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Dental Mentoring Series #5 – Poker Secrets That Will Transform Your Dental Career
Hosted by Dr David Keir
Poker and dentistry: an unlikely pair with more in common than you’d imagine!
Welcome to The Dental Mentoring Series, the series dedicated to helping dental graduates thrive in their careers. In this episode, Dr. David Keir reveals the surprising life lessons I learned from playing over a million hands of poker – and how they directly apply to your dental career.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why judging decisions by outcomes is holding you back
- How to handle “variance” when procedures don’t go as planned
- The dangerous concept of “tilt” and how it affects your treatment planning
- Why experience trumps theory every time
- The critical skill of knowing when to refer a case
These poker-inspired insights will transform how you approach difficult clinical situations, handle setbacks, and make treatment decisions. Whether you’re a new grad or experienced practitioner, these mental frameworks will help you maintain confidence and make better clinical judgments.
Ready to level up your dental game? Hit subscribe and share this episode with a colleague who could use these insights!
Key moments
00:00 – Introduction to Poker Lessons
03:10 – Decision Making with Limited Information
06:25 – Understanding Variance in Dentistry
09:21 – Recognizing Tilt and Poor Decisions
12:40 – Experience vs Theory in Practice
14:15 – Knowing When to Fold
16:21 – Reviewing Cases and Managing Resources
Thank you to our sponsors…
Dental Protection Limited
Dental Protection have proudly been supporting the Dental Head Start podcast since day one! The Dental Protection team understands the ever-changing challenges faced by denta
Published on 1 week ago