Patient management Archives - Dental Head Start

FEATURE #68 – The Future of Dental Head Start with Dr David Keir

January 17, 2022January 17, 2022Leave a Comment

Taking on the challenge of starting a podcast and delving into a world that you know nothing about is daunting. Putting yourself out there in a close knit community is a brave thing to do, and David has done it flawlessly.

David holds an engineering degree, been a dental assistant for a millennia, played semi-pro poker and can now add a successful career as a podcast founder to the mix. There’s not much David can’t do.

Erica and Graeme sit down with David as they explore David’s life, talk about what Dental Head Start means to them, the future of DHS, and David’s parting wisdom have worked for 5 years and is now leading into a new, fun life adventure.

We couldn’t think of a better interview to start off the new year 2022 with.

TIP #66 – Managing Patient Complexities with Clin A/ Professor Dr Tony Au

November 18, 2021November 18, 2021Leave a Comment

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For us students and new grads, communication is an area that doesn’t get much attention, but can be a make or break moment when talking with patients. Do you ever wonder how you can explain concepts to patients in simple terms? What about explaining pros/cons or risks about certain procedures? How will they even trust you enough to let you do such a procedure?

In this interview with Clinical Associate professor Dr. Tony Au, we talk about all things communication. Tony is a specialist prosthodontist in Sydney who deals with complex cases AND complex patients daily. Tony provides us with his top tips on how to deal with pushy patients, how to use analogies to help patients understand concepts, and how to BED a patient. You heard that right, how to BED a patient. If that doesn’t peak your interest, I don’t know what will.

TIP #58 – You Can’t Be Everything to Everyone with Dr Alistair Graham

September 9, 2021September 9, 2021Leave a Comment

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As a dentist, you can’t be everything for everyone. Most of us learn this the hard way.

On this podcast, Dr Alistair Graham shares with us the value he gained from narrowing his career path and skill set in dentistry.

Determining the kind of dentist he wanted to be allowed him to focus his efforts and concentrate his skill development in the areas of dentistry that were right for him. Today, he and his team have absolute clarity on the kind of patient they want to attract to their clinic and as a result, they only perform the kind of dentistry they love. This is by design.

He explores the decision making process that every dentist has to go through to gain focus in their own career and determine the path that’s right for them.

TIP #43: Talking Money with Dr Sam Koh

April 22, 2021May 3, 2021Leave a Comment

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So, you just told the patient why they need a crown and they completely agree that the treatment makes sense. Now comes the hard part, quoting the fee.

You think to yourself, are they expecting it to be this high? The last patient was so shocked by the price and didn’t re-book. What if they don’t go ahead with the treatment? And my crowns aren’t as good as those other dentists I see on Facebook; who am I to charge this much? Perhaps I should give them a discount. They are a student after all. I’ll just get the front desk to email them the quote later.

Sound familiar?

Most of us feel a little uncomfortable discussing fees with our patients. It’s no longer just a conversation about what’s clinically the best treatment option for them; this is what we are trained to do. It’s far more personal and the struggle we have around the subject says more about us, our mindset and biases around money than anything else.

Dr Sam Koh shares his top tips around shifting our mindset so that we can discuss treatment fees with less fear and greater confidence.

#50 – Dr Jesse Green on Leadership, Retention and Building a Life you Love.

December 21, 2020December 20, 2020Leave a Comment

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Finding a mentor is such commonly shared advice that it’s almost cliché. Yet, without a doubt it is a crucial part to your development.

When I think about the mentors in my life, not all of them were two way relationships, some we’re people I listened to and absorbed wisdom from over many years.

Dr Jesse Green falls squarely into this type of mentor for me. Through the Savvy Dentist Podcast, his blogs, books and courses I have learnt an immense amount about business, communication and practice ownership. I’ve been fortunate enough to form a real relationship with Dr Jesse Green while managing and creating www.cpdjunkie.com.au and the learning hasn’t stopped.

This has been one of my favourite episodes and without doubt you will get pearls of wisdom from it. A fitting way to see out 2020.

TIP#22: Tips for Endodontic Access with Dr Matthew Youssef – What I Wish I Knew

October 6, 2020October 6, 2020Leave a Comment

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We can’t do good endodontics without having a good access, and we can’t have a good access without being able to see where we are going.

Dr Matthew Youssef from ARIA Dental Education is better known for his skills with implants however he is also an exceptional general dentist and today on the podcast he shares some tips on how to better visualise and systemise our endodontic access cavities to ensure we are doing low stress, thorough and efficient endodontics

#44 – NSFW; The (Hilarious) side of Dentistry You Don’t See on Social Media

September 29, 2020September 29, 2020Leave a Comment

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Great dentistry takes decades to learn. Refinement of skills is a process of dedication and persistence. And these are traits Dr Anthony Mak has in droves.

Anthony spent his first few years spread between a few practices with varying experiences and this gave him the well rounded foundation to use as a spring board for his career. Just this story alone is so useful in allowing us to consider and plan our journey in dentistry.

This is just the start of the tips advice and concepts Anthony shares in this podcast.

Dr Anthony Mak is making waves in dentistry and really contributing to the education of the dental community so for that we say thanks and for joining us on this engaging podcast interview.

TIP#20: Tackling Tricky Topics with Parents with Dr Tim Keys – What I Wish I Knew

September 16, 2020September 22, 2020Leave a Comment

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The Australian Dental Association recommends a childs first dental visit be when their first tooth becomes visible or when then reach 12months of age. Normally seeing the baby is easy enough, but the real challenge comes with new parents, armed with millions of well intended questions about how that can give their child the best dental head start.

In many cases as new graduates we are yet to have our own kids so these conversations can sometimes be a bit of unknown territory, having not been in a bathroom with a two year old at bed time simply telling a patent to brush their childs’ teeth, my be easier said then done.

Today we look at when we should start brushing children’s teeth, getting parents on board with Fluoride and handling the ever controversial topic of tongue ties, with Sunshine Coast Paediatric Dentist Dr Tim Key’s.

#43 – Work Hard, Play Hard with Anthony Mak

September 14, 2020September 16, 2020Leave a Comment

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Great dentistry takes decades to learn. Refinement of skills is a process of dedication and persistence. And these are traits Dr Anthony Mak has in droves.

This is just the start of the tips advice and concepts Anthony shares in this podcast.

Dr Anthony Mak is making waves in dentistry and really contributing to the education of the dental community so for that we say thanks and for joining us on this engaging podcast interview.

TIP#18: Pre-Restorative Alignment with Dr Bharat Agrawal – What I Wish I Knew

September 2, 2020September 1, 2020Leave a Comment

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Cost can be a major consideration in Dentistry. However ensuring that are we not only considering the financial costs to our patients, but also the biological costs?

This week on the podcast we are chatting again with Dr Bharat Agrawal and we are discussing a topic that he is extremely passionate about – using pre-restorative alignment to achieve conservative aesthetic outcomes. This episode will take you from only seeing ortho only as something to fix the bite, or for crowded to teeth, to starting to see its applications and benefits in almost all of your restorative patients.

Bharat fills us in on the paradigm shift from being purely a cosmetic dentist to a conservative aesthetic dentist with the patients best interest in mind. He shares with us one of his favourite tools to achieve this through orthodontics, as well some tips to help us better communicate this to our patients.