The Financial Stress of Owning a Dental Practice
Owning a dental practice ensures that you will deal with financial stress at one point or another.
by Dr. Lee Ann Brady
In prior blogs, I wrote about two stressors I experience often in my practice and hear other dentists mention all of the time. When team members don’t work well together and create a negative work environment, or when a restoration fails and a patient is unhappy, you’re bound to experience a significant amount of stress.
Rounding off these two categories is the real clincher: financial stress.
Financial Stress: Managing Expectations and Uncertainties
If you’re not worrying about the amount of patients you can see, you might be worrying about the cost of materials. Each time you manage to get one aspect of finances under control, another problem finds a way to surface and destroy your peace of mind.
It’s a roll with the punches type of scenario. Expect that finances will change month to month. Sometimes you’ll have too many unfulfilled hours and other times you’re going to wish you had more hands so that you could seat more cases.
The common perception is that dentistry is a very stable career with a solid outlook and consistent pay. The reality is close, but more complex. We may make a comfortable income, but we also deal with a highly-variable salary. Whatever’s left over after the costs of clinical supplies, employee salaries, and other items that support the practice are dealt with goes to the dentist.
On those months where nothing seems to be going right, take heart in the big picture and continue to provide the quality care you believe in.
