In this first episode of Dentistry Inspired, host Dr. Sean Robertson shares the keynote he delivered to the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry’s Class of 2029 at their White Coat Ceremony.

Through personal stories, interactive activities, and lessons drawn from experience, Sean explores the four pillars of empathy, leverage, opportunity, and confidence, the foundations for thriving in dental school and in practice.

This conversation is about more than starting a career in dentistry. It’s about learning how to protect your confidence when things get tough, how to use your hardest moments as leverage for growth, and how to keep your purpose at the center of your work. Whether you’re just beginning dental school or already deep into practice, this episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and envision the bigger, brighter future you want to create.

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Dr. Sean Robertson is the Lead Strategist and founder of Practice Advocate (www.practiceadvocate.ca). Practice Advocate provides freelance strategy services for dentists and private practice owners that includes practice valuations, practice sale facilitation, and concierge practice management coaching that focuses on sustainability, profitability, and fulfilment. Sean is also the Director of Integration, Partnerships, & Business Education at The Confident Clinician, a global evidence-based knowledge research base that integrates artificial intelligence capability to save medical practitioners time in the delivery of the highest level of care (www.theconfidentclinicianclub.com).

Sean has performed more than $300M in Canadian dental practice valuation work and supported practice ownership transfer since 2018. Sean teaches Practice Management for the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto and has guest lectured for the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University. He writes regularly for Ontario Dentist, The Journal of the Ontario Dental Association and has authored articles for Oral Health, a national journal for the profession of dentistry in Canada.

Dr. Robertson is regularly called upon by the major Canadian banks, dental associations, and dental support organizations to consult on trends, predictions, and perspectives in the Ontario and Canadian dental practice marketplace. He has completed in person training in communication and the art of negotiation with The Black Swan Group and Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator and author of Never Split The Difference. Sean has lectured at the Ontario Dental Association’s Annual Spring Meeting and the Canadian Dental Association on the topics of practice valuations, acquisitions, sales, and practice management. He contributed to the development of the Career Options Initiative with the Canadian Dental Association.

Sean is the author of two books: One, written for dentists is titled From DEBTistry to Dentistry: A buyer’s guide to successful transitions (2016) and the other, written for Integrative and Functional Medical Practitioners is titled, The Profitable Clinician: Why Clinician Fulfilment is Mandatory For Optimal Patient Care (2025).

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Thank you for listening.