The day’s work was over and I closed down for the day. Stepping just outside the building that houses my clinic I could hear people murmuring something inaudible. The voices got a bit, more audible as I walked towards my new car. Oh, were they gossiping about me? Did they utter my name? They were discussing what a raw deal they had gotten when I appeared out of my clinic And I wasn’t so sure what they were up to. Of course they had a different topic every day for discussion. It was the faint mention of my name that day that alerted me. So was it me or something else that was being gossiped about?

Why were they discussing me? I was sure not up to any mischief. Most of my patients were contented with my treatment. And I asked myself which doctors have kept all patients contented? Not everyone, I answered my own question satisfactorily. Not everyone can be satisfied. But one must try his best. I have always done my best for my patients and been very transparent in my dealings. I also helped in community projects in any which way I could. What more do people expect? Which brought me back to my original troubling thought, why were people gossiping about me behind my back?

It wasn’t easy to fall asleep that night. I woke up early and dressed up for a dental conference. At the conference I interacted nicely with many professionally colleagues. Hi-fives, back slapping and all, yet when I was sitting by myself in a corner one doctor walked up to me and stated a conversation. On the surface it was routine small talk. As the conversation deepened, we got into discussing equipment and  techniques and dental materials I use. “But that is not the best material” He said indignantly. And what equipment did I use? “But that is not a safe machine to use”, “And what technique do you use”, “but that is an already an out dated technique, I know something better”. The mental rape continued for some time. Envy I told myself. This guy is suffering from envy. I wasn’t sure, but why does this guy start a conversation with me when I wasn’t interested? And why does he offer advice which I didn’t ask for?” May be he was really sincere. But his barrage of questions seemed to be too aggressive. There could have been many reasons; ENVY could be one of them. Mine is bigger and better than yours!

We are always surrounded by people. We never know what they really have in their mind. Some may be full of praise of our achievements. Some may be indifferent, yet some may be envious of us. Some may even be conniving to get back at you for some reason by doing revengeful acts. We may never know their minds. Yes, the envious kinds are quite successful in creating unfavorable situations for us. At times it makes us hate our work and our lives.

Then what is the single most important deterrent that stops us from going mad? Or for that matter going into chronic depression?

Our Goals, the aims, objectives and ultimate purpose for which we set our foot outside out house to practice our profession.

Our Goals stop us from getting entangled into needless brooding, anxiety, anger or any other self-destructive actions. Our Goals keep the meaning of our lives intact.Reassessing our purpose in life is a sure shot remedy for avoidable headaches. Have you assessed your goals by now?

Dr Sanjay Jamdade is a speaker on dental implants and is a visiting consultant with few prominent dental clinics in and around Mumbai for implants and oral rehabilitation. He is also the CEO of Dr Jamdade’s Dental clinic and Implant center since 23 years which is a practice devoted to aesthetic dentistry, microscope assisted endodontics, implants and oral rehabilitation situated near Tarapur Atomic Power Station at Boisar Tal Palghar Dist Thane near Mumbai, India, email: –sanjayjamdade@gmail.com

Disclaimer : The views expressed in this blog are solely the views of the author and need not reflect the views of DentistryUnited.com . For any clarification you can get in touch with the author directly at the address mentioned above.

Continued from Part 1

Tossing and turning in my bed night I spent time going over the evening’s case. For the patient the previous guy was a big hero and a role model. Never mind the rotten dentistry. His lack of dental skills was his ‘compulsion’ `and forced him into ‘pseudo sainthood’! What I call “compulsive compassion”.

So did quality dentistry matter ever? Or was it something meant to be easily forgotten the moment the dental degree was acquired? Well then all that hardwork & honesty in studying and attending lectures, and conferences and everything else was a complete waste. Probably learning to sweet talk your patients was all that was needed.

What is it that happens in the long run to all these below average dentists? Do they end up packing their bags and closing shop in a couple of years?

Well that is an outcome we pray for all the time, after all we believe in justice, that if you do good you get good, if you do bad then you get bad too. That’s what our wise elders have rightly taught us.  However it doesn’t happen that way in real life! The below average, the good and the excellent all survive. We see it all around us all of the time.

And why does this always go against the law of nature taught to all of us?

Simply because what the patient thinks is important to him is different from what we think is important for him! The patient’s criteria for evaluating us are very different from what we think! So good and bad all survive.

So the patient that day had put “being a gentleman” as a top requirement of a good doctor. Never mind the quality of dental work. Quality of work was secondary to him. Some want “prompt dentistry”, never mind how you do it. Others seem to search for an “economic” practice and want “affordable dentistry”. And yet others want “quality lasting dentistry”. The list of criteria could be endless.

So it makes perfect sense for the dentist and his patients to mutually assess whether they have common goals of therapy.

In the absence of common meeting points all you have left with you at the end of the day is a severe pounding headache!  .

Dr Sanjay Jamdade is a speaker on dental implants and is a visiting consultant with few prominent dental clinics in and around Mumbai for implants and oral rehabilitation. He is also the CEO of Dr Jamdade’s Dental clinic and Implant center since 23 years which is a practice devoted to aesthetic dentistry, microscope assisted endodontics, implants and oral rehabilitation situated near Tarapur Atomic Power Station at Boisar Tal Palghar Dist Thane near Mumbai, India, email: –sanjayjamdade@gmail.com

Disclaimer : The views expressed in this blog are solely the views of the author and need not reflect the views of DentistryUnited.com . For any clarification you can get in touch with the author directly at the address mentioned above.

I saw some excess composite core material on the disto-proximal chamfer of the crown prep. Was that a overhang? I just took a probe to check the finish line. Ping! The paper thin core, that had been pretending to cover the coronal seal, popped into my hand! But by now the crown was already loaded with luting resin cement and the assistant was just waiting for my signal. It was too late for me to change things. Obviously this was a horribly done endodontics on a tooth on which I was requested to cement a crown. The maker of these ‘creations’ was absent and was blissfully enjoying his vacation on some sunny beach far away while I was toiling hard to finish my cases as well as his!. I just picked the crown and stuck it in place and avoided looking at it till the cement set. You see it is said “out of sight- out of mind”!

And yes the crown was no better. The crown prep was actually a hacked off tooth which was passed off as a crown prep and the temporary crown mentioned on the case paper was missing since the day the tooth was prepped. By now, in a month’s time, the occlusal surface of the prep was touching the opposite tooth. I had to grind off virtually the entire occlusal surface of the ceramic crown with a couple of near perforations. Did I mention the open contacts?

The patient had left for his month long vacation immediately after the crown prep. When he was back, it was now the turn of his dentist to head for his vacation! That is how I came into the picture.

Ofcourse the patient did remind me time and again what a nice person and great human being the creator of the two ‘masterpieces ‘was. He settled his bill and he left with a smile of contention on his face!

I then stepped out of this clinic a bit unsure of myself and shortly got lost in deep contemplation. I even tripped over myself a couple of times.

The flowery compliments the patient had paid his original dentist was what had started my thought processes churning wildly. In ten minutes I was a visibly upset man.

How do patients evaluate their doctors? Was being nice the only quality needed to be successful? And how come his receiving compliments was upsetting me? Was I getting envious?

Contd in part 2

Dr Sanjay Jamdade is a speaker on dental implants and is a visiting consultant with few prominent dental clinics in and around Mumbai for implants and oral rehabilitation. He is also the CEO of Dr Jamdade’s Dental clinic and Implant center since 23 years which is a practice devoted to aesthetic dentistry, microscope assisted endodontics, implants and oral rehabilitation situated near Tarapur Atomic Power Station at Boisar Tal Palghar Dist Thane near Mumbai, India, email: –sanjayjamdade@gmail.com

Disclaimer : The views expressed in this blog are solely the views of the author and need not reflect the views of DentistryUnited.com . For any clarification you can get in touch with the author directly at the address mentioned above.