ADAPT Blog

Whether you can’t keep up with demand or you’re beginning to slow down and transition to retirement, the right associate can help you grow your practice and ensure patients are well cared for now and into the future. 

However, bringing in an associate can be intimidating. You’ve built your practice’s reputation on a certain style of care. You may have known some of your patients (and their families) for decades. You want to know that Mrs. Smith is going to get the same quality and level of care she’s come to expect, regardless of which dentist she sees in your office.

So what makes an associate “right” for your practice and patients? How do you decide the appropriate level of training needed to be successful in your practice?

Every week in my role at ADA Practice Transitions (ADAPT), I speak with owners looking to hire an associate or sell their practice. Many of these owners insist that any associate coming to work for them have a minimum of two to five years of experience. Too often, this means that they refuse to even consider a candidate who would otherwise be a perfect fit.

Of course you love doing dentistry. And everyone is even happier when the pay is appropriate for the work that is done!

Yet I hear from far too many associates who don’t really understand how their pay is calculated — and owners who haven’t fully thought through how much their associates’ pay can vary.

It’s pretty easy to understand a straight salary, which is common for those working in public health, academia, or government agencies. 

It gets more complicated for those paid in whole or in part based on some percentage of their overall productivity in the office — which is the more common scenario for dentists employed in private practice or DSOs. In these cases, pay is typically based on total production, billable production, or total collections.

Do you feel burned out and controlled by PPOs? Stuck in a corporate model where you feel un-fulfilled with the quality of dentistry you are doing? And do you feel underappreciated (and underpaid)?

Whether you are recently out of residency or about to sell your practice after many years of ownership, this associate position may be the change you are looking for.

Whether you are looking for your first dental job or ready to move on, associateships are on your mind. But what type of practice is just right for you? What should you look for? What should you watch out for?

ADA Practice Transitions will find you the right practice or dentist to help you take the next step in your dental career.

Dental practices can grow slowly over several years – then suddenly reach a tipping point where an owner feels they need to hire an associate ASAP. But it is important to prepare the practice before hiring anyone.