NMDA Journal Summer 2019

22 New Mexico Dental Journal, Summer 2019 I have a confession… I am a millennial. My generation, which is rough- ly defined as those people who were born between 1981–2001 and graduated from high school between 2000–2020—people who came of age around the turn of the Millennium. We have been accused of accelerating many of the changes that we see in society that drive ear- lier generations crazy. We are accused of killing napkins and chain res- taurants. We have little desire to settle down and pursue actual jobs. We are obsessed with technology and cannot part with our mobile de- vices. We love IPAs and avocado toast. It often seems that along with dentists, millennials are one of the last remaining groups of people that society finds it acceptable to over-generalize, scorn and mock. This attitude towards millennials also extends towards those who are newer dentists. There are several myths that dentists of a more seasoned vintage have about their newer colleagues. I have heard that we are lazy—more concerned about our interactions on social media than we are with our patients. Most of those criticisms are easy to dismiss as typical intergenerational stereotyping. Similar criticismwas directed towards baby boomers—don’t forget that the song“Kids”from the mu- sical Bye Bye Birdie was written about them! But one of the most ubiq- uitous myths is one that I heard at a recent dental meeting with many of our national leaders. One of our colleagues mentioned that millennials have no interest in owning their own dental practice. This is a statement that I hear frequently and I think that it is one that needs to be ad- dressed. So, let’s debunk it. A few things that you should remember: • The first class of millennials to graduate from dental school graduated in 2008. Their graduation present was the Great Recession. After the housing bubble, banks became more restrictive in their lending practices • The collapse of many of the baby boomer's retirement savings lead them to practice longer than they originally planned, which slowed the natural turnover cycle of dental practices. • This class of graduates was one of the first classes that came after several dental schools around the country opened. Don’t forget, several dental schools closed in the ‘90s, and several others decreased their class size. This trend is continuing—since I graduated from dental school in 2009, nine dental schools have opened across the country. My youngest brother graduated from dental school seven years after I did, and there were nearly 1,000 more dentists graduating across the country that year than when I graduated. • States began cutting support for higher education in the 1980s and have been on a downward trend ever since. Dental schools, which are one of the more expensive forms of post-graduate education, have not been immune from this movement. As such, public institutions have been aggressive in pursuing“out-of-state”students, who pay more in their tuition than“in-state”residents. Many schools have also created or expanded programs that educate international students. • Outside capital driven, in part, by the perception of untapped potential wealth in dentistry created by the“Cosmetic Boom,” explored ways to enter the marketplace, which eventually led to the creation of DSOs. Because these entities have capital, they have begun purchasing practices, leading to fewer available options for the young dentist who wants to pursue a solo practice. • Universities, in an effort to attract students (and their ability to easily access student loans), embarked on significant capital We (Millennials) Didn't Start the Fire By David Manzanares, DDS