TIME – I don’t have enough of it. I need more of it…to take care of the little things in life, like my oral health. I just finished several rounds of market research (focus groups) with GP dentists and dental specialists.

Like many of you, I am a “one-stop-shop” type of guy. I love Costco® and mega-malls – saves time and makes my life easier. I used to feel the same way about dentistry. My GP dentist is awesome. He is a great guy who is very skilled at cosmetics, and I proudly show off his work on a daily basis every time I smile.

I am probably due for a root canal (asymptomatic at the present time, thankfully), but I remember his last words to me: “Mike, it’s a back molar, I could do it here… or refer you to an endodontist.”

Maybe I’m overanalyzing the situation. My gut says to go with the endodontist. My heart says I trust my GP. My smartphone calendar says that I don’t have time for either option this month.

So where is all this leading? I wish the referral process was much easier. I don’t want to be the one to decide who takes care of the procedure that I need; I don’t want choices. On the one hand, I wish my GP dentist would have said, “Mike, let’s schedule the root canal here – it will be a breeze and I have done 10,000 of them just like it,” or “Mike, Dr. XYZ is the endo that I refer to and she will take care of the procedure.”

From my very recent research, I have found that a large percentage of GP dentists truly feel that they can do it all in their office: endo, perio, implants, etc. On the other side of the coin, the specialists truly expressed their passion for the specialties in which they work.

My hypothesis is that GP dentists are fearful, in these economic times, to refer out of the practice and potentially lose the patient. I mean, a course of perio therapy with a periodontist isn’t a one-visit fix!

I am certainly not going to let my GP physician do a rhinoplasty; and, if I inquired, he would give me a referral with ease.

Is it me or is there a breakdown in the dental referral arena?

One of the reasons that I am a proud Dental Geek lies in the fact that an RDH has saved my life… twice!
Ann Battrell, the Executive Director of the ADHA, is a dear friend of mine. We were having a quick lunch in San Antonio along the River Walk and catching up with each other. When Ann and I get involved in a discussion, good luck to anyone else getting a word in edgewise! We were engaged in a heated conversation when I apparently inhaled a french fry… whole. I stood up from the table and told Ann that I was choking. That’s all I remember!  Apparently, I passed out and took out three other lunch tables in my fall to the ground. I came to shortly after only to find Ann behind me engaged in a Heimlich maneuver. She was telling me that I was OK and to just breathe. My first question to her was, “How does my hair look?” See what a lack of oxygen can do to a person? Now, mind you, I am 6’4” and 230 lbs. Ann is five-foot-nothing and weighs about a buck. Her training led her to a quick response, and the french fry dislodged and shot across the restaurant. Thanks, Ann, for saving my life!

Another RDH saved my life: My personal RDH, Hertha. I was in for my routine cleaning about 8 years ago. Hertha and I were catching up on each other’s lives when she asked me to rinse in the cuspidor. I did as directed and filled the cuspidor with a large amount of bright-red blood and saliva. Hertha saw my shock and surprise and simply stated, “It’s the smoking, honey… you have to quit.” With that, she went to her magical drawer and pulled out a coupon and two pieces of Nicorette® Chewing Gum. This was not a Nicorette® promotion; it was something Hertha did for her smoking patients. We talked about the effects of smoking on my oral health and overall health. I quit smoking the next day.
I humbly raise my “geek glass” and toast the Hygiene profession… they save lives on a daily basis.