The Most Impactful Advice Early Career Dentists Can Get… w/ Dr. Frederick Solomon

[00:00:07] Hello everybody and welcome back to Dentistry Beyond the Numbers. Today we have somebody really exciting. Somebody that really built his business in New York City. And I think it's a guy who bucked the trends and we'll get into that a little bit. But he is, we are both from the same alma mater and I love to say that. University of Pennsylvania put out some really great people and they were pretty good dentists too. But without further ado I'd like to introduce a really nice guy, Dr. Fred Solomon.

[00:00:37] from Tribeca Smiles in New York City. Fred, how are you? And welcome. Hey Marc, how are you? Nice to join you this afternoon. For those of you that don't know Fred Solomon and Dr. Solomon, Dr. Solomon has put together a practice that is quite unique. But what I've learned from him is he's also done some things in the business acumen that I want to get into and sort of question your future, young dentists out there and people out there that want to make some decisions. So before we get further, tell us about you.

[00:01:07] Tell us about your background, where you grew up. I know you went to Penn. What did you do before? And then what did you do right after?

[00:01:14] Cool. So I grew up in a small town, upstate New York, Gloversville, New York, north of Albany, four hours from the city or so. And for me the city was a big exciting place to go and visit. I know you grew up in New York. I was the country mouse that came to New York. My background was as a kid. I was a kid. I started eight years old. I was a magician when I grew up. And all through high school and in theater and performing and into college.

[00:01:43] So that was my sleight of hand, use my hands aspect. So I always knew I had decent hands with this game. I studied psychology. I studied biology. I studied chemistry in college as an undergrad. I went to Skidmore College. And from there that led to a research project that was kind of big, opened up a lot of doors for me. And I ended up where you ended up at University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.

[00:02:11] And it just at some point along my career, it just made sense that with a science background and hands that I had a lot of confidence in. Classic story of the kid magician who ends up being a dentist for whatever reason. You still do magic to entertain anybody? I do in the office every now and then I bust out for friends. Back in the day, it used to be like the whole stage show. But all my friends still know that. And every now and then we dabble.

[00:02:42] What did you do right after school? Did you go into work? Did you do a residency? What did you do? I did a general practice residency. I stayed in Philadelphia. I was at Albert Einstein Medical Center there for that. Great program. And you know what? In a resident, in a hospital, that's when you become a super generalist. You know, that's your opportunity to be in the hospital to kind of be protected, but in somebody else's backyard as a dentist.

[00:03:07] And you get to dabble in surgery, you get to dabble in emergency medicine, you get to understand and go on rounds in the hospital and learn about medicine and how dentistry fits into health and wellness. And it's not just that we fix a tooth, but we have a part of health and wellness. And when you're in a hospital, you understand that because you're practicing dentistry on medically compromised patients as well as patients that may end up in a hospital setting.

[00:03:36] So it makes sense to think about dentistry in terms of health and wellness and not just I've got a molar that needs fixing. So the super generalist is we had an endo program, a specialty program, and an ortho program, specialty program. And we went to the operating room for full mouth rehabilitations and surgery, and we were in the emergency room for trauma. So you got to really learn everything as much as you wanted to.

[00:04:06] We had, I felt like back then, the term super generalist, I felt like my attending in my residency, there were seven of us big guys all over six feet tall. And our director was a foot shorter than any of us at least. And she would lead us around the hospital. But she was an amazing dentist who did it all, from making dentures to the root canals to the periosurgery.

[00:04:34] You know, and she was amazing to watch because she taught us comprehensive dentistry. I was one who went into dentistry because of what you just said. I liked the science, the art. I was good with my hands. Some people went into dentistry because they wanted to be physicians. It sounded like you picked up this approach towards holistic or full body medicine, that it's a caring medicinal practice, just like any other practice. Later, almost in the hospital setting, or did you always have this desire?

[00:05:05] You know what I mean? I was saying in dental school, I didn't know how many teeth were in the mouth when I started out. So I think I had a lot to learn about dentistry and what it really meant. And once I started to understand public health and wellness a little more, I think it was in the residency when we actually got to treat a patient. Comprehensively, the patient would come in, we would create a treatment plan, and then we would execute everything on that treatment plan, asking for support, but not necessarily referring. Right.

[00:05:34] You know, one of the best things I do, and I found I was taught this early on, and you probably do it yourself, is sometimes come in and look at the teeth, make a decision, do a treatment plan, great, done. But some people palpate notes and look at things that might be irregular. To me, when patients feel that, they feel a sort of comfort knowing they have somebody, like you said, is not just looking for that broken tooth and the two crowns they could cap, but somebody who's looking at my full well-being.

[00:06:04] Do you find that that people may be receiving treatment plans better just by explaining the angle of the mandible that it doesn't have cancer from a panorex? Do you find that? Because I feel that's a big thing. You know what, I think this is a great way to bridge the conversation because a comprehensive exam sets a tone. It gives you an opportunity to do something differently for the patient than they've experienced in the past.

[00:06:30] It lets you slow down before you actually luck in the mouth and get to know the patient, not only who are you, where are you from, where's your family, what do you do, what can I do for you, why are you here, but let's, how's your health? I mean, we review a medical history, so to palpate notes, to tell a patient, you know, we're going to do an oral cancer prevention exam.

[00:06:52] I learned to say that because nobody wants you to find cancer. Cancer screening is scary, but an oral cancer prevention exam, that sounds great. I want one of those. That's amazing. You know, Fred, that's great stuff. Let me ask you, going back, you got out of your residency, you're now working, but I want to understand what possessed you in a way to create the foundational platform to build the practice you have now.

[00:07:19] I mean, did you go in with a plan? Did it morph itself? What was the passion there? What drove you? I think it was an evolution. I think, you know, we're all an evolution and I consider myself a student of the profession, a student of life and always learning and growing and developing.

[00:07:37] When I started out as a young dentist, I was fortunate enough to join as an associate, a very prominent cosmetic dentist at the time who was editor of the Journal of Aesthetic Dentistry. He was, you know, teaching and was the friends of the first generation cosmetic dentistry, the dentists that were the grandfathers of modern dentistry, if you will, of at least our generation.

[00:08:03] Is that somebody we all know from New York that's no longer with us or is that somebody else? You know what? I joined this guy, Stuart Eisler, who was a wonderful, wonderful dentist down on Washington Square with a beautiful practice. He used Lloyd Miller and Yaku and Asi up in Boston to oral design center. Willie Gellar's trained master ceramists.

[00:08:28] And, you know, this was this was the the inception of cosmetic dentistry and layering corslyn and and lingual shelf composite layering. And and these guys were the guys that were bringing it out. You know, I'm David Garber, this whole class of of educators. And this was who I was grandfathered into me and and learn what the best. I mean, Garber's great. Garber's from Atlanta, for those of you that don't know.

[00:08:56] And he's a he's one of the leaders in our field in full mouth rehab and just understanding cosmetic dentistry. It's great stuff. I mean, you've had such great pedigree in your career. What made you decide private? I mean, back then, we probably didn't have that choice, you know, so much like young as much as young dentists have now as much in the direction of corporate group private.

[00:09:20] We don't have that choice. Right. And did you find that or did you just always know you want to own your own business and go in with your own philosophy? I was open minded to where I was going to work. I looked around the Northeast. I interviewed at a bunch of different practices. And New York was the the allure. And the idea of doing cosmetic dentistry and creating smiles was was really enticing to me. And I'll tell you, decades later, I still love making a smile.

[00:09:45] I still love love looking at a patient and can see through the lips what the smile can be. And and presenting that is a lot of fun. And then having that reward when you're when you're done with the case is just, you know, it's the icing on the cake. I love all that. I think when I started practicing as as a cosmetic dentist, there were it was also in the context of a family practice. There were children and and there were teens and there were adults that needed general dentistry as well.

[00:10:14] So, you know, going back to Penn, we learned that, you know, we we do health first. You know, if there's periodontal disease, we're going to we're going to address that first and foremost. That every day, phase one, phase two, we got to cut in half. You've got to get rid of the disease. You don't want to start clear aligners while a tooth is rotting away. That doesn't make sense to anyone. And the smile on the cosmetic for the wedding this weekend is great.

[00:10:40] But you know what? You're also going to fix your molars or you're not going to get your smile fixed forever. Yes, I see the the drive in some I'm not going to say and stereotype it to groups or but high dentists that want to produce a lot sometimes lose the forest. And, you know, they're not seeing the phase one to decay. They're going for the dentulous areas and putting implants in.

[00:11:05] And my question is, first, I'm a little small town guy goes to Philly. Pretty big city. Loves Philly. Goes to Penn. Back. Great time to be a Penn. Then it was beautiful. I was there. Tell me this. What made you go to New York City and not back to pardon me, but, you know, upstate little town and become some sort of big shot in a little town?

[00:11:29] I think, you know, it was more exciting to be to be a smaller fish in a bigger pond and see what I could do. And like you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. You know, you don't get bored in New York unless you're just bored. And and I did. I looked at some small towns. I took interviews where I could get interviews because I think the interviewing process is is something, you know, no matter what you're doing.

[00:11:54] I believe in taking all the interviews you can get because you get better at it and you learn, you know, from that experience. You never know when somebody is going to double that offer. So you got it. Right. I mean, you know, and it's a very important thing you say, and it's a very good learning experience that the young doctors out there take the interviews, learn what to ask for, not just what to do and what to say, but learn what to ask. You know where we being the dentists are interviewing the group, the mentor, the doctor ourselves.

[00:12:22] So you need to learn that through time that, yes, you can ask for certain percentages, certain labs, certain materials. So I think it's fantastic that you put your passion and just want to, you know, go forward. And now we're in the practice. We're generating our philosophy. It's a evolving philosophy. Right. So we hear and then all of a sudden, if I look at your website, when I talk to you, technology is a major factor.

[00:12:47] So my feeling is, have you, do you feel as, listen, we're not in the first 10 years of our careers. So do you feel technology is still attainable and you're still into it? Or do you think technology went from, you know, from digital x-rays to intraoral cameras to $150,000 machines to printers and CVCTs? Or do you think it's that imperative for what's going on today? Tell us about your view, because technology is big with you, Fred. Yeah, you know what?

[00:13:17] And it's, it's really cool to know dentistry before the technology is, is the funnest part of it. I think it's, it's the next generation of dentists. Boy, I wish I could be a young dentist starting out again, because there's just a whole new world there. And, and standing on the shoulders. So to, to say, I mean, when you come out and the technology and the way you can practice today is, is mind blowing. It's actually more fun. It's easier.

[00:13:43] And in so many ways, it's better for everyone, but knowing how to, how to carve a tooth, you know, so that you can digitally carve up a tooth and design it on the computer. And the fundamentals of how the jaws and the teeth fit together, and the neuromusculature, all that still has to be within the analog world that, that's not designed in the virtual world. So there's still this back and forth. I, I love the technology.

[00:14:11] I started with an intraoral camera thinking, this is the best piece of technology ever. I can show the patients without the mirror and then the dental mirror. I can actually put up on the screen and, and what an opportunity to share. And that's part of wellness also is, is allowing the patients. This isn't a mystery. I'm going to show you what I see. We're going to have a relationship. I'm going to sit next to you and look at the screen.

[00:14:36] I'm not going to sit across from you and point my finger at you because I'm, I think I'm a health rate point, Fred, in the sense that, you know, when I was just about to plan to go to dental school, I remember somebody making them a crack that dentistry is a little bit of a mouth mechanic. Just like you go into a shop and they open your hood. Nobody knows what's going on. Look, I like cars. I can't tell you I can put a car together. So if they tell me my operator, my alternate is bad. I'm going to listen.

[00:15:05] Listen, dentistry had that same sort of connotation. You know, we go into the dentist. He tells us we got cavities. I don't know if we have cavities. But with the oral intraoral cameras, with the CAT scans, with the better x-rays, the panorexes, the screens in front, the simple things that took us to the next level. I think dentistry has been really amazing at bringing us to that next level with technology, AI now. That is learning experiences.

[00:15:31] But it also, to your point, it allows patients to really understand what we're going to do to them. You know, explain to them what needs to be done, how long it'll take, what you should experience. And this is what it looks like, Mary. And I think that opens the eyes today to a lot of people that feel they trust us more. And I think that's what transpired in the last 20, 25 years with technology.

[00:15:57] Now, I know that you do a lot of different things in your practice. Before I get on to the business side of some things, I'm just curious. What are you most proud of in Tribeca Smiles? I mean, I'm probably jumping around a little bit. But I'm curious because I know you're a super generalist. I know you can do just about everything that comes in. And I'm curious to know what goes on there. What do you love to do most? I mean, what do you think? What am I most proud of is going to be the people.

[00:16:25] And I'm not just saying my team. And I'm not just saying the patients. I'm saying the people because we create a culture. And you create, you know, as a leader in the practice, you have to set an attitude. And there's always, always upsets. There's always little fires to put out, whether it's the team, the patients. But when you have a culture of people that have a mission to provide health and wellness, to help people, when we all remind each other at the end of the day,

[00:16:53] hey, that's what we're there for. And everything else follows. Everything else is necessary. But it has to follow taking care of the patient and providing health. And sometimes we see things that the patient doesn't see. There can be cosmetics. And there can be health issues. There can be needs and wants. And we have to know who we're talking to. So that you don't want to talk cosmetics to the patient that only wants health, that has no interest in cosmetics.

[00:17:21] And you don't want to talk just health to somebody that has nothing but vanity. So we have to have the right conversations. You can't do that until you have a relationship. And what you feel, you feel very strong. Your front, your, let's say the team that you have up front is going to be the most welcoming, endearing type of reception that a patient can get. And it starts with that. The culture just lends itself throughout the practice. Would you say that?

[00:17:49] In my practice, in my practice, I want to welcome. I'm from a small town. I told you that we're going to have a small town mentality for how we treat our patients in the big city. And I'm going to welcome people into the practice. And I literally do. If I'm near the front desk and a new patient walks in, I don't wait until they're in the back. I walk around the front desk. I know their name. I shake my hand. I'm Dr. Solomon. Welcome to our practice. You know, when I start introducing, the patients have a tour.

[00:18:18] So they go around and they meet the people in the practice. They see where they are before they're seated. It's like, welcome to my home. This is where we are every day. We want you to be comfortable here. And they see the other patients. And the other patients usually are, you know, pretty okay with where they are at that time. If they stick their head out to say it creates a comfort. And it's part of, you know, it's the first step of case acceptance.

[00:18:43] You know, in a city or very high, high affluent cities or inner cities, the doctor's supposed to have an attitude, an ego. Nation walks in, the doctor walks in, you know, I'm going to tell you what you need. I'm wearing a suit tie. I'm going to leave. And it's really nice, you know, for everyone listening. You bring that young, you bring that small town approach to the big city in a city like Tribeca, in an area like Tribeca where there's Wall Streeters and big, big movers and shakers.

[00:19:12] And you just bring that great culture of a small town. I'm sure it's Uberly, and I know it is, Uberly appreciated. And it probably inspires your team to stick around for a long time and just really, I guess the word is trust you. Am I right? Trust is critical. Trust and ego go a little bit hand in hand because people will travel farther and trust more for confidence. Sometimes they'll pay more for confidence. And they want to know that they're in the right place and that we can take care of them and we can help them.

[00:19:42] Once again, super generalist. And at the same time, these are patients that are people that still need to develop that relationship. They still need to want to be in a place where they feel like they're cared for and somebody's listening. And it's clean and you're getting good service and there's a great reputation. I do want to ask you one thing. Do you refer anything out?

[00:20:10] I mean, we talk about super generalists, but generally, does everything pretty much stay in-house at Tribeca? The way I've done it is either I'm very ambitious and I was aggressive when I was a young dentist and what I learned how to do and impacted teeth and whatever happened. I've had different specialists in the practice over the years. I've had an oral surgeon. I've had periodontists.

[00:20:35] I have a surgeon that comes in that I work with now for advanced grafting and complex cases and such. You know what? If I'm going to refer to somebody and I have the whole network of doctors to refer to as well, and I do refer and I do have all the specialists, they know they're not going to get something too easy from Dr. Solomon. If I'm going to send out a case to the oral surgeon, it's not going to be a simple tooth or even a medium simple tooth because we're going to do that in-house.

[00:21:04] In fact, we'll do IV sedation and we'll do full bony impactions and everything else. And with the partner dentist that comes in that does the surgery with me as well.

[00:21:14] Pretty much most things we can handle, but there's still, you know, there's pathologies, there's co-treating, there's difficult cases that are just weird that I want to get out of the office and I want to have a certain practice and patient management that comes from sharing patients and liability in certain cases with referrals. There's root canals with calcified canals or certain retreats. There's practice and patient management that comes from referrals also.

[00:21:43] A difficult patient can be very well served by sharing. It's very interesting. I want to go back to the small town feel for the next question. I grew up most of my life in New York City. I raised my kids. I lived in a high rise, took a bus, a cab, an Uber, whatever it is to work every day. But you are lucky enough as a small town guy in a big city to own your building and live above your practice.

[00:22:10] Now, in New York City, that is that's next level. So what gave you that motivation, that impetus to put together that whole situation and put yourself in a great situation from that standpoint? Well, being from the small town when I came to New York, a couple of compromises that I wasn't going to make was for one, I wasn't going to give up a car.

[00:22:34] I wanted to always have a way over the wall, a little bit of a New York City energy, if you will. I ski on the weekends. I used to fly gliders back then on the weekends. And I was just always getting out of the city for my sanity. Now having a country house and a weekend house, you know, after enough years in the city, you kind of feel like, you know, I need someplace else to share it with.

[00:22:58] Because the city can close in on you, and especially if you're not taking advantage and enjoying the city. The second compromise that I really didn't want to make is I didn't love a commute. Okay, a daily commute. To be selfish, to be honest, I didn't want to spend half an hour, an hour, two hours a day getting to work and back. So I knew I wanted to work close to where I lived. And as a young person in New York, I would say either work where you're going to live or play where you're going to live.

[00:23:27] But, you know, keep it so you're not always running out too far away. My first practice was on the ground floor of a building, and I was able to get an apartment upstairs in the same building. Before that, I was two blocks away from my first practice, and then I was able to move. I always kept it local. So when I was looking and I saw the opportunity for what I was going to do, I could get a space that could be worked and lived in. Just to let you know, I mean, I did the same thing.

[00:23:56] We made the compromise, my wife and I, in raising the kids that I was building, like you, a big practice in New York and Lincoln Center. And I did not want to commute. I wanted to be available for my patients. I wanted to be available for my team. And it sort of worked out. I think the commute could get to you and grind on you. Let's just ask this question. You do take insurance in your practice. We do. Right. We do. So you take PPO insurance.

[00:24:20] You talk about some of the highest grade porcelain labs in the country and work with some of the finest cosmetic guys years ago. And yet you decided to go to the insurance, as I have, by the way, when I build my practices with insurance and fee-for-service patients. So tell me what was that motivation and why? So during my career, I've dabbled in the different modalities of insurance and fee-for-service.

[00:24:50] Initially, the practice I joined was fee-for-service. It was a small practice. It was on Washington Square. It was this cosmetic family practice with a mix. It was a family practice. But there was an emphasis and a lot of high-end cases that we were doing at that time as well. Insurance wasn't an issue then at all because it was high-end. It was fee-for-service. It was not an issue. Patients could get a Superville and they could reimburse.

[00:25:18] Maybe we would help them with that process. But pretty much it was here's the piece of paper and send it in is how I remember that. When I came down to Tribeca for my second trimester, my next decade, I felt it was necessary to grow the practice, to bring in a handful of insurance companies, PPOs, the better ones, associates. And all of a sudden we had a busy dental practice going on.

[00:25:44] And I did that for a long time and we were able to sort of toe that line of an insurance practice with some fee-for-service patients still that didn't have insurance. But also where I would be taking care of the private patients and the associates would take care of the insurance most of the time. And then there would also be cases where, you know, insurance is going to be expired. But if somebody still has a big case, I would take those cases and, you know, whatever that fee would be.

[00:26:14] If we were, you know, paneling with an insurance company, we'd take that same fee, but it would be multiplied for how many teeth we were doing. And at some point I felt like I needed to go back to my roots. And it was a few years before COVID.

[00:26:29] And I kind of got to the other end of the insurance and felt like, you know, this is, this isn't working for me personally because I feel like a lot of times I'm doing cases and I'm just not getting paid what they're worth. There was haggling back and forth with insurance companies. And so I kind of went, felt like I was going back to my roots. I got rid of most of my insurances. A couple of my associates just came to where they were ready to move on to their own practices.

[00:26:59] One moved to the other coast. And I just felt like, you know what, I'm going to pare down. And I ran a leaner, tighter team without insurance. Some patients left that only were there because we took their insurance. A lot of the patients stayed, in which case then we work with their insurance as best we possibly can. Do you feel back when you took the insurance and you had these associates that was more passive income? Did you have that money coming even though your hands weren't moving?

[00:27:27] I mean, to me, you know, I could be somewhere and I can have a couple of associates, maybe a periodontist doing a lot of work. And I'd pick up 20, 25% of that. And that's money that's being made without having my hands in people's mouths all the time. To me, insurance lent to that, gave me that opportunity. A good doctor, well-trained, introducing to Mary the patient. She's coming to the facility. We take her insurance. I'm curious, did you find that or did you find more of a hassle in the end?

[00:27:56] You know what, it was always a hassle dealing with the insurance companies. I found it was a lot more administration. I found that whatever I was doing in my particular practice, it didn't just blow up into a massive profitable insurance practice. And I think that was, I was getting frustrated with running this big practice with a lot of patients and associates and a lot going on. And I wasn't having the same joy from dentistry.

[00:28:24] I was dealing with more insurance type issues. And I think it was like when I say going back to my roots, I had gotten away from, I think, what I loved in dentistry. And I still wanted to be the dentist in the practice. I always valued and respected people that took off every Wednesday. I couldn't do it. It was another day to make money. I love dentistry. I wanted to do it. I wanted to make more money. But, you know, in the end, that is just a discipline that I learned to respect.

[00:28:53] So I'm asking you, how did you, what governors, what, you know, procedures, what monitors did you guys, you and your team put in so you can have a quality work-life balance? Because we got a long haul ahead of us. Well, for one thing, I have two daughters, one who's a junior in high school now, one who's a freshman in college. But I've been on the public school schedule for a long time.

[00:29:19] And a lot of my team are young parents as well. And so I think when the school has a holiday, we would take holidays. I think the idea when I did have insurance and the passive income is I'd be up at the country house on a Saturday. And I know that there was an assistant and somebody at the front desk and an associate dentist that kept the lights on back in the practice. And I used to have a pediatric dentist that came in on Friday.

[00:29:48] So we kept that. And she had a practice. It was a family practice. Wonderful dentist. Didn't bring it back after COVID. But we didn't see a lot of patients on Fridays. So I was one of those four-slash-five-day-a-week dentists. But there were definitely times when I wasn't working on Fridays at all. But the practice was still up and running and Saturdays as well. So that part about – and I'm going to go back there.

[00:30:13] In fact, I'm looking for an associate now where we're starting to get back with a couple insurance companies because I want to do my own thing. And I still want the practice to grow and have its income. It's really great to have that. But, you know, I must tell you, and we go back to a dark time when 9-11 and the blackout in New York and a lot of private practices, the insurances, fee-for-service was getting hit a lot. I couldn't explain it, but I just always felt that marketing through insurance is another form of marketing.

[00:30:41] You know, I want everyone to understand what I'm saying. If a crown is $2,000 and I spent $300 to bring that patient in on a pay-per-click or whatever it costs per acquisition from the business end of bringing people in, if I took insurance and I got $1,400, would it be so bad that I didn't, you know, and then that person is a real patient? I may have more. This is the decision we each have to make. And I want to just point out the young dentist. This is the business aspect.

[00:31:09] I mean, if you want to be a fee-for-service guy, then you really have to really, like Dr. Solomon touched on and he's so accurate, the continued education, the constantly amorphing and evolving as a dentist. What I know now to what I know 25 years ago is amazing. And everyone that comes out and tells me I got it, I mean, listen, just take another minute and listen. Take another hour and learn. And this is just a mushroom.

[00:31:36] I mean, you were talking to a super generalist who came in from a small town and made it like Frankie Sinatra said. If you can make it there, Fred Solomon, you can make it anywhere. So you should be very proud and very happy. I mean, I'm amazed at somebody who just did the real estate play as a New Yorker who came from a real estate type of family, very much so. Just really understanding it, setting up the lifestyle you wanted.

[00:32:02] And I got to believe you look back and say you wouldn't live anywhere else but try back in New York, right, and have your practice. I'm not going to say that it's all rosy. It's hard work, too. It's hard work. We know that. And, you know, but if we have a passion for what we do and as dentists, and it doesn't have to be dentistry. It's a passion for what we do. If I'm walking my dogs, I want to be passionate about it. If I'm driving in my car, I want to love driving in the car.

[00:32:28] If I'm treating teeth, if I'm talking to you, I want to enjoy this. This is, you know, we don't get this back. You know, my father, my late father used to have a term. He termed it man for all seasons. He said, he used to say to me, Mark, if you're going to go out and play basketball, be the best. Be as good as you can be. Love it. Enjoy it. If you're going to go out and study, do the best you can. And if you're going to go out and develop friendships, be a great friend. Be a great son.

[00:32:58] But whatever we do in life, and I think this is a testament to it, is passion carries a long way. It's like, you know, it really does. It carries us a long way because it's our desire inside of us. What would you advise? And I know you've been amazing. It's getting late. I told you I'd keep you for this. I'm keeping you for that. But what would you advise young dentists starting out now? They're done with their residency. They're deciding what they want to do. So you've got to start somewhere. Yeah.

[00:33:27] And, you know, most young dentists aren't going to go out and open up their own dentist without a plan or some kind of backing, I would think. So you're going to work for, you know, you've got the private equity and the DSOs. You've got private practices. You've got group practices. And then maybe at some level you can branch off. You've got the opportunity to work in multiple practices. You can commit yourself to one practice.

[00:33:55] I think the more experience and I think the more aggressive you are as far as learning. And I don't think the first couple of years should be about really becoming hugely successful and making it yet. I think, you know, the first couple of years are about learning and experiencing to experience different practitioners. It's great. A mentor is an invaluable opportunity.

[00:34:18] But also the idea of having multiple mentors simply by being engaged wherever you are is incredibly valuable. Amazing. I want to thank you so much for doing this. But I also want to add, I do believe what you're saying is so accurate. First of all, mentorship. I talk about it all the time. I just have to tell everybody it's been amazing.

[00:34:40] But if you listen how Dr. Solomon has really balanced not only work life, business, real estate, but also technology. If you go on his website, you look at a video on his website, I can tell you that they talk about technology. And it looks like it is a practice that I would love to practice in. And that's the beauty of it. I think you've shown us what relationships do for young dentists. I mean, let's not discard the body, the health.

[00:35:09] Let's give them a first-rate job. I mean, is there anything you want to leave with all listeners, young dentists, older dentists? You know what? I used to think that it doesn't take any longer and it's not any harder to do something really well than to just do something. So I think no matter what we do, we have to try to do it as best we can. That gives us a couple things. I don't care if you're sweeping the floor. You're going to sweep the floor really well and someone's going to say, nice job. You're going to get a pat in the back.

[00:35:38] And you're also going to have self-worth by knowing that you're doing a good job no matter what you're doing. Sometimes it does take longer. And sometimes it does require more to really do something at a high level. Okay? But once you own the basics, then you're at the high level. So it's really about learning and just constantly learning and constantly learning until it's almost intuitive. And dentistry is a complicated field. I love it when the case comes in and I go, what the hell do I do here?

[00:36:08] Because I have to think. But that's where the challenges are. And the best part of it all is that we're with people. We're dealing with human beings that have personalities. They have lives. They've got fear. They've got emotions. They've got joys. And we're building relationships. And it's a people business. People that have teeth. We're not in the teeth business. That's what I tell a young person. We're in a people business. So get good at people. I love that. That is invaluable. What can I add to that?

[00:36:34] Absolutely nothing except saying to everybody out there, I want to thank you for listening. I hope this brought some true, and it should, true valuable insight into starting building a career in a city or in a private little small town. Wherever you may be. But passion and I think what we're hearing from two lifers of dentistry, we've been in it forever. And from Dr. Solomon is that he's dead on.

[00:37:01] Whatever we do in a patient's mouth, we should remember it's a legacy. We are leaving it for the next person to look at. That's our goal. And them to say, Mary, you got some real dentistry. That was great. Dr. Solomon is exceptional. So I think that is the key. I mean, I always tell my docs that ask me questions, I tell them you have to practice like somebody is going up the block to get an opinion, and they're going to look at your work.

[00:37:29] Because everything we do is accountable. And we need to provide them with the best and the utmost of care, whether it's an insurance practice or a private practice. Here's a gentleman who's delivered top-notch dentistry for many, many years. Because us New Yorkers are so blessed to have you in our city, and I'm very, very glad you were in my podcast. For those of you that want to reach Dr. Solomon, I'm just going to say he's at Tribeca Smiles in New York, Dr. Frederick Solomon. Give him a call.

[00:37:58] He's a wealth of knowledge, and I really thank you again. We're going to have that lunch, and we're going to have this together. We definitely will. I want to tell you, I told you I'd have you on, and you're awesome. So thank you so much. Have a great weekend. Thank you, Mark. And I'll be in your office in the next 10 days. Perfect. My pleasure. All the best. Thank you so much for sticking with us.