Dentaltown New Grad Edition 2016 - 31

Waving goodbye After interviewing many senior dental students and recent graduates, and reading numerous blogs targeting this group, I think I have a pretty good sense of how many of you are envisioning your dream general practice (assuming you don't specialize). I suspect your vision might include phrases like spa practice, boutique practice, concierge practice, cosmetic practice, adult rehabilitation practice or implant practice. When I look in telephone books-you remember those dinosaurs-or search online, I see these and similar phrases ... along with long lists of dentists who all seem to be trying to attract the same perfect patient: the middle-age-to-older adult with the need, desire and money to have that perfectly straight, white, no-missing-teeth smile. But let's face it-that market is flooded with thousands of general dentists, the oldest and most experienced of whom got into this arena decades ago by targeting baby boomers who wanted to look younger at all costs. That provided a nice living for the many dentists who got on their boards and rode that wave. Now, however, that perfect hidden surfing cove is so full of wannabes that you can barely even find a place on the beach to watch, let alone get out there and surf. Despite this reality, too many dental students and recent graduates still focus on this paradigm-one that experienced its shift decades ago. What continues to foster this retro desire by new dentists? Well, a lot of it can be attributed to dental schools, where the top-dog subjects are adult rehabilitation and implantology. As a result, most new dentists want to be the next Gordon Christensen. But there's only one Gordon Christensen, and if he were a dental student or recent graduate today, I'm pretty sure he'd be focused on catching the next wave rather than watching one that's already passed by. The dawn patrol Those of you who are smart-and I don't mean book-smart, I mean entrepreneurially smart-will try to catch the next paradigm shift before it becomes so popular that the chance for success is all but gone. You don't want to miss the train because you're still buying a ticket when it leaves the station. This happens more than anyone cares to admit. What's the next shift in dental care, and when will it start? Good questions. Short answer: pediatric patients. Let's look at some sound demographic facts as part of the long answer. * By 2020, the biggest segment of our population will be pediatrics (patients ages 0-18). In the U.S. approximately 4 million people are born every year, and 80 percent of those are born to millennial parents. * Caries in the pediatric population has become a silent epidemic, and it isn't expected to go away anytime soon. Preventive dentistry has failed to motivate most parents, and sugar consumption is at an all-time high. * Dental workforce statistics show that the U.S. produces only about 350 new pediatric dentists each year. This is severely insufficient to meet the demand. Most pediatric dentists are solo practitioners in larger cities, leaving rural areas particularly vulnerable. * Dental benefits for children are gaining popularity in both private and government programs. Children who are dentally uninsured are becoming more of an anomaly. Market experts will tell you that the shift into the pediatric specialty by the current dental workforce has already started. Let's look at two important workforce facts: * Pediatric dentistry, as judged by the number of applicants applying for postdoctoral education programs, is now the most popular ADA specialty, beating out oral surgery and orthodontics for the top spot. * Corporate dental groups and dental service organizations are opening children's dental clinics across the U.S. and hiring pediatric dentists (if they can find them) or general dentists at a very high rate. Do they know something you don't? Now do I have your attention? Do you see opportunity? If so, what should you do if you want to capitalize on the shift to pediatric dentistry? (Let's assume that you either don't want or can't get acceptance into a two-year postdoctoral pediatric specialty training program.) As you know, most dental-school curriculums devote little time to pediatric dentistry. They may dentaltown.com \\ NEW GRAD 2016 31 http://www.dentaltown.com

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