Category: Opinion & Editorial

That’s my usual reply when someone informs me that a friend has unexpectedly died. Our mortality, as we age, becomes more difficult to ignore and it is a subject that is commonly suppressed in the deepest recesses of our consciousness. That’s how we cope and how we survive ... while pushing on to the next sunrise. Just writing about ... [continue reading]

Thomas Jefferson said, “We in America do not have a government by the majority.  We have a government by the majority who participate.”  A recent report from ADPAC, the American Dental Political Action Committee, stated that 31 percent of dentists are not registered to vote.  That’s nearly one in three of our ... [continue reading]

I live and practice in the Dayton metro area (live north and practice south).  Over the past couple of months in southwest Ohio there have been an unusual number of wrong-way accidents on local freeways caused by drunk drivers.  All of these incidents resulted in the loss of lives; one such incident had five fatalities.  The ... [continue reading]

Recently, I had the privilege to be an honored guest at the Senior Awards Ceremony for the Ohio State University College of Dentistry. Once again, I enjoyed the opening remarks from Dean Patrick Lloyd about the college, its accomplishments throughout the year, the faculty and their commitment to excellence, and the students – all of them. He ... [continue reading]

For the average solo or small group practitioner, what is your first reaction to the word “DSO?” Corporate dentistry. Aggressive treatment planning. Forceful sales tactics. High pressure financing. Non-dentists dictating clinical care. Perhaps one or all of these comes to mind. But to a new dentist who is graduating with enormous debt ... [continue reading]

Too many years ago, I served on the volunteer board of a state epilepsy association and had my eyes opened to the psychosocial issues faced by persons with seizures. The loss of dignity when an adult with seizures is arrested because he or she experienced a seizure on the street and was assumed to be intoxicated was a scenario I had never ... [continue reading]

As most of you know, Mother’s Day has just passed. While we all may not be mothers, we all have one. I’ve been a dentist longer than I’ve been a mother, and in some ways, I think dentistry has prepared me well to be a parent. Working through a busy schedule is about as multi-tasky as it gets, (who hasn’t done payroll while ... [continue reading]

My son Brian and I had takeout Chinese food for dinner the other night. His fortune cookie said, “A dose of adversity is often as needful as a dose of medicine.” We both agreed that sounded like something written by someone in deep you-know-what who was trying to make himself feel better. So many of our problems are the result of ... [continue reading]

Last month I alluded to the fact that some of our profession’s specialists might have a more advantageous status in their dealings with third-party payers. Well ...  yes they do ... and more than just a few specialists reside in our profession’s penthouse accommodations. For you “young’uns,” way back when there ... [continue reading]

At this juncture of my career, I find myself obsessed with practice management courses versus those courses that teach the latest and greatest in endodontic technique. Does it mean that I am at the pinnacle of being an endodontist and all that is to be learned has been learned? “No … of course not” she emphatically stated. Is it ... [continue reading]