How to make the right decisions for the right reasons
You are attending a large dental meeting. You walk out onto the exhibit hall floor. Everywhere you look you see technology on display. So much to consider! What to purchase first and from what vendor? How will it impact me the dentist, the team, the practice in general? Most importantly, how will it impact patient care? After all, isn’t proving patient care the primary reason for adopting new technology? Of course it is!
What questions does any dentist need to ask then answer prior to purchasing any technology? There are three. The first question is, “What do I want in my life?” An odd question? Not to me! When was the last time you asked yourself this question that I pose? Never? Ten years ago? Yesterday? We, as dentists, know how to make life happen. We get through dental school, develop a dental practice, manage team members, care for our families, on and on. One foot in front of the other. Day after day. When do we ever stop and just ask, what do we want our life to look like, not what we are expected to do?
Some possible answers to how we want our lives to be might be:
- A less stressful work environment;
- A renewed joy and excitement of doing clinical dentistry every day;
- Feeling more financial security now and in the future; and/or
- Knowing that we are working our five- to eight-year plan to sell or merge our practice or bring in an associate.
What’s the fit?
Before you decide to purchase any technology for your office, I challenge you to stop and find the answers that fit you. Once you have those answers firmly in your consciousness, you will be able to decide what technology can help you achieve your ultimate life goals. It is not about “the box” you buy. It is about what that piece of technology will ultimately help you achieve personally.
A few years ago, I was faced with the same challenge that every dentist faces. What do I purchase, from whom, and in what order? I was clear as to what my personal life goals were at that time. For me, the answer had four parts:
- I wanted to maintain my excitement for dentistry;
- I wanted to continue to feel good about providing the best that dentistry could offer for my patients;
- I wanted to reduce my workplace stress while maintaining excellence in relation to clinical dental procedures; and
- I wanted to have my patients and team continue to see me as an “up to date” practitioner as I grew older.
After considering all of my options and what technology could help me to reach my personal goals, I chose to purchase a hard/soft tissue laser from Biolase Technologies, Inc. It worked for me for MY reasons NOT the reasons of the salesperson or the lecturer I heard on the topic. My reasons: That made all the difference.
Patient’s point of view
Similarly, when discussing patient treatment options, having a patient take ownership of his or her decision is key. For example, Mr. Jones comes into your office as a new patient. You do a complete examination with all necessary diagnostics and sit down to discuss treatment options. Your ultimate goal? Mine always was to help Mr. Jones understand his problems so he could make an educated decision. To decide what was right for him: What met his health goals? From that point on, Mr. Jones owned the treatment plan. He wanted to determine a way to pay for his improved health or appearance, so payment for services rendered was not an issue. If there was some issue, let’s say, with a crown that was placed, his lead comment was, “My crown is bothering me” instead of, “Your crown is bothering me.” His crown was done for HIS reasons. THAT made all the difference. See the parallel reasoning?
There is a second set of questions you must answer in order to maximize the usefulness of any new technology:
- 1. What is my commitment to understanding this technology and continuing to learn to master it?
- What is my commitment to involving the entire team in making the purchasing decision and supporting them with the time and effort needed for their learning?
If you, the dentist, are not willing to devote the required time and effort for initial and ongoing learning, don’t bother to make the purchase. In the lecture/training programs I present on hard/soft tissue lasers, I clearly share this message with all my attendees. I tell them that they must go to the courses the manufacturer has included with the unit’s purchase to get up on the learning curve as quickly as possible. I also tell them that involving the team in the entire process of incorporating this technology into one’s practice is critical to its success. I also tell them that, in my opinion, at least 3.5X magnification is required to successfully utilize the hard tissue applications of the laser. If they are not willing to purchase and use this enhanced level of magnification for hard tissue applications, and if they are not willing to educate themselves and their team completely on this technology, they SHOULD NOT purchase this piece of equipment.
Run the numbers
Are you making your decisions based on what you want your life to be? Are you making your decisions with a clear commitment to training and team development? If so, you have one more question to ask: Do the finances make sense for my business?
We, as dentists, have to be financially responsible. Most of us have many team members, along with our respective immediate family, who rely on our good, sound business judgments so that they can be supported financially. Why purchase extremely expensive technology that will only be a financial drain? Have you done your own PERSONAL due diligence, and not just accepted what the company or sales person tells you in broad terms? I am referring to applying the age old Return On Investment (ROI) and Rate Of Return (ROR) parameters.
When I was looking at technology choices at the point that I chose my hard/soft tissue laser, I also was considering purchasing a unit that would fabricate crowns while my patients waited (in-house fabrication). I decided to see just how MY ‘numbers’ would work, knowing that the technology would meet my two requirements: What do I want in my life, and what is my commitment to learning? I am extremely lucky. My “lab guy” Jack comes to do custom staining for all anterior cases. I am extremely picky, and Jack does a fantastic job in this area. Being a Pankey trained dentist, I often work out occlusal schemes in my temps that Jack transfers to the final case. So, for these aforementioned reasons, I did not see the advantage of doing anterior crowns in-house. More than 95 percent of all second molar crowns that I have done over the years are gold, thus those would not be made in-house. So, in my final analysis, I would use an in-house system to fabricate crowns for 12 teeth, i.e., two premolars and one molar in each quadrant. I looked at the loan payment for the technology. I looked at an average lab cost per month for these 12 teeth then subtracted the two numbers. Even though, my first two requirements were clearly met, this last requirement was not. For me, in my practice, it did not make sense. For other clinicians, in-office CAD/CAM makes perfect sense, but it did not fit my work style.
Ask and then answer these three questions: “What do I want in my life? What is my time and learning commitment for me and my team? Does this purchase make sense for me financially? By answering these questions, you will ensure that you are purchasing technology for the right reasons and your success with those investments will be enhanced.
It is your practice. It is your future. Make your choices for the right reasons…THEN GO FOR IT!!
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