Orthotown June 2023 - 41

Without a system in place and the
discipline to stick to it, nothing will
change-least of all, your results.
BY FLINT GEIER
B
urnout is a cancer that seems
to be aff ecting almost every
independent practice owner. At
best, you've heard and read a lot
about it. At worst, you're deep in the
burnout trap and feel there's no way
out. Most of you are somewhere along
the spectrum-experiencing some
level of burnout, yet not understanding
why or what to do about it.
As the saying goes, misery loves
company. Industry publications, websites,
social media, message boards,
online communities, emails, you name
it, have become a feeding frenzy of
negativity-essentially, platforms
for complaining to the masses. And
everyone's listening! A recent message
board post on Dentaltown garnered
almost 500 responses about people
feeling burned out, worn down or
never having enough time-
the most responses I've
ever seen to a single
post in such a short
time. Doctors report
their anxiety levels are
triple what they were
before COVID. Search
" burnout in dentistry "
and you'll see an
onslaught of articles written over the
past three years about how the profession
has changed, how diffi cult running
a profi table practice has become,
how bad teams have gotten and why
good people are impossible to fi nd.
Following those conversations pulls
you deeper into the burnout trap.
Instead of further fueling the frenzy,
I want to change the narrative by
talking about what you as an individual
practice owner can do to combat
your own risk of burnout and get you
out of the trap you may already be in.
Recognizing burnout
Before treatment must come diagnosis.
For private orthodontic practice
owners, there are three unmistakable
signs of burnout, or indicators that
you could be headed down that path
in the near future:
" I'm so tired. " How many times
a week do you say, think or feel that
way? Th e words may vary- " I'm tired, "
" I'm beat, " " I'm exhausted " -but the
symptoms are the same. You're going
through the motions of your daily
existence-going into the offi ce,
treating patients, interacting with
your team-but with little energy or
JUNE 2023 |
41 | ORTHOTOWN.COM
enthusiasm. You're just trying to get
through the day.
Lack of engagement. Th is is a
more palatable way of saying you just
don't really care as much anymore.
Th at's not to say you don't care about
your patients, but you've become
somewhat apathetic about running
the business; you'd rather let the
practice run on autopilot than take an
active role in steering it the way you
used to. When asked what makes your
practice better than others, you may
say all the right words but you won't
be able to hide the nuance that you
no longer really believe what you're
saying.
Decreased sense of accomplishment.
If you were surprised at April
tax time to learn you had a great
year in 2022, you obviously never
celebrated the accomplishment with
yourself and your team. Maybe you
weren't tracking results so you didn't
recognize the progress you were making
throughout the year. Or, maybe
even big successes no longer seem
worth the eff ort that went into achieving
them. Even if you're tired and
less engaged lately, tracking progress
toward goals should be satisfying and
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Orthotown June 2023

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