The rising cost of dental education and the dwindling opportunities for mentorship post-graduation are two of the biggest challenges that dentists entering the workforce for the first time are facing.
Jason Mann, DMD, is a co-founder and the chief dental officer of Atlanta-based Providence Dental Partners. He recently joined the Becker’s Dental + DSO Review podcast to discuss the issues new dentists and dental school graduates are coming up against in the current industry landscape.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are some of the biggest issues that you are following in the dental industry this year?
Dr. Jason Mann: Some of the things that I tend to see, especially with some of the new dentists getting out, is really around education cost and opportunities, or lack thereof, for mentorship. As we start seeing those individuals get out, that’s usually the first thing I hear is their desire for mentorship and getting into opportunities where they were once promised and not delivered there and now engaging with other opportunities to try to grasp for straws for that mentorship opportunity. But also, as they tend to grow in their educational pathway of career it’s important to make sure that they maintain their foundational knowledge. I hear a lot of push in the surgical approach around implants, but as we start looking at it, really understanding occlusion and making sure that that’s always reinforced throughout that pathway. That all piggy backs to that mentorship and guidance for a lot of these new grads.
Q: Do you see that affecting recruitment for DSOs? Is that pushing more dentists toward DSOs right now?
JM: It’s definitely, definitely an area that attracts a lot of new grads, just because of different things that larger organizations can do to try to offset some of that cost. But as this cost increases over the years, there’s only so much that DSOs can do and can’t do. So, I can’t say it doesn’t play a role, but I definitely think there are opportunities to be had, just to make sure that we deliver on that expectation of offsetting that cost, but also providing that mentorship throughout that process.
