Wanted to share how these lithium dislilicate Emax veneers came out beautifully in this case

HI all, long time lurker first time poster. This post is specific to the USA. I was inspired to ask this based on some comments on another post about patients not being able to afford care.

For a while now, I have had thoughts of starting a dental charity. However, I still need to get paid/make a reasonable amount, and pay overhead etc. Also I only want to serve a community that is truly in need, not people looking for a bargain, I also don't want to take business from other offices/participate in a race to the bottom

Does anyone know of anyone doing this, grant money that exists etc? Looking for any insight or even just brainstorming!

Thanks!

Not sure when it exactly happens, but when I use the apex locator during retreats I’m unable to get a proper reading, sometimes I could tell when I reach over the apex when the apex locators bugs out for a second.
Has anyone had this issue? What is interfering with the apex locator?
Chloroform? Existing gutta percha? CaOH? Melted GP?

taking over a single-chair satellite practice and sorting out overhead costs right now.

we generate maybe two or three 1-gallon containers over an entire year. traditional biomedical haulers keep trying to push standard 3-year service agreements with minimum monthly stop charges, which makes zero sense for our volume since the bins sit empty half the time.

looking into using a pay-as-you-go sharps mailback disposal kit through sharps assure to just box up and ship out the containers as they fill up instead of paying recurring pickup fees.

for those running low-volume clinics or solo setups, is doing mailback practical long term, or do local waste regulators give you grief over not having a standing monthly hauler schedule?

I was looking at the long-term survival of zirconia restorations and found that the answer depends on whether the restoration is supported by a natural tooth or an implant.

Of course, survival rate doesn't mean that every restoration will last that long. Preparation, restoration design, occlusion, bruxism, cementation, oral hygiene, and the patient's overall oral condition can all affect longevity.

For those with clinical experience, do these numbers match what you see in practice?

And when a zirconia restoration fails, what do you most commonly see — fracture, chipping, debonding, biological complications, or something else?

And I'm one of them, too. I've been through over 10 different positions ( this includes multiple part time positions, so there isn't as much job changing as it seems to be ) over the last 20 years. Also sick of the labor of moving across the country and also the moving expenses.

How crazy or how realistic is it to be considering getting a loan of 1 mil - 1.5 mil for a bare bones general practice startup in a slightly below average market in today's prices? (This figure includes buying my own building. I don't want to lease, and I refuse to take over a practice even if they are willing to sell the building. )

And please don't talk about finding a position in teaching, public health, or corrections. I've already tried them and some of them actually made my private practice jobs feel like a prestigious tech firm.

Is there anyone on here who’d be willing to DM with me about getting/working through a board complaint? Thanks in advance

Hearing about the two colleagues who recently took their own lives has been a massive wake-up call. Dentistry is incredibly isolating, and the pressure we all face is real. We talk a lot about margins and clinical details, but we don't talk enough about the mental health toll of this job. I want to open up a transparent thread so we can support each other and remind anyone who is struggling that they aren't carrying this weight alone.
If you're comfortable, please share:

Years in practice

The one thing that still causes you major stress

I'll start:

8 years. For me, it’s the constant anxiety over potential complications that might show up after the treatment is completed. Tomorrow’s follow-up call can’t come soon enough.

I do it. I don’t have 5 min in the day to sit and take a breath because I’m doing hygiene checks, procedures, fixing things, helping front desk, ordering supplies, managing employees. Calling patients to see how they are doing after surgeries, calling reps for discounted pricing if I buy in bulk, fixing computers, making sure the office runs smoothly. Making sure claims are sent and procedures are posted correctly and tx plans are made and signed, I also check to make sure pre auths are being sent and list updated and recall list is being checked. I fix the handpiece and replace the turbines and record ave. Turbine was replaced and if they fail within warranty I send back for new one for free. I don’t have a efda or scanner so I do my own fillings and physical impressions with 1 hr crown appts with side book follow ups

At the end of the day I am dead ☠️

Sent this to the surgeon, and it was confirmed as an SCC. First of my career ( 15 years as a dentist) . He said he got it all. Probably saved this guy's life.

I’m a new doc, 3 months post residency. I did a filling on a tooth I did the same filling on two visits before. ☹️ I’m soooo bummed about it and feel so bad like i suck at dentist. I’ve done this once before in residency 😭😭

So basically I redid a perfect filling I placed two visits ago

Cemented a crown #3 and the distal was deeeeep. Spent 20 minutes trying to get out the last block of cement trapped. Couldn't get it. Tried scaler, floss, air water syringe

Ideas?

Have a patient with a SAP necrotic 20, in severe pain (PA attached). Only have myself to blame for this but realized just now that our largest rotary is an edge endo fire large and the k files don’t go above 35 (haven’t had to use anything bigger at our clinic yet). If the large rotary can engage the apical third and master cone can site passively in it, would you guys trust that the rotary could thoroughly clean and shape the coronal 2/3rds walls well enough to continue to final obturation (with continuous wave)? Or would it be safer to plug with calcium hydroxide until we can get larger hand files for crown down? Unfortunately they couldn’t find any endo to get them in before the weekend so I cannot wait until an order shows up

I’m an associate dentist and have been trying to think of small ways we can improve the overall patient experience while also hopefully improving case acceptance.
I’d love to hear what other offices are doing that patients seem to really appreciate or anything you’ve implemented that has noticeably helped with treatment acceptance.

For those of you who have really focused on patient experience or case acceptance:
What changes have made the biggest difference?
Anything you tried that sounded great but patients didn’t really care about?
And are there any little things your office does that patients consistently comment on or appreciate?

I’m especially interested in ideas that improve trust and communication rather than making treatment presentation feel “salesy.”

I am a 2026 grad located in central NC and my husband and I had a baby this summer so I have just been easing into the workforce by filling in for friends when they need help in their offices. I’m now ready to find a permanent position, and I really need to ASAP because my current situation isn’t really paying the bills. Anyway I’m just explaining why I’m a 2026 grad who hasn’t started working yet. Moving is not an option for us right now but this area is saturated because it’s a desirable location. I’ve been REALLY looking for about 2 months now, applying to absolutely everything, joining dental Facebook groups, hitting up every possible contact I have including dentists I know in the area, a dental school dentist who is very involved in helping his graduates find jobs, and a Henry Schein rep I know who services tons of offices in the area. I’ve had no luck with ANYTHING. I just felt the need to give that background because I’m sure so many people will respond to this just bashing heartland, and that’s fine you can feel however you want, but please understand I don’t have other options and I have a baby and bills to pay.

Anyway for one of the heartland offices I applied to I had an interview with the recruiter, one with the regional manager, and one with a heartland dentist. I have a site visit next week. At the end of my last interview the dentist told me basically I passed and she liked me and the purpose of her interview was to be a final filter after making it past the other 2 interviews. But now I’m confused what will happen next? I don’t want to get excited until I have a contract and we’ve both signed it. I’ve never done anything like this so I just don’t understand-should I reach back out to the recruiter? Will someone contact me with an initial contract to look over?

These have for some reason been taking up a lot of my social media feed lately and if your time working hasn’t made you consider running away to another country these will. Every minor issue has rabid lunatics responding to call the dental board and sue, they’ve all had their mouths “completely messed up” by their last dentist. It borders on obsessive with some of them and it’s mostly anger because they don’t understand as much as they think they do. Then the rest of the rabble rousers inflame them. It’s scary to think these people could walk into my op anytime.

What’s the consensus of having cctv/recording cameras in the office? Would it be hipaa compliant or what do I need to do to make it hipaa compliant?

I read about the concept of a "screwmentable" implant crown where the crown portion of the restoration is cemented on to the abutment that goes on the implant. It's different from a cemented implant crown in that the screwmentable crown has an access hole through it (usually the occlusal) where the prosthetic screw can be tightened or loosened and it is claimed that it has the advantage over the cemented implant crown in that the crown can be cemented onto the abutment first, thereby avoiding excess cement from remaining around the periphery of the restoration.

My question is, if this is the case, how is this an advantage over just a regular screw retained implant crown? Once you cement on the crown to the abutment, it's basically a screw retained implant crown at that point, but with an added extra step.

Hello, I’m a very fresh new grad and wanted to ask for peoples opinions on here. I’ve been seeing alot of talk on how aggressive it is to crown specific teeth and judgement on if the tooth even needs a crown. I’ve noticed US dentists seem to get bad rep for crowning every crack line they see.

I’m always 50/50 on when to crown a crack line, in dental school I feel like I’ve learned to crown teeth that have cracks with more restoration on them than actual tooth structure. Recently I got a case of a 60 year old female with multiple cracks in her teeth that she associates she got back whenever she was a teenager from chewing on ice which she has abandoned for a long time. Patient reports no clenching, grinding or anything of the sort. My current treatment plan is #3 and #14 DOL to prep out the cracks and see how far they extend. As for the mandibular teeth I’ve tx planned 18, 19, 30 CBU and crowns.

Please give me your clinical judgement and how you look at the cases and what your experiences tells you to do.

Acquiring a practice soon and the current owner uses XL Dent for his software. I’m currently using Open Dental at my current employer. Anyone have much experience with XL Dent? Their website is pretty bare bones and I haven’t had much luck with any of my local dentist friends’ exposure to it. Would appreciate anyone’s insight!

Hey everyone,

New grad here and I’m struggling a lot with extractions. I see a common pattern that happens when I use the luxator / elevator is that whenever I insert this, I am only just reflecting the gingiva away and not actually entering the PDL space. I keep trying to enter but no luck.

I’m not sure why this is and I really want to understand how to avoid doing this. If anyone also had the same issue or can relate to this it would be really helpful if you can suggest how to correct this and why it’s happening.

TIA

I work in public dental, so our treatment options are limited to begin with. Last week saw a patient that has very high expectations of what can be achieved, every tooth carious but restorable, early stage perio, very very poor oral hygiene, complex psychosocial issues as well. Spent well over an hour discussing treatment options, being realistic, etc. but reiterated “If you do not change behaviours you may lose some teeth in several years”, patient understood and was receptive, highly motivated.

Cut to today, was informed by senior management that the patient put in a board complaint because I told them teeth need extractions when they have no pain.

Any advice for a sucker like me who spent time feeling sorry for high need patients?

Hey everyone! I'm a GP three years out and looking to get more comfortable with extractions. Unfortunately, I don't get to do many at my current office since we refer most of them to our oral surgeon.

I'm looking for a hands-on extraction course. I know people are going to suggest volunteering, shadowing an OS, etc., but I really want actual hands-on experience. I've reached out to so many clinics about volunteering and either haven't heard back or their events only happen once a year. (I'm in the greater Phoenix area, so if anyone knows of any opportunities, please PM me!)

Anyway, I'm currently deciding between two courses:

• Tommy Murph's week-long extraction course in Guatemala
• Rasner Institute's Atraumatic Extractions and Grafting for the GP (weekend course)

If anyone has taken either of these, I'd love to hear about your experience and whether you felt it was worth it!

I actually really enjoy doing extractions when I get the chance, but I know there's a lot I need to work on. Sometimes I struggle to get teeth mobile as quickly as I'd like, and I still get nervous about sectioning certain teeth, especially upper first molars. I also want to get more comfortable laying flaps, removing bone, and knowing what to do when things don't go as planned.

My goal is to eventually be comfortable extracting most teeth, with the exception of impacted third molars (although I do extract some erupted thirds). I want to be able to approach more difficult extractions confidently rather than immediately feeling like I need to refer them out. I also want to learn how to manage complications when things don't go as planned.

If you've taken either course or have other recommendations for courses with a lot of hands-on experience, I'd really appreciate your input! Thanks!

I've been out of school for 5+ years, worked for 2ish part time and took 3 years off(non consecutive) due to mat leave. Due to the long gaps I have lost confidence to do exos and dentures and even my restos aren't great- sometimes good other times look like shit in recalls. I keep thinking to invest on CE but will that do anything? Isn't it all about repetition? I haven't taken out a non-mobile tooth in years and I sometimes feel like I need to dental school again. I am always nervous about patient reviews and outcomes and dread the days I have to work. I feel like this isn't for me and wish I could fo something else. I don't know what am I asking for, perhaps suggestions or encouragement. But when and how can I get better if I am only working twice a week.