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The Desperate Need For Business Education In Dentistry

The Desperate Need For Business Education In Dentistry
by Andrea Greer

I have experience with all types of people in my business. I may not have seen it all, but I’ve certainly seen a lot. When I talk with other dental professionals, they agree: something is missing in their practices.

I’m talking about the business of dentistry. I’ve had the honor of working with hundreds of practices through my 26-year career, and it’s clear there’s a huge lack of business education in dentistry.

Dental students are smart! They’re embarking on a journey that requires minute attention to detail, artistic talent, and a keen grasp of science. However, with the majority of students intending to enter the workforce as a sole-proprietor either as an associate or partner,(1) they’re often woefully unprepared for the business acumen that these practices require.

During the last 10 years, several doctors have told me their intention was to hire a competent office manager to run the business side because they “just want to do dentistry.” Of course they do! They’ve devoted most of the last decade to learning dentistry and they want to hit the ground running to help patients. Still, I find it shocking when I hear them say this because it shows their disconnect that dental practices are businesses, and as business owners they’re responsible for running them. I also meet doctors who have been in practice for a number of years who still don’t understand the basics of business ownership. Their approach is, “If there’s money in the bank at the end of the month, I’m doing OK!”

Know your business

Dr. Paul Goodman agrees. “Bad business decisions lead to clinical problems. I’ve never seen dentists go out of business because they could not do a good Class II composite, or because they could not take a good removable partial denture impression. It’s often because they never knew they had to do all this ‘stuff,’ such as team management, billing, payroll, and more.”

Dr. Goodman agreed when I said that running a dental practice is vastly different now than it was 20 years ago. He grew up working in his father’s practice and now practices with his brother. His father also acknowledged that the business has changed and is more complicated that in the past.

Read full article on Dentistry iQ.