The pressure was already quite intense for young dentists even before Covid-19. Today, there’s so much more that can lead us to take our eyes off the ball—which is perhaps why focusing on fundamentals is the best path forward for new and recent grads.
Dr. Michael L. Richardson, the owner of South Hills Family Dental Care in Charleston, West Virginia, argues for getting back to basics during a complicated period—and responding, to the greatest extent one can, to production pressures with a cool head.
He extols the virtues of repetition and attention to detail.
“Take your time with each procedure, hone your skills. Try to do every step as perfectly as possible. Speed will come with repetition,” he says, and his ultimate point is well taken: “It is much more profitable to do a procedure once than to have to redo something and not get paid for it.”
The good doctor has been practicing since 1991, so he has seen his share of changes throughout the industry, and adapted.
He remembers well, for example, his team’s initial apprehension about going digital. “I had to keep reminding them, ‘In six months, you won’t understand how you performed without [the technology].’ Now they all agree.”
In the end, though, even Dr. Richardson admits his favorite part of dentistry is going completely back to basics: “I try to connect with all my patients on a personal level. I feel as though most of my patients are my friends, and I hope they feel the same way.”
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