Financial Entrepreneurship Management in Dentistry

Most dentists are not inherently entrepreneurial. They primarily go into dental practice due to its historical stability and minimal downside risks. Dental practice classically has been a pathway to sizable personal income, immune from radical fluctuation in the economy and safe from being displaced by disruptive technologies until the recent times. Seismic shifts in the dental landscape are now occurring. The asset value of solo dental practices is nose-diving due to a flattening of its revenues, increasing costs of doing business, competition for new patients who can pay for dentistry and the increasing restrictions of dental benefits. To make matters worse, student debtalong with a major shift in attitude among younger dentistsis reducing the number of viable buyers for dental practices, further depressing the negotiable value. As individual practices are struggling more financially, managed group practices are emerging as a dominant force in the market due to their ability to reduce the cost of delivery, handle backroom functions more effectively and less expensively, manage operations and staff, and leverage negotiations with vendors, suppliers and labs. By reducing the cost of delivery and improving access, managed group practices have gained appeal in the market and among other industry stakeholders such as insurers, benefit managers and suppliers. They have a grand purpose of building a great business, not simply leading a stable practice that allows them to make a good living. Dentist entrepreneurs are driven by their passion for creating a significant dental enterprise that reflects their values, vision and purpose.