The Dental Grind
How a dental practice actually works, every Monday.
My free newsletter for dental students, associates and new owners. One part of the practice per issue, with real numbers from the practices I run, plus the week in dentistry and what I think of it. About five minutes to read.
Free, every Monday. You sign up on grind.dental, the newsletter’s own site. Unsubscribe in one click.
In every issue
- 01Below the GumlineThe lead: one part of the practice with a real number and my take. Same topic as that week's podcast episode.
- 02High-Speed ChatterExactly three news items from the last week, each linked to the original report, each with what I think of it.
- 03Do This WeekOne action, template or question to ask, doable in under 30 minutes.
- 04Mental AnesthesiaOne line to close on. Dental, clean, never mean.
What every issue promises
- One part of the practice, explained with at least one real number.
- The three things that happened in dentistry that week, and what I think of each.
- One thing to do this week, in under 30 minutes.
- Free, about five minutes to read, and it never sells you a consulting call.
Every number has a source: it links to published data, or it comes from a practice I run with anything that identifies patients, staff or the office taken out. Estimates are labeled as estimates.
Who it is for
Dental school teaches dentistry, not the business that pays for it. The Grind is written for the dentist in their first five years and the student choosing a first job: the person about to sign a PPO contract, an associate agreement or a purchase offer and wanting to know what the numbers mean first. New owners read it for the overhead, the schedule and the team.
If you already own a practice and want the operating system rather than the weekly read, that is what the course is for.
From the archive
Recent issues.
Practice money
Your crown fee isn't the problem. Your speed is. (opens grind.dental)
The same $1,000 crown leaves $531 or about $6, depending on how much of your production time it takes.
Practice money
Pay yourself from a dental practice without creating a tax problem (opens grind.dental)
Owner compensation, distributions, and the "reasonable salary" test.
Technology
Dental AI in 2026: The Funding Race Is Over. The Land Grab Has Begun. (opens grind.dental)
Pearl, Overjet and Videa raised the war chests. Now they're racing to wire themselves into every DSO
Industry
Why Dentistry Feels Doomed Online and What the Data Actually Says (opens grind.dental)
Reddit says don't do it. The numbers say something more complicated: the problems are real, the conclusion isn't.
Industry
From a $500 Corner Drugstore to the World's Largest Dental Distributor: The Henry Schein Story (opens grind.dental)
A pharmacist in Queens, a mail order catalog, and nine decades of compounding growth that ended up stocking most of America's operatories.
Industry
How Private Equity Actually Buys a Dental Practice, Step by Step (opens grind.dental)
Friendly PCs, management fees, EBITDA multiples and the "second bite of the apple" The DSO roll-up in plain English.
Season 1: Where the money goes.
Every Monday’s lead story is also a podcast episode of under 20 minutes, for the drive in. 1 episode is out now.