Things I Wish I Knew as a New Grad Dentist
Dental school teaches you dentistry.
It doesn’t necessarily teach you how to build a career in it.
Your first few years in practice come with decisions you probably weren’t prepared for, from choosing the right job and reading an associate agreement to presenting treatment, setting fees, managing difficult cases and figuring out what to do when the job starts taking more out of you than you expected.
In this RipeGlobal Webinar, Dr. Will Shield shares the things he wishes someone had told him when he graduated.
This session goes beyond clinical technique and into the decisions that shape your first years in practice.
- How to approach cases with the end goal in mind
- Why dental photography should start from day one
- What to look for before signing your first associate agreement
- The financial realities of working in private practice
- How to present treatment options with more confidence
- Why giving patients more options isn’t always better
- How to handle a patient saying no
- Why informed consent should be treated as more than a form
- How to recognize burnout before you’re already deep in it
- What deliberate, structured growth after graduation can actually look like
