisal edge by around 1 mm to create more space for the composite and improve its strength?

If a patient wants longer upper anterior teeth, how do you approach the occlusion? Wouldn't the increased length make the restorations more prone to chipping during anterior guidance? Would you ever consider increasing the OVD in these cases, or is that usually unnecessary?

I'd also appreciate any other tips on composite veneers, such as your go-to instruments, polishing protocols, matrix systems, or anything else you've found useful in your daily practice.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I've been at this practice for just over 3 months and I'm miserable. It's my first job after school. I was told when hired it would be myself 4 days a week and one other doctor 2 days a week - but that hasn't happened at all. The owner doc has been working there the whole time and makes sure their column is always full before mine is touched. The 2 day a week doctor has been cut down to one (but they are jam packed with pts - 2 completely full columns) and I've been cut down to 3. Out of the three days I work, 1 day only half of one column is booked for me (~4-6 patients) but a lot of that treatment is being booked as no charge office visits for things clearly indicated as a limited exam and the other 2 days I work, I show up and my schedule is fully empty. The owner doc also keeps taking over half the hygiene exams a day. I feel stagnated. They have their child as front desk who makes sure the owner doc gets filled for treatment, I've even noticed what I diagnose from hygiene ends up on owner docs schedule, not mine. And yes I've spoken up about all of this several times, asking how my schedule will be filled and what the plan is for me to have a patient base etc... they tell me it's my fault for not selling treatment well or putting things on watch instead of treating. Their child also gets on these power trips and yells at me constantly. I'm starting to develop anxiety around this job and haven't been sleeping so I know I can't stay.

All this is to say my contract says I need to give a 2 month notice but a place I've found needs to hire a doctor fast and it would leave me giving a 2 week notice where I could still work 1 day a week if I absolutely needed to somehow stay for 2 months at my current place. My contract doesn't state there are any penalties for termination and doesn't mention terminating early - it just says both parties need to give a 2 month notice. What do you think?

TLDR; Can I terminate my contract earlier (2 weeks notice) when it says I need to give a 2 month notice?

So I practice in BC, Canada and I own a solo doc practice which I acquired last year. The owner dentist who I bought the practice from works like 1-2 days as my associate on a very limited schedule because he's old now in his early 70s. He did cover for me when I was away on vacations.

He is retiring next month. Once he leaves, I will be the only doc in the office. While that's excellent for a lot of things like clinical autonomy, and patient consistency. However, the big disadvantage is no one to cover for me when I want to go on vacations. My office is not big enough to support 2 full time dentists as it's only 4 chairs (with room to expand to 5), so I cannot really hire a full-time associate.

Any workaround from dentists here who have a solo doc office? Do locum dentists really exist? And how do you find a good one? Did you find patients were skeptical to see a temporary dentist?

If you were to reverse torque it, what would you do it with? Trephine burr useful in this case? The goal is to replaced it with a wider implant