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Cheerleader/deceiver/optimistic guy checking in.. 
The military option is great if you are leaving the military without debt, but you would have to take into consideration the opportunity cost of the years in the military. From a business perspective, you would have to consider whether having a large debt would limit your ability to borrow/leverage in order to purchase or start an office. If the amount of debt that you have does not prevent you from borrowing further to start an office, then why would it matter so much if debt = 0 at the end of military service v. debt = x. What I mean by this is:
If I had 500k in debt, and I was able to secure an additional 200k to borrow money even if I had the existing debt to start an office, then why would I be too concerned about the 500k debt if that 200k "leveraged" investment has the potential to make a lot more money than both combined. Now, if that debt prevented me from borrowing to start an office, then I would need to ensure that I had a sufficient savings rate of at least 10k/month (get paid a 1099 under a company that you start in the beginning to buy equipment that you can section 179 immediately for expensing rather than depreciation so you can write off most of your future equipment) to be able to start an office for cheap within a year after COL + debt service has been paid. At the same time, if I had the flexibility to move anywhere and everywhere to make lots of money to get a better financial footing, why wouldn't I? If I was bound by family, my significant other SHOULD see the benefit for the whole family to move wherever it takes to make lots of $$. This is my line of thinking at least. It's an aggressive POV to life, but I'd rather have negative net worth and have the potential to turn that positive quickly (via high cash flow/income stream) than to have 0 net worth (loan forgiveness) and have lower potential to make money at a given point of time. More debt for the health of a company (or individual) is never good, but if you had the choice to take out 700k in student loans v. sticking to a 10k-99k job without any upward mobility, I'd probably be grateful at the chance to take a 700k loan, BUT, you better have a good plan to keep afloat in the debt servicing and escape the massive debt. The lower the debt, the better, but if you had to swallow the bitter pill of a higher debt because you had no choice (no one else took you), then I'd still take the chance. Now, if you had the choice between state school and private school and you chose private, that's on you. A DDS/DMD is a DDS/DMD, regardless of what school you come from.
Psychologically, I think it feels good to have no debt, but the only time I would worry about the debt is if my debt service was completely beyond what I could sustain (sinking ship). However, I think that we underestimate the income potential that dentists have IF you are willing to go where you are needed AND willing to produce to make that money. For those that say they have "family" or other "reasons", cant move, etc... those are your own limitations, but if you free yourself from those limitations, then the world is your oyster when it comes to producing in dentistry.
There seems to be two ways that people have discussed in terms of paying off your debt. This thread seems to focus more on budgeting and saving, but I'd go out on a contrarian limb and say that you should really be focused on making a ton of money. That's not to say that you can't do both, but you can only budget and save so much, but if you have nothing to budget, then it's pointless.
Now, for those that are thinking of jumping ship to another profession, you have to ask yourself these questions (not all inclusive, but thought questions):
1. How much am I making right now, is my job always going to be there, will my income go up proportionally to inflation (at the very least), and is there upward mobility in the job that I'm working at right now? These are important questions to consider as you might be content at 60k/year as a single person, but what about kids, college, retirement, etc... That's why I think it's depressing to think about a 50-99k salary, because even then, with COL/major life events, do you really have anything in the end?
2. What lifestyle do I want? Am I happy at the current lifestyle? At my current job/profession, do I have the means to ever attain the lifestyle I seek? If not, what are the alternatives? Would dentistry provide the life that I want? Even if I hated dentistry, would I be willing to suck it up to have the life that I want to live? The last question pertains to job satisfaction, because in dentistry, you never really know if you like it or not until you're knee deep in the profession.
3. How many more years do I have to work? Treat changing a profession like an expensive investment that has potential for good or poor ROI. If you were in your 50's, you probably don't have that much time left to work if you started dentistry in your 50's. If you were in your 20's, you still have a good amount of time to recoup your initial investment and then some.
I still think that how hard you're willing to work and your location are two good determining factors of whether your office will succeed. The only way to really get out of the hole is to own your own practice(s). I'm actually winding down a little from the office, so my production has reduced about 6.5% in exchange for a few extra days off per month. This is what owning an office is about... being able to wind down and not be forced to work because you have to.
The military option is great if you are leaving the military without debt, but you would have to take into consideration the opportunity cost of the years in the military. From a business perspective, you would have to consider whether having a large debt would limit your ability to borrow/leverage in order to purchase or start an office. If the amount of debt that you have does not prevent you from borrowing further to start an office, then why would it matter so much if debt = 0 at the end of military service v. debt = x. What I mean by this is:
If I had 500k in debt, and I was able to secure an additional 200k to borrow money even if I had the existing debt to start an office, then why would I be too concerned about the 500k debt if that 200k "leveraged" investment has the potential to make a lot more money than both combined. Now, if that debt prevented me from borrowing to start an office, then I would need to ensure that I had a sufficient savings rate of at least 10k/month (get paid a 1099 under a company that you start in the beginning to buy equipment that you can section 179 immediately for expensing rather than depreciation so you can write off most of your future equipment) to be able to start an office for cheap within a year after COL + debt service has been paid. At the same time, if I had the flexibility to move anywhere and everywhere to make lots of money to get a better financial footing, why wouldn't I? If I was bound by family, my significant other SHOULD see the benefit for the whole family to move wherever it takes to make lots of $$. This is my line of thinking at least. It's an aggressive POV to life, but I'd rather have negative net worth and have the potential to turn that positive quickly (via high cash flow/income stream) than to have 0 net worth (loan forgiveness) and have lower potential to make money at a given point of time. More debt for the health of a company (or individual) is never good, but if you had the choice to take out 700k in student loans v. sticking to a 10k-99k job without any upward mobility, I'd probably be grateful at the chance to take a 700k loan, BUT, you better have a good plan to keep afloat in the debt servicing and escape the massive debt. The lower the debt, the better, but if you had to swallow the bitter pill of a higher debt because you had no choice (no one else took you), then I'd still take the chance. Now, if you had the choice between state school and private school and you chose private, that's on you. A DDS/DMD is a DDS/DMD, regardless of what school you come from.
Psychologically, I think it feels good to have no debt, but the only time I would worry about the debt is if my debt service was completely beyond what I could sustain (sinking ship). However, I think that we underestimate the income potential that dentists have IF you are willing to go where you are needed AND willing to produce to make that money. For those that say they have "family" or other "reasons", cant move, etc... those are your own limitations, but if you free yourself from those limitations, then the world is your oyster when it comes to producing in dentistry.
There seems to be two ways that people have discussed in terms of paying off your debt. This thread seems to focus more on budgeting and saving, but I'd go out on a contrarian limb and say that you should really be focused on making a ton of money. That's not to say that you can't do both, but you can only budget and save so much, but if you have nothing to budget, then it's pointless.
Now, for those that are thinking of jumping ship to another profession, you have to ask yourself these questions (not all inclusive, but thought questions):
1. How much am I making right now, is my job always going to be there, will my income go up proportionally to inflation (at the very least), and is there upward mobility in the job that I'm working at right now? These are important questions to consider as you might be content at 60k/year as a single person, but what about kids, college, retirement, etc... That's why I think it's depressing to think about a 50-99k salary, because even then, with COL/major life events, do you really have anything in the end?
2. What lifestyle do I want? Am I happy at the current lifestyle? At my current job/profession, do I have the means to ever attain the lifestyle I seek? If not, what are the alternatives? Would dentistry provide the life that I want? Even if I hated dentistry, would I be willing to suck it up to have the life that I want to live? The last question pertains to job satisfaction, because in dentistry, you never really know if you like it or not until you're knee deep in the profession.
3. How many more years do I have to work? Treat changing a profession like an expensive investment that has potential for good or poor ROI. If you were in your 50's, you probably don't have that much time left to work if you started dentistry in your 50's. If you were in your 20's, you still have a good amount of time to recoup your initial investment and then some.
I still think that how hard you're willing to work and your location are two good determining factors of whether your office will succeed. The only way to really get out of the hole is to own your own practice(s). I'm actually winding down a little from the office, so my production has reduced about 6.5% in exchange for a few extra days off per month. This is what owning an office is about... being able to wind down and not be forced to work because you have to.
