tenthmed wrote:
> What I'm trying to say is, a gimmick is a gimmick is a gimmick. We are
> health-professionals and we should NOT be driven solely by the $ or
> Pound or Euro. Yes, it is hard to run a small-business and generate a
> profit, but we can and do turn a nice profit on cleanings, fillings
> (alloy or composite, as you will), crowns, implants, partials, dentures,
> yada yada. And, certainment, there is a place for periodontal therapy in
> each and every dental practice - if it is a valid treatment.
>
> But, unlike dental restorative therapy, which has not changed much in
> 20(ceramics) - 100(gold) yrs., should we be treating the dynamics of
> modern day Periodontitis with proven therapies or new-age marketing
> gimmickry? Should we be treating the patient's disease state or his/her
> pocket-book/wallet?
>
> I did not get into the health-professions to get rich, but to make a
> difference by helping people (BTW, I am a libertarian, NOT a LEFTY.)
> Maybe, my bad. Was I jaded by institutionalized dentistry? I guess that
> after 10 years as a U.S. Army dentist, I did not realize the mercenary
> attitude of private-practice U.S. dentistry. Again, my bad.
>
> Periodontitis is a potentially deadly disease that should be
> aggressively treated, not toyed with by using useless therapies. It
> should not be a "profit center".
I think we're in general agreement. If I went into dentistry to get
rich I've been a terrible failure. But for better or worse, it is how I
make a living. I have to live within my own moral and ethical code, and
for me that means that I avoid gimmicks too. If that means I'm a bit
slow off the mark introducing certain services to my practice (as I was
for example with restoring implants) so be it.
I think you will find, just as in any line of work, people who have a
very mercenary attitude, and those who do it essentially for love. We
all have to find a comfort level between these extremes--not always an
easy thing to do.
Steve
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001
oralhealth@com…
Amatus Cremona
