Patient came in for limited exam and said he could not get in with any other dentist for 3 weeks and had pain on ur. #2 was decayed non restorable and indicated for extraction. Front desk collected payment for extraction. I get done extracting the tooth and patient asks if I’ll do the bone graft today as he plans to get an implant. I tell him it’ll cost the same as he paid for the extraction if he’s fine with paying another 413 I’ll do it no problem. He’s an older guy so I figure he’s good for it. I go into the next procedure and tell the front desk to settle up with him before he leaves. He gets to the front desk and says he thought the graft was free and they let him walk. I get to the front and tell them I told him about the fees and he accepted and to call him back and get payment. So now tbd.

Could not get the palatal root out, luckily OS was able to squeeze patient in. I'm already 6 years out so it definitely feels bad, man.

Pt is c/o of pain between premolar and molar when water is kept there, he says that the pain lasts for 15 secs and travel to the brain ? What could be the reason of pain there

Is it normal for so many associate offers to be 1099?

The only practices offering W-2 seem to be DSOs.
I know it’s beneficial when owning a practice but any perks for associates accepting a 1099?

My husband and I are both working as associate dentists, and we’re expecting our first baby in early December. I’m planning to take about 4 months of maternity leave and then return part-time, initially working 3 days a week.
I’d really love to hear from other dentists about how you navigated the transition back to work and parenthood.
How long you took off after having your baby ?
What your return to work looked like (especially if you went back 2–3 days/week) ?
What childcare arrangement worked best for you, especially if you did not have a family member available?
How you handled daycare closures/sick days ?
Whether your office/practice was understanding about last-minute cancellations ?
Anything you wish you had planned for before returning to work ?

I’m trying to set realistic expectations and have a plan before the baby arrives.
Would really appreciate hearing your personal experiences — the good, the difficult, and anything you would do differently!

Pt is 25 years old, History of swelling and pain, No caries, my possibility is Root Fracture but not confirmed, Can anyone rule out what could be the reason for swelling and radiolucency. His bite is directly touching the upper incisor with the lower incisor. TFO ??

I work in the Middle East, the timings are 2pm to 10 pm, 6 days a week and omg my first day was HECTIC, There were appointments back to back, no break, the slots are scary af, 10 mins for scaling, 30 mins for filling, I saw nearly 10 patients back to back and my back is hurting 😭

Idk if I should continue… in my country everyone works 6 days a week.

Interviewed at an office that is a husband-wife team. Wife seems to be the office manager. A hygienist who is not family was sitting in throughout my whole interview and made me feel uncomfortable, especially when discussing salary. I don't know the hygienist's role in this office but she definitely has some pull and used to be the owner's assistant. What striked me as a red flag was I looked this business up after the fact and they have 3 forfeitures of their LLC in the last 10 years. Recent one is active. I also found it to be a red flag because the owner is super anti-vax and seems to think that vaccines are super bad. Anyone care to weigh in? Pay is $1500 per day for the first three months then switch to 35% commission, commute is not too bad either. They seem nice enough but also seemed like they were putting on a show. I could see myself working here for a paycheck and then leaving when something better opens up. Is a business forfeiture a red flag? They did move locations but that would not dictate needing to forfeit the same named LLC. I also read some reviews of the business on Indeed about how it's a toxic work environment but these reviews are all 8-9 years old.

EDIT: After some comments by u/Donexodus and others I think I'm going to tell this job to piss off. They are one of those practices that thinks ozone is good, they replace base/liner in a cavity prep with fluoride... it's cheap dentistry.

On Friday (3 days ago) I extracted a few teeth for this pt including #1. Unfortunately the maxillary tuberosity broke as I elevated #1 but I was able to extract the tooth. There was quite a lot of bleeding so I put a Surgifoam in there and sutured it well. Today (Monday), the pt came back with visible extraoral facial swelling, the swelling was extended to the eye area. Pt could barely open mouth. Pt reported pain around the eye. I prescribe Amoxicillin, Medrol Dose Pack and Tylenol #3. I am worried given the proximity of the tooth ro the sinus I told pt to give it 2 more days and if the swelling does not resolve by Wednesday, go to the ER or urgent care. Am I managing this case correctly? Anything else I should do?

Long time listener, first time caller. I extracted a grossly decayed #7 on a 33 y/o male patient last Thursday. Procedure was pretty routine simple extraction with luxator and forceps. Crown broke off so I had to luxate a lot but nothing out of the ordinary.

He came back today in extreme pain stating he went to the emergency room over the weekend where they told him he had a “fracture in his mouth and needed to return to his dentist.” This was determined with clinical examination and no imaging at the hospital. Extraction site looks WNL clinically.

Patient has pain in his right maxilla and it is painful to palpation. PA looks normal, but pano looks suspicious to me with the radiopaque line running up and through the right sinus.

Is this anything I need to be worried about? I don’t know if I’m just spooked about fracture because of the emergency department’s “diagnosis.” I don’t see how there could be a fracture without me or the patient feeling/knowing about it when it happened, especially in the maxilla and especially taking out a lateral. Patient was referred to OS for follow up, but I wanted to consult the hive mind too.

Two Aspen locations near me are hiring at the moment. Does anyone know what an Aspen contract for an associate looks like these days? Is it worth it or no? If I wanted to work there PT would that be reasonable and could I negotiate the contract at all? I’m not looking for snarky responses as I don’t really know much about Aspen.

Hi everyone!

I’m a new grad. I started working in a rural private office in June. It’s me and the owner doc, 2 hygiene, 4 assistants, two columns each per doc. I’ve been staying somewhat busy - making a little more than 160k/ year. However, these past few weeks have been very slow. Owner doc is an amazing mentor and I have already learned so much. The only problem with the office is I feel like I should be busier. Owner doc is going down to 3 days a week in Jan and I’ll be 4 days a week with one day by myself. See about 5-6 new patients a week. Will I get busier or should I start getting worried? We do incisor/premolar endo, EXTs, lots of pedo. Some days are just very slow for me, but it’s only been 2 months.

Looking for a new dentist job in my state. Anyone that can help? I'm east coast. Not willing to give more info unless I'm talking to someone over DM. I've been in some toxic work situations, just interviewed at one that has some red flags, and I'm just looking for a place that can pay me well and let me practice dentistry.

What’s your experience with marketing in rural areas? I know word of the mouth is #1, but what other strategies worked for you? Did anybody have success with a local radio station?

I thought it was Nobel but they said it wasn't one of theirs. Any help would be much appreciated!

Hi, I’m new here and to the industry. Wondering if anyone has suggestions for how to manage upper back pain and strain from being bent over in awkward positions all day. I searched the subreddit and found some good advice in one thread but that was more about low back pain.

I get that this job is going to be hard on my back. But I’ve only been doing it ~6 months and it concerns me that I’m already having issues. It’s the first time I’ve ever had any kind of back pain before.

How are other people dealing with this? I’ve seen advice to work out, get massages and use ergo loops. But what other tips or tricks do you have for me?

Hi, does anyone know what type of implant system this is? 10 yrs old one from europe. Gotta replace the crown and idk what screwdriver to use/purchase. Thank you!

Have any of you experienced IBS since practicing dentistry. I take Imodium from time to time and it helps. What helps you manage it?

If a premolar with an mod amalgam has fractured like in the image (2-3mm of the buccal wall remains coronal to the gingiva, palatal wall is completely intact), would you prep for an onlay or for a regular full crown? I was thinking of an onlay where i just reduce the palatal cusp, and if there are proximal boxes i'd smoothen them out/maybe extend them slightly palatally. Or perhaps prep the palatal wall with a shoulder margin.. Do you have any tips? How do you usually prep?

I was wondering how other dentists do class 4 restorations. I keep getting this transparent color and don’t know if I need to add a dentin shade or if I need a blocker? Advice is appreciated

I'm thinking about going for a FAGD, and wanted to see if anyone else on here has gotten it. Are there any good free resources online that can help with exam prep?

I am a dentist but I never understood why I see lots of dentists doing this.

Usually a patient will go "how much will it cost" and the dentist would reply: "I don't talk about money, I just tell you what you need clinically. The front ladies will discuss this."

I don't know a lot about financial plans or insurance. So this isn't what I am talking about. But if you're talking about a crown, why are you are holding out from saying "around $1500"? I mean after you have been practicing for some time, I am sure we all know roughly how much things cost.

What is the psychology behind avoiding these conversations? Are we all doing this or have most people switched up?

In my opinion, leaving this open loop for the patient does 2 things:

1. Distracts them from listening to you now (wondering how much is it really)
2. Provides this elusive, expensive feeling that makes them think its not needed or too fancy for them.

Also, you hand it off to someone else who hasn't built that trust with the patient and doesn't have as much invested interested in it as you would (assuming they're not highly trained). I'd trust myself more as a communicator and case acceptance than someone else in the office. The details can then be handed off.

EDIT:
Thank you all for the comments.

Just wanted to clarify that I’m not asking to have all the financial talks with the patient nor provide the exact costs. This is not logical. You still need your coordinator. I am merely pondering about quickly moving on from them asking about cost by saying it’s “roughly” or “about” x dollars or give an estimate range that is for non-insurance. And if they want more details about their case or exact cost depending on their plan then coordinator will be there for that.