I DIDN'T BUILD THLT BECAUSE I FIGURED OUT THE PERFECT DENTAL CAREER.
I built it because I didn't.
I've been a dentist for nearly twenty years.
I've practiced in different states, worked as an associate, joined partnerships, owned practices, started practices, sold practices, made money, lost money, and changed direction more times than I originally planned.
Some decisions worked.
Some didn't.
And some of the decisions that looked like failures at the time eventually changed my career for the better.
That's why The Handpiece Less Traveled exists.
I want young dentists to have something I didn't have when I graduated: a framework for thinking through the decisions that shape a career.
THE ROAD WASN'T EXACTLY STRAIGHT.
I graduated from the VCU School of Dentistry in 2007.
Since then, dentistry has taken me from Arizona to Texas and Oklahoma, to Colorado, to North Carolina, and eventually to eastern Kentucky.
Along the way, I've been an associate, a partner, and an owner.
I've worked in corporate dentistry, small private practices, large group practices, and practices of my own.
I've started practices. Bought practices. Sold practices.
I've experienced success—and I've experienced bankruptcy.
Today, I own two dental practices in eastern Kentucky.
None of it happened according to a master plan.
But every stop taught me something about building a dental career—and about how much the decisions we make along the way actually matter.
THLT is what I wish someone had handed me when I graduated from dental school.
I'M NOT HERE TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO.
I don't know whether you should work for a DSO or a private practice.
I don't know whether you should practice in a big city or a small town.
I don't know whether you should own a practice.
And I definitely don't know exactly what your career should look like twenty years from now.
Neither does anyone else.
What I can do is help you ask better questions, understand your options, and think through the decisions before you make them.
THLT isn't about following my path.
It's about giving you a framework for finding yours.
I won't give you advice I wouldn't be willing to follow myself.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING.
The Handpiece Less Traveled started with five questions.
But the goal is bigger than five evaluations—or one book.
I'm building a place where dental students and young dentists can learn from people who have actually made these decisions.
Dentists who chose different markets.
Different practice models.
Different paths to ownership.
Different definitions of success.
Some who got it right.
Some who got it wrong.
And plenty who did both.
You don't need one person telling you how to build your career.
You need access to enough experience to make better decisions about your own.
There are a lot of ways to build a great career in dentistry.
You only need to find yours.