Most dentists lump every bad day, every rough month, and every “I can’t do this anymore” moment into one word: burnout.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Laura Brenner, founder of the Dentist Side Gigs community and Lolabees, to unpack the real difference between being truly burned out and being completely misaligned with clinical dentistry. 

We get into:

Why so many dentists feel trapped by the identity of being “a dentist”

How to tell if you’re burned out vs. simply done with the four walls

The personality patterns Laura sees in dentists who struggle the most

Why dentistry attracts people-pleasers (and why that backfires)

The emotional weight of irreversible procedures

Why vacations fix burnout but don’t fix misalignment

Alex and I love forcing Just a Couple of Dentists down your throat every week. So do us a favor—don’t just accept it… tell your friends we’ve got plenty more where that came from.