Although this year has not been the easiest for everyone... our hope should always be eternally positive. We are still reeling from the effects of the previous years and it will be some time before we can ever put the C-word behind us. With spiralling living costs going up and most businesses raising their prices we have decided not to make any price increases for our community patients this year. The reason is that we want our patients to appreciate how hard we work to make sure we keep delivering our best. We want our patients to feel that we are aiming to care for them for the long term and do not see our relationships in a short term way.
As dentists we are quite fortunate to see the evolution of our patients lives, from adolescence to adulthood. We create bonds, they often become indirect friends who we look forward to catching up with. A mentor of mine once said he did not want to retire from his job because he loved coming into work everyday and catching up with so many of his friends.
It is also tough because patients will tell you about all the tough times in their lives such as bereavements or traumas. Sometimes as a dentist you have to be in a part a counsellor and also an educator. It seems a bit non sensical when a patient tells you something devastating and you then have to remind them to floss at the end of the appointment - it is tough to take the dentist out of the situation sometimes.
There are normally 10 kinds of patients:
1) Ones that just come for the consultation and do not feel the time/price/clinic is right for them.
2) Ones that come just for when they are in pain as emergencies and never come to prevent these issues from happening.
3) Ones that attend for the consult, agree to treatment and delay it for years and then expect us to pick up from where we left off.
4) Families (normally organised by the matriarch) that attend like clockwork.
5) Those that are addicted to the hygiene sessions only and do not want to see the dentist.
6) Those that only want cosmetic treatment without addressing all the major infections and decay in the rest of the mouth.
7) Those that come from a large course of treatment and disappear once completed.
8) Those that have treatment and come regularly to maintain their teeth. These are the ones that become lifelong friends of the clinic.
9) Ones that are referred by another dentist for a specific complex treatment.
10) Once that self refer themselves and use google to find us for a specific treatment and then go back to their original dentist once treatment is complete.
In summary I hope you make plans to enjoy your upcoming summers but do not forget to come visit your friendly dentist and hygienist beforehand to keep those teeth healthy and clean so that they don't cause you any issues when you go on holiday!
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