By the way, first I wanted to tell you about this tooth that's been bothering me a little...

 I start each  day in my office withe a morning huddle with my staff. We go over the days patients and the procedures they need. This way, at least in theory, we are better prepared. The truth is, no matter how well we plan  , some of my patients invariably present with problems that are "off the books". By this I mean that although they schedule treatment for a specific procedure( a cleaning , a filling, an impression for a night guard) they actually have something else bothering them and they figure they'll ask me about it while in the chair.

Often what is bothering them is minor and can be addressed with 30 seconds of explanation but sometimes their "minor" complaint represents a major dental problem and my treatment plan, that was developed in my morning huddle, does not full get implemented since dealing with their freshly dicovered problem is more important.

 I have been a practicing dentist for a long time, and I am used to this by now, but it requires a lot of patience since I am a planner and enjoy having my day all mapped out, but it is the nature of our profession and our purpose is to help our patients and "do no harm". I believe it is my job to help my patients deal with their  urgent problems first , even when it disrupts my plans and sometimes my schedule!




from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2017/09/by-way-first-i-wanted-to-tell-you-about.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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