How Your Patient's Periodontal Health is Similar To Your Own Personal Insurance

Let's say a patient walks into the surgery with a broken tooth.

You complete your consultation with xrays and discover deep periodontal pockets. As dentists, we know that healthy periodontal support is the foundation for every tooth. Without it, even the best crown will eventually fail. The same principle applies to financial planning. No matter how carefully you build your investments, retirement savings, or practice, they remain vulnerable without the right insurance in place.

Just as we look beyond the surface in dentistry, we must also look beneath the surface in financial planning.

A tooth may appear sound, but without strong periodontal support, it is at risk. In the same way, investments and lifestyle choices may look impressive on the outside, but without the hidden foundation of insurance, they are exposed to collapse. Income protection, disability insurance, and life cover form that essential foundation.

Income protection acts like the periodontal ligament, absorbing shocks and keeping your financial structure stable if illness or injury prevents you from working. Disability insurance, including trauma and total and permanent disability cover, provides long-term structural support, ensuring that if your ability to practice dentistry is affected, your financial health remains intact. Life insurance is the bone that anchors everything, providing your family with strength and security when you are no longer there to support them.

Without this hidden foundation, the visible parts of your financial plan cannot withstand pressure.

The challenge, of course, is that weaknesses in the foundation are not always obvious.

Patients often ignore periodontal disease until serious damage has already occurred. Insurance works in exactly the same way—many professionals underestimate the gaps in their cover until an unexpected event exposes them. By then, it is too late. Just as a strong periodontal foundation allows you to restore and maintain teeth for decades, the right insurance foundation ensures your family and finances remain secure when life does not go to plan.

This is why ongoing review is so important.

In dentistry, we schedule recall appointments to monitor oral health and catch changes early. Insurance requires the same discipline. The cover that suited you early in your career may no longer fit once you own a practice, have a mortgage, or are raising a family. Just as you would never advise a patient to stop attending recalls because “everything looked fine once,” your own insurance should not be left unchecked for years. Regular reviews make sure your cover still matches your needs and stage of life.

Want to touch base for a financial plan or insurances? Email me at ko@tfd.co.nz, always happy to have a chat. Interested in my free book, Want a free copy of my book: Retirement Planning For Dentist