The Dawson Academy Blog

Dale Carnegie wrote that "knowledge isn’t power until it is applied". With this in mind, the most powerful lesson taught by Dr. Peter Dawson must be the concept of the Complete Exam because it is through the Complete Exam that we begin to apply our knowledge to the benefit of our patients.

My experience with The Dawson Academy started with a perfect storm in my practice. It was a combination of:

• I bought a practice that had a lot of patients with a long history of facial pain and TMJ problems.
• I was ill prepared to treat them, but most importantly is I was unconsciously incompetent. I didn't realize I didn't know what I was doing.

We all have patients whose dental problem has outstripped their insurance benefits. And that's all right. And I always tell my patients, "You think of your insurance as if you put on a pair of pants and found a $20 bill in the pocket. It's a bonus."

There's a way to practice dentistry that's predictable, profitable, and provides an extremely high level of personal and professional satisfaction. There's no magic to it.

Even in a world that pushes us or tries to push us towards doing usual and customary dentistry, if you take the time to dedicate yourself to learning the aspects of complete dentistry and applying the principles, you can have the kind of practice you dreamed of.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, so you have to make sure to get it right when a new patient calls.

I have two general rules for talking to patients on the phone.

The first rule is be positive.

And, of course, this means answering the phone with all the proper etiquette, like having a smile on your face and using the caller's name. But I mean that you should literally be positive. There is almost always a way to give an affirmative answer to a question without compromising your policies.

I love using the Cerec for single unit crowns and a balanced bite. One or two crowns, especially in the posterior are great. The workflow is easy and I have full control over contour and occlusion.

But for more complex cases, where I am changing the occlusion or the position of the incisal edge, working with a skilled lab technician is critical. Without a lab partner who understands what we are doing and why we are doing it, there is no way to have a predictable outcome.

So what is the best way to find a lab that can help support the work we do?

• Recommendation
• Certification
• Communication