Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

T hat by which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare - Romeo & Juliet. I think it’s fair to say that a lot of dentists struggle for an iden- tity of their own. Are you a den- tal surgeon, a dental practitioner or “just” a dentist? Many change descriptions as they progress through their careers; certainly I believed dental surgeon had a certain ring to it when I was doing my hospital resident posts. Pomposity usually precedes de- flation as it was when I asked for patients to be referred to the de- partment of oral and maxillo- facial surgery and was asked by nurses and porters, did I mean the dental clinic? To add to this where do you work? A quick look at Google would have you believe that what were once just “practices” are now anything from surgeries, smile centres, dental care, fam- ily dental health care centres, im- plant clinics and spas. I have nothing against dif- ferentiation and during the first decade of practice ownership I changed the name of what I called the place where I went to work several times. Initially I implied ownership of an area by tak- ing the suburb’s name and add- ing the word dental. Next I was influenced to promote health (nothing wrong with that) so I be- came the suburb “dental health care centre”. Eventually I came from be- hind the names and realised that if I wanted to be successful on my own terms it was me that people wanted to see. The process wasn’t without wobbles, I had got so used to being part of a “thing” that I shied away from just being me but once I became comfortable with it I was happier and so were the patients. They wanted a relationship with a real human being whose name they knew, someone who they trusted and to whom they could refer their friends when requested. So I became Alun, their dentist. Then we made it harder to become a patient, whenever a po- tential new patient rang to make an appointment the first question asked was, “can I ask who re- ferred you because Alun usually only sees new patients on referral from existing patients.” That was said even when I was desperate for patients - it implied exclusivity and invitation. The follow up was left to my reception team; if they felt that the person on the phone was someone who would fit with us then they were able “to make an exception” in their case. If they made a fuss or demanded to be seen then they wouldn’t have suited us anyway so there was lit- tle point in starting a relationship. At this point I’d like to intro- duce the difference between a transaction patient and a rela- tionship patient and why it’s i mportant to attract the latter to your practice if you want long- term success. Very few people are entirely comfortable letting some- one who they don’t know very well and may, therefore not fully trust, work in what is a very sen- sitive area. Don’t forget, no mat- ter what you call yourself, your area of expertise is the mouth and most people don’t leap out of bed in the morning with the cry, “Fantastic, dentist today, hope it’s a long appointment!” So what’s the difference? What’s in a name? Alun Rees discusses the dental identity crisis October 29 - November 4, 201210 Opinion United Kingdom Edition QWQL231012RG Whitening Be Legal . . . • Maximum results with Combined InSurgery 6% HP & Home 16% CP • With Desensitiser • Use with or without light Intenz Combined InSurgery and Home Whitening - Buy 4 get 2 FREE 3.5w Laser UltraFast CuringCordless Laser IntraOral Cameras 6 Kits for only £170.83 . . . and more 1992 - 2012 Laser & Whitening Specialists since 1992 Call now for offers Tel. 01227 780009 and visit our website: www.quicklase.com info@quicklase.comAnniversary Made in Great Britain Carbamide £215.83 Buy 50 syringes (3cc each) and receive 10 free giving you a total of 60 syringes • Night time - 10% carbamide • Night/Daytime - 16% carbamide • Daytime - 6% hydrogen peroxide • 3cc large syringes with re-seal tips with buit in desensitiser in 5 or 10 syringe packs