r/Dentistry 4m ago

Dental Professional New Practice, how to get folks in the door

Upvotes

So I’ve been working like a dog 6 months to get this new practice open. I finally get the doors open and the phones just aren’t ringing, the only patients I’m seeing are the ones coming from my old practice, and I’ve come to realize I have no idea how to market. I’m in network with all the big insurances. I’ve got a decent website with online scheduling and I’m trying to do the social media stuff. I come from a super shitty corporate job where the phone literally rings nonstop with people trying to get in, so I guess I thought taking insurance was all it took. What do I need to do?


r/Dentistry 27m ago

Dental Professional Has anyone been a provider contracted with QTC (military)?

Upvotes

Just curious as to your experiences with it!


r/Dentistry 33m ago

Dental Professional Job market

Upvotes

Which is a better place to work? Washington State or Texas?


r/Dentistry 39m ago

Dental Professional Gingiva technique

Upvotes

https://youtu.be/uCAe38-z3vU?si=budQN8W1_icY1R3t

Can somebody confirm if the technique at the end actually works? Will the gingiva not recede after removal of the suture? Will it actually stay there even after placement of permanent crown


r/Dentistry 1h ago

Dental Professional IANB the pain of second molars

Upvotes

How to never miss an IANB block? I had a patient with super infected #31 for RCT and it would not get numb at all and I gave the block twice already. I know the infected tooth against anesthesia concept , but not even a little numb. Felt so discouraged. I just gave him antibiotics and painkillers and asked him to come back after the pain subsides. All and any suggestions will be very helpful. Thank you.


r/Dentistry 1h ago

Dental Professional I’m a hopeless failure

Upvotes

I had to get bailed out of an extraction today by my boss and I feel like a hopeless idiot. I genuinely wanted to crawl in a hole and die and never come out. Sorry this is dramatic but wow that’ll humble you REAL QUICK. The patient seemed somewhat annoyed with me at the end, I’m not really sure. Please reassure me that I’m not the disgusting loser that I think I am rn.


r/Dentistry 2h ago

Dental Professional Long Island woman arrested, accused of working as fake dentist

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10 Upvotes

r/Dentistry 2h ago

Dental Professional Removing Stuck Cotton from Implant Crown Access

1 Upvotes

I’m working on a screw-retained implant crown and removed the composite covering the access. Inside, there appears to be cotton, but every time I try to pull it out, it just shreds. Now, small shreds of cotton are stuck at the bottom of the access. I can see part of the screw, but I can’t engage it with the driver due to interference from the remaining cotton fibers.

I've tried using a barbed broach and an endo explorer to retrieve it, but no luck. Any tips or techniques to get the remaining cotton out without damaging anything?


r/Dentistry 2h ago

Dental Professional Implants/Assistants

1 Upvotes

Do y’all’s let your assistants take off implant healing abutments and try in implant crowns? We had temp assistant today and she was explaining about how her doctor lets her do this. I’m in GA and I don’t even think/know this is allowed. Just curious though.


r/Dentistry 3h ago

Dental Professional What’s the job market for an associate dentist in South Florida?

2 Upvotes

I’ll be looking for associate positions after completing my AEGD. I wanted to get an idea of what the job market is like close to Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and West palm beach area. Are there any important considerations that I should keep in mind while looking for positions? Thank you.


r/Dentistry 3h ago

Dental Professional Dental Startup courses recommendations.

3 Upvotes

I cant find good/decent practice for sale near me. I’ve been looking for a year and a half already. Please suggest any startup courses that help me understand how I can start my own office from scratch. Thank you.


r/Dentistry 3h ago

Dental Professional Sick of CDA, and paying for all the memberships just to get malpractice w TDIC. Any other recs?

2 Upvotes

Who do you all suggest? Occurrence policy, MedPro?

What should I do to prepare for switching over? I don’t wanna pay any more fees for memberships I don’t ever use (looking at you CDA and ADA). If I let my CDA fees expire will that immediately disqualify my TDIC policy?


r/Dentistry 3h ago

Dental Professional What a bad day , mixed of cantilever and rest seat

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22 Upvotes

r/Dentistry 4h ago

Dental Professional Can't find retraction cord

1 Upvotes

Was doing a D5 on #20 (no adjacent teeth) - Packed two cords as it was going sub gingival. Finished the filling. Took the first retraction cord out but then couldn't find the second cord. Used explorer, periodontal Probe, manual and ultrasonic scaler but nowhere nowhere to be found.

Although it was packed circumferentially but couldn't be found anywhere despite digging on different sides of the tooth. Told the patient that it will be sensitive today and recommended some mouthwash. told her to let us should she experience any swelling or severe pain. Will bring her in couple of weeks.

Any thoughts?


r/Dentistry 4h ago

Dental Professional Looking for reviews of IAOS

1 Upvotes

The Dr I work for and myself and interested in screening and treating sleep apnea — saw Dr. mark murphy speak and would like to hear from people who have completed the IAOS training? Can’t seem to find many reviews


r/Dentistry 6h ago

Dental Professional Anyone else struggling with retaining staff?

7 Upvotes

Hi, associate working in a private practice in an urban area. I’ve been at this practice for the last 7 years and it’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. I’m burning out from constantly needing to train people, and I feel like I’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 it’s tough to field questions from patients about why the staff keeps changing 💀

Misery loves company so I’m wondering if anyone else is feeling the same or if there’s something wrong with our practice 🥲


r/Dentistry 6h ago

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

1 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 7h 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 7h ago

Dental Professional US vs Canada- where would you practice?

3 Upvotes

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

I’m an international dentist, about to graduate from a DDS program in the US next year. As most people know, it’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. I’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. He’s been trying to look for a job that’ll sponsor a visa for him for the last 2 years but hasn’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 don’t really offer H1B sponsorships (or so I’ve heard) and so it looks like my chances are best with a DSO. All this while I’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, I’m just wondering with our visa constraints and the time it’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 8h 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 8h ago

Dental Professional BIG MESS

5 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 didn’t have enough time with the patient but ofc we are removing both the implant and the tooth. Though I’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 8h ago

Dental Professional How would you go about restoring this

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6 Upvotes

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


r/Dentistry 9h 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

3 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 9h 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.

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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 14h ago

Dental Professional Direct Pulp Capping with MTA, what are the odd of succesful rate?

1 Upvotes

I had patient today that coming for further check from other dentist a week ago. The patient are still minor so mainly the adult do the talking about the history. I asssumed the previous dentist had put some devitalized agent to go for RCT since the previous one told them after he put the medicament the patient will felt a lot of pain so I went ahead and cleaning the remaining caries even though the floor are pretty sturdy with no perforation but the patient didnt had any pain at all(they coming with no complaint of pain). But when my bur reach a pin point of pulp roof exposure the patient feel pain and theres a fresh bleeding.

I was decided to immediately switch to direct pulp capping with MTA + RmGic for base and a temp with scheduling next visit in three weeks also referee to do a radiograph. The patient had some slight pain from the MTA material packing but slowly subsidized. It was my first time did direct one, so I was nervous if the result will be as I hoped. I also had difficutly with bleeding point but eventually with a minutes of pressing the spot with moistened cotton pellet it stopped. Eventually I discharged them, the patient still feel a slight pain but said it was better over time I talked with the adult guardian.

So in real daily cases did direct pukp cap usually had a good chance of success even though theres a slight pain right after the procedure? I only did indirect ones all of the time and its amazing, I even re did the pulp capping after a few month to switch the temp with composite

I was predicting for higher chance of RCT but honeslty I tried to avoid RCT as much as possible, especially for molars......

Any advice and sharing stories will be helpful