Are Your Patients Keeping up With You?

The possibilities for growth in dentistry today are truly astounding. In a previous article, “The Power of Proximity” I provided some insight on how important it is to take advantage of those possibilities by engaging with those in the profession who are always seeking higher levels.

But let's be clear about what is at stake here: We're not talking about incremental change, where you get a little more efficient at doing what you have been doing for years.

Given the pace of change in your profession, if you really engage with your ongoing education you can effectively become a new dentist every five years with a whole new skill set and a new way of seeing when you look into patient's mouths. You can, in effect, reinvent yourself as a clinician.

When that happens, you're going to notice that some of the treatment plans you've devised no longer align with your new clinical vision. You're a different dentist now, with a different perspective and standards – you want to do things in a different way. That's what it means to grow as a professional. But what about the patients? They're probably still happy with the dentistry you have provided so far and they haven't been going to those courses with you. This means they are not necessarily philosophically aligned with the advances you have been making.

That's why I suggest that you have every patient return for a "new patient" comprehensive exam every five years to ensure that the oral care path their on represents your current treatment philosophy. This also gives you an opportunity to keep your longstanding patients educated about advances in dentistry – and advances in your practice – and it allows them to recommit to ideal care at the new level you have established.

Remember, in the best practices clinical excellence and value excellence always go hand in hand. So it stands to reason that if your clinical delivery has taken a leap forward, your systems for communicating that value has to be in step too. As you grow as a dentist your practice should take on a new complexion. That can only happen if your patients join you on that journey.