Dental Unscripted | Getting into Ownership and Practice Management Insights

E60 - Why Your Associate Paycheck Is the Most Expensive Money You'll Ever Make

Published: September 4, 2026

Duration: 42:10

You're taking on a lot as an associate, the clinical liability, production quotas, the team drama, the no-shows, AND you're only keeping 30% of production. The other 10–20%... That's going to the owner of the practice. That's also equity you are building for someone else every year you wait to get into ownership.

Michael Dinsio and Paula Quinn lay out the five 'Opportunity Costs' that keep dentists stuck as associates when they should be building wealth through a dental practice startup. Paula Quinn shares how three years of ownership took her from "I'm going to be 100 before I can re...