Joe Blaes, DDS, Editor
e-mail: [email protected]
For several months, change has been promised. I am proud to present a total redesign of Dental Economics with this issue. The result has been well worth the wait. I am very excited about our new appearance, and I welcome your comments.
Our new cover gives us the ability to present an entire new look and allows us to have more flexibility to do some new and exciting cover designs. The interior of the magazine also has a fresh updated look. We have created great new graphics for the table of contents. Bright new colors will help you to locate articles and make the articles more fun to read.
We have made these changes to graphically emphasize our changes in editorial content throughout the magazine. I am very excited by the feedback from readers all over the country who feel that we are on the right track with our changes. Most of the comments have been very encouraging. Our readers seem to like our new focus articles and the supporting feature articles.
I am proud to be associated with Dental Economics and to have a chance to put my mark on the magazine. I thank PennWell for the opportunity.
I have visited a number of dental manufacturers this summer, and I have been pleased to note the commitment to quality that I have observed across the board. One company could not outsource quality plastic tubing, so they now make it in-house. Another could not outsource quality plastic parts, so they made a sizable investment in plastic injection molding equipment. Another goes through an unbelievable number of quality control steps to assure that the product that comes to the market is perfect.
My point in relating this information is twofold: One, I think you should know that many manufacturers care about the quality of the product that they bring to the market, and, two, I think you should care about the quality of the product you produce. A great number of customer service articles appear in dental literature today. I agree that we need to add value to our services, but sometimes I feel that we do it at the expense of the quality of our product. I feel that the backbone of customer service is a quality product.
How do you bring "quality control" to your dental practice? It is very important to have systems in place that will assure that everything we do in the office results in the production of a quality product every time.
There are many small things that can be missed or go wrong in a procedure that results in a less-than-perfect outcome. The bubble in the impression, the bleeding tissue, the contact that is slightly open, the amalgam overhang, and it can go on and on. If you have systems to make your procedures consistent, you can avoid many problems in your office.
You will notice an article on Dr. W. Edwards Deming in this issue. Dr. Deming is the father of systems in business. This article is the beginning of a series of articles that will help you to understand how the introduction of systems can impact your business in many ways. It is one of our ongoing efforts to be the primary source of business information for your dental practice.
Please keep those cards, letters, calls, faxes and e-mails coming.
