We Had Visitors

We were honored to have the Dean of SUNY/Buffal Dental School and his wife, also a dentist, visit our office the past two days. The Dean wanted to show his wife that there ARE dentists who love their work, do superb clinical dentistry and are honest and ethical in their profession. I cannot think of a better office for our guests to have visited.
Think about this: In the last WEEK,
1. A dentist travelled 5 hours for me to place a strong direct resin filling in his back tooth and for me to correct his bite (an occlusal equilibration.)
2. A young patient chipped her front tooth and travelled 3 hours from Boston where she lives for me to restore her tooth
3. Two dentists travelled 5 hours from Buffalo, NY to watch me work.
What is the message? Why would these folks travel hours for an opportunity to come to our beautiful office in Saratoga?
Those patients who really feel that their teeth and oral health are important clearly recognize that we love what we do, we do it well and we care enough so that we are honest and ethical and can be TRUSTED.
I am just doing the job that you hired me to do.
And I thank you for hiring me.

Dentist as Patient

Yesterday afternoon I treated a new patient who had travelled FIVE Hours to come to my office. Did he want veneers? Or did he have a serious dental problem that required a superior clinician? Dr L had broken a piece of natural tooth on the inside aspect of his lower left second molar (the place that cuts up your tongue until it is repaired). I asked him how he wanted me to repair his tooth. Did he want me to cut away his healthy remaining tooth for a new crown? Or did he want one of those beautiful, strong bonded white fillings that he had seen me post on the ACE Dental forum over the last 4 or 5 years? He told me that he had travelled 5 hours for me to keep as much natural tooth structure as I could and place a bonded white filling. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And after I did that for him, would I mind balancing out his bite (by doing an occlusal equilibration) that I was always talking about on the ACE forum.
Whenever another dentist selects me as their personal dentist, I feel honored and respected. And if I am doing the same treatment for my patients on a daily basis, I must be doing something right.
It is an honor to treat another dentist but I must tell you that I receive as much personal satisfaction each time one of YOU, my regular patients, are in my chair.
Thank you for selecting me as your dentist

Even young folks can recognize quality

Last year a young man came to my office for a new patient dental checkup after he had visited my website and saw examples of beautiful dentistry. He really wanted to have veneers because he had large gaps in his front teeth. A clinical exam and a study of his new x-rays revealed that he had decay in every single one of his teeth that were fixed by a dentist just 10 months before.I successfully convinced the young man to restore all of decayed back teeth before worrying about correcting his esthetic concerns. X-rays and digital photographs DOCUMENTED the tooth decay under all of his fillings and after 16 hours in the dental chair, we had replaced the defective fillings with beautiful, new, strong and functional bonded white fillings.
Yesterday the young man's sister and mother came to my office after an hour and a half trip from Vermont. His Mother had gone to the same dentist for her dental care and she was convinced by her son that she needed to find a new dentist. His mom told me that, "she was tired of going to an average dentist because she could not trust him and it ended up costing more money." She concluded by saying that 'she wanted to go to the best like her son had.'
I am thrilled and honored to have been able to earn the trust of a young man barely out of his teens.
As I always tell you...We all need to search out good people to take care of us. Our health depends on it.

Toyota and dentistry

There is little doubt that the Toyota Car Corporation makes one of the best cars for the average car owner. Year after year, surveys confirm that Toyotas, are safe, reliable and their owners are among the most satisfied among all car owners. So why are Toyota sales declining and the company losing money and what does this have to do with dentistry and my office?
Many of us grew up with the belief (or were actually told by our parents) that the cream rises to the top and that if you were among the best at what you did, folks would beat a path to your doorway and you would be successful. One of my friends repeated an old cliche while at dinner when she said, "If you build a better mouse trap people would come."
The fact is that building great cars or doing wonderful dentistry no longer translates into how well you will do in business. I haven't put my finger on it, but there has been a fundamental change in our thinking as a country. We don't automatically look for 'the best' and that is probably due to the fact that it is hard to trust. If you can't trust car companies or dentists, you might as well buy the cheapest. Excellence costs more in the beginning but it has greater value long term. Please buy excellence.

Financial Advisors and Dentistry

I just got off of the phone with a Financial Advisor from Fidelity Investments since I didn't have any patients scheduled today. I was struck by the fact that there is so little certainty in the area of investing and even the best investing minds in the world still make decisions with other folks money with very little certainty about what they do.
Dentistry, on the other hand, when done by a really fine dentist has just about the highest degree of certainty in outcome. When I refer you to one of my specialists for an implant, a root canal or some modification to your gum tissue, I have the highest degree of certainty that the outcome is going to be in the 95% range. When I present you with a treatment plan for extensive dentistry or even how I would treat a few of your teeth, in my mind, I believe that I will be successful 99% of the time. Why? Because that is my track record. My first root canal and crown that I did for John B in 1980 is STILL IN HIS MOUTH 29 YEARS LATER.
When I invest my money for retirement (such an evil word) with Fidelity or any of the other companies, I am "hopeful" that my money will be preserved and grow for the future. When I do fine restorative dentistry for you, I am confident that we will have PREDICTABLE, long term success in permitting you to keep your teeth for many years.
Excellence in dentistry is NOT a given and you will have to search to find a dentist who is excellent in what he or she does and loves to do dentistry. You can trust me when you put your dental health in my hands. I wish I could have as much confidence in my Financial Advisor that you have in me.

What Other Dentists Say About My Work

I am so very lucky in my professional career. It seems like everyday one of my colleagues has something good to say about my work. I am in AWE of other dentists' most kind and genuine comments about the work that I place on the internet. Dentists are like folks that cut hair at a quality salon. They indignantly ask who cut your hair or who fixed your teeth because they want to offer a negative comment about the person that recently took care of you. I recently posted some photos of beautifully bonded strong resin fillings in back teeth and this is what another dentist has to say when HE posted some of his own similar work:

"With some recent posts by Gerald displaying his fantastic skills and creativity I thought it might be interesting to open the dialogue to explore the use of these materials in places that previously I only considered Indirect restorations.
I feel very strongly that when placed well these materials will last a very long time and when they begin to show signs of need, they can be repaired, replaced, or we can advance to more aggressive treatment modes if necessary."

Dr. Dennie Jenkins only knows me by the work that I have placed on the ACE dental forum. His comment on the forum is seen world wide and I am honored to have him mention MY work in his post. From a professional standpoint, it just does not get any better than this.

I thank Dr. Jenkins for his comments and I thank you for selecting me as the person that you trust to take care of you. I promise you that I will never,ever abuse your trust.

The Next Generation

It is an obligation of all of us to help prepare the next generation care for and lead the nation after we 'retire from life.' I do not believe that anyone would argue with that statement.
For the last 5 years I have made an attempt to reach out to younger dentists to help them take the path of excellence to provide great dentistry for their patients. Sometimes young dentists call me because an older dentist or specialist told them that that is what they needed to do. Other times, I call young dentists and ask them if they would like to join me for dinner so that we can get to know each other. I do this so that we help our young colleagues decide whether to go down the path of mediocrity or become a master at their craft.
I must be honest with you when I tell you that the old dentists of Troy hated when a young dentist moved into town. They wouldn't socialize with us, they would not offer help or advice in running a dental practice or how to improve our techniques.
I vowed many years ago that when I became an 'older dentist' that I would be generous with my time and knowledge so that young dentists can have the wonderful career in dentistry that I have had.
Last night I hosted four young dentists in a nice restaurant in Saratoga Springs and it was really a great experience for all of us. We are ethically and professionally obligated to support our young professionals as they move from new dentists to established clinicians.
PS. I am going to be restoring teeth for a long time to come.

"I Want You to be My Dentist"

It is always a great honor when another dentist selects me to be their dentist. It is more impressive when the dentist is from out of town, will travel 4 hours and knows me only by my work that he has seen on the internet.
I have been communicating by email with this young dentist from Pennsylvania for several years and he recently broke a back tooth and doesn't want his tooth cut down for a crown. I have become nationally recognized for my ability to place beautiful and strong bonded white fillings in back teeth with minimal removal of natural tooth structure.
I am always thrilled when a patient selects ME as their dentist because of my reputation for giving my patients fine restorative dentistry rather than because I am located down the street from their home or office.
I have many dentists as patients and I am honored to be 'the dentists dentist.' Perhaps this will give YOU food for thought and select the dentist that other dentists select as their dentist....I hope so.

Honored again

I have been mentoring a young dentist from India via the internet and emails. He asks me questions about materials or techniques that I use so that he can achieve excellence when treating his patients. I received some premier bonding resins worth about $500 but that I knew that I would never use. I mailed my young friend from India the resin along with the technique that I use to place the resin. Several weeks later, my friend sent me photos of children being fed at a local ophanage in India. He fed the children as a way of showing his appreciation for what I was doing for him. He also told the children about me and why he was doing what he was doing.
I was deeply touched by his most generous gift to me. I have NEVER received a better gift in my entire life.
I have lived a most blessed life.

I Have Been Honored

It is always an honor to be asked to give a presentation to your colleagues. Local dentists are rarely asked to give lectures locally because professionals feel a little threatened that one of their own is recognized in a particular area of study. What you also may not know is that learning is a very exhilarating yet scary process. Why is it scary? Because learning confirms our worst fears as a professional that indeed, we do not know much about what we are doing for patients on a daily basis. You can trust me when I tell you that my sole purpose in presenting a lecture is to help my young colleagues learn how to predictably achieve excellence when treating their own patients.
It is pretty amazing the Drs. Banchs and Byrnes, the endodontists at 18 Division Street, had the dream and for sight to establish a high quality and FREE learning center for Saratoga dentists so that the entire dental community can move towards excellence as a group. I would like to thank Drs. Banchs and Byrnes for the opportunity to learn.
All of us are much better off when the people that take care of us are very knowledgeable.