Dental Diaries: A wild and crazy day

Today is the last working day of this year for our office. And looking at the schedule, I hope it is a harbinger of a very productive 2012.

We are scheduled from 7:00 a.m. through 3:30 p.m. without a break. Yes, this is good news. We have several patients coming in who will need restorative and continuing care for early next year. We have those who are receiving their second preventive visit, just under the wire. And we are seeing patients who completely forgot about their dental benefit until the last week of the year.

In other words, business as usual, especially on the last day of the year.

As many of you, we will not be working on New Year's Eve. My team decided it would be a perfectly fine Saturday to be at home with their families, as Christmas Eve was. As a practitioner who LOVES working on Saturday, missing two days of production is not something I voluntarily sign up for, but I do enjoy making my team happy. They are the ones who schedule my day and clean my operatory. On the other hand, patients tend to cancel on holiday weekends, so their decision holds much wisdom.

So I begin the day with a smile, looking forward to a robust day of professional interaction with my patients. Yes, we will be running around like mad, but it is what we do best: performing dentistry, diagnosing dental issues, and discussing the importance of oral care as it relates to total health. With the close of 2011, we are still feeling the economy's toll on our practices. A fully scheduled, wild, and crazy day reinvigorates us to see that, yes, there are patients out there who need dental care. And, yes, they will be returning to our offices in the coming year.

As I leave the office later today, I will also relish in the knowledge that Monday, January 2, is also a federal holiday, so we will be able to enjoy a little more relaxation time before we start an invigorated 2012. We are all looking forward to an excellent year.

Happy new year to you and yours. May you have health, happiness, prosperity, and peace.

Sheri Doniger, DDS, practices clinical dentistry in Lincolnwood, IL. She has served as an educator in several dental and dental hygiene programs, has been a consultant for a major dental benefits company, and has written for several dental publications. Most recently, she was the editor of Woman Dentist Journal and Woman Dentist eJournal. You can reach her at [email protected].

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