Is Your Dental Office Running With A Couple Of Handbrakes Still On?

The best practices are the ones run with systems, protocols, checklists and accountability.

If your Dental office is running without these then you’re kidding yourself, because it’s like driving an unserviced car.
Sure the car runs fine, but one day the engine is going to seize.

One day the brakes are going to fail.

Or your tyre is going to blow out because your wheels have been running crooked and wearing a baldness on the inside that you cannot see.

And while your car has been going along OK, or so you thought, you’ve gotten less fuel economy, your tyres have worn out quicker and now your discs are shot because you forgot to check your brakes.

“But I’m a pretty good driver!”

I hear you say, “But I’m a pretty good driver”

Well you may well be.

But while you’ve been watching the road, your car’s been over-revving, chewing up fuel, chewing up brake pads and discs and chewing up tyres way quicker than it needed to.

All because you chose to watch the road and not check on the car.

Or you chose not to have a co-driver watching your gauges.

Down at my farm I’ve got a Toyota Hilux.

And every week when I visit down there it’s my duty to take the Hilux for a twenty minute run so that the engine keeps moving and the seals don’t perish.

Occasionally I’ve been guilty of taking the Hilux out and travelling along the open road with the handbrake still on.

Now I know that’s not good for the Hilux, and it’s really not good for the handbrake pads and cable either I’ll bet.

And for me, I feel like giving myself an uppercut for being so stupid.

But I’m not Robinson Crusoe.

I’m not the only driver in the history of the world to drive a distance with the hand brake on.

But I don’t feel any warm fuzzies when I discover my error.

It’s funny, as a dentist, I thought I was a pretty good driver.

I could get my practice going really fast.

But when I hired a consultant to help me, the first thing they did for me was release a handbrake or two.

And boy did my dental practice really fly then.

It’s the same in golf.

Sometimes you think you’re doing something pretty well, but with a couple of tweaks from a golf pro you’ve got that Titleist soaring longer and straighter than ever before.

When I have a lesson from my golf pro he sees what’s going on behind my back.

He sees me from all angles.

He sees the top of my swing.
He sees my set up.
He sees my backswing.
He sees my impact.
He sees my follow through.

I’m just watching the ball.

Sure I could read a golf magazine every month and get ten great tips and fix my own swing for less than ten bucks?

Or I could invest in the help of a professional who knows what breaks and knows the best way to fix it?

How many coaches does tennis star Roger Federer have?

He’s got coaches for every part of his game.

Federer has more than one coach.

I’m thinking, in Dentistry, having less than one coach is the wrong answer.

It is said that a lawyer who goes to court and defends himself in court has a fool for a client…