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.