Introduction to 'New Dentists on the Block'
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to New Dentists on the Block, a podcast featuring new dentists sharing their experiences in the world of dentistry. Successes, challenges, and life in between, navigating dentistry together one experience at a time.
Introducing Ronetta and Savannah
00:00:17
Speaker
On this episode, I have my friends and fellow igniters, Ronetta and Savannah. They discuss their experiences having completed the same GPR a few years apart and some of their experiences as a new dentist. We speak on the importance of continuing education and mentorship. Savannah and Ronetta updated the IgniteDDS residency guide, which provides some great information about dental residencies across the nation. And let's get into today's episode
00:00:44
Speaker
Sartor, welcome to New Dennis on the Block. How are you doing today? Pretty good. Thanks for having me. Thanks for having us. Oh, I'm so pumped to connect with you all. It's a Friday when we're recording this episode, so I'm very, very excited to have the opportunity to connect with my fellow igniters, two passionate ladies and wonderful clinicians, and I'm so excited for them to share your story. What are you all up to this lovely Friday?
00:01:08
Speaker
We've been hanging out working on some Ignite projects of our own, so stay tuned. Very cool. Well, Savannah and Renetta, I would love if you would tell our listeners a little bit about yourselves, where you're from, what dental school you went to, what year you graduated.
Savannah's Journey and GPR Program
00:01:25
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But Savannah, why don't we start with you?
00:01:27
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All right. Um, my name is Savannah Craig. I graduated in 2022 from the Ohio state university. Um, I am originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, um, but have been in the Buckeye state for a while. And then now I am currently in Columbia, South Carolina, doing a one year GPR program, um, be finishing up in.
00:01:53
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Couple of weeks at the end of June and then exciting. Yes exciting and scary. Yeah But then moving back to Columbus, Ohio for practice very cool Renetta, what about yourself?
Renetta's Path to Practice Ownership
00:02:09
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Sure, so I graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2017 and then I did the same residency program that Savannah did in Columbia. It's a GPR program. I finished that in 2018 and then for four years after that I practiced in a group practice in Sumter, South Carolina
00:02:34
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And last year, the end of August, I purchased a practice of my own. So I'm about eight months in. All right. Congrats. Thank you. Thank you. Very exciting. Now, Renetta and Savannah, did you all know each other before the last few years or so?
Residency Experiences and Changes
00:02:53
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Not at all. No. I'm so curious if you all have discussed maybe some of the differences in the slight gap that you all have had in the residency program. All the time.
00:03:05
Speaker
What are some of those differences? I'm curious. Yeah. So, well, Ignite brought us together and then it just so happened that I was moving here and doing the same program she did. So that was awesome. But, you know, we, it's cool because we've had the same attendings for the most part. We're fortunate at this program that our attendings have been here forever and ever and love what they do. So it's cool to compare, you know, those stories and
00:03:34
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have somebody who knows your instructor so intimately and can laugh at the jokes and the funny stories and that has been really awesome.
Surgical Opportunities and Hospital Impact
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But as time ebbs and flows and the impacts of COVID on patient populations and finances and things, we can talk about the differences in our experiences that way.
00:03:58
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And I think some of the other interesting part, we're really fortunate at this program to do a lot of surgery and implant placement and things like that. And so how the hospital's ability to make those things more affordable to patients has really changed my experience compared to hers in a lot of ways, which is interesting to look at. Renetta, is there anything that Savannah has completed in her residency that you weren't able to, and maybe you're a little jealous about it?
00:04:28
Speaker
Hmm. That's a great question. Well, Savannah, I think I did more individual single tooth implant placement and Savannah did, did have, and she's still getting a lot of experience with like hybrids and her class particularly, maybe not Savannah specifically, but they,
00:04:48
Speaker
have done all on four all on x type cases and you know just circumstances and patient population at the time a lot of patients weren't going for that but we did a lot more probably single tooth than savannah and her class did so i'm always picking their brains on you know the whole process and learning from them
00:05:10
Speaker
Yeah, gosh, dentistry moves really, really fast.
Evolution of Residency Programs
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And I think that it's so important, you know, I'm a big advocate of students doing AGD and GPR programs if they're choosing not to specialize in the importance of speaking to current residents or past residents from those programs.
00:05:25
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But I think it's so telling that even with a few years apart from each other, that the program has grown so much and there are differences in each of y'all's experience. And so how important it is to maybe get a newer graduate of the program to see what their experience was of that particular program.
00:05:41
Speaker
Bernetta, I'm so curious, why did you decide to do a GPR program? Well, I call South Carolina home and Savannah will tell you a lot of South Carolina is rural. And so in the town that I
GPR Programs in Rural Dentistry
00:05:55
Speaker
grew up in, we didn't have a dentist or a doctor in our town. We would have to travel to go to those places.
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Speaker
And so with that, I knew that since I grew up in a smaller town, I likely would end up in a small town. And I wanted to be able to do as many procedures as I could if it meant my patients didn't have to travel far away to have it done by specialists, especially in the state of South Carolina. We love our food and all that kind of stuff.
00:06:29
Speaker
Things like diabetes and all of those things are high. So with that being said, a lot of those patients have other comorbidities that can make it difficult to perform a lot of dentistry. So I also wanted the experience with treating patients with complex medical histories as well.
00:06:49
Speaker
Very well said, you know, I practice in a rural area as well. And one of the reasons that I wanted to do an AGD was I knew that I was going to be in an underserved
Mentorship and Career Resources
00:06:57
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area. I didn't know how rural, and I wanted to make sure that I was comfortable with as much as I could be before moving to a practice where maybe I would be the only dentist. And I think that there are better programs than the one that I did, but I'm very glad that I did do an AGD coming out of dental school. Savannah, same question for you.
00:07:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think I have a similar response in a lot of ways from a small town. At this point, life has changed and I'm not going back to that small of a town, but being able to offer a lot of services to your patients was really important to me. I think the other reason sort of in retrospect now is
00:07:34
Speaker
knowing what I like to do and don't like to do and having a year of guidance and mentorship to you know find out that I really like surgery or some of my co-residents aren't as you know we all came in like yeah molar endo and then now we're like oh no no thank you um but you know had I gone and like paid for a CE course I think I would have felt like I had to
00:08:01
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You know, and I might turn around and take some CE and be more comfortable with it, but you know, I think I would have felt like I had to do those services where now I'm like, I tried it. That's okay.
00:08:12
Speaker
can move forward. And also just the lifelong mentorship and the relationships we've built with past residents. I mean, this relationship is one I can thank residency for in a lot of ways. And we're really fortunate, the program here, that a lot of the past residents still keep in touch. And even going back to Ohio, there's a good chunk of Ohio State grads who have done this program. And we've sort of created a network now of like, hey, I heard you're in Columbia.
00:08:40
Speaker
meet up when you're back. So that's been really cool too. Dentistry is really such a network of connections that you make throughout your journey. And I think that
00:08:49
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doing AGD, GPR is really one way to continue to grow and build on that network, especially when you're first getting out of dental school. I think that for many, deciding where to go can be a huge struggle, especially if you know you're from an area, you stay there for dental school and maybe you want to venture out for a year or two. What would you all suggest that students could do or graduating students can do to learn more about the different programs that there are around the nation?
00:09:19
Speaker
Shameless plug ignite has a residency guide. I helped with Luke Shapiro. He was sort of at the forefront of this from the beginning, but I've stepped on and we are trying to do the leg work for you and contacting residents
Creating Resources for New Dentists
00:09:38
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program directors and try to get as much updated information as we can.
00:09:42
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So if you're a resident out there and you want to let us know about your program, look us up. But the programs change constantly. Different program directors, different resources available. The best way to know about the program is to contact previous residents and hopefully as recent of a grad as you can. But even knowing that year to year, it's going to be very different. Renenna, tell me a little bit more about this passion project that you all did. I know that this guide has been around for a few years.
00:10:11
Speaker
Every year, Ignite does a really good job at doing their best at updating it. And I know that you all took a lot of time this past year to reach out to residents and program directors. But is there anything, Renetta, that you learned in this journey of updating the guide about some of these programs?
00:10:27
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Well, Savannah and Luke did a lot of that on their own. One of the passion projects that came about after the residency guide and just, you know, Savannah and I being in really pivotal points of our careers, her.
00:10:43
Speaker
At the time that we met, just starting residency and me, you know, just starting practice ownership, we realized that a lot of the, uh, I wouldn't call them problems, but struggles that we were having, you know, expanded across the board, regardless of what point in your career you were in. So it prompted Savannah and I to start working on an ebook and it's called beyond graduation, how not to fail in your early years of dentistry. So.
00:11:11
Speaker
as she was saying, we talk a lot about what we're struggling with and we help each other in that realm. But I think the main thing that we want our other people to know out there is that we all are facing the same struggles and to let people know that they aren't alone. And it's just a resource for people who are in residency or freshly out of residency or even, you know, dentists who are looking on maybe bringing an associate in to
00:11:41
Speaker
just kind of get into our psyche to see where our heads are and some things that we're thinking about. I think the sort of piggybacking off of that, the biggest thing with both the ebook and the residency guide is, you know, you helping people figure out what they want out of these experiences. Um, you know, Tony, you sort of mentioned not all residencies are the same, not all associateships are the same, not all, you know, jobs are the same. Um, and so I think just having as much information in your hands,
00:12:11
Speaker
To help you make this decision is most important and so the residency guide gives a lot of people that opportunity in a very specific option and then the ebook that we're hoping to have out here in July.
00:12:26
Speaker
Um, focuses more on broader topics of the experiences we've had in our early years of practice in my one, my 11 months of practice, um, and how to, you know, learn from our mistakes and realize that this is a journey we talk a lot about. It's the practice of dentistry and you're not going to ever have it figured out. So.
00:12:48
Speaker
The practice of dentistry, the dental journey. And I've shared in other episodes that dentistry is so beautiful in the sense that you can practice the way that you want to practice. If you start practicing in one way, you know, out of school, that doesn't have to be the way that you practice 10 years down the line. It can be a different practice setting.
00:13:06
Speaker
hand skills wise, that probably will also change. Philosophies will probably also change as you continue to grow and to learn. So I'm very excited to read this ebook and we will be sure to put the link to both of these books in the description for our listeners to take a look at and to read and to grow with us as we continue to share our individual journeys. I want to backtrack a little bit. Renetta, I would love if you would share with our listeners a little bit about your journey after your residency program as a practicing dentist.
Renetta's Associateship to Ownership Journey
00:13:36
Speaker
Sure. So after residency and Savannah and I laugh about this a good bit because I, I interviewed for a very long time while I was a resident to try to find the best type of associateship situation. And it was through all of those interviews and I kind of got a feel for what I didn't want. And it eventually led me to an associateship that I was a part of for four years.
00:14:02
Speaker
It was a great practice. I loved it because I got mentorship out of it. He promised that he'd be a mentor and he was. And it was really great as well because all the things that I learned in residency such as, you know, IV sedation, conscious sedation, implants, you know, digital dentistry, you know, that group practice allowed me to excel in those areas and
00:14:27
Speaker
definitely learn from other people and it kind of led me to a point where I was like okay well what's next because I felt myself being a leader in my associateship and you know a lot of the team members would start turning to me when things would go wrong for answers from me so I just started thinking well
00:14:48
Speaker
I think maybe, you know, I could do the ownership thing on my own and, you know, just started looking around for practices and, um, because I think I, I'm not sure if I mentioned, but I commuted for my associateship maybe about an hour. It just depended on traffic 45 minutes to an hour, but it started looking around and saw that the town right over from me, 15 minutes from my house.
00:15:13
Speaker
had a practice for sale and so I contacted it was listed on like one of the third-party practice transition websites so I contacted them and I ended up knowing who the broker person was he was someone that I met in residency which was awesome because we kind of already had a rapport going and everything and within a matter of you know a week I was meeting the owner and
00:15:42
Speaker
His team to see if it will be a good fit and the rest was history. Renetta, did you think you were going to be a practice owner in dental school? In dental school, I honestly didn't know. I always knew that if I wanted to, I could. For me, it was just figuring out if I wanted to.
00:15:57
Speaker
if I wanted ownership and I think my residency as well as the my associateship helped me to reach that conclusion because if I never got to the point where I said what's next or I think I could maybe do this then I maybe would have been okay just being a lifelong associate but because I started asking myself those questions that's how I knew that it was time to open a new chapter
00:16:25
Speaker
And how has your experience been so far as a practice owner?
Insights into Practice Ownership
00:16:29
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It's been great. It's lots of highs and some lows, but I think from my associateship, because I was very in tune with the business portion of it. And I'm grateful for a mentor that allowed me to be. I would ask very business oriented questions. So like,
00:16:49
Speaker
I was able to kind of have something to fall back on in terms of, okay, well, I remember when I was associated when this would happen, you know, or maybe it was a situation that happened that I felt as an owner, I maybe would have handled differently. So I look back on those experiences and I think it just allowed me to be a better leader in the time that it took for me to get to this place, if that makes sense.
00:17:12
Speaker
I think that's so important that, you know, throughout dental school, if you can, but especially if you go through an associateship to ask questions and learn as much as you can, especially on the business side of things. I think that perhaps we all had a similar experience where we really weren't taught a lot of the business side of dentistry. And so I know for myself, for one, if I were to start a practice, I would need a lot of help and guidance as far as a business side of things kind of go.
00:17:35
Speaker
just because I'm not well versed in it. I know a few things here and there from things that I've listened to and following other young dentists' growth in practicing, in growing a practice or starting a startup dental practice. But I think that it's very different. It's a different way of thinking than being in dental school and thinking about teeth.
Savannah's Reflections on Practice Ownership
00:17:55
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Savannah, seeing Renetta's journey and story post residency, what inspires you? I mean, so much. I think
00:18:02
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It makes practice ownership seem more possible. I think for a good while you're just like, please just let me do the teeth and be done. But it's been cool to watch her journey and realize we're all in the same boat really, unless you did an NBA or something. We're all just trying to figure it out and look to the experts. She's very upfront about that, about finding the people.
00:18:23
Speaker
you need on your side and trusting them to help guide you in this process. So I think she's made practice ownership seem more attainable, but it's also good to hear, you know, one step at a time, do the associate thing. You'll know, not that we've talked, there's never the perfect time to own, but at some point you're like, all right, let's just, let's do this. Right now in the back of your mind, are you thinking ownership?
00:18:45
Speaker
I'm not sure. I think everything is so in flux right now, finished residency, move, all of those things. Um, but there is an opportunity for partnership in the practice I'm going into. Very cool. And that feels like a kind of the best of both worlds scenario in a way, but obviously you never know what's going to come.
00:19:06
Speaker
I would love to have this conversation again in the next five years and see where we're all at. Yes. Reflect back on what we said and see how that has changed or the growth from this point forward. I think that that would be really cool. Put it on the calendar. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Ladies, I would love to talk a little bit about Ignite DDS and how Ignite DDS has fit into our lives as dental students and now as practicing dentists.
Involvement with Ignite DDS
00:19:34
Speaker
Savannah, take it away. All right. Um, so I was really involved in ASDA in dental school. And so I can remember my first NLC and going to a lecture with Dr. Rice and be like, wow. And then, you know, life happens, whatever COVID really like.
00:19:53
Speaker
changed the trajectory of my dental school and as a career. So COVID hit going into my D3 year, so the spring of my D2 into my D3 year. And so we missed out on a lot of those opportunities for community and CE and all of those experiences. Happy hours. Happy hours. You know what I meant. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
00:20:18
Speaker
But so fast forward to my D4 year, Ohio State does a sort of a mini NLC for Ohio State in Case Western. And we were finally able to be back with that. And the new sort of adds to leadership team graciously invited a lot of us. I was treasurer during COVID. And so I was like, I'm going to get to go on all these trips. And then no trips happened.
00:20:44
Speaker
But they like graciously reached back out and were like, please come to these things that you did not get to do. And I ran into Tara and we just got to talking and she was like, Hey, we're always looking to add people to the Ignite team. I think you'd be really great. And I was like, what does this mean? What does it look like? She was like, just trust me.
00:21:06
Speaker
here we are. So she connected. I trust Tara too. Right? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Lead me away. So like March of 2022 got a hold of Dr. Rice and Dawn and been great. We've been graciously invited on retreats and
00:21:30
Speaker
They've let my fiancé, Adam, tag along. It's like your family from the first day you show up. It's been amazing. Renetta, how about for you? I have a similar story. I knew Dr. Rice back in my as-to days at MUSC.
00:21:48
Speaker
He sponsored a lot of our District 4 ASDA events and I would see him at the big ASDA conferences and everything and I thought, wow, he's great. I always noticed even back then he had a way of, even though you were still in school, acknowledging and making you feel seen and whatever it was you were talking
00:22:09
Speaker
talking about, so I've always admired it about him. And then, sort of like Savannah, I would... COVID happened, and we were shut down, and Ignite DDS did a fast track program, and we all communicated on Facebook. So, you know, someone would post a case, and we would talk about the cases. And so from there, they created a study club.
00:22:31
Speaker
And so in the study club, because I've been in all of the study clubs since then, but in that initial study club, I met Sable. And Sable has been an igniter probably before all of us. And she's great. She's awesome. And she kept saying, I think you would be a good fit. I think you'd be a good fit.
00:22:51
Speaker
You know, I didn't think much of it. I was just like, okay, great. And then last year you guys had your retreat and she like, I guess she kind of put a little bit of fire up underneath me because she tagged me and wanted to retreat things. Did she ignite you? I think she did. She ignited me.
00:23:11
Speaker
And pretty much she kind of did the same thing Tara did. It was like, you'd be great. Let's just get a meeting on the books to talk about how you could join the team. During that time is when I found out that Savannah was probably only a few months in because you said April is when you joined and I joined in June. Well, that's when Savannah was actually in route when I texted her.
00:23:33
Speaker
to South Carolina. And I was like, let's go get coffee one day to just meet up and talk and tell me more about being an igniter. The rest kind of played itself out, but it's been an incredible journey. I'm learning a lot about myself as being a key member on the Ignite team. And I mean, the team is amazing. I learned so much from all of you guys all the time.
00:23:58
Speaker
I agree. I continue to learn from each individual member of Ignite. For me, David and I connected during dental schools.
Building Community with Ignite DDS
00:24:05
Speaker
Well, too, as he supported District 9 when I had my conference and was always a speaker of some kind at all the major events. And it was wonderful to see the vision and the passion that he had for dentistry, but also what he brought for Ignite DDS and how he truly believes in creating a foundation and a community to help
00:24:24
Speaker
Builds young Dennis and the season Dennis to be better Dennis and I think that he has created and through the influence of others have created and built a team that wants to continue to build and move that vision forward and so I think that the different projects that we all bring to the table is truly at its core to help others to help others to become the best that they can be.
00:24:46
Speaker
There is great programming that ignite dps has to offer. I think the study clubs are transitioning a little bit, but study clubs were phenomenal. Um, but I think something else is going to come out and I don't know if we can share that, but that that's to come and I'm really excited to see what that's going to be. But I think that that's going to be really awesome in establishing the foundation in different.
00:25:04
Speaker
categories of dentistry, but I'm so excited to see what Ignite has to bring in the next, you know, five, ten years. For you all, what are y'all's thoughts as to what the future of Ignite has to hold?
Future of Ignite DDS
00:25:15
Speaker
I think there's so much potential just every time we're all together, you know, on Zoom or in the same room or even just I love sending, hey, look at this x-ray, everybody tell me your ideas. There's just nothing better than having so many creative minds in such a community and nobody's like,
00:25:32
Speaker
you should do this better or worse or whatever. It's just like, hey, this is what I see. What do you think? Have you tried this? There's just, I think the sky's the limit. And it's also just so cool to have Renetta's in owning a practice. You do public health dentistry. People are in cosmetic practices and just knowing that you can truly make dentistry whatever you want to be. And we're here to support you to help you go where you want to go. What about you, Renetta?
00:26:01
Speaker
I was gonna say Savannah she covered a lot about it but I think that the sky is the limit for Ignite because like you were saying we're a great team and so many of us bring so many different things to the table. So I'm excited to just see what's next and I think we're all pretty pumped because we a few weeks ago we just had our retreat and so a lot of those things were
00:26:27
Speaker
getting put together for what they'll become. So stay tuned. Yeah, we were definitely fired up after that retreat and I will start with the puns and play on words. But I think that I feel very fortunate to be part of the Ignite DDS core team, but there is so much that Ignite has to offer for our listeners out there if you're interested at all in being a part of our team or
00:26:48
Speaker
taking part in some of our resources, please let us know and we will connect you where we can. But, you know, one thing that Savannah mentioned is whenever there's a clinical question, it's great to talk it out. But if you want David Rice's expertise, you should shoot him an Instagram DM and he will get back to you. And I hope he gets flooded with a lot of Instagram DM's. I'm just kidding. But he is so insightful and has a lot of knowledge and I think that those
00:27:13
Speaker
you know, maybe some other KOLs. I don't even know if he's truly a KOL, but other prominent figures in dentistry. I don't know how prone they are to do that. And David really takes the time in making sure that anyone who reaches out to him gets their question answered, which I think is phenomenal and really, really telling about the person that he is.
00:27:30
Speaker
Ladies, any last thoughts for our listeners today? I think just taking it one day at a time. You've got a long career ahead of you and you don't have to do it all at once. So excited for the next journey and for our recap in five years on where we all ended up.
00:27:48
Speaker
Yeah. The reunion episode. Yeah. June 16, 2028. Oh my gosh. No, that's not a real year. Yikes. How? Renetta, any last thoughts from you? Sure. I was going to say piggybacking off of what Savannah said is dentistry.
00:28:04
Speaker
is an incredible career, but if you don't take time for yourself, you can and will burn out. So along with putting all of your energy into being the best clinician and doctor that you can be, also take the time for yourself to make sure you're taking care of you and doing what you need to fuel being the best doctor you can be for your patients.
Final Reflections and Connections
00:28:26
Speaker
Without a healthy you, you can't be there to help others. So you got to take care of yourself very well said it. I'd love ending on that note. Well, I'd like to thank you both for being on you, Dennis on the block. If our listeners would like to connect with you, what's the best way? Uh, Instagram at Savannah Craig DDS Savannah with one N and an H. I think I've doubled all your letters because I can't double. All of these. Yeah. All of them.
00:28:50
Speaker
Yeah, I'm probably gonna have to spell mines out because I have the weird a weird name but um, you guys can find me on instagram at dr underscore sar tor Well, thank you all so much once again for taking time out of your day to connect with me and with our listeners And for everyone listening, thank you for your time as well. We'll catch you next time
00:29:09
Speaker
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of New Dentists on the Block. If you would like to connect with Savannah, you can find her at, at Savannah Craig DDS and Renetta at Dr. Underscore Sardor. If you would like to access the residency guide, I'll be sure to put a link in the show notes. If you're interested in practice ownership, check out the Ignite DDS Masterminds program. Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and on all major podcast platforms.
00:29:34
Speaker
would love if you would leave a review of the podcast. If you have a new Dennis you would like to recommend for the podcast, be sure to send an Instagram message to at new Dennis on the block. We'll catch you next time.