As debt looms over fresh dental school graduates' heads, dreams of opening their own practice seem beyond reach.
Matt Carlston, DMD, a practicing dentist and vice president of marketing and partner recruitment for Lakewood, Colo.-based Comfort Dental Group, spoke with Becker's about how dental school debt is stunting the growth of private practices.
Comfort Dental Group is a network of ownership-based practices. It allows doctors to continue their private practices with additional support.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: How does student debt affect the dental industry?
Dr: Matt Carlston: I think that these young dentists don't fully understand how much debt they have and how hard it is to get that paid off. [Comfort Dental] tries to lay out the numbers and help them try and understand that. I haven't met a dental student who goes out and opens their own practice from scratch. It just doesn't happen anymore. They have so much debt and they can't get the financing for these practices that they want to open.
Q: Is there a way to make the concept of new dentists opening their practices a reality again?
MC: I don't know how it would be possible with the amount of debt they have. I just don't know. I think if you're willing to go to an area where it's underserved that it's possible, but if you want to live in a metropolitan area, I just don't know how it can happen. [Comfort Dental] has some practices that are located in some mountain communities in Colorado, very successful practices. It's really hard to get dentists to commit to living outside of a big city. So if dentists are willing to commit to going to a smaller community that is underserved, then I think that could be possible, but at this point with the amount of debt they have, I don't see it happening.
Q: What's the best way for the newer generation of dentists to prepare for entering the current dental market?
MC: I think it's very important that they don't get themselves caught up in a situation that is going to delay their career for three or four years, especially with the amount of student loan debt that they'll have. I talk to dentists almost daily who are in a position where they've been out of dental school for three or four years and it's not what they were promised with some of these larger DSOs and they're looking for a way out or an alternative career path.