Ideal is Dumb
Ideal has a place in textbooks and in the educational process but, in practice, ideal is dumb. Ideal is the favorite word of the inexperienced, the armchair quarterbacks, anonymous online study club ...
Don’t Go In Order, Doctor
We orthodontists are orderly creatures. “A time for everything and everything in its due time”, could easily be our profession’s motto. That is well and good for most things but not for a doctor...
Faster, Doctor, Faster!
The first time you cut a crown prep in dental school, how long did it take you? It took me about 3 days, but I got faster! The first time you put brackets on in ortho residency how long did that take?...
No Shows = No Big Deal!
I used to get so mad when people dared to break appointments. “How disrespectful! People these days just don’t act right and society is going to hell in a hand basket”… or so I believed and so...
Free Cases Cost Money?
I read the newsletter of an antiquated but still popular orthodontic consultant the other day and was struck by something crazy. This consultant was putting fourth the assertion that donating free tre...
Our Doctor Is THE BEST!
If I call your office right now and ask for a new patient appointment, will the person answering your phone tell me how great you are? Will I hear something like this? “I am so glad you called! Dr. ...
Bending Wire vs. Repositioning Brackets
I’ve tried it both ways over the past decade and ultimately found that I can finish cases 4-6 months faster bending wire to correct minor rotations and discrepancies than I can by repositioning and ...
Coach
By: Dr. Mike Zetz I am writing this with the assumption that the reader – YOU – holds this tenant to be true. That is, you believe that within your area, when it comes to orthodontic care, you ...
But It’s Not Perfect!
Recently a member of Ortho101 asked about how to handle an imperfect finish. It is a great question and one we all deal with almost daily whether or not we want to admit it out loud. Here are some of...
10-Minute NP Phone Call?? Ain’t NOBODY Got Time For That!!
I had our receptionists do it for years. They were required to fill out every single line on the ridiculously long new patient call sheet (and then some) on every single new patient call. The sheet as...