The Personal BS O'Meter for the Independent Dentist. As an independent dentist there are many ways that the minority in the profession who attain advanced clinical skills, credentials, or specialty training try to be successful at providing a higher level of services to patients who have serious dental problems. It takes a lot to attain the clinical skills and it takes even more non-clinically to pull it all together as an independent dentist. Here are a few things to think about or to ask yourself that may convince you to consider to change or motivate [...]

Dental Practice Advice-it's lonely at the top of even the smallest mountain. In my dental practice advice series lets discuss how it can be lonely at the top. It's lonely being in charge. It's not uncommon for dentists and other small business owners as independent dentists to feel lonely in their business venture. I used to feel just like that until I cleared up my thinking on this and took my own dental practice advice which I now share with other dentist members of my program. One reason a fair number of dentists attend seminars [...]

For the Independent Dentist-Off Means OFF. The Independent Dentist as professionals and entrepreneurs are prone to think in terms of putting in lots of hours and never taking time off for a variety of reasons. Did you know that efficiency rates drop dramatically after too many hours or days in a row occur in your work (especially in thinking jobs of which yours is!)? One simply can't keep up mentally or physically.  Bad decision making and errors proliferate.  There is an entire body of science behind this. I am a strong believer in devoting enough [...]

For the Independent Dentist-Confidence is far more than clinical skills. Often for the independent dentist, the issue of confidence comes up. Without confidence, nothing works.  It is one of the most critical emotions to nurture and project yet so undervalued in the profession much to the average dentists detriment. Confidence comes from a lot of things....all a bit different for each of us.  I keep a list of 10 things that make me feel confident and protect those things. To name a few things that most people have in common that creates a more confident [...]

Dentistry is harder today. Fact or Myth for the Independent Dentist ? Is dentistry really harder today for the Independent Dentist ? Survey this question or hang out in the dental forums listening to the chatter and the answer you'll get from most in the profession is "fact." But is it? You'll hear that "Times are tough" and that the golden age in dentistry is over. Times are indeed different but one would be hard pressed to make a case that things were far better in an earlier time. If there is anything to express [...]