Dentists are often faced with several challenges regarding patient care, business management and staffing.
Three dentists recently spoke with Becker's about the things that stress them out.
Editor's note: These responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What keeps you up at night as a dentist?
Huzefa Kapadia, DDS. Kapadia Dental Care (Waterford, Mich.) and Detroit Sterling Dental: When I first started dentistry, I would stress out about every procedure that was a surgical extraction or a root canal. Sometimes even crown preps. Did I over-prep it? I couldn't remove all of the root tips. Now, what's going to happen? With a root canal, is the patient still having postoperative swelling and pain, and why? I would lose sleep over all of these things and more. Does the staff like me, or do they talk about me behind my back? Do they think I'm a good dentist or terrible? Now, after 21 years working as a dentist, what keeps me up at night? Usually, coffee or Diet Coke at 8 p.m. That's a big no-no.
Michael Perpich, DDS. Northland Smiles (Deerwood and Little Falls, Minn.): As a dentist, what keeps me up at night is the shortage of dental assistants and dental hygienists. There seems to be no plan to put new programs in place to train these new members of the dental team. As the shortage increases, it drives the wages up and makes the dental office less profitable and [lowers] our ability to see patients safely. In addition, low enrollment and multiple times taking and passing the test are not helping our industry.
Dave Sullivan, DMD. Assistant Professor of Restorative Dentistry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and Director of the general practice residency for the Department of Veterans Affairs: What keeps me up at night as a dentist? What a loaded question. I know it has been said before, but as dentists, we wear so many hats. Dentistry is ever-evolving. Trying to stay up on the latest advancements to deliver the best care possible for our patients can be ever-time-consuming. [Dentists also deal with] operational management of a practice with all that entails: business, finance, human resources, marketing, insurance, etc.
If I had to pick one thing that is most concerning for our profession, it is the educational gap of our recent dental school graduates [between] what is needed [and] what is being offered. I wish I had a simple solution to this problem. Fortunately, far smarter individuals than I have been tasked with this challenge. The advancements in dentistry have required so much more information to be delivered in the finite time offered by dental schools that something must be given. Whether it be clinical experiences, patient management skills, business acumen, ethical and legal education, etc. Some things fall short of what is needed. Our next generation of professionals has a tremendous challenge ahead of them. It is my sincerest hope we develop systems to aid in their success. After all, my night guard and sleep depend on it.