Ijust returned from Philadelphia and a great American Dental Association meeting. This annual ADA meeting was in a special venue that celebrates America’s heritage. Prior to the meeting, I heard a lot of griping about having the meeting in Philadelphia. But it was a wonderful place to visit and see, filled with so much history that most of us have only read about.
The world-famous Terminal Market was located right across the street from the Convention Center, offering the original Philly Cheese Steak and the country’s best chicken pot pie, plus many other treats.
The ADA program committee did its usual great job and attracted many outstanding clinicians to this meeting. All the rooms that I visited were full. It was great to see all the new products on the exhibit floor that dental manufacturers and distributors have introduced to improve what we do. In the coming months, I will share with you all of the “Pearls” that I found.
I would like to share one Pearl with you right now because I believe that this product could truly change the way you explain dentistry to your patients. This product will increase patient understanding through the use of an interactive system that will help your patients make decisions about dentistry. I am referring to MedVisor|dental. Ask your Benco or Burkhart representative for more information or see my Pearl in the August issue of Dental Economics®.You also can visit the company’s Web site at www.medvisordental.com.
I was happy to see so many dental teams at the ADA meeting, attending programs arranged just for them. I talked to a number of dentists who were learning about new procedures to use in their practices. They were all very excited and passionate about what they were doing. This is very exciting for me to see because I so frequently hear the comment that dentists go to meetings only to meet their continuing-education requirements. This is just not true!
I met a young dentist during a meeting on “Building the Practice of your Dreams,” put on by the experts at Matsco. He was excited and very thankful for the information that he was receiving, because he was getting ready to do all the things that were being taught. This program was put together under the guidance of Allison Farey, senior vice president at Matsco.
I saw a lot of old friends at the meeting, and met many new ones. It is always great to hear all the comments about DE - luckily, most are positive. I ran into Dr. Mike Gradeless at one of the many cocktail parties and spent some quality, one-on-one time with him. Mike writes “The New Dentist” column for DE. I told Mike how excited I was about the quality of the writing in his columns. He is “right on” about so many things.
About two years ago, Mike was a patient in my chair. He had some severe tetracycline stains and rotations that compromised his smile. He had heard me lecture and asked me to give him a new smile. I was honored to do so! Dr. Gradeless felt that he could not expand his anterior restorative practice until he “walked his talk.”
Mike really watches his numbers, and he decided to track the increase in anterior veneers and crowns he did the year before he came to me for his new smile. You will be amazed at the numbers that he produced by changing only that one thing! He will be writing an article on this in the coming months, and I think you will find his results incredible. If you have a compromised smile, get it changed before you try to convince another patient to do the same.
Thanksgiving Day is almost here. Remember to give thanks to God for all the blessings that have been bestowed on you. Also, remember those less fortunate than you in a special way. May God bless and keep all of us.
