by Joe Blaes, DDS, Editor
I am writing these notes on an airplane on my way to Orange County, Calif., for KOL (Key Opinion Leader) meeting with DENTSPLY Caulk. It is the first week in August, and summer in St. Louis has been delightful until August arrived, bringing with it record heat with highs in the triple digits and lots of humidity.
In the next few weeks, I will be at four of these KOL meetings. The format of each one is pretty much the same. The companies reveal the results of their research and development as it relates to new products. They ask us to evaluate the products and give our opinion of the usefulness of the products in our practices. One of the great parts of these meetings is the networking between the KOLs and the representatives of the companies.
As I travel to various dental meetings and talk to dentists, I find that most feel as I do - this is a great time to be a dentist! If you are reading this and do not feel this way, please e-mail me and let me know why. In my lifetime, I have found that most bad situations can be turned around with some outside help. I have had many helping hands in my dental life - mentors, dentist friends, dental sales friends, lab owner friends, consultants (paid and unpaid), and many others who have helped me along the path to success in dentistry and life.
Just last week, my wife, Sue, and I spent a week with some dear friends in the Baltimore area. We spent the whole week sleeping in, eating crabs, cruising the Chesapeake Bay, eating crabs, talking for hours about dentistry and life issues, our wives talking for hours about how they have to put up with us talking about dentistry so much ... and eating crabs! It was a great time, and Sue and I were able to relax and recharge our batteries. The next time we are with Peggy and Al, I am leaving my cell phone and computer at home.
Don’t miss some of the great articles in DE® this month. I visited Dr. Joyce Bassett’s office in March. To really tell Dr. Bassett’s story would take about 20 pages! Her office is all about branding herself as an esthetic dentist. Whatever you have ever read about branding, you will see in her office. The walls are lined with exquisite images of her patients. I wish all of you could visit her in Scottsdale to appreciate the job she has done. She has really poured her heart and soul into this office.
I will be arriving early for the ADA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, since I will be one of the judges for the annual Matsco Dental Office of the Year competition. There is still time to submit your office for judging. Call Matsco for more information or go to www.matsco.com.
I also will be one of the speakers at the ADA meeting. What a great venue to hear so many of the best speakers available and to visit an exhibit floor packed with the very latest products from virtually every manufacturer in dentistry. Be sure to see my list of great new products that are being launched at the ADA. One of the first things that Dr. Bassett mentions in her interview is continuing education. You must have the knowledge before you can become the best of the best. Opportunity is knocking in San Francisco on September 22.
Last Tuesday, my publisher, Lyle Hoyt, and I visited the most innovative, state-of-the-art continuing- education venue that I have ever seen. We traveled to Scottsdale, Ariz., to see the Scottsdale Center for Dentistry. I was truly amazed when the president, Dr. Glenn Wysel, gave us the tour and explained in detail the vision of the Center. Dr. Gordon Christensen is the dean of the Center and has been responsible for bringing together a very impressive faculty. I am running out of space, but you certainly will be reading more about the Center in the coming months in the pages of DE. The Center will be another place to become the best that you can be!
