Blog | San Antonio Periodontist and Dental Implants

Telephone Tips for Dental Practices

June 8th, 2013

I frequently have to call dental offices in order to speak with dentists about specific care of mutual patients. So I have clocked a lot of time talking with receptionists as well as listening to recorded messages while on hold. Out of all of this I have formed a few pretty strong opinions.

But I’m not the only one. You, on occasion I am sure, still have to use the phone these days even though email and texting are all the rage. There is something about the human voice and the amount of information we can send and receive that will continue to make Alexander Graham Bell’s invention absolutely vital to our practices for the foreseeable future.

For this reason let’s have a conversation about the use of the phone in the dental practice, and I will start.…
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Posted in Dentists, The Human Side of Dentistry | 2 Comments »

People-centered Versus Procedure-centered Dentistry — A Story.

April 26th, 2013

Just had an interesting conversation with a fellow dentist and good friend in his office. He expressed interest in my thinking about people-centered dentistry. One thing led to another and he shared a story I think you will find interesting. It involves his fairly recent interactions with a younger dentist. He told this to me because he believes it underscores my point that a people-centered, rather than procedure-centered focus, makes a real difference whether or not we enjoy and are successful in dentistry.

Less than a year ago he brought in an associate. This young man came with highest recommendations having just completed a general dental residency program in a nearby hospital. My friend did not send him procedures to perform on existing patients, but instead permitted him to see all new patients as they came in until he had enough to do.…
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Posted in Dental Hygienists, Dental Students, Dentists, The Human Side of Dentistry | 3 Comments »

How to Succeed in Periodontal Therapy Part Six

April 20th, 2013

This Post discusses:

Getting our minds right about scripts and rehearsals
How adults learn
Presentation Tips

Scripts and Rehearsals

Imagine there are two actors in a play. Both have important parts with a lot of dialogue. Actor #1 memorizes her lines before rehearsals begin. Actor #2 does not. When it comes to being able to perform more naturally, which actor has the advantage?

There have been times when I have personally felt I was wasting my time thinking through and rehearsing scripts with my office team. I also think it is more fun to play a round of golf than hit buckets of balls at the driving range. Sadly serious golf requires serious practice. It’s no different with dentistry.

Here is how I see performance and rehearsals when it comes to dental practices.…
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Posted in Dental Hygienists, Dental Students, Dentists, Periodontal Therapy | 3 Comments »

An Interesting Dental Marketing Approach

April 11th, 2013

In my travels around the city visiting dental offices I came across this one.

You might think I’m going to be critical just for the fun of it, but that really is not my intent. Instead, I am intrigued by the marketing strategy and business model. After all, when someone creates the front of his business to communicate in the way this dentist has, I believe he is inviting reactions and responses.

First, obviously, this is an attempt to attract patients and the dentist has an idea who it is he or she wants to attract.

As to the dentist’s skills, the front of the building doesn’t tell us this. We might make a few assumptions, but whatever those assumptions are, are unproven. Neither gender nor ethnic background have anything to do with the skills of the dentist.…
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Posted in Dental Students, Dentists, The Human Side of Dentistry | 2 Comments »

Dentist Attempts to Stifle Critical Comments

March 28th, 2013

Here’s an interesting article about a dentist who had patients sign agreements not to put disparaging comments on social network websites. http://onforb.es/wboJQW

It’s a clever idea that will likely cause more negative publicity than had the dentist simply tried to resolve the patient’s problem. Now it’s a freedom of speech issue.

This is a hard thing to swallow for any of us, but we have to be settled with the idea that some people will not like us. Certainly we should do everything we can to resolve conflicts and negative publicity, but there is a point where we are best off to let it go and trust that people can sense when someone is being unfairly criticized.

I am not advocating passivity when it comes to negative publicity but instead of trying to squelch negative comments, I think it is always best to promote honest feedback and then respond to it, good or bad.…
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Posted in Dentists, In the News, The Human Side of Dentistry | No Comments »

How To Get Straight A’s in College

March 27th, 2013

This isn’t a joke and I can help if you seriously want to get straight A’s. But here’s the deal. If you decide not to follow my advice, and you don’t get straight A’s you will not whine or complain. You will admit to yourself and others that you chose the grades you got. Deal?

Most people think that the smarter people get the better grades. Not true. The disciplined people get the better grades. They are smarter planners and better at executing a plan persistently and patiently.

Sure you will find people who appear to be exceptions to what I am describing. They will get no sleep, party in excess and pull down good grades. What you may not know is that eventually they will implode.…
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Orthodontics and Periodontal Disease

March 27th, 2013

Does having periodontal disease mean I can’t or shouldn’t have braces to straighten my teeth?

Periodontal disease, when active, results in bone loss around teeth.

Orthodontics involves moving teeth through bone to relocate them in better places for both appearance and function.

The process of moving teeth activates bone cells to remove bone in front of the moving tooth and lay new bone down behind it. All of this occurs due to the light forces being applied by either wires or appliances patients must wear over the months necessary to accomplish the task.

What is not helpful, as active orthodontics is taking place, is to have a bacterial infection and inflammatory response going on at the same time.

This does not mean, however, that people who have had periodontal disease treated and controlled cannot undergo orthodontic procedures.…
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How to Succeed in Periodontal Therapy Part 5

March 17th, 2013

Frankly, I have no illusion that I can single handedly change the quality and nature of periodontal therapy in every dental office in the world – at least not over night.

There will come a day when dentists and dental hygienists train patients in ways very similar to how they perform clinical procedures today, because that is how they will be trained themselves. Even communication within dentistry is a trainable procedure. In time, the importance of effective communication within periodontal therapy will grow to the point where it will no longer be considered an esoteric topic. Instead it will be taught as a learned communication skill requiring memorization, rehearsals and performance. Critical conversations will be planned out behind the scenes and standardized into templates similar to composing musical compositions – and every member of the office team will learn how to read the music and perform their important role in patient support.…
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Posted in Dental Hygienists, Dental Schools, Dental Students, Dentists, Patient Education, Periodontal Therapy | 2 Comments »

The Therapeutic Importance of Hope

March 14th, 2013

Hope propels therapy forward. Despair stops it cold.

Dentists rob patients of hope when they want to project an inflated level of certainty. When dentists “know” ahead of time how everything is going to turn out, whether good or bad, the candle of hope is snuffed out. Yes, even assuring patients that everything will be OK can be unkind. Should things not turn out as we had promised, our poor patients are then suddenly whiplashed into disappointments they were promised by our certainty would not occur.

Here is a simple example. Never promise, or let anyone on your team promise, that something you will do won’t hurt. It might. And how do you know what “hurt” means to the other person? Instead, we can always promise to do our best and to be sensitive to how they are responding to what we are doing.…
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Posted in Dental Hygienists, Dental Schools, Dental Students, Dentists, The Human Side of Dentistry | No Comments »

Two Competing Business Models in Dentistry

March 14th, 2013

I had an interesting experience yesterday. A former patient from years ago came to see me. As sometimes happens she did not stay the course and slipped on making sure she was seeing dentists regularly. Now over five years later she returns with one of her upper central incisors slowly avulsing. She knows it needs to come out. She has known this for some time now. But finally she has the courage to come back and see me.

She came with a referral slip from a dental clinic nearby. I was in this facility earlier this month. It is owned by someone in another state and according to “the rules” I was not able to go back to the treatment area, which means that the dentists who work there are blocked from consultations with their patients and outside specialists chairside.…
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Posted in Dental Schools, Dental Students, Dentists | 2 Comments »