Dentists Often Work with Their Spouse

Amazingly, fully 70% of the respondents to this survey said that they work with their spouse. The majority say they were romantically involved first, but some were coworkers before they dated.

Most warn of the dangers, but some love it. “Family is your best resource for dedicated and concerned staff. ” declared one dentist.

On the other hand, another said, “I am forever grateful that he has another job. We would have been long divorced if he had been working in the office I am sure! We’ve been married over 40 years but neither of us would have been happy with two bosses in the office.”

Here are some more comments:

• “Horrible idea. Hard to fire the person you live with.” (Kentucky dentist)
• “It’s often a terrible idea. I’ve worked at offices where the spouse was the office manager. Lots of turnover from having two bosses.” (Texas dentist)
• “I fired my first wife twice. My current wife is a team player. She is great to work with!” (Texas dentist)
• “Don’t do it.” (Georgia dentist)
• “Our personalities are different. My work style bothers her.” (California dentist)
• “It is the best thing that has ever happened to our practice. If I did not want to be around my wife all the time, I would not have married her. My practice has doubled since we began working together.” (Georgia dentist)
• “Having a solid relationship first is key.” (Massachusetts prosthodontist)
• “You need to be very careful to separate home and office.” (New Jersey dentist)
• “It is a great idea because we appreciate how hard both of us work, and who cares more about the business than your spouse?” (Illinois dentist)
• “For the good of the team, the wife has to walk a fine line not to be the super bitch.” (Wisconsin dentist)
• “It can be a catastrophically BAD idea to work with a spouse if the relationship is unhealthy. My (now-ex) husband used to complain to our assistants when we were not getting along. It undermined my relationship with the staff and made for a miserable team. He would get to work early and ‘warn’ everybody that I was in a bad mood when in fact, I was NOT. Then I would wonder why all of the staff was avoiding me… what a nightmare! It’s no wonder our marriage didn’t last.” (California dentist)