Hello, my friends, it's been a few weeks. This issue is going only to dentists and those who work with us and know our profession. READER ALERT: If you're sensitive and get easily triggered by info you don't wanna hear or would rather ignore, stop reading and proceed to the nearest safe space.
Okay, we got that disclaimer out of the way. So, what's Wal-Dent? It's the latest step in the dwindling spiral of the profession we love but are gradually losing. Walmart has opened a full service dental center inside a GA store, the article is here, read it and barf!
https://groupdentistrynow.com/walmart-introduces-first-ever-health-center-which-includes-a-comprehensive-dental-clinic/
If you're wondering why I have a problem with this, I'll tell you. My practice may lose some pts., most of whom return once they've lived the McDentist experience. It's been very few over the years, thank God. Most of the anecdotes I get are from new pts. who went to a corporate volume mill and didn't stay past the initial visit. What they usually tell me is "some kid right outta school told me I had 8 cavities" or "they told me I had a gum infection that needs to be treated by 4 quads of SRP and tons of Arestin". Then they talked to friends, relatives or coworkers, who referred them to me.
Another version is they have fillings that are defective and they all need to be changed or those teeth need crowns. They tell me they didn't feel comfortable or trust the news they were getting. Just because I've mostly been able to survive the onslaught, that doesn't mean many younger grads with far less time practicing, pt. loyalty established or professional reputation will escape undamaged.
Dental offices in a dept. store are nothing new, we had K-Mart Dental for many years in Miami and it eventually fizzled. There's a big difference between the dentists who spent 2-3 years there and moved on to a better practice model, than the situation facing today's new dentists. We weren't saddled with $300,000-400,000 loan debt. We also didn't have a pt. population bombarded by 24/7 ads for dentist-in-box, DIY ortho, etc. Society wasn't as crass, materialistic, instant gratification oriented or distracted as it is today, nor was there mass marketing like today's.
How do the McDentist peddlers get around FL law that mandates only a dentist can own a dental practice? Easy, they have better and more numbers of lawyers than we do! My guess is they buy the license of some accomplice dentist and reward them for the sale in $ amounts they couldn't otherwise procure. It's also the price we pay for having too damn many lawyers in legislature. There's a Spanish adage that translates to "they who make the rules know the tricks". The tricksters are destroying our profession, they're also empowered by new dentists who literally can't find a job, let alone make plans to open their own practice or join a vibrant, thriving one. I've been ripped for saying that no dental student spent 8 years in post secondary education and incurred half a $million debt to be the employee of a dental mill or dept. store. Sorry, but I still believe that for the most part. That said, if that really is what you want for yourself, great, best of luck to you. I also think they're too scared to venture out and it's a hostile, highly competitive ocean they're swimming in.
So, what can we do about this? Legislatively, we need to get lawmakers to pass laws that make it less easy to prostitute our profession, both by Big Biz and accomplice dentists who sell out and don't care about the damage they pass on to the rest of us. Case in point, there are no McLawyer joints, are there? We don't see DIY legal kits (aside from a will & testament kit) for sale to the public, do we? That's because lawyers band together and spend big $ to protect their interests far more than we do. Yes, it's self serving, the same thing the hypocrite legislators we visit on Dentist Day tell us is a no no! We can cut out some of the PC nonsense dental schools are teaching and teach the future dentists better and more advanced clinical skills. Too many schools graduate dentists with precious few procedures done on their pts. That needs to start by dental programs hiring US grads that are fully licensed, not foreign trained dentists who can't even pass the NB 1&2, let alone the state boards, so they're stuck in these schools and work cheap. The ADA has way too little influence and seats at the CODA table and dental students are paying dearly. Schools can teach networking and encourage students to already begin looking at the near future and maybe team up with classmates to establish a viable practice. They can hire the same consultants their grads will have to pay through the nose for help a few years later. Dental suppliers can offer incentives to those who form such new practices. I treat bankers who tell me that old saw about banks not wanting to make those loans to the new dentists for fear of already present debt and poor loan risk is no longer true. They tell me the banks will lend the $, it's the new dentists who don't want to take it. Many of them are content to be employees, work a lighter work week and take more trips or other fun things. That's great but it takes money to do all those things. I also wonder how many young dentists have an unrealistic concept of the be-do-have dynamic? If you've only BEEN a dentist for a short time, that means you haven't had much time to DO dentistry and HAVE the things that income buys you. When I left USC I drove an old Corolla Liftback with high miles and wore flannel shirts from Jefferson Ward, at least they were still made in USA back then. When I see young dentists leasing a Bimmer, I have to wonder where they're getting their financial advice?
Getting back to the topic at hand, this Wal-Dent model is the perfect place to hire a bunch of DHATs and force the dentists to work for even lower wages. They can also have in-house labs and cut out many mom & pop labs. This also reminds me just how damaging it is for the FDA when we have these issues that threaten us but are sidetracked with the kind of pettiness and vindictiveness that took place at the June HOD. We need to be fighting these aggressors, not each other! Make no mistake about it, Big Biz has one goal- to make all of us their employees. They're aided and abetted by the likes of Pew, Kellogg's and former dental school deans who despise their grassroots colleagues and shill for the forces of destruction. If you doubt me, just take a look at what Big Biz has done to pharmacists and optometrists. There, but for the grace of God (and our willingness to fight) go we. In closing, I remember the few times I've visited a Target store and saw a McDonald's in there. That's fine for shoppers who want a burger & fries before or after shopping, but dentistry should not be reduced to fast food convenience to the tune of a billion drilled and filled.
