Guest

It is common to hear a dentist talk about "my patients".

My patients don't like tints on their composites. My patients don't like to talk, they just want to get in and out. My patients only care about how fast I finish their treatment.

In your beginning years, your patients will be pretty random. This is why having a new practice is so frustrating. No one knows what you stand for or your reputation so they just come randomly and may or may not be a good fit.

This leads to a dilemma.

Do you slowly react to the patients that complain and let your practice evolve to suit them? Or do you have a vision an hold to that realising that some patients will leave, but others will value what you do?

There is danger in both.

In the former, you run the risk of tailoring your practice to a whole group of people who complain about dentistry a lot. Since you try to tune your practice toward them, you get more of them. And you lose those that valued your original vision as you no longer suit them.

The danger in holding to a vision is that sometimes our vision is out of touch with reality. And if our vision is too exotic, there might not be enough people who value what we do.

In general, it's better to have a vision and work toward it slowly in steps rather than trying to go big or go home. Too often you go home :).

Over time, you will get a group of patients that reflect your own values or if you don't have any, you will get a random group that sometimes causes you frustration.