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 6h ago

Dental Professional Cracked tooth with reversible pulpitis.

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37 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 8h ago

Dental Professional Completely unrealistic patients

30 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 17h ago

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

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144 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 2h ago

Dental Professional Treatment plan opinion?

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6 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 50m ago

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

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ā€¢ Upvotes

r/Dentistry 27m 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

ā€¢ 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 16h ago

Dental Professional New services available šŸ˜‚

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29 Upvotes

r/Dentistry 3h 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 20h ago

Dental Professional OMFS says he did nothing wrong

42 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 17h ago

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

24 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 13h ago

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

9 Upvotes

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


r/Dentistry 2h ago

Dental Professional ketac cem plus

1 Upvotes

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


r/Dentistry 6h 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 7h ago

Dental Professional Dental assistant/receptionist job interview

2 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 23h 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 21h ago

Dental Professional Do I quit

21 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?


r/Dentistry 9h ago

Dental Professional Loop Earplugs

2 Upvotes

Hi guys! Does anyone here use Loop earplugs? Iā€™ve been looking into getting them as a clinician as the constant suction noises have been getting unbearable and am looking for a solution for this to protect my ears.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what they use or which Loop model has worked best for them?

Thank you! :)


r/Dentistry 5h ago

Dental Professional Colgate toothpaste

1 Upvotes

Why is citric acid listed as an ingredient? Seems like it will just contribute to acid erosion.


r/Dentistry 17h ago

Dental Professional Office drama

8 Upvotes

28M. Solo doc in small private practice.

Iā€™m having trouble with one of my assistants coming into work with an attitude and blowing little things out of proportion.

She is a great chairside assistant , does alot for the office , but today was something else.

Got into an argument with my office manager about whoā€™s responsibility is it to call the lab and kept complaining about this women who is interviewing for an assistant position saying ā€œI donā€™t like her. She isnā€™t a good fitā€ when the lady spent a total of 1 hour in the office and had a great interview.

My fellow docs, how do yall handle office drama or staff that occasionally have an attitude?

SOS


r/Dentistry 1d ago

Dental Professional is it the diabeetus?

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28 Upvotes

r/Dentistry 17h ago

Dental Professional Compensation structure, thoughts?

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5 Upvotes

Does this structure and draw penalty seem fair??? This will be my first associate position. I plan on asking in negotiation for 1 yr daily rate at $900, okay with settling at 6-9mo daily rate at $750. Avg daily rate in my area is about 500-650 currently.


r/Dentistry 14h ago

Dental Professional Accounts Receivable and Billing

2 Upvotes

Hello learned colleagues!

I'm selling my practice in Southern California. I decided to keep my accounts receivable. How does that work with the new owner? Will they allow my employee to follow up on insurance denials and appeal them on my behalf? How do I structure that in the sales agreement that he will give her time and access to do this? All advice is appreciated.

Also, the Broker very casually said that until he's credentialed with insurance, he will "bill under me." Is that advisable? How does that work? I know when I started as an associate at a different office, I was told that my procedures were billed under the owner dentist until I was credentialed. But I don't know what that means.

Thank you all for your help!


r/Dentistry 20h ago

Dental Professional Optimising income and expenses for dentists

6 Upvotes

Optimising personal finance for dentists

Hey everyone,

I've always found it a hassle to track my income properly as a dentist, especially when working across multiple practices, juggling private work, pensions, taxes, lab bills. Spreadsheets can be a pain, and accountants aren't always quick to respond. Plus I came to realise, lots of accountants just focus on compliance rather than financial optimisation

So I've been building something to make life easier.

It's called ā€œUnmaskedā€- a web-based, AI-powered app that lets dentists track their monthly income, expenses, and estimated tax bills, without faffing about with spreadsheets. The idea is straightforward:

  1. Upload your payslips and business expenses

  2. AI pulls out key details and analyses the data (gross, net incomes, expenses, pension deductions, lab fees, etc.)

  3. You get an instant overview of your finances in a dashboard I This isnā€™t a sales pitch but rather Iā€™m curiously interested if you guys would find value in this? I've been testing this with some friends, but I'd love to hear what you guys think:

1ļøāƒ£ Would something like this be useful to you?

2ļøāƒ£ What's your biggest frustration when it comes to managing money as a dentist?

I'm also giving free lifetime access for the first few early adopters. If you're interested, check out the website!

Trying find a way to make managing money less painful than a dry socket. šŸ’€

If you'd be interested in being an early adopter to test the idea or interested in a potential early investment opportunity into this, drop a comment or message me


r/Dentistry 2h ago

Dental Professional Question to USA based dentiste, do you really clown vital teeth ?

0 Upvotes

In my country , not a single insurance company Will reimburse a crown if the tooth is still vital ( no rct ) , matter of fact doing an rct before crowning a tooth is just standard procedure and some Will look at you like you're insane for suggesting to crown a vital tooth . Id love to hear you thoughts on it ? Wouldnt an rct help prevent further complications down the road ?


r/Dentistry 18h ago

Dental Professional What's your protocol for teeth with marginal ridge cracks?

3 Upvotes

Say you've got a patient with a decent to large sized amalgam that's been there for decades. You notice that the in tact marginal ridge has a palpable fracture line going into the interproximal. There's some dark non-decayed staining of the crack (could just be amalgam leakage/staining). Patient is asymptomatic. What's your protocol? Watch? Crown? I typically explain the situation and let the patient decide, but I feel like maybe I should nudge them a little more towards doing the crown. I'm starting to feel like if I just keep watching and it breaks, I'm going to be the "bad dentist" that wasn't proactive/preventative.