The Cost Of Specialising in Dentistry

Is specialising in dental implants the ultimate path to financial freedom — or a road paved with expensive lessons?

In this episode of Just4Dentists, Dr Ruth Baidoo sits down with Dr Anta Riekstina, an implantologist with over two decades of experience who built her career across Latvia and the UK. Anta shares an unusually honest account of her journey — from owning her own practice to working as a travelling specialist across six sites, and why the switch made her significantly more money.

Together they cover:

• The real cost of implant training and the financial mistakes Anta wishes she'd avoided earlier in her career
• Volume vs price — why Anta chose accessibility over premium pricing and what that meant for her income long term
• The travelling specialist model — how working across six practices compares financially to running your own

After the interview, Ruth is joined by Martin Febery (Money4Dentists) and Andrew Brown (Mortgages4Dentists) to break down the financial lessons behind Anta's story, including:

• How to manage unpredictable income streams when you move into specialist or portfolio work
• Budgeting for expensive CPD and clinical equipment without damaging your long-term cash flow
• Property decisions and tax considerations for dentists working across multiple locations

Whether you're a dental associate considering a specialism, a practice owner weighing up your options, or simply want to understand what a portfolio dental career really looks like financially — this episode is for you.

Have a question, or want expert insight?
 📩 Email info@j4d.co.uk

💬 Join the Just4Dentists Facebook community to keep the conversation going: https://www.facebook.com/groups/just4dentists/

Presented by Dr Ruth Baidoo

Produced by Your Podcast Producer for the Just4Dentists team 

Additional Information:

Dr Ruth Baidoo: https://dr-ruth-dentist.com/

Just4Dentists: https://j4d.co.uk/

Your Podcast Producer: www.yourpodcastproducer.com

Music Credits:

InPlusMusic: ‘Funk Funky Beat Music’

Raspberry Music: ‘Feel Good’

Cold_Fire: ‘Base and Claps’

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute formal financial or legal advice. Every dentist’s career pathway and financial situation is unique; therefore, you should not rely on this content as a substitute for professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Transcript

DR RUTH BAIDOO 0:00

Hi, I'm Dr. Ruth Baidoo, a dentist who spent years figuring out not just how dentistry works, but how life as a dentist works. This series is all about the human stories behind the profession, the financial decisions, the identity shifts, the pressures, and the moments that define your career. We're going to dive into money, mindset, career growth, and the practical realities of building a life in dentistry. And with the help of industry experts, we'll be breaking down what all of this means for your financial future. So whether you're just starting out, you're deep into your career, or simply trying to make smarter decisions for your future, this podcast is for you.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 0:36

Welcome to Just for Dentists. Hi everyone, welcome to the podcast. This is Dr. Ruth Baidoo and this is Just 4Dentists. So, another great episode that we've got ahead of you guys. For anyone listening for the first time, welcome. I hope that you learned something new today. This podcast really just explores career financial decisions in the life of dentistry. So we understand that most dental careers are definitely not linear, but there's a lot that can be learned in and through that. We're going to tackle that today with Dr. Anta Riekstina. So, who is Anta? Anta is a dentist who made the move into implantology, one of the most technically demanding and probably financially significant specialisms in dentistry. She qualified back in 1996. Her career began in Latvia and placed her very first implant in 2001, which sparked a passion that has shaped her entire career ever since. After moving to the UK in 2004, she spent over a decade running her own practice, balancing patient care, business ownership, advanced training, and family life. Today, Anta works exclusively in implant dentistry, and in this conversation, she shares what that journey really looked like: the decisions, the investments, the risks, and the financial realities behind specialism. If you don't know what Just 4Dentists is all about, here's the breakdown. In every episode, you'll hear a dentist's personal journey, the opportunities they've pursued, the challenges they've faced, and the realities of building a sustainable career in dentistry. And then afterwards, I'm joined by financial experts who help translate those stories into clear practical guidance for your own future planning. So don't go anywhere. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. The views expressed by myself and my guests are our own and are provided this general expert guidance and industry insight. Because every dentist's circumstances are unique, you should always seek independent advice tailored to your specific situation before making any major financial decisions. Hi Anta, thanks for joining me. How are you doing today?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 2:34

Oh hi, Ruth, very good, thank you.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 2:36

So, as the saying goes, every journey starts with a single step. So I know that you're a specialist in implantology, and I want to find out more from you. What is it that made you decide to go down that particular route? What did implantology offer you that you didn't think you could find in general dentistry?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 2:53

That's actually a funny story because I was probably 15 years old and I saw some film. I can't even remember what's the name of the film now, but I remembered there was a guy who was a maxilofacial surgeon working for mafia, changing their faces. And uh and uh, you know, so they can avoid legal actions and things, you know. And I just in watching that film, I really kind of thought I want to be Max Fax. And then um I'm Latvian, so once I finished university, I realized that in Latvian uh all the Max Fax were around 40 years old, and they were um, you know, Latvia is a very, very small country. And uh I thought that means that I won't really have a job for a long time, so I just stuck with dentistry, and as I finished, literally implants appeared. And now I, okay, I'm not Max fax, but I absolutely love my surgeries.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 3:48

So when you made the decision to go into dental implants, how did you decide what course to do? And the reason I asked that is because there's a lot of courses out there, just courses for everything nowadays, and sometimes there are some courses that are more popular than others. So, how did you decide what you were going to invest your money into and what not to invest into?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 4:06

Look, in that time, if you think I started 2001, so in that and it was still um, I was still in Latvia. So in that time, implants were just just coming about. And, you know, we were doing subperiosteal implants and subcortical implants and and subgingival implants. And I have done, I don't know, I I would definitely go more than 100 courses, you know, because I'm still learning. And I think from all these times and all these days and all these courses, what I've done now, I would look back and I would say that you need to choose a teacher. When you have a real question, you need to make sure that your teacher answers and gives you a real answer and not just tells you, oh, go back to the books and have a look what's in the books. So I really value teachers who are giving you straight answers.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 4:56

That makes sense. But as well, there's the financial commitment as well. So when you're starting out, how do you decide financially how you're gonna fund this? You've done over a hundred courses just on dental implants alone. That's a lot. So, how do you continue to fund that and get also get a return on your investment as well as the money that you've spent?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 5:14

Well, I haven't been the wisest financially. I actually never looked. And never the financial part was never the reason why I went to this course or that course. My first course was simply a professor who was the most famous in our area, and then I literally was just going on and on and on, and I was just looking, and I never looked financially really, but that's why probably I struggled financially. So I think you are right there. You have to kind of um look on the financial part, obviously. You know, you can't just keep paying and not thinking what you will gain back.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 5:51

So when you say you struggled financially, if we're okay to dive into this a little bit more, um, in what sense exactly? So you've obviously done a course, you've got some understanding behind you. Would you say you struggled financially in not implementing that immediately? Is that what you mean? Yes, definitely. Because I had my own surgery in Latvia at that time. So obviously I had no help from anybody else. And I just needed say, and you can't, because to buy all the equipment, it is very expensive. And and you really do struggle. You kind of take too much on, and and and you have a loan here and a loan there, and then you obviously have your kids as well, and your own life as well, and and uh you definitely need to do some pre-planning, and I done nothing. So I wasn't wise on that perspective. And now, in hindsight, with you how advanced you are in your career, particularly with dental implants, is there anything that you would do slightly differently when it comes to finances and planning things out?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 6:51

Uh I I definitely would kind of at least plan for a year how much I can actually spend for those courses. And also you have to look, obviously, if it's your own practice, would you be able to finance buying those implants and equipment that you need? And maybe don't buy all the equipment straight away. You know, you may not need sinus graft equipment straight away. You maybe will start with the simple cases, and you don't really need to be having all the fancy tools and everything, you know. So you do need to do some planning, that's for sure.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 7:26

So, how has your pricing sort of changed, if you will? How do you now price your services as a specialist versus to when you first started out in this particular area of specialism? And I'm saying that in regards to the time it takes to place implants, your equipment, your knowledge, your expertise. I mean, you know, we're not doing our work for free. Dentistry is a business at the end of the day. But how do you work that out given the economic climate as well?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 7:51

You see, I think I am, I think I'm a reasonable dentist, but I think I'm a terrible businessman. You know, when I started, I was so lucky I had um my practice, I was associated in that time, and the practice owner was happy to help me with anything. And that's I'm talking now about 2008, um, 2007, 6 maybe. And she was buying, she bought me all the equipment what I needed. And I remember we were in that time placing implants and restoring them for 1,000 pounds. And then I bought my own practice in 2008, and I moved obviously, and I in that time I kept that 1,000 pounds, and then slowly, slowly we went to 1,100 and so on and so on. But you see, I think people have a different thinking, and I guess not everybody again will agree with me, and lots of people will be judging me and not happy about it. But my thinking was that I rather do more implants for less cost, but I want to learn to do them. I want to be comfortable, I want to like do it in a reasonable speed, and so on, and so on. And up to today, I think I never I haven't charged, and now I'm working in six different practices, and and none of them are charging extortion. Uh, I just never wanted to be the most expensive one, or on, and I I I never would work with the most expensive implants because I was when I when I first started, I used uh implant made in Belarus and actually paid for the implant 35 American dollars. And I'm talking about the 2001, 2002. There are implants which cost you 300 pounds, and there is an implant which costs you 100 pounds, but it's the same titanium screw, you know. So so I can't justify for myself paying those extortionate amounts of money for the implant as such. And I have a few systems that I'm working with, and I have some favourites, obviously, and and I just absolutely love the simplicity behind them because in my mind it should be simple and it should be accessible as much as possible, obviously. You know that, but I know not everybody will agree with me. I mean, people can agree to disagree.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 10:12

You're on the podcast today, so we're really trying to understand your perspective of things. So, from a business perspective, you said that you work in like six different practices. Am I right in thinking that?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 10:22

Yeah, yes, yeah.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 10:23

So, how is it? How does it work out for you in terms of finances? Is it better for you working as a specialist across different practices in comparison to having owned the practice before?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 10:34

Well, 100% it's better on a monthly basis. I probably earn one and a half times more when I was working in my own practice. Because, first of all, in my own practice, I was obviously doing general dentistry as well as implantology. It's very hard for a practice to uh have a full-on like five days implantologist because then it needs to be really heavy advertisement. And and so that's why if if you want to, well, in my opinion, if you want to be implantologist, you have to be prepared to travel. And yes, my week is crazy because I really travel a lot.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 11:12

And can you unpack that for me a little bit? Like, what's your week, like your average week like? What does it look like for you? Like your start times, end times, and how many hours you're doing roughly each day? Are there ever any days off, especially working across six different practices? Just let us know a little bit more.

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 11:28

Yeah, because not every practice, once you every I have a one practice in London where I was going for two days in a week, then one day in a week I was in Birmingham, then one day in a week I was in Hook, and then two days a week I was in Bournemouth. And then I have another few practices which wants me to go once in a three weeks. And there are some who just are, oh, we have a patient of all and four, can you come around? So, yeah, so I drive between Birmingham, London, Hook, Bournemouth, Swindon, um, Berinsfield. So, yeah, here we go.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 12:05

So, I take it you must spend a lot of time in the car and traveling around, possibly on public transport, for example.

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 12:11

Yes.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 12:11

So then how do you balance your work-life balance and just taking time out for you and to rest and spend time with your family and loved ones? Would you say that you're good at doing that or not so much?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 12:21

Well, my kids, I'm in just in my stage of the life, my kids are all grown-ups. And so my kids are all gone. And um, I play basketball, I play for GB, and I really travel mostly with my basketball team. Um, and then obviously sometimes you have a Christmas, you have kids' birthdays, you know, and and I kind of know that I'm not gonna work those days. And and then, yeah, maybe once in a year I try to go skiing or something, you know, but then I genuinely love what I do. So this work-life balance, I just go, I enjoy that.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 12:59

I think it definitely shows that you love what you do.

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 13:02

Uh, and I don't even mind driving. That's the other thing. So I don't wake up in the morning, I have to drive, or I have to work, you know. I just, oh, let's see what we will have today.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 13:13

So, as we wrap up, I'd love to know from you just some advice you can give to anybody who's considering specialising in dental implants. And I want to tailor this question a little bit more, particularly as a woman, because I know that implants in dentistry sometimes is predominantly male-led. But as a woman, what advice can you give to anybody who's considering maybe going down that route in dentistry as well?

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 13:34

Well, as a woman, I think you could ask this question to my children. They are all um not happy of my choices because you really are either the dentist with a practice owner or implantologist. Obviously, I couldn't be doing this when my kids were small. I wouldn't be able to drive like this, or I maybe can work in some three places, three days a week, and then manage your children. But I have put my career first. And you know, you ask me, do I regret anything? I know that my kids have suffered because of that. I know that they had much less friends in the schools, especially in a small age, in a young age, because I was constantly building my own practice up. I was constantly at work, I didn't have the time to go to mother's coffee meetings or book readings or or anything like that. So my children, and and they they do remind me that. I I think you have to have that decision. I didn't think about it when I was doing it.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 14:35

So, Anta, thank you so much for that. It's been a really, really great conversation, and thank you so much for your honesty in your career and also in your profession thus far. I've really learned a lot from our conversation.

DR ANTA RIEKSTINA 14:44

So right, no worries.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 14:49

So I think listening back to Anta's story and the conversation that we had, it was really interesting to find out how dedicated she was from the beginning of her journey and career pathway when it came to implants. Really just picking up on her perfectionism for the job, that she's really, really dedicated to what she does. Specialism isn't for everybody in dentistry. I personally don't think that I want to specialise, but I think it's nice for those who actually do and are very dedicated to their craft. So definitely some lessons learned, and it was great talking to Anta today. In every episode after each conversation, I'm joined by a panel of trusted experts to break down the financial realities behind the journey you've just heard. Together, we explore the practical questions: what does this actually cost? What should you plan for? What are the risks and where are the opportunities? Today, my experts are Andrew Brown, who's director of Mortgage Broker at Mortgages4Dentists, and Martin Febery, principal advisor at Money4 Dentists. Hi guys, how are you doing?

Martin Febery 15:46

I'm good, thank you. How are you?

Andrew Brown 15:47

Very good, thank you.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 15:48

I'm really well, I'm really, really well. Really excited and ready to get into Anta's episode. It was really great speaking to her. So, Martin, a question for you. Anta moved on from owning a practice to working as a specialist across multiple sites. How should dentists adapt their long-term financial and retirement planning when income and working patterns change?

Martin Febery 16:08

Yeah, it really comes across, that um earning more money doesn't automatically make you feel more secure. Uh, in fact, quite the opposite often. So when a dentist moves into a specialist or a portfolio role, income can go up, but often becomes less predictable. If your planning hasn't kept pace with that change, it can feel actually feel pretty uncomfortable. Um, we see a lot of dentists who look very successful on paper but feel exposed and they don't like the fact that the income no longer turns up in nice regular chunks. That's when planning becomes really important. In fact, the number of self-employed or owner-managed business people who don't, for example, invest in their pension because um they feel uncertain about when things turn up. It's there's a lot of it. So you make you need to make sure that irregular income is still feeds into pensions and savings and long-term goals. Otherwise, you're working incredibly hard, but you're not actually building the security that you will want. So Anta's experience it really highlights the importance of flexibility around financial planning. They need to be reviewed, it needs to be uh looked at at least annually and just working out what's happening.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 17:29

So, in essence, just making sure that well, regardless of the circumstances, you're making your money work for you, even if your working circumstances have changed.

Martin Febery 17:37

Absolutely. And it's the forward planning part, but seeing the advantage of that planning, it doesn't take long. You know, you do it for a few years and you start to understand how well it works. But it's having a bit of faith and taking good advice to make sure that you stick to your goals and you stick to what you need.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 17:54

Fantastic. So, a continuation on that, Martin, Anta admitted that she didn't necessarily plan ahead for course fees and equipment. And obviously, doing implants, there's a heavy cost that comes with it, not just the training, but then all the materials that you need as well. So, what would be a sensible way for self-employed dentists to budget for CPD and upgrades while still staying tax efficient?

Martin Febery 18:15

It was actually really good that Anta was really open about her journey and how she hasn't fully planned for CPD and equipment. But here's something you see a lot. Probably most people don't like really to admit it. Early in your career, it's easier to treat CPD and equipment as occasional expenses and things that just pop up rather than an ongoing investment, a commitment. So you tend to focus on what you need right now rather than stepping back, as we've said already, and looking at a bigger picture and planning forward. So CPD and equipment just for examples, they're the constant features of career development. They need to be planned in properly, a clear annual budget, which would scare the life out of some dentists, I'm sure, and an understanding of how they could be funded. And remember, tax efficiently, because it's through a business. So it's it just all needs to be taken into account and it will stop feeling like unpleasant surprises.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 19:09

Great advice. Great advice. So, Andy, for specialists like Anta who work across multiple locations, does owning property still make sense? Or is it the flexibility more valuable financially?

Andrew Brown 19:21

Yeah, and we're talking about maybe your own residential property as opposed to commercial properties, yeah, because you're you're visiting different dentist practices. Well, I think I guess you've got to look at your commute. Um, and so if you're visiting five or six practices all within 20 minutes and you like driving like Anta, it's not a big deal. Maybe you started in one practice and you're thinking about buying a house, it is important to think about the future. Am I going to specialise and then support multiple practices? And if so, where are they based? And where do I need to be based to be able to get to those locations? So having a bit of think about where do I want to be in the future before buying a house is really important. I I've got a friend completely different to dentistry, he works in the leisure industry, and he is onto his fourth forever home. So when I spoke to him, he's no, this is it, Andy. I'm I'm not gonna move again. And then two years later, he gets a phone call from his boss, you're doing really well, we want to move you here, and it's the other side of the country. And so he's built up four properties, they've all got probably the wrong fixed rates, he's need to move them to buy to let. So I think planning ahead a little bit and thinking about what might change in my life, um that would influence the decisions you're making on whether to buy properties, what type of products you might go for when you buy a property. You know, if you think there's any chance that there's going to be a bit of change, buy yourself flexibility. Don't lock into long five-year fixes or maybe buy a flat for the sake of it if you're currently renting, if you think you might move in a few years, make sure you sort of take advice to have that flexibility to get to where you want to be.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 21:01

See, the thing is it's um difficult because no one knows what the future holds. So you can kind of plan your life, but then life sometimes gives you curveballs. So I guess it's just about having enough flexibility, like you've mentioned already, so that if anything does come your way, there's a bit of give and take for it rather than things being so rigid that you've got no space to move and then you're completely stuck. So that's why is wise advised. All right, that's another thing Anta talked about, which she travels a lot, as we've already mentioned, up and down the country working at different locations. So, what kind of tax considerations exist for specialists who work across different sites?

Martin Febery 21:35

So working across multiple practices is a lot of flexibility, but it also adds quite a bit of complexity that's easy to kind of underestimate. So, travel and expenses and how the income is structured are suddenly much more important. So without planning again, you can miss legitimate expense claims and end up paying more taxes than you need to. So what you can see from Anta is how powerful the flexibility can be, but it highlights it's best backed up with clear structure. So it is around making sure you're recording. I know it's it's absolutely the most boring part of it, I'm afraid, but actually making sure you record everything from business miles to the actual expenses involved, all of those things. And then working with a good accountant that's going to make sure you get the tax efficiency that you need.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 22:30

Yeah.

Andrew Brown 22:30

Yeah. Yeah. And there's also kind of almost like the opposite. You could be really tax efficient, but you might be a bit over the line with HMRC as well. And uh the amount of uh conversations I have with dentists that so well, I thought I could do that because I've been South Point for a long time or run my own businesses. I'm pretty au fait with rules on expenses, particularly around travel. Uh, there could be other entertainment expenses, a classic one as well, where I thought it was okay that I could just go to the pub and take a client and claim it back. Well, actually, no, if you're in your own town, you definitely can't do that. Um, and there's quite a lot of rules around what you can claim on mileage, whether a vehicle's dedicated for a business, which for a dentist would be very hard to argue because you're probably going to use it for personal use and it's going to probably look like a normal car. It's not going to be like a transit ban. So, so there's a lot of things you can accidentally, let's say, be uh unaware of that you're effectively breaking rules. So I think getting advice to make sure not only are you tax efficient, but you're also the right side of the law as well, in terms of what you can and can't claim is quite important.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 23:37

Very true. You do not want to be on the wrong side of HMRC, definitely. Definitely.

Martin Febery 23:41

Well, do you know what that that advice literally can pay for itself?

DR RUTH BAIDOO 23:46

Yeah.

Martin Febery 23:46

It's kind of as simple as that. Good advice around those kind of things and um getting the the right amount of tax relief is invaluable, almost literally.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 23:55

I totally agree with you. I totally agree. And I think, you know, if there's anybody listening who's someone who just wants to kind of get on with their job as a dentist and kind of puts their head in the sand, like, don't do it because you're missing out massively on things that could be tax deductible for you. So it's definitely going to be worth speaking to an accountant or somebody else who's going to be able to give you the right necessary advice. All right. So Anta talked about pricing and focusing more on volume. So, in your opinion, is lower pricing a valid long-term strategy or not?

Martin Febery 24:25

So when we look at Anta, it shows that pricing early can work, especially when you're building experience and confidence and momentum. There's nothing inherently wrong with the approach. The risk comes when pricing doesn't move with you. So if fees stay low while your skills and demand and workload get greater, the volume becomes the only way you can grow your income. And that's where burnout is really going to start to creep in. So you often see dentists working harder and harder, but not necessarily moving forward financially. And that's not great for them. So the I think the key lesson is pricing isn't fixed. It needs to be regularly reviewed based on experience and goals and actually how sustainable the workload is for the dentist. Because pricing adjusts the way you approach clients and the volume going to get through. And as your experience gets greater, you would expect to be able to move away from necessarily the high volume, low price, more towards making sure that the quality is where you want it to be.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 25:37

That's really interesting. Because from experience, there's been some practices that I've worked in where they have actively reviewed the pricing annually. And then there are some practices that I've worked in where they haven't done that. And there's a little bit more freedom with the associates as to you know what you charge. Obviously, there's like a scope, but which one do you think is better in a sense? Like does it matter or does it vary according to type of practice and the area that you're in?

Martin Febery 26:02

In terms of the approach for reviewing, it shouldn't matter at all.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 26:07

Okay.

Martin Febery 26:08

It should be reviewed. If the decision is to keep the pricing the same, then at least there's a decision made.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 26:14

Okay.

Martin Febery 26:15

Whereas if it's just kind of left, that's when things start to creep. Even down to just the effect of inflation. You know, over the last few years, inflation has been massive. If you haven't moved your charges over that period, you are starting to eat into the profitability of the practice. And that's not just around getting, you know, fat, but it's return on investment and return on your time. So it's a really important thing to keep reviewing.

Andrew Brown 26:41

Yeah.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 26:41

I think also you go ahead.

Andrew Brown 26:43

Well, I was going to say I sometimes look at this imagine a triangle or a chair with with three legs. There's there's how does a client feel about a price? Because depending on where you're located and um with potentially the non-private work, some people are going to be very price-sensitive, and and that's really difficult for the client. But the second leg, maybe the dentist, uh, because you get torn. You want to make money for the business, but you also want to deliver a great service, and you don't want someone going out of the surgery that's not had the treatment because they can't afford it. It's that's really challenging. And that's why I separate the dentist from then maybe your we could call it the business, the PL, the practice, is the third leg. And that third leg is saying, well, we need to make some money at the end of the year because we're not a charity. Um, so we've got to try and balance now delivering a great service at a price that clients can hopefully afford and that dentists feel comfortable with, um, and that it makes money. Because I think a lot of potentially clients they might have a misconception that if you run a dentist practice, then you're going to be really wealthy and you're doing really well. I that's not always the case. I think dentists work really, really hard and there's so many expenses to a practice, just when you think of the dental nurses, the equipment, the building, the things that go wrong with the building, all the bills, business rates, all the advertising, the marketing. There's so many costs to a dentist practice. Um, and so it's really, really difficult to try and balance my triangle. Um, it is really, really difficult. And there's not, as Martin said, there isn't going to be a right answer, but there is a wrong answer. And the wrong answer is if the practice is failing, then something has to change. So therefore, you you are going to have to do something with your price and whether it's a blanket increase, whether it's value-based pricing, depending on the more if it's more complicated and what the circumstances are, there could be maybe more flexibility. Uh, whereas if it's maybe more standard work, then more structured. But whatever you do it, you've got to plan it as well. So that you need to model ahead for the year. If we charge X, where are we going to end up? Can I afford to pay the wages? So you can't hide behind the pricing and leaving it. You've got to kind of hit it head on and make it work for the practice and yourself.

Martin Febery 28:59

And that's actually, Andy, that absolutely comes down to it. The fact is, it's not necessarily about the pricing itself. It's the action of looking into it and planning and making sure it does its job. So if your pricing is at a level that you feel comfortable with still, that's absolutely no problem. There's no need to, there's no compulsion to increase your pricing, but it's the review part that's important. And it's back to planning. So back to making sure when you get to the end of the tax year, you haven't created yourself a problem.

Andrew Brown 29:32

Yeah. And that planning includes expenses as well. And Anta had a great example versus the cost of the equipment she needed to perform the tasks that she was doing. She said, well, really, it's these two things are the same thing, but one costs, I think, was it a couple of hundred pounds cheaper? So you can also look at your expense base as well. It doesn't have to be an increase in in pricing. We're then into sort of efficiency and thinking, what are there areas in the business we could save money to then maybe we don't need to increase our prices, but we can improve our profitability in different ways.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 30:02

Another question I want to ask and open up to both of you is how can dentists plan careers and um around different stages of life? We have kind of briefly touched on this, but I want to go a little bit deeper. Let's paint the scenario. You've got a dentist who's newly qualified-ish, that maybe let's say they're 24, 25, versus a dentist who's been doing this for a while and is uh in their 40s or their mid-40s. So the planning at both stages is going to look a little bit different, but how can dentists in those circumstances or those situations kind of plan actively for their future and their career?

Andrew Brown 30:34

I think think about those life events, um, whether it's marriage, it could be buying new property, a practice, and then uh or having children and kind of think what is the the order and try not to laughing because I've done a few of these together, but try not to do everything all at once because there's gonna be a lot of stress. So don't maybe don't have a have your first child and buy a practice and get married in 12 months. Um, you some people there get it out of the way, but it's gonna put a lot of stress and pressure on finances. So maybe have a think about well, what's the right order for me as an individual? Like what's gonna work with my life? Um, and and you mentioned the difference between 25 and 40. So I'm 45 now. And when I was 25, I didn't even hear the word stress really, because you're kind of just going 100 miles an hour. But now I'm 45, I've got two children, I'm married, and I've got multiple businesses, uh, got a day job. You're trying to pack so much in, and you've got to really think about your your mental health and stress and your work-life balance and trying to fit in, exercise, and eat healthily, um, sleep properly. These things are right on my mind in my 40s, but they're maybe not when I was in my twenties. So the the the Andrew of uh the 20s, maybe I'd do things a little bit differently and maybe not be so aggressive, but then you get stuff done as well when you're you can be a little bit naive and ambitious and enthusiastic. And actually, that's an amazing trait to have, and that maybe can get you on the either the the practice ladder quicker, the property ladder quicker, or whatever it is that you you want to achieve in your life.

Martin Febery 32:09

Yeah, so a really refreshing thing about the interview with Anta is just how honest she is, certainly about her change in priorities. Yeah. Um careers aren't linear, they don't go in straight lines. So what works early in your career is very unlikely to work later. And if you were to summarise what Andy has just been through, it's planning, keep banging on about this, but it is about thinking ahead and working out what would make the most sense. So the early stages of your career are going to be around kind of growth and learning, and then later on it's about sustaining that and probably introducing some balance each each of those life stages, as Andy's already said. So when it comes to financial planning, that works best when it involves with you. Rather than kind of putting a plan in place and then hoping it stays the same, you need to regularly revisit your financial plans, personal and business. And your personal financial planning is gonna track exactly how you want your life to go and what the outcomes you're looking for.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 33:13

Great. I think from what both of you have said, combining it together, it's better to have a plan in place, even if that plan kind of veers off a little bit, than to not have a plan at all. Because to not have a plan, you're gonna be left without and it could be, it could go anywhere, you know? And maybe some people like the risk of that. But I think in this kind of economic climate and also thinking about whether you're an associate or even a business owner, if you've just bought a practice without having a plan, it could be not only detrimental to you, but also detrimental to people who are part of your staff and your team as well. So thank you so much, guys, for your input and advice on this episode. Definitely, definitely learnt a lot.

Andrew Brown 33:50

No worries. It's great to speak.

Martin Febery 33:51

Oh, you're welcome.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 33:54

Okay, so as we're rounding up this episode, a few things that I really want to take away from what we've discussed today. Takeaway number one would be this. So specialist careers need financial planning, not guesswork. It's really important that you actually take time and budget for CPD, courses, equipment before you actually go straight into it. Two would be multiple work sites can actually boost your income, but you need to be careful because it could complicate tax and possible cash flow as well. And then the third and final takeaway would be this: your money plan should change as your life changes. So whether you're at the stage of starting a family, buying a house, considering a practice, all these things need to be taken in and factored for when you're working. Many thanks to my guests today, Dr. Anta Riekstina and my panel, Andrew Brown and Martin Febery. Now, if Anta's journey has made you reflect on your own career season, whether you're thinking about developing a specialism, investing in training, or maybe simply wanting a clearer financial picture, you do not have to figure it all out alone. You can keep the conversation going inside the Just4Dentists Facebook community group, where dentists are sharing honest experiences, asking real questions, and learning from both peers and financial experts who understand this profession. And if you know a colleague who's been secretly wondering, is specialism worth it? Send them this episode. It might be exactly the perspective that they need. You can listen to Just4Dentists on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And for deeper dives, resources, and show notes from this episode, head over to www.j4d.co.uk and also email me directly at ruth @j4d.co.uk. There's more real stories coming your way, so stay connected and I'll see you in the next episode. Bye.

DR RUTH BAIDOO 35:38

You've been listening to Just 4Dentists, presented by me, Dr. Ruth Baidoo. Just 4Dentists is brought to you by the Just 4Dentists team, experts who are proud to provide dental professionals with the right insights to navigate the financial and business decisions dental school didn't teach us. For more resources, insights, and tools to help you get the most out of your career, head over to www.j4d.co.uk