Dental School Graduates Unprepared, Say 4 out of 5 Dentists

Dental school does NOT prepare or discern first of all what a great dentist does consist of. My family is French and we have the gift of communicating to anyone on the planet. Communication is not taught and neither do I think one can be taught. Thank God that I know how to respect different age groups, speak to them in a manner in which they expect to be spoken to, explain and educate the patients needs and wants to them and have compassion when need be. My office is and I have always been a very very successful dentist. I thought everyone was. But, I focus on communicating with, and not to, the patient. I already know how to cut a crown, do a filling, extract a tooth…these are not the things that make a dentist great..unless you learned how to do it WITHOUT HURTING PEOPLE…GOOD GRIEF…STILL THE MAIN PROBLEM WITH DENTISTS. I built a $1.6 million dollar practice in the middle of ‘nowhere Texas’…reason being, I built it on all the patients from other doctors that were 1. Still hurting people. 2. Not numbing patients. 3. Not explaining what is going on and why. 4. Not giving them a full treatment plan but taking orders from the patient like a short-order cook to be their friend..who knows. 5. Talking down to women that are in their middle age..this is a NO NO…don’t pinch their nose and wiggle it and say, “NOW YOU KNOW THAT DIDN’T HURT!” Especially when they are hanging onto the chair and crying…I saw this myself while visiting a neighboring doctor here in good ole boy country. Dentists need to get over themselves, be human, be humane, be respectful, do great work, pay for a great lab, don’t give the lab crap products and expect a miracle and then blame the patient…oy vey! Male dentists need to GROW UP! OR STAY OUT OF DENTAL SCHOOL….I have more patients than anyone in this town of 50 docs because of all of the above. I could train a dentist how to be real, but this is only taught to them if they want to get it. I don’t know what they are thinking when they cry that they don’t have patients and they are still HURTING PEOPLE WITH THE ANESTHESIA! My patients nearly faint because for the first time in their lives THEY WERE NOT HURT…THEY GO TELL ALL THEIR FRIENDS, FAMILY, ENEMIES, EX’S…YOU NAME IT….This IS taught in dental school, I read the book and took the test and remember what to do to NOT HURT ANYONE…but of course I am only a WOMAN…WHAT DO I KNOW? But I did observe a lot of cheating in dental school, drinking, stealing, and chasing the hygiene students….young males are not mature enough to come out and be REAL…BECAUSE THEY, ARE NOT REAL OFTEN TIMES. I am 57 years old, have the largest producing office in San Angelo, Texas. Only have 6 employees, one doc “me” and we still produced $1.4 million last year without a hygienist most of the time. I must know something that the guys do not know…you think?

I probably should give speeches…would it work? Probably not, but on the other hand I did sit one dentist in this town down and let him know what he was doing that was running all his patients over to my place. I helped him and he doubled his practice because of it, his name is Dr. Rick Williams, still sends me his root canals on occasions. Now when I met him he was producing $15,000 a month. That same month my office produced $110,000, same town, same dental degree….go figure…something major is out. I was looking online the other day to see what practices are selling for…1/5 to 1/4 to 1/3 what my practice produces…and it’s just us little ole girls over here….just know our manners, and we’re mommas and love our patients and take care of them. I also have a phone on me 24/7 and an ANSWERING SERVICE THAT CAN GET IN TOUCH WITH ME SO MY PATIENTS KNOW I CARE AND KNOW I AM AVAILABLE…but because they know, they don’t call…AMAZING…but the other male docs in town…usually have an answer box that says..LEAVE A MESSAGE…or they don’t have anything at all..in other words their message to the public is ..’LOOK, DON’T BOTHER ME, OKAY..I’M A BIG TIME DOCTOR HERE AND I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING ON THE WEEKEND, OKAY, BUT YOU BETTER NOT CANCEL YOUR APPOINTMENT OR ELSE..” What is it that these male docs don’t get? Now, my friend, I have a real business, I don’t know what these other docs are doing because I am doing their business.

Sincerely,
Dr. Deborah Boudreaux

Regarding recent dental school graduates’ comments; I graduated in 1975 and the comments today are the same as then. It is interesting to note how “practice management” is used interchangeably with business management. There are tons of practice management courses out there but very few business management courses. There is a big difference between practice management and running a business. This was brought home to me when I took “How to Start A Small Business” course at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte. I had been in “practice” for 25 years but hadn’t been in “business” at all! Be it a beauty salon, funky clothing store or drive through beer/wine store (my classmates’ plans) or a dental practice, there are certain business principles to which you must adhere or your practice will be a rocky road. My instructor was amazed that I was amazed by how much I had missed my target. “But you’re smart enough to be a dentist. You should know how to run a business.” My reply? “I was taught dentistry, I wasn’t taught business.” Dentistry is changing and we must change with it. Business is still business and we need to learn how to do it.
Robert E. Macomson, DDS
Clinical Faculty, Dental Programs
Central Piedmont Community College