Dr. Tarun Agarwal represents the next generation of leadership for the dental profession. As a respected speaker, author and opinion leader, he is changing the way general dentists practice. His practice isn’t a fancy boutique, but a general practice that participates with dental insurance. Despite being contracted with insurance, he’s managed to build a successful practice that is focused on clinical excellence, customer service, and allowing patients to choose optimal dentistry. His common sense approach to business, dedication to clinical excellence, integration of technology and down to earth demeanor has made him a recognized educator.
Tarun’s favorite quote:
“If you are not moving forward, you are moving backwards.” – Tarun’s father
More about Tarun:
“First and foremost, I’m a general dentist. I have a full-time practice in Raleigh, North Carolina. As of this year, I work three days a week. I was working four days a week, but my outside practice dental activities is starting to become a time constraint. So I do a lot of speaking and training. And I’m moving more and more towards doing web stuff that allows me to stay at home and spend time with my kids, but yet reach a very wide audience. My goal is to really help people utilize, and really, it’s a title of your podcast — my goal is to make people love dentistry. Because I truly believe it’s an unbelievable profession. It allows us to be health care providers. It allows us to be business people. It allows us to set our own hours unlike the medical profession. And my wife is a physician, so I see it from both sides. Unlike the medical profession, we’re not totally dictated by insurance. It is an unbelievable profession. You can choose to work fulltime, part-time, you know, no time – it’s pretty amazing. I just want people to love this great profession that we have… “
What is exciting or concerning him about dentistry right now:
“…We’re seeing a significant influence of “corporate entities” coming into dentistry. And I’m not against corporate entities, personally. I think they all serve their purpose. I don’t look at corporate as bad. But the biggest thing I’ve seen change when we look at a pure clinical perspective is that when I was first taking CE, the first ten years of my career, it was all geared towards the concept of ‘jack of all trades, master of none.’ So the concept was you need to become good at one or two things and really gear your practice or niche your practice around those couple of things.
And in the last 5-7 years of my career has been the total opposite. It’s all about becoming great at many different things so that we can create a sustainable practice that essentially becomes ‘recession proof’ or ‘economy proof’. And that’s really where I’ve seen a tremendous change, clinically in myself and as we travel around the country talking to other people. People are really trying to open up their practices to do many more things, to satisfy their patient’s needs.”
“I worry about the younger generation, in the sense that the amount of debt that they carry coming out of school, it really, to a certain degree, handcuffs them into the choices that they make. I worry about people not taking enough CE. I think it’s a joke that the state that we live in, a wonderful place to practice, only requires 12 hours of CE a year. I think it’s a total joke. What’s worse is you can get those by going to a dinner meeting.
Those are the things that I worry about is that the younger generation or the new graduates aren’t really being mentored; aren’t really being pushed towards taking as much CE as possible and learning different things. And learning not just clinical aspects, but philosophical aspects and business aspects of dentistry.”
The best advice Tarun has ever received:
“There’s no harm or no foul or no shame in taking insurance. That doesn’t mean that you have to lower your quality of dentistry just because you take insurance.” – Howard Farran of Dentaltown
The one habit that contributes to his success:
“Being flexible and the ability to integrate technology or whatever it is you want in your practice.”
Clinical or practice management pearl (tip):
“Clinically, I would say photography is the absolute must for every practice.”
“On the business side of things, I believe in self-financing patients.”
What’s exciting him right now:
“Dental implants – they excite me like crazy.”
Internet/app resource that he feels is awesome:
Tarun’s book recommendation:
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich – Tim Ferriss
- Hardcover edition can be purchased on Amazon here.
- Kindle edition can be purchased on Amazon here.
- Audiobook edition can be purchased on Amazon here.
Tarun’s recommendation for those who are about to start new or restart:
“Take education. Don’t buy any cars; don’t buy a house — take education. 12 hours is total garbage. Your first five years of practice, you need to take 100 hours a year. And take education from all the different places. Go to all of them and find one that resonates with you.”
Dr. Tarun Agarwal can be reached at:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tbonespeaks
- Email: dra@3d-dentist.com
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[…] The Passionate Dentist podcast episode 41 featuring Tarun Agarwal […]