Hiring staff, expanding their practice and adding new technology are some of the changes that dentists are planning to make at their practices this year.
Five dentists recently spoke with Becker's about changes they are set to make at their own offices.
Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Gregory Farber, DMD (Windsor, Conn.):
Our office is looking to hire a part-time periodontist and another associate. As far as other changes go, we are implementing a third digital scanner to our setup. Interestingly, our covid precautions/PPE will most likely not change, despite the "emergency" being lifted.
Keith Foley, DMD (Cambridge, Mass.):
I will need to buy a new compressor and replace one hygienist who is moving at the end of May.
J.D. Moon, DDS. QC Family Dentistry (Davenport, Iowa):
I’m trying to expand my office so I can do more orthodontics and keep the schedule going. This practice has only had 2 owners. I am trying to expand my office so I can do cone beam, three-dimensional, panoramic Ceph and other rooms. It’s been a long process, but hopefully it will be done at the end of next year.
John Paffrath, DDS (Erin, Tenn.):
I need to hire 3 new dental assistants and there seems to be a statewide shortage here in Tennessee.
Bruce Smoler, DDS. Smoler Smiles Family & Implant Dentistry (Westland, Mich.):
We are planning on continuing our investment in Dental Technology in 2023. We have doubled our revenues year over year, for the past few years due to our investment in dental technology as Dental IT. We have been able to lower our prices on some of our robotic implant services since we have become so advanced in our delivery of our services. To this point, in 2023, we are looking to do so again. By investing in expanding our physical structure, by expanding our staff as well as higher volume discounts, we intend to grow our business 30 to 50 percent in 2023.