Meeting Young Dentists

Since moving to Saratoga, I have made every effort to meet many of the younger dentists in the area. Troy had no younger dentists and the older dentists never really liked me even if they did not know me.
I help younger dentists work out some of their complex treatment plans and have given many lectures to them through the Root Canal Experts Education Center.

Now I am meeting young dentists for a different reason. My goal is to work another 10 years provided that I remain healthy and at the top of my game. In 3-4 years, I will find a younger dentist who will work with me for 4-5 years so that I can transfer all the knowledge that I know to them before I leave the profession.

I have been asked, "What are we going to do when you retire?" to which I have always answered, "You have more important things to worry about in your life than that but when I do retire, I will have found someone who is fabulous to take care of you."

Last Thursday evening I met a young dentist who joined Dr. Banchs and I for dinner. I wanted to know  a little about his future plans and to let him know that I had informally began a preliminary search for the person that will continue my legacy. During the course of a very warm and social dinner the young dentist said, "You realize that there will never be another Gerald Benjamin."

I told the young dentist that I did not share his view and that it was my job that the person that I work with in the future WILL have the same work ethic, knowledge, talent and concern for our patients that I do.

I come from a different generation of physicians and dentists than the current group. I was taught by my previous generation of dentists that you ALWAYS put your patient's best interest about my own needs.
I truly believed that all I would have to do is to find a young dentist who loves dentistry, is passionate about his or her  profession, is willing to pursue excellence and finally have the clinical skills to do the job right.  I now think that my job will be a lot harder than I originally thought.

I promise you that I will have a fabulous person and dentist to take care of you when I no longer can.

Trust by Someone Who Understands the Meaning of Trust

I have a patient who recently returned to my practice after a five year hiatus from dental treatment. He recently retired as a psychiatrist and is a friendly, affable and interesting patient and he wants his mouth to be healthy again. The one request that he made was that he complete all of his treatment before the end of the year and so we schedule 2-3 hour appointments with a few breaks in between treatment.

On one of the breaks I showed him the tooth decay (in a photograph) that was under his 25 year old mercury filling. Everyone who is my patient knows that I take photographs of almost all the teeth that I treat so that I can show my patient WHY I am treating a tooth and provides assurance to them that I am honest, have integrity and worthy of their trust. When my patient looked at the photo of his tooth he said, " I trust you because it you didn't do an excellent job it would eat you up and you couldn't sleep at night."

I could not believe that in the very short time that my patient, the psychiatrist, was able to understand and determine who I am and what my concerns and values are.

I hope that it does not take someone who analyzes people for a living to know how important it is to me and my staff that we take care of you the best that we can...not because you pay us to do  that but because it is OUR NEED to do so. It would not be an overstatement to say that it ruins my day when treatment does not meet MY expectations for the treatment that YOU deserve.e

Just When You Thought That You Heard It All

The folks that run Government must think that the rest of us are idiots.

Greg Collett is a Tea Party candidate running for the United States Senate. He hates government and he will tell you so. He hates Medicaid but 10 of his children are ON MEDICAID.

Please read his own words:

A graduate of the University of Idaho and son of a U.S. Forest Service employee, Collett opposes a wide array of government services and mandates, including public schools, national forests, national parks, public transit, libraries, marriage licenses, the Uniform Commercial Code and the direct election of U.S. senators.

He writes, in part:

“Let me set the record straight. Yes, I participate in government programs of which I adamantly oppose. Many of them, actually. Am I a hypocrite for participating in programs that I oppose? If it was that simple, and if participation demonstrated support, then of course. But, my reason for participation in government programs often is not directly related to that issue in and of itself, and it certainly does not demonstrate support. For instance, I participate in government programs in order to stay out of the courts, or jail, so that I can take care of my family; other things I do to avoid fines or for other financial reasons; and some are simply because it is the only practical choice. With each situation, I have to evaluate the consequences of participating or not participating.

“By way of example, here are a few government programs and policies that I oppose because they do not conform to the proper role of government, yet I participate in them: I am against marriage licenses, but I still got one to get married; I am against the foster care program, but I became a foster parent; I am against property taxes, but I own property and pay the tax; I am against federal ownership of land by the Forest Service and BLM, but I use the land for hiking, backpacking, camping, and fishing; I am against national parks, but I visit them; I am against driver’s licenses, vehicle registration, license plates, and mandated liability insurance, but I comply with all of them to drive; I am against public funding of transportation systems, but I still use them; I am against building permits, fees, and inspections, but I get them as needed; I am against public libraries, but my family uses them; I am against public schools, but I occasionally use their facilities; I am against occupational licensing, but I use the services of individuals and companies that comply with those requirements; I am against USDA inspections, but I still use products that carry their label; I am against the Uniform Commercial Code and designated legal business entities such as corporations, but I use the services of such entities and have set up several of them for myself; I am against the current structure of our judicial system and courts, but I still use them; I am against the 17th Amendment, but I still cast my vote for Senators; and the list could go on and on.”

I don't care if you support the Republican Party or the Democrat Party. Don't you think we need a party of reasonability to govern our great country?

Read more here: http://blogs.idahostatesman.com/idaho-tea-party-candidate-collett-skewered-having-10-children-on-medicaid/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=idaho-tea-party-candidate-collett-skewered-having-10-children-on-medicaid#storylink=cpy

Thoughts I Agree With

There is an interesting article in today's New York Times about women at the top of organizations.
I copied one question and answer that I found interesting.

Amy Schulman

Executive vice president and general counsel; business unit lead, consumer health care, Pfizer

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Amy Schulman, named president of Pfizer Nutrition in 2010, increased revenue 15 percent, to $2.1 billion, over the following year, when the division was sold to Nestl for $11.85 billion.

Q.

What are some patterns you’ve noticed over the years about women at work, and things they could be doing better to advance their careers?

A.

One thing that happens at work is that women tend to hoard favors as if they were airline miles — you know, the hundreds of thousands of airplane miles that we’re saving for when we really need them. But “when we really need them” may never come. The trips are not going to happen, and we’ll be left with 800,000 airline miles.

There’s a parallel at work. You need to spend political capital — be unafraid to introduce people, compliment somebody when it’s deserved and stand up for something you really believe in, rather than just go with the flow. I don’t mean being a perennial troublemaker, but it’s about having conviction and courage. Spend that political capital you earn by being intellectually credible, by being a fighter for the people on your team when appropriate, and by arguing for principles that matter. Those are qualities that give you credit. If you’re waiting for the perfect moment to spend that capital, you’re going to be sidelined your whole career waiting to just kind of enter the ring.

Women can and should do a better job of helping one another to be in that transactional forum, and to get over the anxiety that we’re going to be found wanting on the wrong side of that equation. We’re undervaluing the role that we can play in the success of other people and the organization. So don’t be afraid to spend some of that political capital. You have to be well prepared, you have to be smart, you have to be on time, you have to be responsive, you have to be respectful, you have to have principles. But once you have all those things and you’ve built a track record, don’t wait for the perfect day.

What Ms. Schulman is saying is that you must do the right thing and say the right thing despite the fact that there will ALWAYS be a price to be paid for doing so. In our office, 'Doing the right thing,' usually will cost us money...BUT SO BE IT. If that is the price that I have to pay, then so be it.

Simply Amazing

I spoke with my patient who I will use on my website and in my HerLife Ads about the photographs that she recently had done at my request. I hired one of the best photographers in the Capital District, Dan Cooper, to shoot photos of my beautiful patient.  When I spoke with Kristen, she told me that, "You have changed my life. The last 3 months have been just amazing."

Can you imagine the affect that having a fabulous smile and feeling great about yourself is?

95% of people believe that having a beautiful smile is both personally and professionally important but only .0001% (my guess) of people are willing to actually have the work done.

Interesting don't you think?

Doing the Right Thing

No one forces us to the right thing or pays us extra to do the right thing. It is the right thing to do and most us us know this.

Last Saturday afternoon at 4:50 pm I received a call from one of my long time patients telling me that she broke a tooth. She put her broken tooth in context by telling me that her husband died a week ago, she had to euthanize her pet and now the broken tooth all while talking through her tears.

I asked her when she would like me to fix her tooth and she responded 'NOW.'  I told her that she could come right in knowing that it would take her about 75 minutes to arrive.  I restored her tooth with great difficulty since I was working by myself and it was one of the more difficult teeth to restore.

At the end of the appointment she asked me if it would be ok to make payments over time to which I responded, " There is no charge. You need a favor and not a filling.  She fell into my arms, her knees buckled and she started to cry. This person has been my patient for almost 30 years and I was not about to make her life any more difficult than it already was.

Everyone knows the right thing to do but making money gets in the way much of the time.

I did what I did because it is what needed to be done.

More of us need to do the right thing....Are you listening Congress?

Doing the 'Impossible' is Sometimes Possible

I was working on a large case Friday morning when one of Dr. Banchs staff members called to ask me to see a 19 year old patient who was kicked in the mouth by a horse. He wanted me to see what we would be up against so that we could determine if we could treat or refer the patient for an extraction and an implant.

 When I examined our young patient my initial reaction was that the tooth had been hopelessly damaged and needed removal. On the other hand, if this was my daughter, the absolute gold standard of treatment, I would want someone to do their very best to preserve this tooth even if it was only for 10 years.

Dr. Banchs called me and informed me that he would do the root canal for this patient at 4 PM and that I would then 'step up' and restore and restore the tooth at 5 PM..."Are you kidding" was my first response but, hey, maybe Dr. Banchs thinks that I am more skilled than I think I am.

This sequence of photos shows the incredible damage to the tooth, following root canal treatment and my final restoration of the tooth. We completed treatment at 7 PM and we all left knowing that we had done the very best that we could do to permit this young lady to keep her tooth.

Education, skill, talent, passion and the relentless pursuit of excellence enabled Dr. Banchs and I to pull off this miracle.

I encourage all of you to find people to take care of you that possess all of the above qualities. Sometimes more than just the survival of a tooth is at stake.