One of my favorite things about visiting the Spear campus is the camaraderie. Everyone is an open book. Need to know how to adjust your hours? Not sure how to charge for something? Scottsdale for me is like the Switzerland of dentistry. Everyone is nonpartisan and ready to help.
Unfortunately
we may experience a very different reality in the town or state we practice in.
We go home and there’s an immediate fear that if the guy next door knows your
new hours, he’ll switch his, and every last one of your patients will jump
ship. It’s not good for us personally or professionally, and it’s not good for
the field as a whole.
As I reflect
on what’s great about the Spear community, here are a few tips to bring the gregariousness
home.
Tip 1: The dentist down the street is not your
competition
In reality,
the type of patients that go to your office go for certain reasons, and they go
to surrounding offices for other reasons. It may be based on a word-of-mouth
referral, the type of dentistry you do or your website message, but chances are
their office isn’t the same as yours. There’s enough dentistry to go around if
your eyes are open to the possibilities!
Tip 2: There’s a place for every type of
dentist
From
single-tooth dentists to corporate dentistry to whatever type of dentistry you
practice, there’s room for everyone. Much like the dentist down the street
isn’t your competition, you shouldn’t think of the chain opening down the
street as competition either. Some patients seek convenience and want the
provider who is open seven days a week, 12 hours a day. They need a large group
practice. Some patients are hunting for the cheapest fix, and there’s an office
for that. Not every patient will want the type of dentistry that you provide,
and that’s OK. It’s a good thing those other offices exist for those patients!
It keeps the right patients in your office and provides dentistry to those who
may not be the best fit.
Tip 3: Don’t speak poorly on previous
dental work or a previous dentist
Putting down
anyone or anything previously done in a patient's mouth brings negativity to
the patient's current situation. I think we’ve all learned that patients carry
with them certain limitations to providing ideal dentistry. Sometimes it’s as
simple as denying ideal treatment, other times it’s because the patient doesn’t
open wide enough to get the width of the handpiece in there, has an
uncontrollable tongue, denies every sort of isolation you typically use for
bonding, etc. You don’t know what it’s like to be in their shoes, on that day,
at that time.
Read more
on... 8
Tips to Increase Dentistry’s Integrity
Author: Courtney
Lavigne
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