Things You Should Know Before Setting Up Private Dental Practice

 

Things You Should Know Before Setting Up Private Dental Practice

Many of us are surrounded by people who have negative approach towards the Dental Profession. Staying arround such people... we also start to think negatively.

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I know dental profession is getting tough day by day. I agree salary of a BDS graduate is less than a labourer’s salary under MNREGA. I know PG seats are limited. Not only this but even after doing Postgraduation (MDS), the salaries in academics are shrinking these days. Dental Clinic is no more a cakewalk as everyone wants to start dental practice in a city which is already overcrowded with too many clinics. Many of you are leaving the profession to study MPH/MHA or to work at Pharmacovigilance data centers.

 

But still I believe that we are in one of the best professions in India. We are the Kings/Queens at our places of work. Do not loose your heart... Follow the 7 golden tips for successful Dental Practice.

 

 

1. Clinical Skills:

 

Master minimally in basic dental procedures before setting up your own practice such as Extractions, RCT, Esthetic Cosmetic Work, FPD, CD.

 

 

2. Invest Sensibly:

 

Whenever you open up your practice, do not waste your money much on interiors & show business initially. Instead invest in dental materials and equipments. Trust me nobody bothers it if you are good at your work. I have seen people investing 70% in showbiz & 30% on Dental materials/equipments.

Result: You know they cry after 6 months.

 

 

3. Have Patience: 

 

It will be fruitful only if you remain calm. Dentistry is like every other business. In the 1st year of your practice you pay from your pocket. In 2nd year you reach a break even point i.e there is NO PROFIT NO LOSS. Its only from the 3rd year that you start to earn. 

 

Suppose you are relocating after practicing for 4-5 years at some place; then regardless of your experience you will still have to have patience because your practice takes average 3 years to show profitability.

 

 

4. Keep Control on Yourself: 

 

Do not do Superman stuff in the initial years of your practice. Its very difficult to earn a name but very easy to spoil your name. Do case selection very effectively. If you don't have confidence about the case then either call a specialist or refer it to some experienced doctor. This way you might loose some money but you will make sure that it won't spoil your name.

 

 

5. Continue Learning: 

 

Attend CDE's & Conferences regularly. It will help you to remain confident of your profession and will also keep you up to the date with the new advances in the field.

6. Money Factor: 

 

Never underestimate youself. Charging less is not going to help you in long term. (Read The Price War In Dentistry By Dr.Pranav Agale). Never let the patient bargain; better let him/her go if he/she tries to bargains. Most of them will come back to you for the treatment at your described costs within a week after visiting 2-3 clinics in their vicinity. Always remember good things never come cheap.

 

TELL ME IF ANY PATIENT BARGAINS WITH AN EYE SURGEON OR  A HEART SURGEON? THEN WHY US???

 

 

7. Marketing: 

 

Do regular marketing for your clinic. Because your clinic is just like a CORPORATE firm and you are the boss (MD).  So you have to do all sorts of advertisements (ofcourse ethically) to let patient's know that YOU EXIST.

 

MORE INPUTS FROM SENIORS AND FRIENDS ARE WELCOME.

Source : DentistFriend

How To Build A Successful Private Dental Practice?

 

How To Build A Successful Private Dental Practice?

Years back dentistry used to be a profession of a few but it has become one of the most prolific career option now a days. Today's dental graduates are under far more stress compared to their seniors few years back.

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I have tried to outline some basic causes that lead to stress and their remedies. Take care of these facts of life and you will notice your dental life getting on track.

 

1. Get rid of the POW

 

     P = PRESUMING

    O = OVER IMAGINATION

    W = WORRY

 

If you are a new graduate, you will agree that dentistry has become a crowded place but that doesn't at all mean that you can't make name & fame. Of course it might take a bit longer than it used to..

 

So when you enter into private practice don't over imagine that things will fall in to place and you will be in immediate demand; instead be ready to take it day by day!

 

Remember it’s a game of patience; worrying is not the solution. Rather it is better to set goals and try to achieve them.

 

I'm sure that sooner or later you will agree with my point. 

 

 

2. Count your chickens before they hatch

 

Dental profession requires investment of both your time & money. Not only you have to invest in studies but also in establishment of clinic & this financial investment never end.

 

You should have a target on where you want to be in specific period of time i.e. Time: Money balance.

 

Spending beyond what you have can be a very risky proposition. Financial debt is one of the biggest reasons of stress for many. Remember it’s your or your parent’s hard earned money, so plan precisely and manage your funds properly and never spend on anything just because some of your colleague did it.

 

 

3. Work Life Balance

 

Family is the fulcrum between your personal & professional life. In the pursuit of professional success, never let go of the family. Because- "Success in dental practice" is directly proportional to time you spend with your family whereas "Stress" is inversely proportional to time you spend with family.

 

The less time you give to your family the more stressful dentistry will feel to you. You need motivation to succeed & there can’t be stronger motivation than to work and improve the life of your family members both professionally and personally.

 

 

4. Don’t Just Live- Be Alive!

 

It is good to chase your dreams but do not forget that "A healthy mind resides in a healthy body". Dentistry is tough on body; with age there are chances of back pain & fatigue creeping in. Take some time out of your busy schedule for yourself. Divert yourself from dentistry; spend some time for your hobbies. Hobbies are the great stress busters; it can be anything singing, photography, travelling, dancing, cooking or anything… but spend some time with yourself  

 

These activities reduces your stress & helps you in reaching the professional excellence

 

 

5. Take It Easy

 

There will be a lot of people around you who won't stop criticizing dental profession but take it easy! Don't overreact to such cynic personalities! That will save you from a lot of stress.

 

There is nothing wrong is discussing negative aspects of field. That in a way keeps you informed about the possible problems in your profession and eventually you might come out with some solution..

 

 

6. Follow "No Comparison" Policy

 

A lot of dentists have the habit of comparing themselves with graduates of other streams. This comparison is of no use; it won’t do anything than adding further stress to your life.

 

So get out of it; stop comparing & if you can’t stop comparing yourself with other professionals; it is better to get out of dentistry. Also learn to be grateful in life, be thankful for what all you have and then work hard for more.

 

You must have heard the saying

 

"Work with an aim on the target but not worrying about the target"

 

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Well then my dentist friends! These are some of the mantras I learned about dental life from my seniors and staffs and they learned it after years of struggle. These positive habits can't be acquired overnight but are as practical as sun rising in the east everyday!

 

Remember! to be successful in dental career, you need to have the power to tackle the stress and now you know how to!

 

Feel Good, Live Good, Do Good: Happy Dentistry! All the best for a successful dental career. 

Source : DentistFriend

Clinical Dentistry Tips: 3 Keys To The Perfect Bisque Trial

 

Clinical Dentistry Tips: 3 Keys To The Perfect Bisque Trial

On one end of the ladder is leaving the crown high and telling the patient “Settle ho jaega” and on the end is over reducing the prosthetic crown thinking “yeh supraerupt hoke contact mein aa jaega”

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Unfortunately both these can have long term deleterious effects on the patients dentition and thus we clinicians should refrain from such erroneous practice.

 

As ethical clinicians, it is imperative that we do not introduce any interference in the patient’s mouth when crowning a tooth and this makes adjusting the occlusion at the bisque trial phase one of the most critical steps in fixed prosthodontics.

Occlusion at bisque trial should be adjusted in two separate steps:

 

1. Static Occlusion: Where the bite is adjusted in Maximum Intercuspation with POINT contacts on functional cusp tips, mesial/distal marginal ridge and/or central fossa only. 

This should ideally be done with 40 micron Blue colour articulating paper.

 

2. Dynamic occlusion: Where excursive contacts are checked (in working side excursion as well as non-working side excursion) and any LINE markings are eliminated completely. It is important to remember that posterior teeth should contact only during Maximum Intercuspation and should be completely disoccluded in every excursive movement.

This should ideally be done with 40 micron Red colour articulating paper

 

Let’s see how to go about doing a Bisque trial for tooth number 17 diagrammatically.

 

 First static occlusion is adjusted to achieve 4 points of contact in MIP using blue paper.

 

 

 

Next with red paper working excursion is checked. As depicted a line is seen on the buccal cusp. This line is a working side interference and thus should be completely eliminated.

 

 

 

 Following this the non working excursion is checked and any red line marking is eliminated.

 

 

 

This concludes the bisque trial and the crown is now ready for glazing.

 

 

 ”Dots at the Back and Lines in the Front” is the key to achieving an interference free occlusion.

Source : DentistFriend

Dental Photography: Are You In Focus?

 

Dental Photography: Are You In Focus?

Despite having innumerable hours of experience with shooting I have met many dentists who pursue dental photography in the AUTO mode.

I have nothing against the use of AUTO mode but I feel there is a HUGE need for the dentists (AND OTHER MEDICAL EXPERTS) to understand that by using the camera in auto mode one fails to realize the true potential of ones DSLR (or other camera) The AUTO mode is nowhere close to what a DSLR camera can really achieve.

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It’s actually like a monotonous robot who fails to have a mind of his own.NO creativity, No BRAIN, NO Ambition and NO experimentation … what a dull life.

Despite being a boring mode to shoot in the AUTO mode has innumerable drawbacks one of the greatest drawbacks being the loss of freedom to choose the right focus point.

This post shall be helpful to all the beginners in dental / medical photography who want to understand WHY despite innumerable attempts they do not get a sharp image in any particular situation”

It’s invariably important to have a rough idea of the composition of an image in your mind, not a difficult job for a dentist considering we have few options for standard type of photography. (Of course if you would like to be creative Sky is the limit … but that’s not the point for this post)

 

We now have a set composition and a magnification to shoot at. We know the settings to shoot at.

 

The Next step is to focus accurately.

 

In semiprofessional cameras there is a box (actually meant for face recognition) to help you focus on the area of interest.

 

In AUTO mode this box tends to change place and even before the dentist knows the box shifts to a place which the camera feels is the desired region for focus and the result is a blurred image.

The reason for this is that the camera will focus on the easiest spot as soon as possible and this usually is a well-lit area with high contrast (be it intra oral or extra oral photography) this area need not be the area where the dentist wants to focus.

So is there a way the dentist can change the focus spot? The answer is yes

In semiprofessional cameras too you can switch to manual focus and manual mode of shooting and shift the box to where exactly you would want to focus.

Remember SMALLER the box … greater will be the accuracy of the spot where you would like to focus.

Speaking about DSLR we have a much professional way to solve the issue

Every DSLR has specific focus points (Number of focus points - 9, 11, as many as 100 or more)

A dentist can pre-select the focus point of choice based on the composition of the image in his/ her mind.

 

For e.g., selecting the top focus point instead of the center focus point might give greater sharpness to the central incisors which are the subject of conversation in the image.

The focus point can be easily selected using the main dial in Canon cameras. The focus point selected turns RED in the optical viewfinder and also on the LCD screen.

The only thing left NOW is to shoot … hey but wait a minute … we have still not finished actual focusing.

It is always a good choice to set magnification first in the camera and set the lens and camera to manual mode and manAnchorual focus.

Before pressing on the shutter release button one has to make sure that the desired spot is accurately in focus in the optical view finder

If it is not in focus at the desired magnification it is ALWAYS recommended to move your own position rather than change rotate the lens for focusing because that will again change the magnification ratio.

In canon cameras once we achieve accurate focusing the camera gives out a small beep and the focus point flashes red again when we HALF CLICK

(Half clicking is a very good habit that needs to be cultivated because this will tell us if we are correctly focusing or not)

I used a Nikon camera and surprisingly Nikon camera did not give out a BEEP in manual mode during half click – I was a bit uncomfortable with that.

Lastly we need to understand that Focus point is the center of an imaginary sphere (of focused area) Maximum sharpness is in the center and focus reduces as we come towards the periphery.

Hence we should always focus in a spot in between the desired area of depth of field

E.g If we want the entire upper arch in focus it is a good idea to focus on Canines rather than the incisors to avoid wastage of the sharpness in depth of field

Source : DentistFriend