Not Looking to be a Pain

Susan and I went to the Malta Diner today for breakfast. Sitting across the aisle from us was a rather large man who had placed his order just after we sat down. The   waitress must have not heard the man when he ordered his breakfast  because he was a little surprised by the omelet that was delivered. He did order an omelet but not the one he thought he had ordered.

The  waitress apologized and told him that she would immediately bring back a different omelet. The main said, "Listen, I don't even remember which omelet that I ordered and this is fine. There is no reason to replace my eggs."

The man understood that errors happen and that the omelet that was delivered was as good as any other omelet.

Just no reason to make a fuss.

Good man.

It Has Been 30 Years

As many of you know, I have been a dentist more than 40 years. I came to the Capital District in 1978 and began practicing part time in Cropseyville, NY 5 miles East of Troy. I worked for a dentist and then in 1985, I became his  partner. I loved being a dentist and he felt the opposite. The practice was never really financially successful nor was it a joyful place to work. On January 19,1988 my partner had an 'unfortunate' accident. Why is the word unfortunate in quotes? Because the person who didn't enjoy dentistry did not have to practice dentistry and the dentist that loved his work, was able to practice dentistry in a manner that was fun and joyful. Tricia and I both worked in that office in Tamarac Plaza, a hole in the wall if there ever was one.

Tricia and I work in a calm, stress free practice along with Jeanine, Trish and Donna. We have become one of the premier restorative dental practices in the Capital District and my peers again have selected me as a top dentist in the are.

Neither Tricia nor I knew anything about running a dental practice but we knew what we didn't want. By 1992, we moved to our second office in the Tamarac Valley Medical Dental Building and I started taking an incredible amount of Continuing Education so that today, I have 7,000 hours of CE among the most in the Capital District.

Along the way, I started the World's  first Esthetic Center at SUNY Buffalo School of Dental Medicine. Another accomplishment was that I won first place (one of five dentists in the world) in the 1999 American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Smile Contest, the most prestigious dental clinical contest in the world. I am still an Associate Clinical Professor at SUNY/Buffalo (visiting)

My greatest accomplishment is that the overwhelming majority of my long term patients have been able to keep virtually every tooth that they started with me 30 + years ago.

It has been an incredible 30 years for Tricia an I. And we did it our way. The Ethical way, the Right way...All with integrity and with our patient's best interest the most important thing. I don't think that we would be where we are today if..............................

After 50 Years It Is STILL True

• “The time is always right to do what is right.”

  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Ignorance of the Uninformed

As you know, I am on many dental forums. I do this not so much to learn something but to observe what others think/believe/know.

This appeared on a dental Facebook posting:

Ishwinder Saran I think I paid $35k with training. Honestly, you don’t need the training. It’s pretty easy and user friendly. Watch some YouTube videos.

As a patient, aren't you comforted that dentists don't value learning and can simply go on YouTube and learn everything that they need to know? 

There will never again be a generation of dentists devoted to learning  and mastering a subject for the benefit of their patients ....and I say this with great sadness. As I told you before, I have over  7,000 hours of high level Continuing Education with much of it with among the best in the world. Do you really think that today's young professional with their 'busy' schedule with give up 100 weekends to learn?

Not a chance in hell.

If you are considering comprehensive dental treatment, find yourself an older, talented dentist to do the work BEFORE they retire and their level of excellence disappears.

(Aside: I am not getting ready to retire as some rumors report.)

Incompetent vs Not Competent

I met one of my patients at Pilates this morning. This patient brought in a relative for an evaluation a few days ago. When I looked into the patient's mouth I could clearly see that the elderly woman had received dental care but that it was done by a dentist that was not good at diagnosing complex dental problems. I have 7,000 hours of Continuing Education and much of it with the finest restorative dentists in the world and this is what makes me competent and proficient at treating complex problems.

My patient who I saw at Pilates today said, "She was previously treated by an incompetent dentist."

To that statement I replied, "I don't think that the dentist was incompetent as much as he was NOT competent.

Incompetent means that you KNOW how to treat a problem but that your level of care is below acceptable because you probably don't care.

"Not competent" means that you never achieved an acceptable level of treatment due to a lack of knowledge or skill.

The standard of excellence is that you have attained PROFICIENCY at a skill or task, which is the highest level of care.
Competence means that you perform a task at an acceptable level but no higher.

At this stage of my career....40 years...I EXPECT of myself  to be proficient at everything that I do.

I OWE it to you, my patients, to be proficient.

America the Stupid (Not political)

On one of my dental forums a dentist posted:

 "Can anyone recommend an affordable portable soft tissue laser that has the least amount of per patient cost?"

The young dentist did not ask, "What is the BEST soft tissue laser?" 

And we all know that the   word 'affordable' is actually the same but kinder way of saying, "CHEAPEST."

The real bad news is that   the majority of young dentists want to buy the CHEAPEST of everything:
dental filling materials, cheapest labs, cheapest dental assistants, cheapest novocaine, etc, etc.

When I treat you, you have our word that the cost of our materials never influences the materials that we use. We routinely check the 'bible' of dental materials, "REALITY" to find out what the best materials in each class are and that is what we buy.

It is just plane stupid to base decisions about dental products on cost alone.

But this is what happens when patients make THEIR choice of a dentist solely on cost. That is just as dumb.