Dentaltown June 2014 - (Page 14)

howard speaks column What Dentists Can Learn from the Downfall of Sears In February 2014, Forbes published an article titled "Sears Still Missing the Boat: 6 Ways the Brand Can Be Saved." Sears has been on a painful decline for the last decade. When I was a kid, Sears was the be-all end-all. It was all things great. I can still remember sitting around with my five sisters looking at the Sears Catalog. We'd circle things. We'd make Christmas lists. It was fantastic. Sears was one of the first department stores to carry exclusive product lines including DieHard Batteries, Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools. But now, it's had its lunch handed to it by Lowes and Home Depot. But why? The smartest economic gurus in the U.S. and Canadian market insist the market is split in two-half shop on price and half shop on service. But companies, department stores and even dental offices have to have one of the two. They can't cater to both markets successfully. For Sears, it used to be all about the service. You knew when you walked into Sears that its product lines were good quality and that you would receive great service if you had any questions or needed help. Now, you walk into Sears and nobody can explain anything about a battery or a tool or an appliance. Its service has taken a plunge but it hasn't made up for it in price. Other stores, like Wal-Mart for example, have the same products but offer them at a better price. On the other side of the coin, every time I go into Home Depot and have a question, I get it answered immediately (and of course, realize I need more equipment and tools). I end up being led by the sales associate to four other aisles to find things. It's good business. That store is staffed with a bunch of people who know what they're talking about. This is interesting to me on the dental side of things because I go into dental offices all the time. Nine out of 10 dentists don't let their staff talk intelligently to patients. Hygienists are afraid to show patients a cavity on an X-ray because they're "not the doctor." This is absurd. The patient is sitting in the chair and the dental assistant is taking a PA and a bitewing for an emergency. The tooth is completely bombed out. It's obvious that the tooth has to be extracted. The patient asks the dental assistant, who has been working for the practice for years, what the verdict is. She doesn't answer because she's afraid of her own doctor. She's afraid of being knowledgeable staff member. So basically, the doctor wants to be Sears. I often hear dentists use the excuse: "It's illegal for a dental hygienist or an assistant to read an X-ray." Can you name one hygienist, dental assistant or receptionist in America who is serving time in prison for reading an X-ray? It's not like you, the doctor, are going to go in there and take the hygienist's reading on the X-ray and just start doing a root canal blindly. No! You are going to evaluate it for yourself. You're going to ask her to clarify if her handwriting is messy. You're going to discuss what she saw versus what you're seeing. This is why the "it's illegal" excuse is just crazy. It's crazy for the patient's questions to be put off and it's not fair for the staff. They're knowledgeable, so let them show it in the work they do. The same way the knowledgeable employees at by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, Publisher, Dentaltown Magazine continued on page 16 14 JUNE 2014 » dentaltown.com http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown June 2014

Dentaltown.com Highlights
Howard Speaks
Professional Courtesy
Continuing Education Update
Insurance Changes--Buyer Beware (and Be informed)
The Art of Hand Filing
The Value of Magnification, Documentation and Ergonomics
Currently In-network with a Lot of Plans
High Tech, Low Overhead
Second Opinion: What Exactly is Modern Endodontics?
Patency and Profound Anesthesia
Eliminating the Ding of Endodontics
You Should Know: EdgeEndo
Improved Dentistry through Advanced Digital Radiography
Black and White: Diagnosing Doesn’t Have to be Gray Area
Ways to Make the Internet Your Best Source for New Patients
Digital Microscopy
You Should Know: Dentyzion
Poll: Implants
Function Meets Aesthetics: Advanced Materials for Posterior Restorations
Disability Insurance, Another Look…
Inside United Concordia
Ad Index
Perio Reports
Excuse Me, I’m Talking Here
Dentally Incorrect

Dentaltown June 2014