Just a Thought from Jim Collin Author of "Good to Great"

Good to Great Quotes Showing 1-30 of 227

“When [what you are deeply passionate about, what you can be best in the world at and what drives your economic engine] come together, not only does your work move toward greatness, but so does your life. For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work. Perhaps, then, you might gain that rare tranquility that comes from knowing that you’ve had a hand in creating something of intrinsic excellence that makes a contribution. Indeed, you might even gain that deepest of all satisfactions: knowing that your short time here on this earth has been well spent, and that it mattered.”
― Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

Cut Rate Dentistry is NOT Better than no Dentistry

I see that a local dentist is advertising implants for $1,000.

Personally, I would not have discount dentistry using cheap implants from Korea or China.

 Not in my mouth.

Several years ago one of the labs used a non-proprietary implant screw to hold the post to the implant and all of the cheap screws came lose which meant that I had to start from scratch at no charge to the patient.

I contacted the lab and told them that under no circumstances were they to use non proprietary  parts. A PROPRIETARY SCREW  is made to specific high standards with assurances of quality. A knock off screw has no assurances other than it will be cheap.

It is your body and your choice.

You know my standard: If you were MY BROTHER, this is what I would do.

Not In My Office (NOT POLITICAL)

One of the headlines this morning on CNN said:

White House MD: Trump doesn't need to be quarantined after interactions with 2 people who tested positive for coronavirus

I would bet a year's pay that the physician allowed his patient to tell him what good medical practice is when he refused the recommendation to quarantine.

In our office, my patient is my boss EXCEPT when he or she is hesitant to do the right thing to address infection or function. (Aside: this means that I rarely mention Cosmetic Dentistry to any of my long time patients because a great smile is NOT essential to their health.)

If a patient ignores my recommendations for important dental HEALTH issues, I will ask them to leave our practice.  

MY JOB is to take care of my patients and if someone doesn't want to do that, they have almost a 1,000 dental offices to receive their dental care. 99% of my patients follow my recommendations.

If a new patient presents either as a regular dental patient or for a cosmetic consultation and they then go to another dentist for a second opinion,  I will not accept them as my patient. If a patient does not quickly see that I will ALWAYS PUT THEIR BEST INTEREST ABOVE MY OWN, they cannot stay in our office.

If I were the President's MD, I would have insisted on a Caronovirus test and/or quarantine.

Do it right of get someone else to take care of you.

"You Don't Know How Good it is Not to Have a Toothache"

I met a person about 10 years ago and about 5 years ago, he became my patient. I noted that 3 or 4 of his crowns had come off and were missing and his teeth were very sensitive to cold. A few of his teeth needed root canals as was evident from the x-rays and he was referred to Root Canal Experts.

"I don't mind having a root canal, but will they be able to get me numb? Dentists don't get me numb enough and I feel everything."

My response as always was, "Don't worry, you are now in a different realm with Dr. Banchs and this office."

All the root canals were completed, all the  crowns were replaced after Dr. Banchs completed his work and the 30 year old mercury amalgam fillings were removed and replaced with strong bonded white filling.

And he NEVER felt a thing.

He was in for a cleaning and a filling last week and I said, "It must be nice to have dental problems all the time" to which he responded, "You don't know how good it is not to have a toothache."

Finding people who believe and practice excellence to take care of you is extremely important to your health and happiness. Don't believe that a dentist is a dentist and a surgeon is a surgeon.  Like every profession there is the good, the bad and the exceptional dentist.

Choose excellence.

Slow Year

2008-09 were the slowest time in my career.

2020 is coming close to starting off like my slowest years.

A patient told me yesterday that patients don't come to our office for regular dentistry because  I am a COSTMETIC guy.

That is NOT TRUE...90% of what I do is 'regular dentistry' such as fillings, crowns, cleanings, x-rays.

Please correct your friends when they say that I am a Cosmetic guy and if they want excellent general dentistry.

Why We Don't Like Government (NOT POLITICAL)

I need to get a replacement Registration for my car at the DMV. I go online and find and complete the correct form and go to the DMV in Saratoga County this morning..Virtually empty....YES.

I go up to the check in desk and the lady says, "That's the wrong form!!!!!! That should have been changed online.... Fill out THIS FORM.

I sit down and complete the form and I answer the exact same questions on the new from with the exception of whether I had MODIFIED my vehicle (after the Limo deaths).

Government does not have a right to make mistakes that inconveniences the citizens. The DMV needed to ACCEPT the form that is currently online and THEN change the forms.

20+ years ago, I was returning from seeing my ill Father in NJ and when I went to get onto the New York State Thruway, there was a 2 hour, 10 mile backup to collect $.35. THIRTY FIVE CENTS!!!
I and others wrote Governor Pataki and told him that if he could not collect $.35 more efficiently then he had no right to inconvenience motorists. And so it was. The first toll on the Thruway was removed.

The person at the desk should have called her boss to call her boss and tell them to immediately change the form online...And she should have taken my completed form.
'
Thomas Friedman, Journalist for the NY Times wrote of the escalator in Virginia being out for over 2 years and how the passengers just adapted...Nope, someone needed to be fired. Government controls everything and it does not have the right to make dumb mistakes.

But you can have a Caronavirus test anytime you want.................NOT.

Doing the Right Thing

The Golden Standard in Health Care is, "What would you do if this was your son, your wife or your mother?" It is THAT simple because there would never be money involved.


This is a case that I did several years ago in  which a 21 year old Skidmore male student came to my office requesting that I fix his chipped tooth. As you can see from the top photo, it is obvious where the existing resin filling ends because of the brown stain. Rule #1 in my office is to NEVER place a crown on a live tooth for a 20,30 or 40 year old patient. That said, MOST dentists would have placed a crown on this tooth EXCEPT if it was THEIR SON. I removed the old filling and bonded in a direct  layered resin restoration that to the average person, looks perfect.

Isn't this the way that you want ME to take care of YOU?  And take money out of the equation and just DO THE RIGHT THING?

It is distressing to see money dominate all aspects of health care instead of  doing the right treatment for the RIGHT reason.  Please tell your friends that they don't have to have their teeth cut down (and destroyed) for a crown most of the time. And if the do and they are under 50, they have a $6,000 implant and crown in their future.

The Call from the Coroner's office

I never wanted  any of my patients go missing and have to be identified by dental records. But as Mick Jagger says, "You can't always get what you want."

A relative of a patient called late last night and told me that someone had been found and that dental records were needed immediately. This morning I was contacted by the Coroner's office and I sent the requested information.

I received a text from the official this evening:

I just wanted to thank you, again for your care of your patients, always 24/7. I know how difficult it was to receive this phone call. You took such great care of XXX, your dental attention and treatment, superior. I wish you a Happy New Year, Never retire. I appreciate what I experienced today; a caring, appreciative, talented dentist who went into the profession to help people. You happened to also be greatly talented. You help a family have closure. Great appreciation for helping me today. XXX , DDS, Forensics

Doesn't make me happy...In fact, the opposite.

Don't Believe It

I constantly see an ad on TV for Mini- Implants. The dentist says that Mini-Implants are really good and are much cheaper.

Wrong and wrong.

Ask a surgeon who has to take out mini-implants due to infection. The mini implant does NOT integrate into the bone like regular implants. What does that mean? It means that the bone does not grow around and attach to the bone. And what does that mean? It is much easier to lose an implant. Do mini-implants have a place in dentistry? Sure in an 80 year old man who can't eat with his dentures....Go for it.

Putting Your Best Patient's Care First

This is the chart of a patient that has been under my care for FORTY YEARS. In all of that time, I repaired 6 teeth and not one of them is a crown despite the fact that in most dental offices , four of the teeth would have been suggested for crowns and yet my patient has none.
You might be thinking that  this long term patient is a one of a kind patient with fabulous teeth...And you would not be wrong. But I can show you many treatment charts where I have fixed 20 teeth for a patient and the patients have ALL OF THE TEETH that they started with me with only 1 or 2 crowns in 30 years.

How is this possible? Because I don't place many crowns on live teeth (no root canals) for patients who are 20,30 or 40 years old. Crowns must be delayed for as long as possible if a patient wants to keep all of their teeth for a lifetime. Sometime less is more.