As I write this on the first of September, it already feels like fall here in St. Louis. The nights are very cool (in the high 40s to low 50s) and the days are delightful, with highs only in the 70s or low 80s. This is very unusual for the end of the summer in St. Louis. We are usually still hot and humid. Is this what we are supposed to expect from global warming?
This issue of Dental Economics is crammed full of great information! Part 1 of the annual Dental Practice Survey begins on Page 16. Be sure and read through the charts accompanying the article. There is some great information in them. While the numbers may be slightly down for 2009, the trend indicators seem to point to a better 2010. It also shows how dental professionals have responded to some of the worst economic times that we have ever seen.
From a historical viewpoint, Congress and the President are spending and printing more money than ever before. Part 2 of our survey will appear in the November issue, along with the Annual Dental Fee schedule.
This month's cover story is about the office of Dr. Michael Sesemann, who is the current president of the AACD. His new office is successful because he had the right people on board before he started the process of building. This is an office that had input from all of the team members who make up that group of “right people.” Dr. Sesemann used the information contained in the book, “Good to Great.” I love the last paragraph of the article because it really summarizes the message: “By the time we moved into our new digs, we knew what was waiting. We had already imagined it in our minds. Having the right people in place made all the difference.”
If you have a Roth IRA, be sure to read the “Breakthrough Financial Planning” column by Brian Hufford. He has some excellent information on changes that will occur shortly in this type of IRA that you need to know about. This is the kind of information that DE is committed to bringing you each and every month.
The “Practice Transitions” column by Sarah Lynch also contains some excellent information. She starts with a great quote from Ambrose Redmoon: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one's fear. The timid presume it is lack of fear that allows the brave to act when the timid do not. But to take action when one is not afraid is easy. To refrain when afraid is also easy. To take action regardless of fear is brave.” See how she applies this quote to transitions in your practice and in your life.
I also came across two interesting quotes from years ago that seem to be food for thought in our current economic crisis. Both are profound.
The first quote says, “You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” William J. H. Boetcker (1873 – 1962)
The second quote tells us: “You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give anything to anybody that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, my dear friend, is how a nation ends. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931
Recently, 3M ESPE hosted more than three dozen representatives from leading industry media outlets to participate in a two–day event at the 3M Innovation Center, located in St. Paul, Minn. Members of the media, including the PennWell Dental Group, participated in a series of workshops and seminars featuring the latest in innovative research, and a commitment by them to provide educational resources for dentistry.
Joe Blaes, DDS, Editor — e–mail: [email protected]
Toll–free phone number: (866) 274–4500
