r/Dentists

I recently got a job as a receptionist at a private dental clinic in New Jersey. The doctor started me out at $18 an hour. Since I’ve been there, she has tasked me with doing sterilization, cleaning rooms, front desk duties, marketing, personal assistant work such as calling her child’s nanny to fix an issue with her internet and a plethora of other things.

The other front desk receptionist she just hired is making $24 an hour. She does have previous experience with dental but we do all the same tasks.

I feel very overwhelmed at work and I’ve never felt this way with a job. We are over staffed according to the doctor.

On top of everything, she is constantly nitpicking the staff and all the micromanaging is too much. Every 15 minutes she will come up and stand behind us while we’re doing our front desk tasks. She will just stare at us and then proceed to ask what we’re doing/working on. She then interrupts what we’re doing to have us work on something entirely different.

Is this the standard for a Dental front desk receptionist? I know we’re all cross trained but doing all of that while only making $18hr is dehumanizing.

Private Equity and DSOs in US dentistry

This is interesting, not sure what to think of this yet.

https://whoownsmydentists.com/

I do know for a fact that the trend is going up on more dental practice joining.

I had an exploratory consultation with an orthodontics clinic where facial photos, a CEPH and a dental intraoral scan (not CBCT) were taken of my teeth. I paid $100 for this. I was not satisfied with the treatment plan offered as it did not address my needs and so proceeded to explore out if state options. One dental clinic requires me to share the intraoral digital scan taken so I reached out to the previous orthodontist clinic to get a copy for myself. They were reluctant to share this and finally responds with email asking my for an "admin fee" of $270 before they would share my scan. Is this legal? How can they charge so high for a patient release information? We have had a back-and-forth email exchange which does not seem to be going anywhere. How do I sort this out?

Note that during their consultation I never even got to see the orthodontist. The treatment coordinator took my pics and sent to the orthodontist who gave feedback and they shared the feedback with me. Even when I had questions and required to speak to him for a review this was not granted.

Before I get bashed or people make me feel stupid, I have never had any dental problems until this year. I got two root canals on my teeth and I spent almost 3k for just the root canals. During my consultation with the dentist he told me I needed a root canal, and that was it. He never told me I would need a crown, neither did the endodontist, they told me it would be a filling afterwards. After going for x-rays they then inform me I need a crown, and pushed me for 5 minutes straight of doing porcelain not knowing how much more expensive it is. I paid 1.5k for the crown and during the consultation I wasn’t informed there was a cheaper option of getting a silver crown. I am getting another crown as well, and my insurance is maxed so it is going to cost 2k. I am so upset and despite me not doing research I should’ve been told in the beginning throughly and I would’ve just gotten it pulled. In the end I am paying over 6k in total for two teeth.

Hi r/dentists,

Backstory: I am no stranger to dental work and have had to see many dentists over the years. As I started to make more money I began to see better doctors. I have very sensitive teeth that I get from my mother and I expect to need extra vigilance my whole life.

Context:
At some point in 2019 I was sent to an Endo because I had “weird roots” and the General was “afraid to break a tip in my roots”.

I get to the Endo. I remember this vividly because the office was teensy tiny. She had no assistants. She took more xrays in between every single thing she did. Like drill, xray, drill, xray, scrape and drill, xray. She even stopped leaving the room for it. She finished, I left feeling pretty good. Then I flew to california and didn’t come back for a while.

Fast forward to 2026.

I was having some pain around #3. I have an Endo on the UES that I trust. The xray showed a potential infection. They thought maybe it was cracked or maybe I was grinding my teeth again. They also mentioned it could just be bone loss that they might be able to get to grow back.

We finally did the Root canal today. She tells me 3 of my roots are good. Long, but good. 21mm, 18, and 17. The final root she says it almost seems like someone left a piece of instrument in there. I tell her about this specialist from 2019.

So here’s my question. This dentist said she was able to clean around the piece but that at this point it is not wise to remove it.

Can I get a second opinion?

Edit: I cant add my xrays but trust me I have 4 roots for multiple of my molars and my specialists keep referring to it as Anatomical Anomalies.

How long is a good timeframe to wait for post filling sensitivity and ache after cold/warm before going back to check?

I’m wondering if it’s also my filling bite height being a little high might be just enough to make the tooth hurt after chewing for a bit.

How many weeks should I wait? This was a rather large filling in a pre molar that had fallen out and was re-done promptly 15 days ago.

I don’t have any random throbbing or trouble sleeping. It’s only when consuming cold liquids or cold desert and hot soups/food.

Thought & input? Thanks fam!

I went into the dentist today to see if I could get an appointment and they said sorry they only have private appointments available later today and that I could try calling at 9am tomorrow but it would be very unlikely I would get an NHS slot and that I would likely have to wait 4 weeks for an NHS appointment. They tried to put pressure on me to pay £95 for a private appointment this afternoon.

I'm struggling to find a definitive list of my rights as an NHS patient online results are telling me if the dentistry is clinically necessary then they are required to offer me an NHS appointment if they are also offering private ones. However, other results say only if they have NHS capacity.

I'm going in just before 9am tomorrow and could use some advice incase they fob me off again. Thanks

Hi there!

I am in the process of getting a crown on 25, and wanted to clarify something my dentist said.

He said he will be making a temporary crown after preparing my tooth and taking a scan for the lab. Which is all normal to me.

But then he said a temporary crown from the lab will be sent first, to make sure I like it and it fits perfectly, and if I approve, then they will make the permanent one.

Also he made it sound like of the inclusion wasn't perfect ot would be to my cost for them to remake it.

Is it weird for a lab to make a temporary one first for this reason?

Hey everybody,

on May 6th (2 weeks ago) I had my caries removed and got new composite fillings. Since then, every single night it hurts, can't figure out if it's 36 or 37, but it hurts enough to wake me up or not let me sleep, usually around the same hour too. During the day no pain at all. I went to my dentist, he said when cavities are deep it can take longer and that his last option would be root canal, I got x ray today and he says fillings look good and so do the nerves and that he highly doubts that wisdom tooth is causing the issue (pushing 37). I also asked my ortho, she said it shouldn't hurt at all, let alone for 2 weeks at night. Can you give me your point of view? Wait it out or? I'm slowly getting annoyed and tired of dealing with it every night. Thanks

https://preview.redd.it/rcwdm6rjhb2h1.jpg?width=684&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14cc1c141ca430cfa1b655b9288fe97d095dae15

Hi everyone, 27(F) I have multiple small cavities. I’m honestly confused why i get so much cavities because I brush twice daily, try to keep my teeth clean, and still keep getting cavities.

I also have a horizontally positioned wisdom tooth, and I’m wondering if that will also get cavities by trapping food and bacteria around the back teeth.

I wanted to ask:
-Which fluoride mouthwash do dentists recommend?
-Is an electric rotating/oscillating toothbrush better than a manual brush for cavity prevention?
- I have GIC, composite, and amalgam fillings — can a rotating electric toothbrush damage or loosen them?
-Can a horizontal wisdom tooth increase the chance of cavities in nearby teeth?

Any advice or personal experiences would really help because I’m getting frustrated and worried about future cavities.

About 10 years ago, I had an accident that damaged my two front teeth. Since then, I had cosmetic bonding/patch work on those teeth, and cosmetically they looked quite nice for many years.

About a month ago, I started seeing a new dentist. During the consultation, she told me there was discoloration and possible decay developing underneath the old cosmetic work, and she recommended placing crowns on the two front teeth. I agreed to that treatment plan after discussing it with the office manager, understanding the estimated costs, and confirming what would be covered by insurance.

Importantly, the original treatment plan only involved the two front crowns that had already been discussed ahead of time.

Then, on the day of the procedure, while I was already lying down in the dental chair (before numbing started), the dentist brought up a new recommendation for the first time. She pointed out that an older crown on the tooth adjacent to my front teeth was lighter in color and might not match the new crowns aesthetically. She asked whether I also wanted to replace that crown.

This third crown had never been discussed during the consultation, treatment planning, or financial discussion beforehand. It also was not covered under the original insurance/treatment plan and would become an additional out-of-pocket expense.

I was surprised and immediately asked:

• Why is this being brought up right now?
• How much time do I have to decide?
• How much would it cost?
• Is this medically necessary or mainly cosmetic?

She explained that the old crown itself was functioning well, but aesthetically it might not match the new crowns. She also said that if I chose to replace it later, there was a chance the shades still might not match perfectly in the future.

Even though I had not yet been numbed, I still felt psychologically pressured because I was already in the chair, mentally prepared for the procedure, and surrounded by the whole treatment setup. It felt difficult to pause and fully process an unexpected additional irreversible treatment and additional financial cost at that moment.

Eventually, I agreed and told her to proceed.

Part of my decision was emotional and social. I think I have internalized how much teeth aesthetics are emphasized in American culture, especially in professional settings and even in parent social circles. I worried that if the colors did not match, I might later regret not fixing everything at once.

Now I still have temporary crowns and am waiting for the permanent crowns to be made in two weeks. After reflecting on the experience, I feel uncomfortable and vulnerable about how the decision was introduced and consented to.

I am trying to understand:

• Is this a normal way for dentists to introduce additional cosmetic treatment?
• Is it reasonable to feel uncomfortable making this decision while already in the chair?
• Should major cosmetic and financial additions normally be discussed during consultation instead?
• What options do patients typically still have before permanent crowns are cemented?
• Would you seek a second opinion at this stage?

I am not trying to accuse the dentist of wrongdoing. I genuinely cannot tell whether this was standard practice or whether my discomfort is signaling something important about communication, timing, financial pressure, and informed consent.

So I have bruxism and TMJ to start. I had a root canal on tooth #31 and since then I’ve had the temp crown placed twice.

I think it was too high the first time they placed it and it came off.

When they replaced it the dentist drilled out a small crack line he saw. He said those teeth always crack.

Since then on Monday I’ve had some intermittent pressure feeling in my jaw under my ear. It doesn’t really hurt, it’s just annoying.

The infection was pressing on the jaw nerve and was causing some pins and needles feelings on my chin originally, that still come and go with the pressure feeling.

It doesn’t really feel swollen on the outside, but sometimes my ear hurts too.

Is this a serious emergency, or will the irritation go down now that the crown is seated lower?

Edit to add: before the root canal they gave me Amoxicillin. RCT was on 4/30.

My daughter needs 4 wisdom teeth extracted. Just got quoted 3500euro in Limerick. Is it cheaper to go to the north? We don't have insurance and the HSE waiting list is apparently 3-5 yes. They need to come out asap as they are moving her other teeth and she already had 2 yrs of braces.

I am a 22yo facing a major dental dilemma and need some perspective from any orthodontists, dentists, or patients who have gone through complex bite corrections here. I also desperately need recommendations for a good clinic in the Whitefield area.
My Case:
• Severe deep bite (upper teeth completely overlap the lower ones).
• Two missing permanent lower incisors (congenitally missing since childhood).
• One retained milk canine tooth.
I’ve consulted a few doctors and have been handed two completely opposite, aggressive treatment plans that have left me totally stuck:
Approach 1 (The Extraction/Close-the-Gap Plan):
• Suggested by a highly qualified doctor (All India Rank 3, MDS from a top govt institute).
• The Plan: Extract the milk canine + extract one upper premolar from each side. Use the space to pull the top teeth back and upward to fix the deep bite. No implants on the lower jaw; just shrink everything to close the gaps.
• My Concern: I’m terrified this will shrink my arches too much, flatten my upper lip, and make my lower jaw look even smaller or receded.
Approach 2 (The Rebuild/Implant Plan):
• Suggested independently by two different senior dentists (10–15+ years experience).
• The Plan: Use Damon braces + TADs (temporary mini-screws in the bone) to push the front teeth up into the bone to open the bite. Instead of closing gaps, they want to move teeth to their natural positions and open up space where my lower incisors are missing.
• The Goal: Put two dental implants in the lower jaw at the end of braces to restore natural anatomy.
• My Concern: This sounds structurally safer for my face shape, but it is a massive multi-year financial investment.
What I need help with:

1. Which approach is clinically and aesthetically safer long-term? Has anyone chosen space closure over implants (or vice versa) for a deep bite, and how did it affect your facial profile?
2. Clinic Recommendations in Whitefield: I want to go with the approach that is best for my face, but I am on a budget. Can anyone recommend a highly experienced Orthodontist (10+ years exp) in or near Whitefield who does advanced work (Damon, TADs) but is known for honest, transparent pricing and offers flexible EMI/monthly installment options? I want to avoid highly commercialized corporate chains that overcharge.
   Appreciate any insights or doctor leads you can share. Thank you so much!

We get a lot of people who come in for dental concerns. Everyone thinks they have an abscess/infection, some have tried to pull their own teeth, decay, etc. Often times we just send an ABx and tell them to follow up with their dentist. We’ve had a rise lately though in people who can’t afford their groceries and rent, let alone medications and dental health. What things would you like to see doctors do differently?

I'm the marketing manager at a DSO with 12 locations across the US. When I joined two and a half years ago we were at 9 locations, no real marketing infrastructure, and every office was basically doing its own thing. The doctors were focused on clinical work (as they should be) and marketing was an afterthought that usually meant "post something on Facebook when you remember."

I want to share what actually did it for us because, to put it simply, Im a knowledge marxist (I believe knowledge is meant to be shared not hoarded) so here we go. This may be long but I figure the detail is the useful part.

Staffing

My first instinct was to hire a big team as I thought I needed a person for every aspect of marketing. My COO talked me out of it and he was right. At our size the move was to keep the internal team tiny and outsource the specialized stuff. I hired one marketing coordinator whos basically my ops person, she handles the day to day across all locations, makes sure Google Business Profiles are updated, coordinates with the front desks on promotions, manages our review software. Thats it internally, everything else is outsourced to specialists which I'll get into below.

Patient experience

This sounds like a marketing section shouldn't include patient experience but it absolutely should because no amount of ad spend fixes a bad experience. We did two things that had outsized impact. First we implemented a same-day follow up text after every appointment, not a review request yet just a "thanks for coming in, here's your post-visit summary." Patients started responding to those texts with questions they were too shy to ask in the chair which was...unexpected to ay the least. Second we standardized the front desk script across all locations. Sounds small but when youre running 12 offices and every receptionist greets people differently and handles insurance questions differently the patient experience is wildly inconsistent.

Reviews

Reviews are everything in dental. A potential patient is choosing between you and four other offices on Google Maps and the one with more recent positive reviews wins almost every time. We set up automated review requests through Birdeye that go out 2 hours after each appointment. Before this we were averaging maybe 4-5 new Google reviews per location per month and after we went up to about 15-20, but the thing that mattered more than volume was responding to every single review within 48 hours, positive or negative. I write templates and my coordinator customizes them for each location. Our average Google rating went from 4.2 to 4.7 across all locations in about a year.

Paid ads

This was the scariest part for me because the budget is real money and I had zero experience with Google Ads when I started. We were spending about $3k/month per location on Google and getting a mix of everything, people looking for emergency dental, people looking for cosmetic stuff, people looking for a cleaning covered by their insurance. No segmentation, no conversion tracking, no call recording, and honestly no nothing because I had minimal expertise in this field. Grounds for Promotion took over our Google and Facebook campaigns about 18 months ago and the first thing they did was set up proper conversion tracking and call recording across all 12 locations which immediately showed us that about 40% of our ad spend was going to clicks that never turned into booked appointments. Once they restructured the campaigns by service line and location our cost per new patient dropped and the volume went up. We grew about 20% in patient volume across all locations in the first year and our cost per acquisition went down at the same time which I didn't think was possible.

The other thing that helped with paid was having the review numbers already strong before scaling ad spend. When someone clicks your ad and then sees 200+ reviews at 4.6 stars the conversion rate is just higher. Those two things compound on each other.

What I'd tell someone in my position two years ago

Don't try to do everything at once. We did reviews first, then patient experience standardization, then paid ads. Each one built on the previous one. Another thing: keep your internal team small, the specialists are better at their thing than a generalist hire will ever be. Your job is to coordinate, not to execute every channel yourself.

Happy to answer questions, I know multi-location dental marketing is a niche and there aren't a lot of people talking about it openly.