Category Archives: Health

Refinancing my student loans and owning my education

$254,358.44. This is the amount it cost me for four years of two bachelor’s degrees and four years of a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. I’m not proud of that number, but it could be worse. In fact, I already did pay off some of the undergrad loans prior to this number. But this is the number I… Read More »

Raising awareness: Oral cancer

As a new dentist, I hear a lot about the growing concern around head and neck cancers, especially oral cancer. But for me, it’s personal. My mother suffered from nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a rare form of head and neck cancer. Tragically, she succumbed to the disease in 2016. I miss her every day, and I am where I am… Read More »

Separation anxiety: 5 tips for balancing work life and personal life

Sep-a-rate. Just separate your work and your personal life. We say this to others and others say it to us as if we can push a button to turn it on or turn it off. To a certain extent separating is a necessity in the day-to-day life of any dentist or dental professional. We cannot think about the… Read More »

Tips for maintaining healthy eating habits

In 2015, the ADA conducted a Member Health and Wellness Survey that polled 2,122 dentists, spouses, and family members, according to the ADA Center for Professional Success. The survey revealed that 9.7 percent had been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Two percent were diagnosed with Bulimia, 5.2 percent were diagnosed with compulsive overeating, and 2.5 percent were diagnosed… Read More »

Under stress? The ADA is here to help

According to the 2015 ADA Health and Wellness Survey, seventy-five percent of dentists deal with moderate to severe stress. As a result, many dental students and dental professionals are dealing with burnout, substance use disorders (SUDs) and other conditions that may impair their abilities to practice competent dentistry, according to the ADA Center for Professional Success. If you,… Read More »

Stress relief strategies for the new dentist

  Between finding a job, handling student debt loads and then managing a practice or learning the ropes as a staff dentist, new dentists can face an ocean of stress. For Dr. Adam Shisler, a pediatric dentist in Houston, the “No. 1 stressor” is repaying dental student debt and facing down other financial decisions “that will set myself… Read More »