“Why don’t you run your own full-arch practice?”
I wanted to address this frequent question today in somewhat of a philosophical, AOX opinion piece.
This article is not meant to paint one option in a “better” light than the other. It is simply to show why at this point in my life, I have chosen my current path. You may find this beneficial if you are debating between a DSO style full-arch position and/or opening your own office – or even a combination of the two.
Other practitioners are often perplexed when they view someone with my AOX experience working for a DSO and typically say the following,
And, if everything was equal, they would be correct. However, here is why I have chosen the DSO path and why I am (at least at the moment) very happy in that practice.
Why I Have Chosen a DSO Full-Arch Career
1. I love what I do. But, I ONLY want to do what I love.
I love performing AOX surgery. But, I only want to cut arches. At this point in my career, my preference, is not to perform other types of surgeries. With my current practice, the only surgery I perform is full-arch surgery.
However, if I owned an implant practice, the reality is that at least for the first few years (and likely to some extent indefinitely) I would need to perform all aspects of oral surgery to pay the bills.
I have chosen to find a way to do only what I love.
2. I have had the ability to focus entirely on my surgical skills.
Early on in my AOX career, one of the greatest benefits I experienced was that since I was not bogged down running a practice, all of my free time went to studying, readying, analyzing, and improving my full-arch skills.
I had no distractions during my “work day”. Because of this, I became a much better surgeon, much faster.
3. Freedom from administrative tasks.
As referenced in the point above, I enjoy focusing only on the surgical aspect. I think this preference can and does change throughout one’s career. At this point in my life with a busy, young family – I enjoy the focus only on surgery and the freedom from practice administrative roles.
4. More time with family.
Having run a private practice in my past, I know firsthand that the hours required to be successful can be significant. It’s not unusual to work 10 or 12 hour days and weekends. This is even more true with a full-arch practice as there are so many moving parts and pieces.
Being able to provide AOX surgery, without the practice start-up stress and demands, has given me a significant more amount of time with my family over the past 5 and a half years of my full-arch career.
5. Flexibility to practice where I want, when I want.
The final reason I prefer a DSO full-arch practice is that it provides an unparalleled level of flexibility. If you work for a company that has multiple locations, there is often the possibility of moving any number of places to perform the same surgical role. This is comforting and exciting.
Having a private practice makes “picking up and moving” extremely difficult.
For someone that has lived in multiple cities across the U.S. this is somewhat comforting to me to know that there are “options”.
Throughout my oral surgery career, I have pursued both “money” and later “passion”. I never seemed to find the purpose and fulfillment in chasing money. I have been far happier and experienced a more rewarding career when I have focused on pursuing my “passion”.
Matthew Krieger DMD
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
Steve Jobs