The Next Big Game-Changer in Dentistry

Everything you do in the practice brings a return—that's why you are in business. But not all returns are created equal, either in terms of revenue or patient satisfaction. Basically, when you are talking about the effort versus return equation, it comes down to three categories.

• Capped returns give you no real room for growth. In fact, you can end up delivering diminishing returns to the point where they actually cost you. If you are spending hours poring over expenses to find ways to curtail costs, for example, you could find yourself in a situation where you are effectively spending a dollar to save a dime.

• Linear returns are incremental; a 6 percent fee increase here, a couple more new patients a month there. This is how growth happens in most practices—modest and steady, but never a really significant breakthrough.

• Geometric returns are game-changers. This usually happens when you focus your attention and energies on a specific technology or procedure that has the power to transform the way you practice.

If you're looking for another timely example of where the next big geometric game-changer might come from consider these findings from a very well-researched study. According to the study, about 2.2 million implants were placed in 2011. The same study projects that that figure will hit 3.74 million by 2018. That sounds like an impressive opportunity, since that figure is almost double the number of implants in the next four years!

However, I think that is selling the opportunity short. According to another study, 154 million adults visit a dentist within a two-year period. And in the mouths of those adults there are about 576 million missing teeth. If the dental community were to capture only 1 percent of that opportunity, we would be looking at not double, but triple the number of implants.

Just imagine what that would mean for patients and the dental profession. If GPs and specialists came together in an interdisciplinary way, the way doctors from different disciplines work together at the Mayo Clinic for instance, to seize this opportunity and provide the best solution for missing teeth to the most people. That's not incremental, that's leaps-and-bounds growth, and it can be achieved doing the kind of dentistry that also delivers a better result and a better ROI for patients!

My advice here is simple. Don't waste your time on capped returns, and don't settle for just linear growth. If you want to have a real impact as a care provide and to experience dramatic success, you have to find opportunities to develop your competencies and capacities in a significant way. Work with other dental professionals in your area to capture the magnificent possibilities around you and get the knowledge to execute at the highest level.