I am learning from Ram Charam about execution, about getting things done in the dental business.

The guts of the dental business is making money fixing peoples teeth.

That is it, that is all.

So easy, so direct, but I get so out of focus because of all the details.

I decide upon business plans and strategies of marketing and delivery.

Like Microsoft. I end up too many times like Mircosoft. Leaning too much on image and marketing and not enough on product.

I need to operate a bit more like Apple. I need to get a tremendous product

And then make it better.

Make sure everyone knows what quality dentistry is, simply by feeling it happen to them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p0Z1PytRuE&feature=youtube_gdata

This video sums up how I feel about the new patient process at times that I give to the patient.

Am I trying to fool them by marketing something and overcharging them for something?

Or do I supply a need?

The supply of need endures far more and more exactly satisfies than marketing fluff.

The first step to sales and marketing is to have a good product.

Do I have a good product?

That question I need to ask myself every day for the rest of my working career.

Juggling Badgers

It seems so difficult sometimes to define what I do as a doctor.

So difficult to mix science with psychology and money and throw in personal performance with a sprinkling of team effort.

So much easier to talk in ideal terms than in reality…

But we all live in reality.

Some days are tough trying to find that sweet spot of case acceptance and quality performance all so I can lock the doors at the end of the day and get in my car and crank the radio and sing along with some chap who knows nothing of running a dental office.

I wish there was a reverse case acceptance. A place where I say yes, this is an acceptable fee for all the trouble I am going to have to make this happen the right way.

But I feel all hamstrung by the insurance culture of southern California.

Insurance gets in the way of quality dentistry. I am realizing that it actually is ruining in many ways, the doctor patient relationship.

Insurance is ruining the banking industry it seems to me, by insuring toxic loans. The same is happening in patients mouths. Insurance is insuring toxic mouths and the result is a strange transfer of decision making.

The myth is that a disinterested insurance man far away knows better what’s right than the doctor in the room.

Why is that?

Because as an industry we have abused the doctor patient relationship. We over moneyed everything.

Deep inside of me I feel my name, my diagnosis, my word is much more important than how much money I am commanding.

I just have to pay all these bills. I gotta keep the lights on and the staff paid.

Juggling badgers.

It is easy to sway too much in any one direction.

I guess I want to get paid well for a job well done.

I want everyone to get paid well when they do great things. But I don’t want the reason why I do a good job to be because I get paid well.

I want to move into a place of seeing people really get healthy in their mouths, but alas most people have many other economic hurdles to jump and their teeth are not high on the food chain.

But I care about these people, their mouths just the same. So I seek some way to break off a little bit of the darkness so they can see a bit of the light of a healthy mouth.

It just doesn’t appear that way to them. They, of course, see $. They have budgets.

Juggling badgers.

I have this thought that keeps rattling around in my head, that true health reform begins with a proper attitude and direction of the doctor.

I don’t hear about that kind of health reform. Reforming office attitudes. Reaching out to patients and meeting them and seeking to get to their needs.

Instead of trying to place them into some alternate universe called health care, and then get so upset when they don’t get the rules of the road.

Patients don’t know. They come in not knowing and not really caring. The secret is they leave that way too. If it takes months to train a staff member about dentistry, why do I think I can train a unpaid patient in 15 minutes?

But then there are those who seem to abuse the system and run the office in circles.

Juggling badgers.

So this weekend, I am going to walk on the beach, laugh with my family and really enjoy the day drifting by,

Cause on Monday I am going to be once more

Juggling badgers.

The real answer is all zirconia.

According to a new national survey, the costs of some of the most popular types of healthcare coverage are projected to increase considerably in the coming year. The study also found that the majority of dental insurance plans will see significant price increases.

The 2010 National Health Care Trend survey, conducted by Buck Consultants, analyzed the projected average annual increase of employer-sponsored benefit costs from over 100 health insurance providers.

Researchers discovered that costs of the more popular plans are projected to increase by more than 10 percent in 2010.

“Health insurers are concerned about higher costs due to federal mental health parity, as well as an increase in COBRA enrollment,” said Harvey Sobel, a consulting actuary who directed the survey.

“There is also uncertainty due to health care reform and its impact on all sectors of the health care industry,” he added.

Families who are searching for ways to save money on dental care may want to consider discount dental plans. As an alternative to dental insurance, these plans can save up to 60 percent compared to traditional insurance plans.

For more information on discount dental plans call 1-888-632-5353

© 2010 Brafton Inc.

DENVER - It’s a place a lot of people dread: the dentist’s chair. Some people actually fear going under the drill. But, there’s a new device that’s literally putting control in the patient’s hands.

It’s called the “dental button,” a kill switch for patients that automatically stops the drill.

It’s currently being offered by Centennial dentist Dr. Stace Lind.

“It does make a difference. They have the dental button that makes the patient feel in control, and have a voice in when to stop,” Lind said.

Here’s how it works: If there is any pain or discomfort or when the patient just need a break, the dental button acts as an automatic override to switch off the power tools being used at that moment.

Studies show 85 percent of people have dental anxiety, and 50 percent of those don’t get their annual dental exams. Lind hopes that this alleviates some of the anxiety so they can get back in the dentist chair.

So far, Lind is the only dentist in the Denver area to use the dental button but it’s being used across the U.S. and in Europe.

The machine costs a little more than $1,000, but Lind doesn’t charge his patients extra to use it.

(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

I am so excited about the all zirconia crown!!

This is the bruxzir by Glidewell. Looks really good. I know, I know, you can’t see a thing.

Can’t get the iPhone to get a nice close up.

Trust me it looks good.

Do I make a difference?

Am I going in a positive direction with the office?

Am I fooling myself?

Questions keep playing round and round in my mind. I see other Docs get up and make it happen, where am I in this equation?

Is getting dentistry done more important than keeping the patient long term?

Is patient retention a myth?

If it is, and the dentistry relationship does not get past the 6 month mark for most people,

Maybe I am in the wrong profession.

I don’t know if I want to be a turn and burn dentist.

I wanted to be a dentist because of patient retention.

Is it worth it at all if I cannot provide a home for patients long term?

How valuable is my name?

What kind of name do I truly want to have in this profession?

What name do I think I have but truly, really I do not have?

Too many thoughts for such a beautiful afternoon.

Ahhhh a fresh new year, unspoiled, so much shiny hope is before me.

This is the time I love best. The time to dream. The time to consider the direction and the goals I will reach for in this bright new year.

I start thinking about this about October every year and come to a conclusion this first week of the new year.

What can I say, I’m a bit slow.

This year it is simply to be the best dental office in town.

The best dental office in town.

What does that mean?

What does that look like?

4 providers, 9 chairs, 9 columns of schedule,

That is what I call a good old fashioned dental party!!

Last one of the year.