Some of the most disconcerting things a dentist will encounter in their careers are the surprise effects of recessions for which we were unprepared for. This is often a surprise for us as healthcare professionals since we have been historically regarded as having “recession-proof” jobs. However, due to the unprecedented growth in the number of healthcare providers, there are areas of practice (physical location and services offered) that have incredible overlap and density of providers that make competition and susceptibility to market forces undeniable. Healthcare is one of those industries that have characteristics of necessities and commodities at the same time and rather than dwelling on it being susceptible to market forces, we can leverage this duality to protect the business to a certain degree from contraction during a down market. Two goals of recession preparation should be 1) reduce fluctuations in income for the business and for employees, and 2) reduce or eliminate loss o...