Doctor, Please Stop Assuming
By Nona Naghavi A lot has been said and covered by many before me. Ben has done a tremendous job hammering it into our heads that some things that we thought we should never do must be done in this da...
What’s in Your TC Room?
Ever really think about it? Ever sit in the chairs that patients and parents sit in on a non-patient day and look around? I mean really look. What do you see? Is there a reason for each and everything...
Chairside Consults
Why do we have TC rooms? Why do we have TCs who do nothing but interact with new patients? Why do we believe that only they can do this? Why do we spend an hour or more talking a new patient and their...
Focus on Photos
So recently I’ve reexamined what we do and why in our offices with an emphasis on opportunities to increase patient comfort, reduce chair time and increase efficiency. Knowing us orthodontists I...
Do No Harm?
The other day I posted this pano and the following question on The Pragmatic Orthodontist: Clinical Discussions: Patient doesn’t want extraction of H or #11. Patient doesn’t want exposure ...
Avoid the Doctor Bottleneck
If your office is like ours and most of the orthodontic offices I’ve visited, the doctor is the bottleneck and the limiting factor when it comes to the workflow. The team members usually must wa...
If You Don’t Believe It’s Raining, Do You Still Get Wet?
Sitting in the lobby of our hotel here in Rome, waiting on my family and friends to head down for dinner, I decided to catch up on my SmileDirectClub cases. After doing several on my phone it hit me t...
Blame Doesn’t Help You
Even if you’re convincing. Even if you’re right. But seeking to assign blame comes incredibly naturally to us human beings. Whenever we are confronted with a problem, an obstacle, an issue...
Making Pontics for Ortho Patients (video)
Making pontics for missing anterior teeth on patients in braces has always been a challenge. I’ve tried lots of different techniques over the years and, though it’s still labor intensive,...
Patients Won’t Wait on You
I hear doctors talking all the time about how long their new patients must wait for an appointment. A wait of three to six weeks is not uncommon at all and many doctors talk about even longer waits as...