Humorous video on MidLevel Providers

For a clever look at the Midlevel Provider issue visit:
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/11804404/midlevel-dental-providers

Hi tech- hi touch?

A few years back practice management people would lecture on the value of keeping current on technology and maintaining good relationships with patients as the model for success in dentistry.  They even promoted abundant contact with the patient in those safety zones of the body (shoulder and hands).  A gentle tap on the shoulder or hand was a way to connect with a patient in a safe, non-aggresive, and nonthreatening way.

Yet in today's workplace there is no leniency for personal violation.  Besides shaking hands on greeting or leaving, there is tolerance for bodily contact. I read on a forum on the internet where one person actually considered it assault. The hi-tech may be true, but the hi-touch may be a thing of the past...or is it?

We have many patients who value the gentle holding of their hands by the assistant when they are afraid and nervous.  We have patients who appreciate a gentle pat on the back to signal everything is all right.  While it may be inappropriate to tap a total stranger on the back, our patients are not total strangers.  Yes, they are entitled to their personal space, but dentistry is more intimate than the corporate world which evoked these changes.  Just because the corporate world needed such distance, do our patients really want this?  I invite your comments.

New Technology

Dr. Lavine presented a wonderful and encompassing lecture on technologies of interest to the dental profession.  From intra-oral imaging to extra-oral data backup, there is so much change going on.  I would highly recommend Dr. Lavine's lecture to anyone interested keeping current and keeping up with the changing face of technology.

I have planned some future blogs with timely information for dental professionals and patients alike.  I hope they will prove to be of interest and/or useful.

Dr. Schonberg