The Practice Guide → New Grad
Track 1You graduate knowing how to do dentistry and almost nothing about the business you're about to enter. This track fixes that, in the order you'll need it.
Most new grads choose between private practice associateship, a DSO (dental support organization), or a residency such as AEGD or GPR. There's no universally correct answer, but the tradeoffs are consistent enough to lay out honestly.
Private practice associateship typically offers better mentorship if the owner is genuinely invested, more autonomy over treatment decisions, and a realistic path to partnership or buy-in. The downsides: quality varies enormously office to office, patient volume may be slower to build, and "mentorship" is often promised and rarely defined.
DSOs usually offer higher and more predictable starting compensation, high patient volume that builds speed quickly, and structured onboarding. The downsides: less autonomy over treatment planning and materials, production quotas that can create pressure, and high turnover in some organizations. DSOs vary enormously, treating them as a single category is the most common mistake new grads make.
Residency (AEGD/GPR) delays income by a year but significantly expands clinical scope and confidence, particularly for complex cases, surgery, and medically complex patients. For many grads this pays for itself within a few years through higher-value procedures.
When you visit a practice you're considering, these are the things to actually assess:
This is the section most new grads skip and later regret. Compensation structure matters more than the headline number.
This single distinction determines what you actually earn, and it's where new grads get surprised most often.
Percentage of production pays you based on the dollar value of the dentistry you perform, regardless of whether the practice ever collects that money. Percentage of collections pays you only on money the practice actually receives.
Because practices never collect 100% of production (insurance write-offs, adjustments, bad debt), a collections-based percentage will always yield less than the same percentage of production. A practice offering 32% of collections and one offering 28% of production may pay similarly, or not, depending entirely on the practice's collection rate.
What to ask: "What was your collection rate last year?" A healthy practice generally collects a high percentage of what it produces. If they can't or won't tell you, that's information too.
Two offers with identical percentages can pay very differently depending on these:
Before anything else: have a dental-specific attorney review any contract before you sign it. This typically costs a few hundred to about a thousand dollars and routinely saves people multiples of that. An attorney who doesn't work in dentistry will miss things that matter in this field. This is the single highest-ROI money a new grad spends.
A non-compete limits where you can practice after leaving. Two numbers define it: the geographic radius and the duration. What's considered reasonable varies enormously by state, some states enforce them readily, others limit them significantly, and a few are highly restrictive about enforcement. The specifics also depend on how the radius is measured and how dense the area is: a modest radius in a dense metro area is very different from the same radius in a rural region.
What to check: How is the radius measured, from the office, or from every office the practice owns or may acquire? The latter can effectively lock you out of an entire region.
Look for how much notice each side must give, whether either party can terminate without cause, and what happens to compensation you've earned but not yet been paid. Notice periods are often asymmetric, check whether yours matches theirs.
Two types matter. Occurrence policies cover incidents that happened while the policy was active, even if the claim comes years later. Claims-made policies only cover claims filed while the policy is active, meaning when you leave, you need tail coverage to stay protected for past work.
The question to ask: "Is the policy claims-made or occurrence, and if claims-made, who pays for tail coverage when I leave?" Tail coverage can be expensive, and whether the practice or you pays should be settled in writing before you sign.
New grads often assume contracts are take-it-or-leave-it. Frequently negotiable: the guarantee amount and duration, CE allowance, non-compete radius and duration, who pays tail coverage, and the schedule. Less often negotiable: the base percentage, and standard clauses the practice uses across all associates.
When you're ready to own: finding practices, valuation, due diligence, and financing.
Read the track →The software most practices run. Learn it properly before you need to.
Start the course →What used equipment actually costs, from people who move it for a living.
Read the guides →This content is educational and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Employment law, non-compete enforceability, and licensure requirements vary significantly by state and change over time. Always consult a licensed attorney in your state before signing an employment agreement.