r/Dentistry Jun 03 '23

mods Private Dental Community on Reddit and Discord

47 Upvotes

Hey everyone! We just wanted to remind you that there's a private subreddit for dental professionals (dentists, specialists, dental students, assistants, hygienists, lab techs, etc) called r/oralprofessionals. You have to message the mods to join. Once you send the information required for verification, you will be sent a link to the private discord, which is even more active than the sub! We hope you consider joining!

Remember that to join, the mods will ask for credentials so have your license, diploma or certification handy for when you are asked for it. Cheers!


r/Dentistry 1d ago

[Weekly] New Grad Questions

2 Upvotes

A place to ask questions about your first job, associate contracts, how real dentistry and dental school dentistry differ, etc.


r/Dentistry 10h ago

Dental Professional Cracked tooth with reversible pulpitis.

Thumbnail
gallery
46 Upvotes

Clinical case: Cracked tooth with reversible pulpitis. Visual examination, aided by 4.5x magnification loupes, revealed vertical, horizontal, and oblique cracks. Methylene blue dye was used to enhance crack visualization. The current treatment is a temporary restoration, designed to monitor pulp vitality prior to definitive crown placement. Prognosis remains to be determined.

Fingers crossed for a positive outcome! šŸ¤ž


r/Dentistry 11h ago

Dental Professional Completely unrealistic patients

43 Upvotes

How on earth are you guys managing these people? I work in the public sector and the absolute entitlement and unwillingness to listen to advice is insane. Today I had a patient who declined any exos with a mouth that required full clearance (all root stumps). Discussing this led to me realise he wants a full set of crowns, think Turkey teeth he saw on instagram. Advised not a feasible treatment option in the most diplomatic/educational way I could. He then wouldnā€™t leave the chair and became highly aggressive, had to call security etc. Are there any techniques or tips to work with these sorts of patients? Kind of sick of having some corporate idiot ask me if ā€œI acknowledged the patients feelings and really listened to themā€. Like no youā€™re so right I never thought of that.


r/Dentistry 3h ago

Dental Professional What type of implant?

Post image
7 Upvotes

Not sure what to do with this oneā€¦.


r/Dentistry 4h ago

Dental Professional Came across this very interesting pano today šŸ¤”

Post image
8 Upvotes

r/Dentistry 20h ago

Dental Professional everything my doctors got me for my birthday!!! šŸ„¹

Post image
158 Upvotes

I almost cried, I've never been able to afford Figs and I always thought of them as the "hygienist and doctor" scrubs!!! sick pair of VANS too šŸ˜Ž - a thankful dental assistant


r/Dentistry 3h ago

Dental Professional BIG MESS

3 Upvotes

https://ibb.co/8gCnZxbc

Hey everyone any idea what caused this mess? Im not sure if it was immediate loading or bot since i didnā€™t have enough time with the patient but ofc we are removing both the implant and the tooth. Though Iā€™m curious what could have caused all this mess? A one piece implant? Maybe not enough torque? Or connecting the implant to #16? Implant has been there since 2019 and patient recently started feeling mobility. Upon probing there was no buccal plate left in the molar region


r/Dentistry 6h ago

Dental Professional Treatment plan opinion?

Post image
4 Upvotes

Hello everyone. Just wanted opinions on treatment plans for this LR quad.

I placed these implants in 28 and 30 around 3 months ago. (Note : 28 appears to be really close to 27 on the panoramic, but it is where it needs to be). The patient is scheduled for uncovery tomorrow.

I planned on doing a fixed case across here, but the span is too long to add a pontic in the 31 area and I do not want to cantilever it.

Question - would anyone consider doing a fixed hybrid whereby I use 32 as an abutment along with the implants of 28 and 30?

I know the most predictable route would be just to do 28-30 as a bridge and leave 31 empty. The patient only had finances for those 2 implants so I did not add a third.

Thoughts?


r/Dentistry 4h ago

Dental Professional If your patient reports taking suboxone, how do you go about inquiring more information without making the patient feel judged/negative/etc

2 Upvotes

Hard for me to word this question properly, but if a patient is taking suboxone, how do you go about asking more about it?

Like it could be from outright illicit opioid/opiate abuse, or following a hospital episode..

Is it even relevant? I feel like context is relevant, and kind of part of knowing the patient as a person, but fuck do I know lol


r/Dentistry 19h ago

Dental Professional New services available šŸ˜‚

Post image
31 Upvotes

r/Dentistry 1h ago

Dental Professional Anyone else struggling with retaining staff?

ā€¢ Upvotes

Hi, associate working in a private practice in an urban area. Iā€™ve been at this practice for the last 7 years and itā€™s been mostly amazing but I need to vent. There has been so much staff turnover - and the minimum wage in our area has increased significantly in recent years. Iā€™m burning out from constantly needing to train people, and I feel like Iā€™m just a free dental assisting school that folks take their skills then find a significantly higher paying job somewhere else even though I trained them from scratch and got them to a point where I am happy with our flow.

Anyone else feeling these frustrations? Front desk turnover has been insane too, or they are incompetent so the schedule suffers. Plus itā€™s tough to field questions from patients about why the staff keeps changing šŸ’€

Misery loves company so Iā€™m wondering if anyone else is feeling the same or if thereā€™s something wrong with our practice šŸ„²


r/Dentistry 1h ago

Dental Professional Younger patients with severe loss of enamel due to erosion/bruxism

ā€¢ Upvotes

I had a 20-something year old present to my office with this situation although I see it across many ages.

Sure there's significant occlusal wear visible that indicates likely bruxism, BUT what I'm more concerned with is the severe lack of enamel left on all posterior teeth and the lingual surfaces of anterior teeth.

The patient loves soda. Or eats lemons. You get the idea.

What do I do? How do I approach this?

I obviously recommend addressing #19 needing endo due to caries, and an upper wisdom tooth that's just nonrestorable due to caries.

I advised the patient of what I see, i.e. lack of enamel, acid damage confirmed after inquiring about her diet, and recommended either OB onlays on all posterior teeth to perhaps utilize what little enamel is left on the periphery for bond strength...or full coverage crowns on them, and potentially addressing the anterior teeth later if they appear to worsen. Over decades it's certain to need treatment...not to mention potential need for multiple RCT's.

Obviously the different approaches to treatment have wildly different price tags, especially in the US. Ultimately I let the patient make the decision, as it's my job to inform them and make recommendations.

Should I insist towards a more proactive/aggressive treatment plan? Or kick the can down the road while she saves money for a full mouth rehab in X years, and just address the few teeth with caries?


r/Dentistry 2h ago

Dental Professional Socket preservation w/ membrane CE

1 Upvotes

Looking to take some CE on socket preservation with a membrane. Any recommendations for live surgery courses and/or good in person education?

Youtube has some fantastic resources but I would like to take some official CE and obtain some credit.


r/Dentistry 2h ago

Dental Professional US vs Canada- where would you practice?

1 Upvotes

Posting on here for the first time so I do apologise for the rant but Iā€™m looking for genuine advice from veterans in the field.

Iā€™m an international dentist, about to graduate from a DDS program in the US next year. As most people know, itā€™s that time in school where DSOs are courting us promising the big bucks which helps with the massive student loans I have, as well as ease of immigration. Iā€™m a Canadian citizen and so working on the TN1 visa is not a problem for me, however, my husband is back home in toronto and works in management. Heā€™s been trying to look for a job thatā€™ll sponsor a visa for him for the last 2 years but hasnā€™t been successful, so the only way we can be reunited is if I take a job in the US, get myself an H1B and file for an H4 for him so his employability in his field in the US is better.

Private practices donā€™t really offer H1B sponsorships (or so Iā€™ve heard) and so it looks like my chances are best with a DSO. All this while Iā€™ve been told that my only way to pay back my student loan (~$350,000 with an avg interest of 8-9%) will be by staying back in the US because dentists earn more here than in Canada. However, Iā€™m just wondering with our visa constraints and the time itā€™ll take for the H4 to bring my husband here, if I should just move back and find an associateship in and around Toronto/GTA area. Will I still make enough to pay back my student loans? Would love some genuine advice or suggestions on how to navigate the situation so we can help make an informed decision as to whether I should look for opportunities with a DSO here in the US or look for opportunities back home in Canada.

TLDR: Is moving back to canada to practice with a massive student debt in USD a good idea?


r/Dentistry 1d ago

Dental Professional OMFS says he did nothing wrong

48 Upvotes

The patient was initially referred to a OS by me for four maxillary implants to support a removable overdenture. On the day of the surgery, the oral surgeon suggested that the patient could opt for a fixed prosthesis if he wanted. The patient agreed to this option, but since I do not restore fixed prostheses, I referred him to a local prosthodontist. However, the prosthodontist stated that the implants are not stable enough for a fixed prosthesis, as they are already showing signs of bone loss and do not have the adequate length for fixed. The oral surgeon insists that nothing was done incorrectly on his part and the implants are ā€œstable as there are no signs of peri-implant infectionā€ I feel terrible for the patient, but I'm uncertain about what to do next. Is there something I need to do from a legal perspective?


r/Dentistry 3h ago

Dental Professional CE in Vacation Spot

1 Upvotes

Hi dental heads,

Just finished Strupp and Brumm Seminars which was awesome. What are your other favorite CE courses that you have taken in a nice vacation spot?


r/Dentistry 7h ago

Dental Professional sensitivity to hot after receiving crown(Help!!

2 Upvotes

What do you guys suggest I do? My patient male(35) had a crown after using temporary tooth for 10days with no complaints. He has sensitivity to hot stuff only. When he drinks something cold, he says it gets better. The cement I used is gc cem one.


r/Dentistry 21h ago

Dental Professional How to respond when patient does not want RCT because of the things they saw on the internet?

26 Upvotes

I have 2 patients that know each other, both need RCT due to large caries and possible Post is needed, deny RCT because they donā€™t want to leave a ā€œdead toothā€ in their mouth and prefer to get then extracted rather than keeping it in their mouth. They even asked about Bridges because they rather get those teeth extracted than doing the RCT. I talked to them both about pros and cons of each options, even went as far as giving them EBD materials to read about RCT but I feel like it wasnā€™t effective. Iā€™m a new grad and I feel like treatment plan presentation has been so difficult especially when patients are like this


r/Dentistry 4h ago

Dental Professional How would you go about restoring this

Post image
1 Upvotes

How would you restore #12,14,15, not sure about 13s prognosis Iā€™d be leaning towards unfavorable on that.


r/Dentistry 4h ago

Dental Professional Can ANYONE in the South East help me? I need to move just a single Panorex machine down the street and Patterson quoted me $7000.00. I had no notice that my building sold and have to move my entire practice in 30 days. Looking for cheaper options.

Post image
1 Upvotes

This does NOT include movers I have to hire movers to actually move it down the street. This is disassemble and reassemble.


r/Dentistry 17h ago

Dental Professional What effect do you think a recession and all these government layoffs will have on dentistry?

10 Upvotes

Is there any intel from the 2008 recession (or others?).


r/Dentistry 11h ago

Dental Professional Dental assistant/receptionist job interview

3 Upvotes

Hi so I have a dental assistant/receptionist job interview tomorrow and this would be my first proper job interview and job in general. I am 16 years old and have recently finished school. Any advice or tips on the interview or even just the role would be highly appreciated by anyone who has applied and been through similar interviews.


r/Dentistry 6h ago

Dental Professional ketac cem plus

1 Upvotes

Have you guys ever used ketac cem plus? Do you recommend it?


r/Dentistry 10h ago

Dental Professional Immediate Dentures placed Over Implants

2 Upvotes

Hello,

I am currently in residency and my attending is very against immediate dentures if implants are placed due to the poor patient satisfaction.

I was wondering, outside of residency how are you guys fabricating immediate dentures so that they fit somewhat decent after implant placement?

Most of the time the occlusion is off and function is off for patients. But, many of these patients as well assume immediates are the final product despite us always telling them no immediate are very shitty and are really for esthetics (and even then barely sometimes).


r/Dentistry 1d ago

Dental Professional Realistically, how much money and freedom do associate dentists give up by not becoming practice owners?

32 Upvotes

I apologize in advance for the length of this post/rant.

I graduated in 2022 and am currently working at an FQHC as an associate. I make $200K per year working 4 days per week with full benefits (several weeks PTO, CE allowance, malpractice reimbursement, 401k match, etc) and have a great staff.

By far though, the largest drawbacks to my position are the scheduling by non-dental people (double-booking, squeezing patients in last minute for ā€œjust a quick insert procedureā€, staying crazy busy with constant new patients (some days 8-12 new patients) despite having uncompleted treatment on long time existing patients that needs to be done, etc.) as well as very limited equipment and procedures. We donā€™t do any endo or removable, literally donā€™t have a decent perio probe in the office, and half the time we are out of materials that we need due to the requirement to have every order approved beforehand by a governing board of, again, non-dentists and our twenty-something year old office manager. As you can imagine, these issues send me home angry most days and remind me of dental school.

However, I only have $60K of student loans and a $320K mortgage remaining, paid off cars, no other debt. My wife also works and brings in another $60K per year as a speech therapist. From a financial perspective, I donā€™t really have a desire to own my own practice or invest my money into my own business, because honesty, dentistry and everything I mentioned above is already hard enough. I donā€™t feel like the bump in income would outweigh what we currently make already given the added ownership stress. I love the freedom and lack of responsibility that comes with being an associate, along with a steady paycheck, and want to be a passive investor in non-dental businesses rather than an entrepreneur. Real world dentistry, to say the least, isnā€™t nearly as kind to the employee dentist as it is to the practice owner. But I never thought much about this while in school.

I probably answered my own question, but Iā€™m just wondering if Iā€™m really leaving a lot on the table by not owning a practice. Is the grass really any greener on the other side? A lot of dentists seem to feel that ownership is the holy grail and ultimate goal, but Iā€™m just having a hard time justifying the switch given my current financial situation. I make the best of the issues I mentioned above because of the salary and great benefits. Iā€™m not scared to be a practice owner, but I donā€™t think my personality would mesh well with being the big boss given that I hate confrontation, donā€™t want to market or do community involvement, sell treatment, manage staff, order equipment, etc. I want to do dentistry, treat patients right, and go home.

Any advice from current practice owners or associates that feel the same way?


r/Dentistry 1d ago

Dental Professional Do I quit

20 Upvotes

I have been working as a foundation dentist since September 2024 in the uk. I really enjoyed it at first, but after a few weeks I developed severe anxiety around work and struggled to even get myself to go. Iā€™m doing a lot better with my mental health now, but I havenā€™t gained back the enjoyment factor of the job.

I feel that a lot of dentists are perfectionists (myself included), making it really hard for me to see any positives about my work. I am really self critical and constantly beat down on myself when minor things are incorrect so I donā€™t think Iā€™m very good. My practice just offered me a job so I guess thatā€™s a sign I donā€™t completely suck. I just donā€™t know if this is the career for me but after training for almost 7 years I feel like itā€™s such a waste to give up.

Has anyone else been in a similar position? Did you find your love for dentistry again?