Comment


Opinion T


he answer should be none because in my humble opinion, borne out of a lifetime of observing dentists, they


should not be doing anything other than producing dentistry. I love the question though because


it conjures up the memory of one of my most cherished dental colleagues, coming down the stairs of his surgery with a small stepladder in one hand and a light bulb in the other. He was interrupted in surgery by his


receptionist to leave the patient he was treating to change said light bulb. Needless to say this situation will never ever happen again now that he understands the principle of production in dentistry, which is that doing dentistry is the only thing that produces actual revenue in the majority of practices. The past year since Croke Park has seen the emergence of a new phenomenon in Ireland: the ‘Dental Guru’. And, to be fair, I know all of the personalities involved. Every one of these dental experts has considerable expertise built up over many years of working with dental practices and


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info@connectcommunications.co.uk Ireland’s Dental magazine 5


with Dr John Barry


How many dentists does it take to change a light bulb?


can help practices look at various aspects of their business. This may be by attracting new


patients or retaining existing ones. It may be by focusing on building up niches within the business or adding new treatment modalities to the repertoire. It may be by looking at how to make savings in procurement or savings in laboratory costs. All in all, it is useful to have experienced eyes giving an impartial opinion, as sometimes you can be too close to make objective observations and then decisions. However, where I feel that I differ


from some of my advising colleagues is that I caution against the notion of working too much on the business side rather than focusing on the actual production of dentistry – the core element of the business. Whether we dentists like it or not,


we are not business people by training, although of course lots of us have an entrepreneurial streak. We are not marketers by training, but we fancy we can fashion an advertisement. We are not writers by training, although we can have a crack at writing a news- letter. We are not sales people by


“Doing dentistry is the only thing that produces actual revenue in the


majority of practices”


training, although we can muddle through selling some dental treatment. I have and continue to have the


privilege of observing hundreds of practices in various stages of development from struggling hard to being well-oiled machines producing dentistry and profit. Here is the key to this: in the


practices that are doing well to really well, the dentist has a system wrapped around them that provides an environment that allows them to see quality patients on time and where all treatment and fees are agreed in advance. What I am saying in essence is do


what you are trained to do: quality dentistry. I want you to work in the business of dentistry and unless you are super-experienced and super- efficient and super-organised, use the expertise out there to work on the business side. You are the only one capable of generating revenue so have a light bulb moment and don’t be the one with the stepladder!


®


Dr John Barry BDS is Operations Director of The Dental Plan


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