Having the right dental associate relationship can ease a dentist’s workload considerably and help add to the bottom line, but the wrong dental associate can lead to disaster and financial ruin.

Many dentists have been left unsatisfied by their dental associates, a The Wealthy Dentist survey found. Of the dentists who have had associate dentists two thirds of the respondents said they have had serious trouble with a dental associate in the past.

Complained one dentist: “My associate sexually harassed an assistant and did not deny it! Horrible experience.” Another advised, “Have everything, every detail, spelled out in a contract.”

Specialists were slightly more likely than general dentists to have had negative experiences with dental associates.

One dentist complained, “Associate DDS developed a relationship with an office employee. Associate resigned and opened a practice nearby taking two employees with him along with contact information for patients. Divorces followed and DDS is now married to the office employee. Lawsuit was settled out of court. The whole ‘affair’ was a nightmare.”

To hear more of what dentists had to say about their experiences with  dental associates, Click on Play to watch the following video–