My Brother-In-Law's Teeth

In 1997, I began treating my wife's family. Her brother told me that if I started to take care of them, I would become their full time dentist.
Six or seven years ago Susan's brother moved from the Buffalo area to Huntsville, Alabama. Gary has had three root canals and each of them has failed. How is that possible since two root canals were performed by specialists and one done by a general dentist. My good friend Francisco Banchs, one of the best endodontists in the world believes that specialists are no longer special and I agree with him.

What is the world coming to when you can't trust people to take care of us?

Mediocrity

"Averageness: A quality of being adequate or acceptable, but not very good."

This is the definition that I found on one website. What does this mean when we are talking about a physician or a dentist? It means that the dentist does not know his or her subject matter very well but still continues to provide the treatment despite a lack of thorough knowledge of the subject. Or it means that the dentist does not CARE enough about their patient and "good enough is good enough." And more, it means that I can make all the money that I want with my current but inadequate knowledge.

Mediocrity is totally unacceptable when caring for another individual and yet many if not the majority of patients knowing select a mediocre doctor to take care of them. How or why is this possible? Many patients KNOW that their physician or dentist is average but he or she:

1. Takes my insurance and I don't have to pay a co-pay.
2. Is close to my home or office
3. I have been going to that office for a long time

If a physician or dentist KNOWS that they are mediocre but that they have plenty of patients then the dentists convinces themselves that mediocrity is 'ok' because that is what patients want anyway.

Mediocrity is never acceptable in my office or the offices of the specialists that I refer you to. It is never acceptable for me to become mediocre or average.I promise you that I will retire the day I can't take care of you a the highest level or Tricia or Jeanine tells me that I no longer have 'it.'

If someone wants a mediocre dentist for a low fee, then I will not be their dentist.

A dentist posted the following on a dental blog:
My concern is the day I had issues with an implant. I posted a question. Within minutes while my patient was in the chair, I had helpful texts, calls to my office and emails. How many are going to monitor this enough to do that? And most importantly, are all of my Facebook friends going to see that I didn't know what the heck I was doing?!?!

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!

What Others Say About My Work

I am fairly well known in the dental community and my work has long been recognized as a standard of excellence. This is what a dentist posted on the IDF (International Dental Forum) today:

Howard, I too admire Gerald’s work but I use a multi-chromatic material…a nanocomposite called Artiste. I do not like to depend on the chameleon affect. Gerald gets beautiful results with a minimum number of materials. I need a bucket full to get something that I like. I too see this too being whiter than the adjacent. The material I use has a base and an enamel shade for all the Ivoclar shades. I love Gerald’s stuff but would like to see what he could do with more shades…probably blazingly beautiful.

I truly want to be the very best that I can be so that when a patient comes to my office, they will know that I passionately care about what I do so that they will be taken care of at the highest possible level.

Thirty Five Years

Tomorrow marks the 35th anniversary of my graduation from SUNY/Buffalo School of Dentistry.

I have always tried to be 'good' at the things that I attempted.I ran high school track and cross country on one of the best high school teams in the nation...And I managed to win 5 metals despite being very short for a quarter miler.

In 1972, I purchased a camera and started taking thousands of pictures in the hope of being excellent.I had a great childhood mentor in photography in Neil Leifer, the greatest sports photographer of our time. My goal was to win some photo contests and I managed to do that as well.

Being a dentist is different though. This job is not about me but rather my patient. Oh yes, I have won a no holds barred national cosmetic contest and I have managed to become nationally recognized for direct bonding but that is not what is important.

What is important is taking care of you in the best possible way by trying to do exceptional dentistry.

If I had to give myself a grade at the 35 year point, I would have to use the word that Newton Fahl, the world's greatest adhesive dentist used in describing my work as he walked around the room speaking to each course member. The word he used was 'EXCEPTIONAL.'

My career has been exceptional because no dental school in the country believed that I should become a dentist. I would like to thank Dr. Joseph Accardo of Niagara Falls , NY for believing in me and fighting to give me a chance. Were it not for Dr. Accardo, I would not be doing what I do today.

Dentistry remains my favorite thing to do.

What You MUST Understand

As many of my patients know, I was injured in a car accident in 1976 just as I was about to enter my senior year of dental school. I had my right leg amputated and reattached in one of the world's first limb reattachments. Over the years, the pain in my knee has worsened and my limp has become more pronounced. Last year I consulted with a physician who deals with traumatic injuries and the rehabilitation that follows those injuries. I was told that I needed a knee replacement but that I did not have sufficient muscles to support an artificial replacement.

I recently called up my friend and physical therapist, Tony DeMatteo and asked him for the name of THE BEST knee surgeon that he knew and he immedicately came up with two of the very best, Dr. Thomas Sculco at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC and Dr. James Andrews of Alabama. Yesterday I consulted with Dr. Sculco and he looked at the x-rays, examined my knee and leg and informed me that he would do a knee replacement any time I wanted.

I smiled when I told Dr. Sculco about my local doctor and then I said, "I know how mediocre the average dentist is and I can only assume that your colleagues are no different than mine." He nodded in agreement.

When you seek out and are treated by THE BEST physicians and dentists, you will receive treatment that is so superior to what the average health care provider will offer you. You must accept the fact that mediocrity is available on every corner in America and the finding doctors who practice and believe in EXCELLENCE will take extra effort on your part...And guess what? It will cost more! But then again, aren't YOU worth it?

He Is Expensive

Several times a week a patient will relate to me that when they are discussing their dental treatment to a friend, family member or co-worker that my patient will mention my name and the response that they almost always receive is, "Well Dr. Benjamin is expensive." My patients are very defensive of me, my office and my work and usually respond with something like,"Well he is the best."

A few years ago I posted a blog in which a long time patient 'attacked' me when I walked into the hygiene room for a dental exam and said," I come here because you are very good but you are very expense." My response to that patient was, "Mrs. Smith, I certainly do appreciate the fact that you are my patient but your record on my computer says that I have not fixed a tooth for you in almost 15 years and all the work in your mouth is 17-22 YEARS old.

The fact is that I am NOT expensive at all. My success rate in a year is 99% which means that I virtually never have to redo my work and certainly not within the first 5 years. My work is complimented by dentists around the United States and in other parts of the world. And when one the top 5 restorative dentists in the WORLD says, "Jerry Benjamin from New York ... is a superb dentist who is really, really committed to EXCELLENCE." you know that you are getting VALUE for the money that you pay for treatment in my office.

What is REALLY EXPENSIVE is having a root canal fail and having to pay for it a second time. Or having a crown of questionable need placed on your tooth which costs you both your hard earned money and irreplaceable natural tooth structure. If someone does not understand something or they do not value their teeth, it is easy to condemn something as 'EXPENSIVE.'My patients understand that I will ALWAYS do my very best to take care of them and provide excellence in dental treatment whenever possible. But I will not lie to you and say that it does not bother me to be called 'EXPENSIVE.' It bothers me a great deal...but then those people that say that I cost too much never come to my office so they really do not understand.

Thank you for being my patient.

"The Best Dental School Lecture"

I made my annual visit to SUNY/Buffalo to lecture to the senior class about excellence in restorative dental treatment. Usually, I lecture to the entire senior class in the morning and then teach the eight 'esthetic students' how to perform advanced cosmetic precedures for the entire afternoon. This year was a little different because the senior dental students take their final exams next week and they 'needed' to study and could not attend my lecture. The students that attended my course were promised at the beginning of the day that I would attempt to give them the best lecture that they had in their four years in dental school...And at the end of the 8 hour long course, each student told me how much they enjoyed my presentation and 'hands on' course. My friend and former chairman of the Restorative Department is trying to make a difference in the lives of our students and if were not for him, I would never visit the dental school again. I have little use for mediocrity and IN MY OPINION, my dental school has become a breeding ground for mediocrity. There is no reason that the material that I presented yesterday is not included in the dental school curriculum...Perhaps it is because some of the faculty has never attended one of my lectures. I was honored by my former chairman's comments about my work and his invitation to travel with him to lecture around the world. He believes that many dentists would greatly benefit from learning about the work that I do. I would rather take care of my patients than earning large sums of money to lecture.

Incredible!

I redid my brother-in-laws 15 year old veneers about 6 months ago and I thought that they looked great. I saw him yesterday at a family wake and he told me that his dentist in Alabama told him that she thought that they were the best veneers that she had ever seen. His wife went to her new dentist and when he saw her 15 year old veneers he asked, "Are those veneers and are they new?" He was astounded to know how old they were and told her how wonderful they were. I am always thrilled when other dentists admire my work and I know how much pride my patients feel when someone tells them how beautiful their smile is.

When Patients Take the Time to Offer a Review

Patient's usually vote on the ability of a dentist with either their feet or their credit card. That is, they either walk away from their current dentist to find a new one or they will spend money in the office of their current dentist. I was pleasantly surprised when one of my colleagues emailed a Google Review that they found online of my office. This is what the annonymous patient wrote: "I had multiple complex dental and cosmetic issues and had been to multiple dentists who are famous in their field for cosmetic surgery. Only Dr. Benjamin was able to diagnose and correct my problem. He is so good that I cannot believe I'm the first google review! If you have any dental pain and have been dismissed by other dentists, you have to see Dr. Benjamin. He will figure it out and tell you your options. He was able to diagnose and tell me the cause of my dental pain after many other dentists were not. I was also able to have the cause corrected. This man is the real deal. I suffered long and hard until I found this office. Do yourself a favor and just come here first. You'll be glad you did." I am thrilled that someone would take the time to post their comments. While I personally would not select a dentist based on a patient review, I recognized that some patients place a high value on this kind of information. I am honored to be recognized in a public way.

A Different Place in My Career

In the last two weeks, four of my patients said, "Dr. Benjamin, I love you." What they were really saying is "I trust you to take care of me and thank you for doing so in a very caring and competent way." I am so honored by my patient's kind words. I have told you many times that taking care of you is the most important aspect of our relationship and the money is secondary. When a patient says, "I love you," it means that I am communicating and connecting with my patients in the way that I want to. You know that you can trust me to take care of you.