Anne: Hi everybody. It's Anne Duffy and welcome to dental entrepreneur's, the future of dentistry is podcast. I am so glad you're here today. And I'm so excited about my dear friend. Dr. Sharon Parsons is joining me today. Hello, Sharon. How are you?
Dr. Parsons: Hi, Anne. I'm great. I'm happy to be here. How are you?
Anne: I'm doing great.
I'm doing great. thank you for being the vice president of our Dental Entrepreneur Board. I appreciate you and Mary Fisher Day taking on the presidency and the vice presidency. And that was the kind of a new thing that we did today. So that's very cool.
Dr. Parsons: Yeah, I'm happy to do that.
And I think it's gonna really help to kind of move the needle forward.
Anne: Yeah, I think so too. There's so much. It's like a sleeping giant dental entrepreneur. If you're listening out there, keep spreading the word about dental entrepreneur, the future of dentistry people, you can write for us, you can be featured, you can share your stories.
That's what we love. and I also love talking to icons of dentistry. So let me tell you a little bit about Sharon before we get started. Dr. Sharon Parsons graduated from the Ohio State University College of Dentistry in 1981. She currently owns a group practice in Columbus, Ohio. She is a member of many professional organizations, including the Pierre Fichard Academy, the International American College of Dentists and the Academy of Operative Dentistry.
She was the recipient of the Lucy Homps Humanitarian Award and the Icons of Dentistry Award, which is where Sharon and I met so many years ago, and we have become fast friends since that first moment. Sharon, again, so glad you're here today to talk about dentistry.
Dr. Parsons: It's one of my favorite topics.
So I'm glad to be here.
Anne: I'm so glad to. And we started recording it, we were reminiscing about, the early days of our careers. And tell me a little bit about, how you got started in dentistry and what that looked like, Sharon. Oh boy.
Dr. Parsons: I grew up in a smaller town and my orthodontist used to talk to me about maybe being a dentist and, what popped out of my mouth was girls aren't dentists.
Because I didn't ever see a female dentist. I, saw women as teachers and nurses that kind of thing. I knew that women had been physicians, but I'd never seen a female dentist. I started to look into it and decided what maybe that is for me.
Once I set my sights on that there was no stopping me. I, found a way to get into dental school. And at that point in time, there were only 10 percent females in my class and in most classes. So that's how the whole thing started. I would love to say that I had all female mentors, but most of my mentors were men.
Anne: that's all right. That's we love men, a lot of you that are listening, know that we started dental entrepreneur woman, kind of a spawn off of dental entrepreneur, but we never want to replace the men. We love men. We want to just sit at the table with them.
And you've certainly been a great example of a woman. impacting our industry, but you started off a little bit not slow, I guess, but I forgot that you said you did a little bit part time because your husband traveled all the time. Tell me a little bit about that, how you got started with your career.
Dr. Parsons: When I first started worked for other people. I was an associate in three different practices. And after I got married and had children, my husband at the time was in sales. So he traveled. He was gone from Monday through Friday. And I was a single mom. And after a couple years of having two kids and working five days a week and.
Being by myself, it just got to be too much. I was just worn out. The kids were frustrated. It was hard to keep babysitters hard to find child care. I was lucky enough that I was in a group practice and I could drop back into part time. And I did that for a few years while I was raising my kids.
Once the kids got older then I went to full time again and. I discovered some things that I, was good at and have added to my repertoire as well as practicing dentistry, but practicing dentistry has always just been a passion. I'm so glad that I found the profession.
I think it's something that you need to have a love for it's not always easy. anytime you deal with people, it's not easy and sometimes the technical part of it is not easy. There's so much of it that is rewarding, so glad that's the path I chose.
Anne: in that journey then, when did you buy your own practice?
Dr. Parsons: Later on in my career probably 15 years ago. only 15 years
Anne: ago. Wow. Okay.
Dr. Parsons: yeah, that point in time, I knew that the business, of dentistry was also going to take some time.
So I wanted to have time for my kids. And if you know me, it probably seems like that would be an odd choice for me, but looking back those of you who don't know me, I lost my older son. Nine years ago to an opioid overdose. So that's time I never would have gotten back. had I said, gosh, you know what I'll make up for later on, there wouldn't have been any making up for it.
So for me, it ended up being the right choice. It's not the right choice for everyone. And, you know, not everyone has that option. But I was fortunate that I did have the option and that I chose to go that way. Now, obviously I didn't make nearly as much money. And I made that trade off.
Anne: So then you practiced for quite a while before you started your practice. So I think it's, a good lesson for people listening. You know, You don't have to do everything, early on. Bust your butt and get worn out and get burnt out. that's a beautiful part about dentistry.
And when you said that about working part time I, I'm a hygienist that retired after 46 years. And I love the fact because Tom traveled all the time, my husband somebody does have to anchor the home fires, right? especially if your husband's traveling, Monday through Friday, Tom was usually, a Tuesday through Thursday night, except when we got transferred and then it was like, a couple of months of like heavy travel.
It was nice to be able to have that part time and not have to worry about everything. Sometimes you have to be ready for the enormity of all the business decisions that you have to make as an owner, but it is a goal that I want all of our listeners to know that don't give up on your goals.
If that is a goal that you want, nobody's timeframe is like your timeframe. usually happens in the right place at the right time. And you have to trust that journey.
Dr. Parsons: I always thought that's what I wanted to do. I was just trying to wait until I thought.
The time was right for me. Sometimes I got frustrated. I watched some of my friends they were, doing better than me financially. And, they maybe had expanded more in their careers. But as I said before I had to balance that I still think I made the right choice.
I wouldn't trade that time that I had with my kids for anything.
Anne: Wow, that is so cool because you know, we, you and I are so much alike in the fact that we're late bloomers, right? Because, okay, so fast forward, you have excelled in organized dentistry. When I met you, you were the incoming president, I believe of the Ohio Dental Association, which you're the third woman to have gained that distinction, not an easy distinction You have a very good organization in Ohio. The ODA is, amazing. you've acquired so many things. Again, Lucy Hobbs, humanitarian award, the icons of dentistry award.
I was so honored you receive that. How do you measure success now? How
Dr. Parsons: do I measure success? by do I feel at the end of the day? do I feel like I have made a difference? Whether it's in my office, if it's a day that I'm practicing dentistry all day, obviously you have frustrating days, anytime you work with patients, it can be difficult.
for me, I have to feel good about what I did. When I first started out one of my first jobs, I worked with an owner dentist who really pushed me for production. I had to see, X number of patients. I had to do this and I had to do this in a certain amount of time. And I would come home at night and just cry because I just didn't feel like I had been able to do my best job.
So I had to get out of And even though I was making more money, I was so much happier when I got in a practice that appreciated quality and let me work at my own pace. Let me, have a lot of autonomy encouraged me to do my best, that's what I wanted.
That was success. I may not have produced as much. I may not have made quite as much money, but I was so much richer in other ways and I wasn't getting burned out like I was at the other job. I think that in dentistry and our profession, there are so many aspects to it. And I think sometimes when you're young, you just, have blinders on, and you're looking at the short game.
You're looking at, you know, what I'm doing right now, and what are my friends doing, and what are they producing, and I want this, and I want that, and I need this much money. And, you're on that treadmill. And you don't realize how much it's wearing you out and the toll that it's taking on you until one day you wake up and you're burned out and you don't want to go into work.
So I always want to go into work. I love what I do. And I think sometimes you just kind of have to take a step back and balance that. Money's important. Don't get me wrong. We all need to pay our bills we went to school for a long time. So I'm not pooh poohing making money and I'm not pooh poohing the salary, but I think sometimes we have to look at the long game and see, you know, do you want in the long run?
How do you want to feel about yourself?
Anne: It's a great answer because do think that. That so much emphasis is put on production that you don't have a chance to like really understand the dentistry is a long game.
I'm like, I practice 46 years and I know many years have you been practicing now altogether
Dr. Parsons: 43 years.
Anne: Yeah. So 43 years. And you still love it. I cannot believe it. But you're doing what? Three days a week now. You own your own practice. You have two associates. Right. Very successful. A really cool, bougie little town in Columbus, Ohio.
Or bougie section of it. I mean, I like the fact that it's an old kind of an old building, isn't it?
Dr. Parsons: a,
well,
it started as a furniture store. But it's kind of a larger building and yeah, the practice has been around for 60 some years.
Wow. Obviously, I wasn't in it the whole time. I'm not that old, but, um, But you know, the
Anne: grandkids,
Dr. Parsons: The parents
Anne: the grandparents, and their kids.
Dr. Parsons: I have patients there who've told me that they've been patients in that office for over 50 years.
this office has always stressed quality. And patients know that, and patients refer other patients. That is my marketing. My marketing is done by my patients.
Anne: You said that you don't spend any money on marketing because it's all internal, which is, hello, We always say dentistry is a relationship, relationship ai That sounds like, a luxurious dental practice to have that you don't even have to put an ad out because your patients are your best marketers. They're bringing their friends, they're bringing their family and they're sticking with you.
Dr. Parsons: what was the movie? If you build it, they will come.
Anne: Field of dreams.
Dr. Parsons: Yes. And I think, if you, do. The right thing. If you treat your patients the way you want to be treated and build trust, because it's invasive.
Let's be real. you're not just working on someone's body. You're working inside their body. And that's an invasive thing. And if you can build trust with your patients then they believe you when you tell them what they need and they know that you have their best interest in heart.
I think that's what built a practice, then you always feel good about it. There will be patients that come in the door, you will have work to do. You don't have to try to create work. It will already be there. And it doesn't happen overnight. I don't want people to think, you just flip a switch and it happens.
It does take a little bit of time, but if you can nurture that, it is so rewarding. there's not a day that goes by that I don't have a patient hug me. Oh, wow. I've been to weddings and funerals and you know, they feel like extended family. Some of them.
Anne: They care about you and you care about them.
And I mean, that's a great way to have a career said, you're going to watch Parks and Rec, you're the Leslie Knopes of dentistry. You're also doing things in your community and you're, taking a stand politically in those, arenas.
you're invested not only in the community, but in the people. And, isn't that a rich life? That just sounds like something you can look back on. And speaking of that, both of us are, looking a little bit to the future now.
What would you want your legacy to be, Sharon?
Dr. Parsons: that I cared and that I made a difference. I want to have left the things that I've touched better than I found them.
Anne: the Ohio Dental Association, including your community, including every patient that walks in the door. make it almost seem so easy to build this career.
It's old fashioned in some regards, Sharon, but you're, always learning. You just changed. all your software. I'm just like, Oh my God,
Dr. Parsons: other than Me buying the practice and being in this certain practice.
Most of the things that have happened in my life have just been by accident. I've just stepped into it or somebody has asked me and I said, yes. I always belong to organized dentistry. But I was really not involved other than to go to some meetings. my associate was very involved.
And I know she had wanted to get me involved, but I was a little hesitant. So when we got a ballot that came in the mail to vote on, who we wanted to be, you know, president, vice president, who we wanted to be a delegate to the Ohio Dental Association in your meeting I'm looking through it and decided who I'm going to pick and I see my name.
Now, I didn't put my name in there. That's the first I heard of it. She snuck it in there and I thought, oh, you know what? I didn't even write a bio. Nobody knows me. I don't need to worry about this. But I did. I did get elected to be a delegate, and that showed me some things piqued my interest.
And then I started to get involved because I saw people that were involved that were not very invested that were doing it. For themselves and not to try to better dentistry. And I thought I could do better than that jerk. So it kind of made me mad. so I probably did everything for the wrong reasons, but somehow it worked.
a little uh, older man came into my office and said he wanted to start a special improvement district on the street where my, office is. And, you know, would I sign his petition? And I signed his petition and he came back and talked to me and 1 thing led to another and I was chair of the, Special Improvement District.
I didn't plan any of that. It just happened and they were, happy accidents.
Anne: Yeah, happy accidents. But again, remember, you not only said yes, you showed up, you did the work and you continue to learn. I want to talk a little bit before we get off about your special commitment because of Sean's.
And what that has done to so many people, the opioid crisis that we have going on right now. Just tell our listeners a little bit about that, if you would, Sharon, because it's something that needs to be shared.
Dr. Parsons: He was in college. He, did a stupid thing and hurt himself. It didn't want me to know because it's something I told him not to do. He was Riding dirt bikes during finals week, which is, you know, a total boy thing. So he didn't go to the er, he didn't go to urgent care, he was in college and a guy living next to him off campus handed him four pills, told him to take them and, he'd be fine to take his finals.
Apparently he was, and he liked them and he went back for more. And that led to him becoming addicted to Oxycontin after a very arduous. Five or six years of addiction. He had an overdose and died. I realized afterwards in talking to people that we as prescribers didn't understand were doing what we've been taught to do in school as far as prescribing, you know, pain relievers for patients because, you know, you don't want anybody to be suffering. But I learned that, you certain age groups. are more vulnerable to addiction, between the 13 and 26 year old population, they're five times more likely to become addicted if they are exposed to an opioid.
And I thought, you know what? I didn't know this. I bet. Most prescribers don't know this, was a big gap between the education that we had gotten, a long time ago and what the story was now. So I educated myself and through another series of accidents, I found myself doing public speaking about this issue and I've helped to make it mandatory.
For health care providers to have education on opioids and addiction in order to have a D. E. A. License. In order to prescribe. So I've done this all over the country. I gave a course at the ADA. I've given courses at the ODA and, you know, other groups that invite me. And I also have a nonprofit, A Voice for Sean, it just exists to provide education.
It's a place where people can get resources and we advocate. So I also, try to give dental health supplies, dental hygiene supplies to patients in the Suboxone programs at rehabs. Suboxone is a medically assisted rehabilitation. method, but it's something that they put on their tongue and something in it really makes it easy for the teeth to decay.
so I, try to give supplies so that we can help a little bit.
Anne: I would say you're helping a lot. And the fact that that didn't even come up when you were talking about your legacy. Your legacy is that you, can look in your mirror, Sharon, you have done, a great job.
I would say well done, good and faithful servant to not only our profession, but to the world at large. So I just thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a dear friend of mine, a dear friend to so many, and podcast today.
Dr. Parsons: Pleasure.
Anne: Thank you. Love you. Love
Dr. Parsons: you too. Everybody,
Anne: if you're listening today, remember the most important thing you can do is to keep doing you.
And I ask you if you've heard this podcast today, please share it with your friends, share it with your colleagues. I hope they learned something and I hope they'll come back and listen again. Thanks so much, everybody. Have a great day.
