The Growing Dentist

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The Growing Dentist Dr Andrew Choi is an internationally trained dentist enrolled in a two-year residency program at the University of Colorado School of Dentistry.

Sharing his growth through his dental career.

10/16/2026

Anxiety. I talk about it a lot.

I deal with anxiety. And I think that’s normal.

Not the kind where I can’t function. The kind where my mind is always running. Always calculating. Always worrying about the next decision, the next invoice, the next thing that could go wrong.

It shows up at work. It shows up at home. It shows up at 2am when I’m doing math in my head about a buildout I’m not sure is going to be done on time.

I used to think something was wrong with me. Now I realize it’s just the cost of building something that matters to you. If you care deeply, you’re going to feel deeply. That’s not a flaw. That’s the deal.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I hold onto that. Because most of what I’m building, I can’t see yet. The finished office. The team I’m growing into. The dentist I’m becoming. None of it exists yet. But I believe it will.

If you deal with anxiety, you’re not broken. You’re just in the middle of becoming something. And the middle is always the hardest part.

10/14/2026

3 mistakes I made during my buildout that I can’t take back.

I’m in the middle of building out a dental office from scratch. And I want to share the mistakes, not just the wins. Because nobody talks about the things you get wrong that you can’t undo once the walls are up.

My surgical room is too far from my lab. If you’re planning to do complex cases like All-on-X, your lab needs to be steps away from your surgical suite. When you’re in the middle of a full arch case and need to adjust something, you can’t be walking down the hall. I didn’t think about this early enough. Now I have to make it work.
I didn’t visit enough offices before I designed mine. If I could do it over, I would have walked through every office I aspire to be like. I would have studied the flow. How patients move through the space. How the rooms function. Where the systems break down and where they work. I would have taken notes on everything. The best ideas aren’t in textbooks. They’re in offices that are already doing it right.
I didn’t choose all my equipment before construction started. Your cabinetry dimensions, your electrical outlets, your plumbing, all of it is built around what equipment is going in each room. I didn’t have all of that figured out ahead of time. Now as I’m buying equipment, I’m making things fit instead of having everything built exactly right from the start.

These mistakes aren’t the end of the world. But they cost time, money, and stress that I could have avoided. If you’re building something, learn from mine so you don’t repeat them.

10/13/2026

Mic’d Up New Patient Consultation

Mic’d up. Inside a new patient consultation.

This is what it looks like when a new patient sits in my chair for the first time. No rushed exam. No confusing jargon. Just a real conversation about what’s going on in your mouth.

We take intraoral photos so you can see what I see. We do a full digital scan so I can walk you through every tooth on a screen right in front of you. No guessing. No wondering what the dentist is talking about.

I explain everything. What’s healthy. What needs attention. What can wait. And what can’t.

This is how we do it at our office. We believe every patient deserves to understand their own mouth. Not just be told what to do.

If you’ve been putting off the dentist, this is what your first visit looks like. It’s just a conversation.

10/12/2026

Software Switch Vlog

We switched our dental office software after years. Here’s how day one went.

Change is hard. Especially in a dental office where every minute matters and every system is connected to something else.

We made the switch because the old system wasn’t going to take us where we need to go. But knowing that doesn’t make day one any easier.

The front desk is learning new workflows. The hygienists are adjusting. My associate is figuring out charting all over again. My manager is holding it all together while troubleshooting in real time.

Nobody was comfortable. Nobody had all the answers. But everybody showed up and worked through it together.

That’s the part people don’t see. Growth isn’t just hiring more people or adding more rooms. Sometimes growth is your entire team sitting in discomfort together because you know the other side is better.

It won’t be smooth for a while. But smooth wasn’t getting us where we needed to go.

10/08/2026

If I die tomorrow, my family inherits $4.3 million in debt.

$3 million in real estate. $1.3 million in construction. That’s what it costs to build a dental office from scratch. Nobody talks about this part.

I just took out life insurance. And I’m still worried.

Some people go to concerts on weekends. They unplug. They forget about work. I don’t remember the last time I was able to unplug from my business. Even on vacation.

The loans are my choice. The risk is my choice. Nobody forced me into this. But that doesn’t make it light.

I got life insurance because if something happens to me, I don’t want the bank coming after my wife and my daughter. The bank doesn’t care about your family. They care about their money.

But here’s how I think about it. I’m not gambling. I’m investing in an asset that produces revenue. In a market where people will always need dentistry. With a tenant already paying rent. The risk is calculated. The life insurance is smart.

So I need to stop worrying and go build this thing. Because worry doesn’t add a single dollar to my bank account. The work does.

10/08/2026

Day 3 of transitioning PMS systems and the struggles that come with it. Daily diary

10/06/2026

E-Myth Revisited by Michael Ge**er.

If you own a business and you have to be there every day for it to run, you don’t own a business. You own a job.

This book breaks it down in the simplest way possible. A real business should be able to run without you. You should be working on the business, not in it. Building systems, building a team, building something that doesn’t fall apart the moment you walk out the door.

I’m far from it. I still show up every day. I’m still the biggest producer. If I leave for a week, things don’t run the same. That’s not a business yet. That’s me with employees.

But I’m on my way. And this book is where it started for me. If you’re a practice owner, a business owner, or thinking about becoming one, read this first. It will change how you see everything you’re building.

10/04/2026

I am learning to use Higgsfield. This is incredible.

10/01/2026

Spend 12 hour day with me
I am a dentist and a small business owner
Day in the life

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6216 Brockton Ave #112
Riverside, CA
92506

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