"I am Offended"

Trish, our new hygienist, does her very best to make you comfortable and to that end, she offers parafin wax hand treatments during your cleanings.

Last week Trish asked a patient if she would like the hand treatment and the patient showed her displeasure with that offer.

"I come to Dr. Benjamin for his talent, his credentials and his ethics and I don't want hand treatments."

When I entered the hygiene room and greeted my patient she told me that she thought wax parafin hand treatments were over the top and unnecessary and she repeated the reasons why she is my patient.

I explained to my patient that what she valued in a physician or a dentist...the talent, the credentials and the ethics...were no longer valued by the majority of dental patients and while her standards of excellence were very high that they were of a by-gone era.

I want my patients to select ME as their dentist for my talent, my education and my ethics. Unfortuantely, the vast majority of patients select a dentist on the basis of whether they participate with their insurance. That said, my patients are so smart and so special that the old time values for selecting a dentist DO APPLY.

I thank you all for being my patient. You are smarter than most dental patients and you are special.