Happy New Year!

Jan. 1, 2012
This is my favorite time of the year. As the song goes, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” The children all come home, and we are a family once again ...

This is my favorite time of the year. As the song goes, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” The children all come home, and we are a family once again, if only for a few days. The grandkids fill up the house, and the cousins get to know one another again. I try to take off for a couple of weeks and even stay away from the computer. It is a time for family!

Hopefully, you have noticed that this issue of Dental Economics® represents a complete redesign from cover to cover. You will find more white space and more space for the editorial, which makes it easier to read. The layouts now have a consistent look, including a greater use of images. We hope these changes will add even more value to your reading experience, and that DE will continue to be your No. 1 source for vital practice management information. We will be including more feature articles with expanded information on the latest trends in the dental world.

With this issue, we also welcome you to another exciting year of opportunities in dentistry. Without a doubt, this is still the very best time to be a dentist! If you don’t believe that, check out what physicians are being paid. Yes, the jobless rate is way too high, and the economy has not shown signs of turning around. But most dentists I talk to are learning how to survive and some are even thriving. Keep a positive attitude in all that you do!

As we celebrate the beginning of a new year, it is also the time to evaluate how we did in 2011. Spend some time with your team in brainstorming exercises and setting goals to improve the practice and the systems in your practice. Remember, it is impossible to do it alone!

What we make of this new year will depend on our values and beliefs. In that light, I am presenting some quotes that I use to keep my life on track:

“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” Mother Teresa

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” Walt Disney

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Abraham Lincoln

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela

“Truth is what stands the test of experience.” Albert Einstein

“An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind.” Mahatma Gandhi

“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” Henry Ford

“Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.” Ronald Reagan

“Love is never defeated.” Blessed Pope John Paul II

“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” John Wooden

I want to thank you, the readers, for taking the time to pick Dental Economics® out of the huge stack of mail that you receive every month, and then making the time to read what I have selected out of the many articles I receive and read every month. Please accept my heartfelt thanks for making DE the best-read magazine in the dental industry.

I sincerely hope this year is the best it can be for you!

Joe Blaes, DDS, Editor
email: [email protected]

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