But What is Their Standard?

I am having a lot of fun at work because I have the perfect mix of regular  (general) dentistry and complex or cosmetic cases.

Last Friday I began a big case that started on a cosmetic consultation basis followed by a referral to Dr. Cooney for Invisilign treatment. After my patient's teeth were in the correct position, I had to correct all the wear  of the teeth that resulted from having misaligned teeth. Some people would call this 'cosmetic' dentistry but really we are making the teeth look like they would have had the teeth been straight and in the right place.

I spent three hours planning out the case before the patient came to our office on Friday and the actual chair time for treatment was about 5 1/2 hours. At the end of the appointment, and with my patient smiling broadly with her new temporaries, she said to me, "I have never had a doctor spend so much time taking care of me."

I thanked her for noticing how hard Jeanine and I had worked to created a perfect and beautiful smile and I said, "You know, many dentists would have done your treatment in 2 hours and they would have had a lab plan out your case instead of me doing all the planning." What we are really talking about is not how fast a dentist works but what is their standard.

Is good enough really good enough?

I agonize in preparing teeth so that I don't accidentally remove too much tooth structure and so that I can give the ceramicist  a copy of a perfect tooth to work on. My standards have gotten tougher every year that I have been a dentist. This means that I am harder on myself now than at any time in my career.

Sure I could work faster, do more dentistry and make more money.

But that would not be fun, wouldn't make ME happy  and would mean that we would have to lower our standards.

You and I both know that I am not perfect but I am always striving for excellence and to do the best that I can for YOU.