In the final part of this four-part series on creating the life experience you want, Frank reaffirms the importance of finding what you love in life.
Experience of Life: Part 4 of 4
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Monthly Archives: September 2009
$4.19 a Shirt Part II: Expectations vs. Performance
Not long ago I wrote about the $4.19 a shirt laundering experience I had. This concierge cleaner went over the top to create a unique and creative experience that wowed me. I described this “new patient” experience as being so impressive that even though I didn’t need all they offered while cleaning my shirts; I WANTED it!
Here’s the second part of the story. I left nine shirts and asked for five to be lightly starched and the remaining four to have no starch. When I returned I was excited to see what a shirt that had its armpits pressed looked like. Anticipation filled the air.
The shirts were beautifully displayed in the plastic bags with the sleeves folded across the body of the shirt and held with little plastic stays. This was going to be a special day for my closet to be graced with laundry art!
I got them home, tore off the plastic and discovered that every shirt except the front one was wrinkled and what was worse…the lightly starched shirts had no starch and my silk and cotton blend shirts had been starched. They looked like bent plastic and felt like cellophane. I was crushed.
They had gained my confidence with an entrancing and sensate experience at the first visit and then let me down on every count THE VERY FIRST TIME!
As I said before, if you are going to do only one thing then you better do it better than anyone else. The higher the expectations of the patient, the further and more painfully they fall if I let them down.
I am back at my $2.00 a shirt cleaners and I remember that quiet confidence must be supported by my actions.
Materials Choices
The Live Patient Experiences here at Spear Education have opened my eyes to some fundamental questions that seem to be ubiquitous with today’s restorative dentists. The number one question: What material should I use? With the proliferation of new ceramic materials and the influx of subsequent advertisements and claims, this question has become even more confusing.
In the Anterior Esthetic Mastery Live Patient Experience, I continue to be puzzled by the number of people who request Feldspathic Porcelain based solely on the fact that Frank uses that material and they want results like Frank’s. I can’t argue with that desire; in fact I live it daily. It illustrates clearly, though, how many of us look at our materials options, believing that a material will bring us to the outcome we desire. In truth, there are some situations in which a specific material is indicated or contraindicated, but in most cases the result can be obtained with several materials, the outcome being dependent more on the people using it than on the material itself.
The good news – when there’s confusion about what to use, it usually means many things work! One of the most fun parts of the Live Patient Experiences is making that decision with a dentist-lab-mentor team for every patient. We’ve seen exquisite results with every option.
Defining Success: Accountability (Part 6 of 14)
This video is part of an ongoing series on Defining Success. To view the series from the beginning, click here. To receive notifications when new blogs are posted, subscribe to the Spear Education RSS feed.
Experience of Life: Part 3 of 4
In part three of four, Frank expands on finding your niche and individuality in creating your unique experience of life.
Is an Equilibration Ever Done?
I often repeat the funny phrase that an equilibration is only done when the patient acquires room temperature, and yet when working to reorganize a patient’s occlusion I want to feel “done.” So I started wondering…what does “done” look like?
First, is even intensity contacts on all posterior teeth, meaning it looks even when marked with ribbon, it sounds even when comparing right and left, and it feels even per the patient. Sometimes it can take several appointments to accomplish this goal, and when you encounter a highly tuned occlusal patient, several may stretch into numerous.
Next “done” means I have achieved the desired guidance scheme, and it is smooth and comfortable to the patient. Smooth means the patient moves gracefully from one side to the other, without hesitation or intention, I can’t feel any change in rhythm or speed with light pressure from my thumb on their chin, and I certainly don’t feel any drops or bumps. Smooth to the patient is defined as motion that is easy and doesn’t have to be forced. I love it when the patient cannot tell the transitions from tooth to tooth as they move through their excursive pathways.
Lastly, “done” means I have managed the places the patient plays to distribute and minimize force.
With all that said, I also accept that an equilibration is never “done” from a static point of view as it is accomplished on a human system that is ever changing. I expect to mark the teeth and see a difference in the character or size of the contacts as time goes by. The speed and extent of the change is dependent on how much time and in what way the patient brings their teeth together, as well as whether they wear a protective appliance.
Over the years what I have found most amazing isn’t how my patients’ occlusions change once equilibrated; it is the stability of an organized occlusion.
$4.19 to Launder a Shirt
I went to a new dry cleaner last night. A “concierge” cleaner. Didn’t know that until they explained why they were charging me $4.19 to launder my shirts. They showed me how I could pick up my cleaning 24 hours a day with their computerized system, how I would have my own personal microsite for all my web-based cleaning needs and what the difference was between the lesser service they offered and the concierge service.
Now, I am not sure that my armpits can tell the difference if my shirts have been pressed in that area or not and I didn’t realize that I should have new collar stays inserted every time I have my shirts washed and pressed. I also didn’t know that I needed special hangers and packaging to make my laundering experience complete.
Kim, the laundry goddess who shepherded me through the “new client” experience, showed me the entire store, explained how things worked, took my email address in the event any questions arose and then introduced me to my “personal presser” Beatriz who told me that if anything was ever amiss with one of my shirts that I should call her on her private line to discuss it.
Do I need $4.19 laundry service to look my best? Unequivocally NO!!
But I left my shirts there.
If you are going to do only one thing, then do it better than everyone else!
Experience of Life: Part 2 of 4
In part two of this four-part series, Frank opens up about time and technology. How do speed and convenience affect your experience of life?
Thank Gosh for Mentors!
Who do you turn to when you have questions about a complex case, encounter technology issues, or need materials recommendations? Lee shares about the value of resources and mentors.
Making It to the Other Side
This summer, my wife Cheryl and I had an incredible visit to Denali National Park in Alaska. We stayed at Camp Denali, 90 miles inside the park, 70 miles past the last place automobiles are permitted to travel in and 30 miles from Mt. McKinley. On one of our hiking excursions into the park wilderness, we rounded a corner to see this wolf pup crossing the trail. Before the first photograph was taken, he had seen us, jumped quickly back into the bush, and tentatively started to cross again. He really wanted to get to the other side.
Several times he began to cross, only to look at us, stop, and once again slide slowly backward to the safety of the branches (photo 2). He finally sat down (photo 3), fixed his gaze upon us, and watched, trying to understand what would happen next. We stood quiet and motionless, a part of his world and apart from his world at the same time. We were both held motionless by fears, ours that he would run swiftly from our view, and his that we represented danger and harm.
I felt his feelings, the knot in the stomach, the dry mouth, the shortness of breath, the chill up the back; I’ve been on that path. He couldn’t possibly know that he held all the power, that we represented no danger, and would in fact yield to whatever path he chose. The only real obstacle to being exactly where he wanted to be was his fear. For a fleeting moment I wished I could carry him to the other side, his benevolent protector, with one quick action nullifying his fears. I wanted to be for him what I’d wished had been there for me when I’d come around those corners early in my life.
Truth is, his fears (and mine, and yours) are real. They need to be recognized, seen clearly for what they are, understood if possible, and then they must cease to hold us from where we want to go. When getting to the other side of the trail is the future you want, you must learn to feel the fear and do it anyway.
This pup finally slipped out of our sight without getting where he was headed when we intruded on his plans. I have no doubt that he got across this trail and continued on his path, but had he “done it anyway” he could have been enjoying whatever it was that beckoned him so strongly to the other side.
Are you paralyzed by some trail that you must cross? If you know where you want to go, FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY!
