Saving Your Dental Career - Creating a Preventive Burnout Plan

Saving Your Dental Career - Creating a Preventive Burnout Plan

Could this happen to me?

Preventive medicine as well as preventive dentistry are terms commonly used and understood. Let me introduce you to my new term, PREVENTIVE BURNOUT.

Over my over 32 years in clinical practice, I have personally experienced the beginnings of professional burnout. What did I feel? I began to lose that spark of excitement I always had when I got up in the morning ready to begin another day in the office. The everyday procedures were beginning to drag on and on. I had always tried to remember what my favorite professor in dental school would say, 'Always remember that patients are not teeth on sticks.' We need to treat a person who happens to have teeth and not the other way around. But, even with his advice so clearly on my mind, something was just not feeling so great about walking in the office each day to perform clinical dentistry. I was on the slippery slope toward professional burnout.

Yes, I, the person who always loved clinical dentistry was suddenly not so enamored with it. Shocking but true. I clearly began to see the need to institute a plan of ‘preventive burnout’ or my life professional life would soon become unbearable.

As my dear friend and advisor Rick always says to me, "If you don't know where you are going, any road leads there." So my first step was to create a plan with the end result of bringing back the enjoyment that was once the norm when getting up each morning and going to the office.

The physical plant

Many years ago, a consultant urged me to regularly walk into my office through the front door and see what the patient sees. She told me to sit in the reception room and in each dental chair. Also, she told me to walk into my private office and team lounge and look at them with 'new eyes.' Because I had not performed this exercise in a while, I decided that my first step in the plan was to look at the ‘physical’ plant to see if the process of upgrading it would make me feel better about walking into and spending time in my office.

What I noticed was that the carpet needed to be cleaned, the reception room chairs needed to be cleaned, and that two of the dental chairs needed to be re-covered. Also, the bases of all of the chairs were very ‘banged up” along with some of the x-ray arms and operatory lights. I also noticed that my private office had degenerated to a scary state of ruin. Within a very short time, the office was looking much better and I enjoyed walking into the updated space. Success in step one!!

Technology

The next question I asked myself was 'what new technology might I consider that would re-energize my excitement performing clinical dentistry.' So, the second step of my plan was to investigate, then to incorporate, new technologies into my practice.

In my opinion, the investigation part of bringing new technologies into one's practice has two parts.

Part one: Learn what new technologies are available.
Part two: Determine what each technology actually does to improve patient care since the real reason to bring in any new technology into a dental practice is to improve patient care.

Once these two steps are followed, then the most important question needs to be asked: 'How do I want my life to be lived as I am working in my dental office?'
• What it is that I want a new technology to bring to me that is beyond the mere functioning of that ‘box’ or that thing purchased.
• If I am looking to bring excitement or greater enjoyment to my ‘dental life’, does the purchase affect that which I am trying to improve or change?

After my own investigation and soul searching, my first personal choice was to add a patient education system (CAESY) that would be available in not only the treatment rooms but in the reception area as well. Beyond buying the ‘box’ and what it could do, I wanted to have a way to easily and consistently explain much of what I (or my team) was saying over and over (did I say and over!!) again. Now, I could spend my time answering specific patient questions. THAT was much more fun and interesting. The tedium/boring factor was reduced significantly.

My second personal choice was to add a hard and soft tissue laser (Waterlase® MD). Once again, what did I want this ‘box’ to do for me personally in my preventive burnout program? I wanted the routineness of doing clinical dentistry to be reduced. I wanted a new challenge. I wanted something new that I could grow with and be excited about. I wanted something that would make a change in my daily routine. Well, my dental laser did that and more. I can honestly say that, for me, using a hard/soft tissue laser totally changed how I approached every day and every patient. Using the technology on a routine basis made dentistry no longer feel routine!! Mission accomplished!!

Preventive burnout for the entire team

The side benefit of my physical plant update, as well as the integration of these new technologies, was that my entire team became excited as well. In developing my ‘dentist preventive burnout plan’ I also, created a 'team preventive burnout plan.' Everyone felt better about walking into the office and into the treatment rooms where they spend so much of their day. Making the team lounge/lunch room more appealing and comfortable lead the entire group to spend more time together AND to feel more appreciated by me. The side benefit of the patient education system meant that they did not need to do that ‘over and over' routine with patients. They could also spend their time answering questions and not repeating themselves all day long. THAT they liked too!!

The biggest change for the team in the preventive burnout program came with the advent of the hard/soft tissue laser. They became very excited about what our office could now offer to patients to improve patient care. They saw that our office was offering current and new services with significant reduction in discomfort both during the procedure as well as afterward.

Having my team not ‘behind me’ in these endeavors but ‘with me’ created an overall happier environment for me to experience each day. I was enjoying my patient interactions more. I was enjoying the clinical dentistry more. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

Make it happen for yourself

If you are feeling like you might have some of the symptoms of professional burnout, I hope that you will do as I did and create a preventive burnout plan. Determine what, exactly, has changed your attitude toward practicing dentistry. Once determined, look at your physical plant (with your team) and do a ‘face-lift’ that will make your environment more pleasant and welcoming. Now, look at what you can do to make your clinical dentistry not feel so routine. Investigate then integrate with the help of your team. Remember, ask yourself the important questions of how that ‘box’ you will purchase will help you to accomplish what you want in your life not just what it specifically can clinically do for patient care.

It’s your practice. It’s your future. Don’t let professional burnout ruin what was once an excitement, joy, thrill. Create your preventive burnout plan AND GO FOR IT!!!

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