I Walked Away From Pediatric Dentistry

It doesn't take long reading iPedo posts and talking to other dentists to realize that burnout, stress, and difficulty finding work-life balance is a common problem among pediatric dentists. In this episode, Dr. Natalie Datien joins us to discuss her story about why she walked away from a busy practice. Dr. Natalie bought a practice shortly out of residency with her husband, a general dentist in the Detroit area of Michigan. Together they grew the practice from an old-school, low-production office into a multi-doctor GP practice with Dr. Natalie running the pediatric side of things. They were seeing over 100+ new patients a month and booking out for weeks. After three years of sleepless nights, staffing issues, worrying about cash flow, and dealing with difficult families, Dr. Natalie and her husband set down the handpiece and sold the practice. She is now retired at 33 and happily spending time with her young family. We have a really interesting conversation about what life is like after dentistry, reflections on what could have made things easier as a practice owner, advice for young start-up docs, and just in general what type of things burn us out as practice owners. PODCAST NEWS: If you are a pediatric dentist attending AAPD in San Diego, look for me (Casey Goetz) at the convention. I'd like to do some speed-dating style interviews with other pediatric dentists, maybe 10 minutes long, asking for pearls, tips, advice, and lessons learned. Keep an eye out for me and flag me down if you are interested in being part of this episode idea!