⬇️ Below the Gumline
Being busy feels productive. Being effective actually is. Most dentists aren’t short on effort — we’re drowning in tasks, meetings, and “urgent” fires that somehow don’t move the needle. The quiet danger is confusing motion with progress and exhaustion with impact. This week, ask yourself a hard question: If I removed half my daily tasks, would my outcomes actually get worse… or better?
🔥 High-Speed Chatter
⚠️ Another reminder that professionalism isn’t optional: A dentist faces sexual misconduct accusations from three women, and the fallout goes far beyond the operatory. Reputation risk is real.
Read More >💸 Insurance frustration boiling over: A new report says 35% of dentists may drop insurers in 2026, signaling a breaking point in reimbursement reality.
Read More >🦷 Implants, but make them ceramic: Dentistry Today highlights the SDS ceramic implant system as a potential weapon against peri-implantitis — intriguing, but still early days.
Read More >🏢 DSOs keep playing Monopoly: MB2 Dental added 60 offices in 2025, reminding independents that scale is accelerating whether we like it or not.
Read More >⚖️ Delta Dental under fire: A patient lawsuit alleges out-of-network coverage misrepresentation, adding fuel to the “insurance transparency” debate.
Read More >📉 2026 isn’t looking cheaper: Dentists cite reimbursements, staffing, and expenses as top challenges heading into next year. None of that is accidental.
Read More >🚨 Fraud doesn’t age well: A Florida dental couple avoids prison in an $11 million fraud case — but their careers didn’t escape so easily.
Read More >💊 When boundaries disappear: A Myrtle Beach dentist allegedly wrote himself controlled-substance prescriptions. This is how licenses evaporate.
Read More >🧾 Medicaid fraud roundup: Two brothers plead guilty to fake dental surgeries totaling $365K — audits are only getting smarter.
Read More >🚀 Ortho in days, not months? New technology claims to compress orthodontic timelines dramatically. Promising — but buyer beware until long-term data catches up.
Read More >
🧪 The Research Says
⁇ The Question: Is your old curing light quietly sabotaging your fillings?
📚 The Evidence:
Research consistently shows that composite success depends on radiant energy — not just curing time. Many curing lights in active practices measure well below 500–600 mW/cm², even though they still appear functional. Below this threshold, studies show reduced degree of conversion, bottom-surface hardness, and long-term wear resistance, and increasing curing time does not reliably compensate for inadequate irradiance.
Bottom-to-top hardness ratios fall below 80% when irradiance drops under ~500 mW/cm² — a clear indicator of under-curing.
Extended curing time cannot fully overcome low light output in deeper or darker restorations.
✅ The Answer:
Yes. An old or degraded curing light can absolutely sabotage your fillings, even when everything else is done correctly. This is a silent failure mode — and one of the most underappreciated causes of premature composite breakdown.
The Application
Measure your curing light output regularly with a radiometer.
Below ~600 mW/cm² = risk zone. Strongly consider replacement or repair.
Keep tips clean, minimize distance, maintain angulation, and respect material-specific curing guidelines.
Treat curing lights as consumables, not permanent equipment.
Read the key studies here >
💰 Business Bites
🕘 Why Your Morning Huddle Is Wasting Time (and Money)
Many huddles devolve into schedule reading and vague pep talks — which means production doesn’t change, but payroll keeps ticking.
Focus huddles on constraints (short appointments, broken columns, big cases).
Assign one clear action per role, not a motivational speech.
If it doesn’t improve today’s output or patient experience, it doesn’t belong.
🤯 Productive Pearls
🧠 Get More From Your Assistants Without Hiring More
Most assistants are underutilized because their task lists are vague.
Define, document, and regularly refine assistant responsibilities — especially setup, turnover, material prep, and anticipatory tasks. Clear expectations create speed, confidence, and profitability.
💉 Mental Anesthesia
🚀 New: Business Fundamentals for Dentists
Dentistry isn’t exhausting because the work is hard — it’s exhausting because most dentists were never taught how to run a business. This course breaks down the exact systems that actually move the needle: 📊 cash flow, 📅 scheduling, 🧾 overhead control, 👥 team structure, and 🧠 decision-making without the chaos. No fluff. No corporate nonsense. Just practical, battle-tested fundamentals from someone who’s lived it.
👉 Learn more here
🤝 Got a Question? Got a Friend? 🤝
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