Re: Future Dentists

I asked five friends yesterday a seemingly simple question, “What is one thing you think the world lacks?” Not intentionally to write this one day, but just sheer human curiosity. I found it interesting that in this list of answers I compiled, not one person mentioned something tangible.

After three years surrounded by the dental profession, and coming from a future member, I can think of no group less empathetic at times. Every step of our clinical training is intensely scrutinized and oftentimes even ridiculed. We turn ourselves cold to certain remarks, dulled to the unkindness which is so often considered “standard” in our education. This toxic mindset can bleed into our patient care as we sometimes become so quick to judge or blame our patients for the state of their oral health.

We spend countless hours focused on the esthetics of smiles: improving esthetics, making teeth look better, replacing missing teeth, filling spaces, whitening from A1 to an even brighter B1, sometimes to even brighter shades that need to be specially ordered. We are ultra-focused on trying to get things perfect perfect perfect. We are taught to focus on imperfection from our first day of D1 year, but I would guess that most of us have been focused on perfection long before starting dental school.

We focus on micro imperfections day in and day out, while the world outside of our clinic’s doors seemingly crumbles around us. There have been vast, countrywide changes being made by politicians at a rapid rate. It is easy for life to begin to feel out of control when you step back to look at the big picture and the state of the world around us. In fact, it often feels like the only thing we CAN control exists within the doors of our clinic, between the separators of our operatories, in the seats and handpieces and shade indexes which we have been taught to so skillfully utilize. But this is not the truth.

Let me say something that may be hard for the future-dentists out there to read.

The world doesn't lack whiter teeth…. but it does lack smiles.

I want to challenge everyone reading this to focus on the words coming out of your mouth instead of the teeth they hide behind.

We lack empathy.

We lack genuine compassion.

We lack kindness.

We are given a unique opportunity as health care providers to impact the lives of the general public, at the least the patients that we see. Why can’t we try to send everyone home a little happier (and healthier) than they were before?

I challenge you this week while seeing patients, to fix their disease but also show them compassion. Show them that future doctors will be better. We will not be the old generation of dentists that shames our patients. Treat them well. Love them better. Treat your future assistants well. Be appreciative. Be thankful. Be the empathy, patience, and kindness the world lacks. The world needs dentists, but we need smiles more.