An Incredible Case

To my knowledge, there has never been course for dentists that took one patient and provided dental treatment for that patient  regardless of the dental needs of the patient  and did it totally without regards to cost or a fee to the patient. In addition, there was no charge to the dentists who attended the course.

Our patient had impacted wisdom teeth, teeth destroyed by tooth decay which could not be saved, previously extracted teeth with empty spaces, infected teeth that needed root canals so that they could be saved and teeth that were misaligned. Our young patient also had a mini implant placed in the front of her mouth that did not look like a natural tooth and had not integrated.

Dr. Brian Byrne, Dr. Tim Kelling, Dr. Allyson Byrne, Dr. Francisco Banchs and I accepted the challenge to bring this patient up to the highest standard of dental health without regards to what WE WOULD HAVE TO PAY.

Today we finished the clinical aspect of treatment for our patient and it was an incredible experience for everyone involved.  This is what we did:

1. Infected teeth were removed
2. Infections in teeth were treated with root canals
3. Implants were placed to fill all missing teeth
4. Braces were placed to put teeth in the correct position
5. Crowns were placed on the implants and the molars that had root canal treatment
6. Cosmetic dentistry was provided to create a fabulous smile.

I congratulate all the members of our team for their exceptional care, their pursuit of excellence  and their ability to work together for the benefit our our patient to accomplish the best outcome that we were capable of achieving.

The staffs in each of our offices  must also be recognized for their efforts in accomplishing our goals. We could not have achieved the fabulous results without the help and passion of our individual teams.

Congratulations to all of us. I could not be prouder of the results that we achieved.  Our work was exceptional!!!!!

Passion and Excellence

I have been criticized many times by dentists who do not accept the fact that the elite dentists in my profession set the standards of excellence for the rest of the dentists. I do not set the standards but I have devoted my professional career to pursuing those who stand for exceptionalism in dentistry.
That said, many dentists become very upset when they are informed that no individual dentist can set the standards so that each dentist decides for him and herself what excellence is or is not.

What each dentist must decide for themselves is whether they want to elevate their knowledge and skills so that they too can become excellent clinicians.  Most dentists will decide that it takes too much effort, time and money to make the commitment to excellence.

I am a most fortunate human being in that I was born with the gene for passion...the ability and desire to devote myself to one thing.

I am also fortunate that my "personality" is such that I accept the concept of excellence.

The Tiger Woods, the Michael Jordans, the Bill Gates, the Warren Buffets all have a passion for what they do and the desire to constantly improve...They are never satisfied with what they have done and strive to get better at their chosen interest....And they don't do it for the money.

They do it because they have the passion for the profession and they strive for excellence.

Don't you wish we all could be like that?

Reconsidering a Previous Post: An Apology

Every once in a while I make a statement that is a sweeping generalization, that while generally true, is not absolutely correct.

I made a statement in which I said that the best dentists do not accept insurance and while I stand by that statement, there are exceptions. A dentist with really good dental skills, high standards and a solid education will, for whatever, personal decision, to practice in an environment that accepts dental insurance. Last night after another fabulous course at the Root Canal Experts Education Center, I  was challenged by an excellent, young local dentist to correct my sweeping generalization about dentists who participate with dental insurance companies.

None of the world class dentists that I study with and who have served as mentors for me accept dental insurance. They all believe that they must answer to their patients without the interference of insurance companies whose sole purpose is to generate profits for the company and their shareholders without regard to what is in the best interest of the patient.

If a cardiac patient needs quadruple by-pass surgery an insurance company will  not say that the patient can have one blood vessel replaced every year for 4 yours. But in dentistry, if a patient NEEDS three crowns, the insurance company WILL  say that you have to place one crown a year for three years. It makes no sense. And this is  why the top dentists in the country will not participate with insurance companies.

BUT occasionally a really good dentist WILL  accept insurance and I should have made that clear in my blog. No one should be afraid to apologize when exceptions arise. I apologized to my colleague last night and told him that I would blog about this in my next posting.

We Did it Again

I have told you about this one of a kind course in which three dental specialists and myself are providing for continuing education for 20 local dentists. The course began 3 years ago and we are in the final stages of treatment for this one very lucky patient. We have performed necessary extractions, the implants to replace those missing teeth, root canal treatment for infected teeth, orthodontic treatment to place the teeth in the correct positions and crowns and veneers to completely restore this patients mouth to ideal health.

We are charging her NOTHING.  The dentists that are taking the course have paid our group of dental educators NOTHING.  We did this for the challenge and to elevate our profession for the local dental community.

I do not believe that a course like ours is being offered or taught anywhere else in the country.

The four dental educators are paying for all costs and  providing full days of treatment  at absolutely no charge. Put another way, not only are we not charging the patient and paying for all expenses but we are also giving up the opportunity to EARN money.

This selflessness is what being a true professional is about.  Our country is slowly losing the professional class  and we only have ourselves to blame.

Professionals are being replaced by insurance dependent dentists who must produce volume dentistry rather than excellent care and by physicians who spend 3-5 minutes with their patients.

Who will be left to offer their time, effort, incredible talent and experience to teach the next generation of professionals?

I don't know but it is something to think about.

"We Are Pleased to Inform You"

I received a letter today from TopDentists informing me that "you have selected by a vote of your peers to be included in the 3013 database of TopDentists."

"Because TopDentists is based on an exhaustive peer review survey in which dentists and specialists throughout New York cast 'votes' on the abilities of other dentists and specialists and 'inclusion in Top Dentists is considered a singular honor."

Do I believe that a wide group of my peers selected me? No! I voted in for Top Dentists but it is so narrowly defined demographically that the results are virtually meaningless. Who cares if I  was selected a TopDentist in Saratoga Springs, NY. If I was selected a premier dentist in New York State, I might be very flattered.

What does it really mean to be included in this group? I get to purchase a plaque for $200.

Health Care in America

"Fire Escape" is a story on CNN tonight about the American Health Care System. The program's premise is to explain that the current medical system in America is  not about keeping our citizen's healthy but about generating profits for insurance companies, hospitals, medical manufacturing companies and the major drug companies.

One section of the program appeared in print on the CNN website:

-- The dramatic story of Dr. Erin Martin, an Oregon primary care physician fed up with being pushed to treat patients faster and faster to boost clinic profits. She enrolled in the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine's Fellowship Program to find a better way, explaining that "I'm not interested in getting my productivity up -- I'm interested in helping patients."

Every day I explain to my patients that I have no interest in cutting down your beautiful, natural tooth structure so that I can place a crown and increase my profits. Every day I explain to my patients that what they pay me for is to allow them to walk out of my office with every millimeter of healthy natural tooth structure that they walked into my office with.

Unfortunately, many patients are more concerned that their insurance company will pay more to destroy their teeth by approving crowns than they will to place beautiful, strong, tooth conserving direct resin bonded restorations. Who cares if your insurance company will pay for a crown? Is the crown the BEST treatment for the tooth?

As the physician from Oregon said, "I am not interested in getting my productivity up-- I'm interested in helping patients."  I second that feeling.

This is What We have Been Working Towards

Donna always leaves me a message in a new patient's chart when they will be having a consultation with me as their first appointment. In that message, she will use the patient's exact words explaining why they want a consultation or a second opinion. I was looking at my schedule for the next two weeks and saw the following message for my new patient:

"The patient has  a crown on #18 and  her new dentist said it has a fractured; not really confident of him a lot of people told her to come here."

What we are hearing from many new patients is that "everyone' has told them that they need to become Dr. Benjamin's patient."

I have worked my entire professional career trying to build a stellar reputation so that our office would be "THE dental office of excellence."

Fortunately for me, I am doing the best clinical dentistry of my career at this point in time and will do my very best to take care of my new patients in the best possible way.

I want to be like Sandy Kofax, the Dodger's pitcher who left baseball at the top of his game.