I enjoyed reading Ann-Marie DePalma's article "Good Habits for Dental
Offices," and her point about office and personal mission statements is
important. I would like to point out, however, that when the doctor is the one who creates the office mission statement, he or she makes assumptions about dental hygienists' work and capabilities that perpetuates the myth of obligate paternalism.
First, "doctor" is an academic degree from which dental hygienists are not excluded. No doubt Ms. DePalma's intention was that the dentist who owns the office should make the mission statement. There is certainly a valid argument for a business owner to define the business's mission, but accepting this argument accentuates our profession's disadvantage in the health-care industry, because following this philosophy, in most places, would deny dental hygienists the authority to make an office mission statement.
And this brings us to another point: not all offices where dental hygienists practice are owned by dentists. I work in an office owned by a corporation that employs about 60 dentists and 60 dental hygienists. With few exceptions, each practitioner has a personal mission and is able to maintain it without stepping on the toes of another. In my personal experience, the only exception to this friendly autonomy was an office running clients through the dental hygiene department in the prophy mill format according to the managing dentist's mission until periodontal surgery was necessary.
In addition, I know several dental hygienists without doctoral degrees who own offices, and I can assure you that they are the ones who define their mission statements.
My intention here is not to be argumentative, but to reinforce the egalitarian goals of our profession. We need to be looking at dentists as colleagues, not supervisors. Our employers are our clients and their health is our goal, and by taking that responsibility, we uplift our profession and serve our clients to a higher level.
Howard M. Notgarnie, RDH, MA
