Dr. Ronald Marsh

"I’m sorry, you have cancer,” your doctor says. Your car is struck by a drunk driver. Both scenarios are possible for you tomorrow. Go ahead, think “It won’t happen to me.” The odds are greater than you realize.

I once thought the same and went about running my dental practice and taking care of my family. A sudden cardiac event, followed by cancer, and finally a stroke changed my perspective entirely. I found that the risk of encountering a disability was much higher than I ever thought possible.

Even though I was able to continue to work for years after the first two events, the stroke hit me the worst. After a tough recovery, I made the decision to help others like me. Unfortunately, I found many other dentists in virtually every state, in desperate need of support after suffering catastrophic injuries and illnesses. The ADA was of little help and even today I continue to lobby them to create a national viable support network.

In the meantime, I developed a website (www.disableddentists.org) along with my friend, Dr. Greg Ogata, to at least try to help some of these disabled dentists survive. Yes, not everyone we support “makes it.” This is a deadly serious topic that challenges us daily. 

What Is Your Documented Risk?

One in four of us will encounter a disabling event during our dental career. It may be short- or long-term: 90% of disabilities are medically related; 10% are accident related. As a young dentist, you are 10 times more likely to encounter a disability than die young. The effect on your dental practice will be significant. Do you know if you will be back to work in six weeks, six months, or six years? An average of 1-2 dentists become permanently disabled in the U.S. every day. I know, I speak to them on heartbreaking phone calls every week.

Why don’t we hear about this happening? Dentists are very reluctant to discuss the fact that they are disabled in any capacity. Our patients require the utmost confidence in our abilities. Word travels fast in healthcare. The unwarranted perception that one cannot function at 100% can have serious effects on our practices. 

Be Prepared

When faced with a disabling event, emotion and anxiety often dictate the poor decisions subsequently made. Being prepared for such an event is very important. As dentists, we are faced with challenges on a daily basis. In order to overcome these obstacles, we plan, practice, prepare, and research. Why should we treat the possibility of a disabling event any different? A solid, understandable plan is needed.

The following are steps I recommend you take now, while you are healthy. If you do face a disabling event, your family will be in shock!

1. Develop a detailed Practice Continuity Plan — multiple copies, one attorney copy.
2. Make sure your significant other knows how your practice runs in detail.
3. Maintain a list of up-to-date passcodes, keys, passwords, etc. (see #1).
4. Have a mutual-aid agreement to cover your practice while you are gone.
5. Determine the way your practice is to be run, sold, or managed if you are incapacitated.
6. Make good financial decisions now (invest and save wisely)!
7. Get your affairs in order now (wills, trusts, life insurance).
8. Have a solid DDR (Death, Disability, Retirement) clause if in a group practice.
9. Purchase good business overhead insurance.
10. Get the best disability insurance (after tax dollars paid only)!

What Happens After You Become Disabled?

There is a series of steps to take after you encounter a disabling event. We have developed a logical list of actions to take to survive. We have made mistakes and can help others avoid them. Please refer to our website at www.disableddentists.org for more detailed information. We provide help for free, and our only reward is the success of ill and injured dentists throughout the country. 

Please don’t follow the herd and say, “This won’t happen to me.” Our profession is subject to stress in many forms. Clinical dentistry is demanding, and backs, necks, shoulders, wrists, and hands are vulnerable to injury. Add a little stress and it’s like gasoline on a fire. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it’s bad luck or just karma — the results are the same. You decide on where to go from here.

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This guest editorial originally appeared in the Spring 2022 issue of WSDA News.

The views expressed in all WSDA publications are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the official positions or policies of the WSDA. "