Dentistry goes back to the Barber shop it came from

Barbers were the first dentists.  From there it became a health profession. Have we really progressed are are we sliding backwards?

 For the first time in it's history, the dental profession has been treating ugliness as a disease.  The commoditization of what was a health profession brings some of us concern.  The slippery slope started in the early 1970's when dental insurance was a large part of what some called "the golden age of dentistry" - as in the streets were lined with gold, people still thought DDS spelled God and did as they were told.  Insurance benefits dictated treatment and more time was spent talking about benefits than health.  So called treatment co-ordinators really became insurance managers or sales people.  Not all were simply profiteers for sure but clearly there was a trend.

When insurance all but dried up, there came another tack; come get your bright, white jiffy teeth here, taking the profession back to competing with hair salons.  So have we really moved forward?

With millions of dollars spent on advertising to dentists, many were drawn and others followed like the pied piper to the town of "come get rich quick and easy" with one particular institute focusing on cosmetics...at the start.   It seems however, that some who were citizens of the town, who revered the leadership of the empire are finding the emporer has no clothes.  Beauty before health is like painting over rust.   Many physicians would agree and a good many take issue with the ethics of some plastic surgeons and they too have a debate in their ranks as to what is medicine and what is not.

A 10 year veteran of the dental profession on another blog was ranting about what he perceives as Dr. Slick and declared it more right to show up in flip flops and crocks - to be totally himself rather than align those in his profession whose eyes are filled with dollar signs.  He was passionate about authentic service.  We exchanged a bit more.  He reported that many of his generation are feeling like they were duped in to a profession that is no longer about health. 

There seems to be evidence gathering that he is not alone.  The question is, can the health profession of dentistry be brought back from the brink of extinction as institutions of truly higher learning struggle to get the attention of the younger crowd?  Has the new generation resigned themselves to what they perceive are realities; that people won't spend money on health?  Or, has the problem always been that there is so little available to the profession to genuinely and truly help them address the behavioral challenges of change?  Faced with a considerable challenge to have people invest in health, you would think these days we would have moved forward but it seems the challenge is being addressed in other ways; mitigating the challenge was first to have insurance pay for it and then when there were no buyers, the profession joined the ranks of the hair salons for the easy sell of quick image change - including the hot wax hand treatments and all; the dental practice becomes a spa.

To this writer, the problem is an old one and dentists just keep looking in the wrong direction.  Frankly it's rather pathetic and sad. 

Some dentists are burning out, some are doing numbers on the ceiling at night wandering how to get out of the swamp and some long to find work that has synchronicity with their souls. Some have been to boot camps and others find that getting people to say yes is setting off crap detectors.

I'll keep writing about this but you may notice at the time of this writing, I have one follower.  There's another outcome driving this writers passion.  It's about a summit; where masters of dentistry as a health profession first will come together to address all the behavioural issues.  It's an oddity in this profession because it will be dependent upon Dr. disgruntled, angry and frustrated asking for a command performance.

For details; go to my site and click on the Light My Fire Link or visit www.clickcoaching.ca/Summit.htm

Tell us you're interested and lets see if we can together, pull this profession back to health.