Nobody talks about this part of being a dentist


I took out $500,000 in loans to become a dentist.

I want you to sit with that number for a second.

Half a million dollars. Before I had seen a single patient. Before I had earned a single dollar. Before I even knew what kind of dentist I wanted to be.

And nobody warned me about what that weight actually feels like. Nobody told me what it is like to show up every morning knowing that number is sitting there. Nobody talked about the days when you feel completely alone in your operatory, grinding through a schedule that never seems to end, wondering if this is really what you signed up for.

We talk about dentistry like it is a stable, respected, lucrative profession. And in many ways it is. But we do not talk about what it costs emotionally. The isolation. The performance pressure. The gap between what you imagined this career would look like and what it actually looks like on a Tuesday afternoon.

I burned out. Hard.

And the thing that pulled me out of it was not a vacation or a mindset book. It was finding a part of dentistry that actually excited me again. Something I was genuinely good at that patients responded to. Something that made me feel like a practitioner again instead of a production number.

For me that was clear aligners.

I am not saying that is the answer for everyone. But I know that if you are reading this and something in you recognizes that feeling, you are not alone. And staying stuck in it is not the only option.

-Dr. Avi


Video of the Week

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In this video I talk about the dreaded BURNOUT that comes with being a dentist. I give my perspective on why it happens and what you can do to prevent it!


Ever wonder how much opportunity you're sitting on in your practice?

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