On-Call Dentistry

Categories: Pediatric;
On-Call Dentistry

Real-world insights, ethics, and evolving expectations from the dentaltown community on being on call as a dentist


Thread summary: This Dentaltown thread is a deep dive into the evolving role, expectations, frustrations, and realities of being “on call” in dental practice, especially for pediatric dentists and associates.

Key themes

Mixed feelings and practice variability
Some dentists enjoy being on call and view it as a great service that builds loyalty and referrals. Others hate it, seeing it as an unfair intrusion into their personal time, especially when emergencies turn out to be non-urgent or stem from poor planning by patients.

Call frequency and workload
Many report minimal actual emergencies—often just triaging or prescribing meds over the phone. Full-time call groups or shared systems (e.g., 20 pedos sharing 2 weekends/year each) reduce burnout. But solo or rural docs may be stuck taking 365-day call unless they create coverage arrangements.

Fairness and associate expectation
A hot topic is how call is split between practice owners and associates. Most agree it should be proportionate and negotiated up front. Resentment builds fast when it’s not evenly shared or the owner avoids call but offloads it to the associate.

Abuse of ERs and dental call systems
Dentists routinely describe frustration with emergency departments' mishandling dental cases (e.g., scrubbing avulsed teeth, misdiagnosing primary vs. permanent). Many recommend only going in for trauma, not broken fillings or loose crowns. There’s also concern about GPs or DSOs abusing hospital-based coverage systems.

Tools and workarounds
Some use tools like Google Voice, OperaDDS, or secure texting to triage. Others have policies charging for after-hours care (but may waive it if it’s a true emergency). A few offices pay staff to handle Friday or weekend call routing remotely.

Ethics, burnout, and profession outlook
There’s tension between patient access, professional responsibility, and personal boundaries. Several posts express concern that modern dentistry is drifting from its roots, willing to do anything to get into dental school but later unwilling to be inconvenienced.

Bottom line
Being on call in dentistry is still common, especially for surgical and pediatric practices. How it’s handled, whether solo, shared, paid, or begrudgingly accepted, varies widely. Most agree the key is fairness, clear expectations, and drawing boundaries between true emergencies and patient convenience..


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