Trevor Lines, DDS, of Dentists of Chandler (Ariz.), spoke with Becker's Nov. 10 to discuss what he hopes to see from the next generation of dental leaders.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What do you hope to see from the next generation of dental leaders?
Dr. Trevor Lines: The [baby boomers] were about wealth accumulation and growing. Gen Xers are about achievement. The millennials, the way I see it, are about having a balanced life. The Gen Zers want to solve the problems and really help us get to a more equitable society. So what I'm really excited about is to watch those leaders grow in their capacity to affect change in the world and thereby make things better for everyone across the board.
There is a steeply diminishing return on how much money is coming into your life. After basic needs are met, people do continue to get happier with the more money they make, but it's less and less. I think that the younger generation is going to find that sweet spot where they have enough for themselves, but they also want to raise the standard of living for everyone.
I'm excited to see what they do with Web3 technology, particularly because there are different ways to structure the economic engines and the businesses that will return value to all of the stakeholders rather than just the shareholders of the talk.