Office Visit and efficiency up-the bread-and-butter part of dentistry. They need to build their confidence in their treatment-planning skills and come to the realization that dentistry is not black-and-white. It has lots of gray areas and there are always multiple ways to address a patient's dental needs. The residents are required to get a certain number of higher-end procedures. In a normal community health setting, some of these procedures would not be an option or would get referred out. This includes crowns and bridges, molar endodontics, dentures, implant restorations, periodontal surgery, etc. There is a financial allowance that the residents can allocate to patients to help them move forward with these procedures that aren't covered by their insurance. How is the business side of the practice handled? Being a public health dentist really allows me to focus on patient care. My colleagues in private practice constantly complain of their stresses of dealing with the practice management issues, staff issues, hiring and dealing with private insurance companies. I don't have any of that. Our leadership team takes care of the day-to-day practice management. I do have some input when it comes to hiring new staff and I have a great relationship with our clinic supervisor and director. That's part of the reason I've stayed with my current position: We work very well as a team and I feel my input is valued. Any issues in not having a hand in the business management? There are challenges that I have to deal with. Many of the leadership team do not have a dental background and make recommendations with a medical perspective. Their understanding of what happens on a daily basis in our dental clinic is very minimal, yet they are the people who develop procedures and policies for our department. An example would be the infection control group wanting to dictate the dental sterilization workflow. A current frustration 42 JULY 2021 // dentaltown.comhttp://www.dentaltown.com