Dr. David Rice on Leadership & Educating the Next Generation of Dentists

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As a young dentist just starting out, it can be hard to know which direction to take your career. But thanks to people like Dr. David Rice, the next generation of dentists can get access to tools that will help them succeed on both the clinical and business side. Not only has David achieved success in his career, but he’s also done—and continues to do—amazing things to help dental students along their own paths to success.

The founder of igniteDDS—a free continuing education community for dental students and young dental professionals that provides live local events, online webinars, and more—David is passionate about helping younger dentists navigate their early years in the industry. In this episode, he shares the wisdom he wants to impart on up and coming dentists, the mantra that helped him get to where he is today, and inspiring insights that both new and seasoned dentists ought to take to heart.

Key Quotes:

“Sometimes we’re worried about the tactic, or the strategy, or the meeting, or the conversational skillset to get our team to reach higher levels, but oftentimes we’re not treating them outrageously well.”
“I highly recommend some kind of postgraduate program to everybody. It was such an instrumental year for me, not only to pull all the concepts that didn’t quite make sense to me in dental school together, but confidence and speed and the ability to know … if someone else can do it, so can I.”
“I’m a huge fan of young dentists to choose mentorship over money whenever possible because those first three to five years are so, so important.”
“We’re so conditioned throughout our formal education to tell somebody the answer … but it’s easy to make a mistake when we try to just talk at people as opposed to really listening to what they have to say.”
“The more you invest in the person sitting knee-to-knee with you, the faster you’re going to grow and be successful.”
“We’re really not a patient-centered practice; we’re really a team-centered practice. And when our culture is firing on all cylinders, the patients just come in, and they feel it, and they respond.”
“Spending time working on your business is really, really valuable, and it’s easy to lose that time because you’re so busy trying to produce dentistry.”
“Challenges are a part of the game, but you can get through it on the other side and sometimes—if you play it right—come back stronger.”
“Take the leap. Don’t be afraid to jump out of the plane and figure out how to open the parachute on the way down.”