A new attitude

Dec. 21, 2009

By Dr. Nate Booth

When I speak to dental groups, I love to ask, “How many of you would like to have one of the better dental practices in your area, a practice that delivers the highest quality care and has a high fee schedule, a practice that is known by everyone (including all the other dentists) in the area as one of the outstanding practices in town?”

About 5% of the doctors raise their hands! This blows my mind. Why wouldn’t everybody say yes to a question like that? I believe it’s because dentists have been trained that if they raise their hands, they have an attitude problem. Their fellow docs may think they’re better than everyone else.

Crazy, isn’t it? Some dental groups and the insurance companies support this craziness. They want all dental offices to be the same. They want you to be a commodity. It’s easier to control you that way. As some of you may have discovered firsthand, the “dental police” will take some unusual actions to put the attitude “offenders” in their place.

Life is too short to follow the herd all the time. Every once in awhile, choose the road less traveled. It’s more exciting and rewarding in that direction.

Learn more about Dr. Nate Booth’s dental presentations and products at www.natebooth.com.

Dr. Nate Booth is a speaker, consultant, and author who provides dentists with the information and systems they need to thrive in their dental practices. Dr. Booth teaches at the South Beach Dental Institute and is a practice management advisor for ChaseHealthAdvance. Dr. Booth is the creator of the in-office, DVD-based program, The "Yes" System: How to Make It Easy for People to Accept Comprehensive Dentistry. For more information, go to www.theyessystem.com, or call (800) 917-0008.