by Joe Blaes
This month's cover story is about the winner of the 2012 Dental Office Design Competition that is sponsored annually by Wells Fargo, Dental Economics, and the American Dental Association. There are a number of winners in different categories. The 2012 winner of the Outstanding Achievement in Design Efficiency is Dr. Todd W. Hohlen from Lincoln, Neb. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 2006, and practiced in several offices over the next four years as he developed his vision and goals for his practice. He opened his Ridge Point Dental practice in 2011. He impressed the judges with his effective space planning and use of the square footage available to meet the practice needs and objectives. I congratulate Dr. Hohlen on his well-deserved award. I know you will get a lot of good ideas for your practice by reading this article. I also encourage you to enter your office in the 2013 Dental Office Design Competition. You can get complete details at www.wellsfargo.com/dodc but don't delay; all entries must be postmarked by July 31, 2013. You could be a winner and appear on the cover of Dental Economics!
April is Oral Cancer Awareness month, so be sure to read a great article on oral cancer by Brian Hill, founder of the Oral Cancer Foundation, which is a wonderful source for the latest research and event happenings. Remember that oral cancer exams in your office can be life-saving events for your patients. Early detection is our best defense against death.
I want to include a note from my good friend Patti DiGangi, RDH, BS, about her Second Annual Walk for Oral Cancer. This event is for awareness and free screenings on Sept. 8, 2013, in Chicago. The 2012 Inaugural Walk for Oral Cancer had over 600 participants and raised over $70,000. Great job, Patti! She works with an amazing group of volunteers who hope to double or triple those numbers for 2013. Help spread the word. For more information, contact Alison Stahl, RDH, at [email protected], or Trish De Dios, RDH, at [email protected].
I attended the Chicago Midwinter meeting in February and saw many new products that you'll be hearing about in the coming months as I get a chance to use them in my practice. I consider this meeting to be my meeting since I started attending many years ago when it was held at the then Conrad Hilton Hotel on Michigan Avenue. I got out of the Navy on June 30, and had my practice open by the end of August. In early November, my mentor called and asked if I was planning on attending the Chicago Midwinter meeting. I told him that I could not afford to go, to which he said, "You cannot afford NOT to go." So, I went and have only missed one or two meetings during all these years.
I presented my favorite New Products Hands-on workshop at the meeting and it was very well received. I had many dentists stop and thank me for the presentation because they were able to sit one-on-one with company educational people and learn about the benefits of the new products. This is really a "dental playhouse," where you can get the feel of a new dental item and have a really great learning experience. The next one will be at the National Dental Association Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., at the National Harbor complex. This is a really cool workshop.
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on my life. To me, attitude is more important than facts. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we'll embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can change is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. We are in charge of our attitudes!
I wrote this in my 2010 April Editor's Notes -- "Thanks to the Heartland Dental Care publication, Smiling, I have more information for you on attitude. Harvard researcher and author Shawn Achor presented to an HDC Advantage program, providing principles for success based on his research in the area of happiness. He shared how doctors and teams can improve performance through happiness and positivity. I recommend his book, The Happiness Advantage."
Until next month, BE HAPPY!
Joe Blaes, DDS, Editor
email: [email protected]
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