Do Elections Really Impact a Dental Practice?

 Is it true that dental practices can actually be impacted by an election? In this episode, Dr. Jones and Bethany discuss the very real evidence that elections can definitely impact dental practices. Bethany discusses that the bulk of her clients see a variety of changes between September – November during an election year. One of the more evident changes is the hesitation and even unwillingness of patients to move forward with treatment. In some cases, it is almost as if they did not hear the diagnosis. They seem utterly unphased by the need for treatment and equally unwilling to move forward with it. Together, Dr. Jones and Bethany tackle various ways to attack the changes in attempt to minimize the damage and move forward. 

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Transcript

0:01
are you looking for a podcast where you can hear from real people regarding their real Dental drama if so then
0:09
you've come to the right place join hosts Bethany Penny and Dr Reena Kuba as
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we dive into the solutions we've created and the mistakes we've made while
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in today's episode pause go to the show notes look for the subscription link and
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hesitate sign up today okay so Dad I had to rope you in for part two all right I
1:48
have to pitch a question to you so okay probably the most pervasive thing that I keep hearing from
1:55
clients so much so that I've been encouraging my clients I keep hearing this is starting about August September
2:05
of this year I kept hearing this Perpetual theme of for some reason I
2:12
can't get patients to schedule treatment and so when I start kind of
2:18
asking what are they saying what's the resistance oh I think I'll just wait on it I'm just going to wait a little bit
2:24
or you know just this idea of I'll wait and take care of it later and for a lot
2:31
of these clients that was that's not been a normal Trend in their practice
2:36
and so as I thought about it I always see you know there's Co broke a lot of
2:44
Trends so pre I could tell people with almost certain prediction of this
2:51
usually happens in this month or this time of year and Co really dismantled all of that um which from a Consulting
2:58
standpoint is is nerve-wracking and so it's been interesting to see new trends develop
3:05
it's almost like a um what is it uh BC a time frame we're going to call pre-co
3:12
postco um time frame that there's been new trends that have developed and of course they're early in in the Inception
3:20
and so I at first started listening to these Trends and I'm like okay so so
3:26
many clients are saying this let me pause and think about this about what
3:31
what am I missing here what is the the foundation of it and I realized this may
3:37
actually be an old Trend because as I've thought about it you know we go back
3:43
through Cycles with election years mhm sure and as I would go back and kind of
3:49
think through okay 2020 was a difficult year I wasn't thinking about anything
3:55
election wise but then when I went back to 2016 I could think through wait a
4:01
second I picked up on some of the same Trends then the only difference was I
4:07
would pick up on a resistance to moving forward with anything but it was more in
4:13
that October November time frame when we're really so consumed with the election and what's happening with our
4:19
country and this was happening more August September so I'm like well is it related to the election but what's
4:27
interesting about this election year is we had a whole lot more of a focus
4:32
because of Biden and the disruption with is is he going to be the presidential
4:39
candidate is who's it going to be so we were thinking about the election much earlier than we typically would so then
4:47
I started treating a lot of these conversations as an election resistance
4:54
yeah a reaction that was sooner than I would have expected and so so I wanted
5:00
to get your perspective on in all your years of doing this do you feel like
5:06
you've ever seen a trend around a polit some kind of
5:13
political you know reaction or I think there's probably always u in big
5:19
election years you know presidential election years a lot of fear yeah and
5:27
uncertainty um which I think probably affects you could track Walmart we talked about Walmart last time they I
5:34
think probably every industry experiences some kind of I just don't know what the future
5:40
holds holds yeah I'm just nervous even though they may not even verbalize that
5:47
just nervous so then uh if that
5:52
is truth that people just become they spend less they they're just hesitant to
5:59
make decisions then the question comes well okay how do we overcome
6:05
that do we do we just accept it that this is just the way it is well I don't
6:10
think so I think we have to be proactive yeah and I think if you think of the one
6:16
patient that has normally accepted treatment and that doesn't I think you just have to have
6:23
the hard conversation which I can't but I have people that can that just say you
6:30
know historically you've always done your work yeah why are you not doing it
6:36
uh and just having that hard conversation and see if you can find out okay what what is the resistance and is
6:43
it something that we can overcome um you know I think
6:49
of you know you could play that with if it is the world so
6:56
uncertain you know you could spend that well the world is so uncertain but what
7:02
we do here historically you know we've got
7:08
your best interest this is the best treatment for you so you could get
7:14
sidetracked with that and and I think it's address it but don't let that be
7:20
the obstacle cuz really it's not although people will use you've been at
7:25
this long they'll use any excuse not to do their Dentistry you know um so I
7:33
think it's probably a reality MH and the question is how do we address it and and
7:39
overcome it yes yeah I think you're exactly right that it often times we
7:46
don't in we haven't done a good job in the dental field of when a patient isn't moving forward with treatment whether
7:52
it's an election asking why why not we just accept it yeah as okay well because
7:59
we don't want to and again I wouldn't be this person either we we don't really we're afraid
8:07
to ask why mhm yeah and most of the I think most of the NOS or most of the
8:13
rejections are are are they're not rejecting our treatment but we kind of
8:18
feel like oh you're rejecting me and you're rejecting this treatment but it's the financial it's a financial decision
8:25
for that family so then it becomes can we over over come that is
8:30
there something that we can do do we have a financial plan do how can we overcome that but it is digging going
8:38
beneath that level to the next level of okay why not yeah yeah and to me I think
8:46
a lot of times we shy away from that because we view it as being pushy yeah
8:52
and I view it completely opposite because it's not being pushy if we're
8:57
advocating for what's right right for the patient we're Health Care Professionals yeah and this is a patient
9:04
in need of something that we are the expert in and so if they push back and
9:13
say oh you know yeah I know doc that I need that but I think I'm going to wait on that yeah and then us as The Advocate
9:20
and as the expert in dentistry go well okay yeah you know talk to Sally at the front she can schedule you after the
9:26
beginning of the year what we've said to that P is actually what I just talked about is
9:32
not important you can wait it's fine and we don't we think that we're doing the
9:39
right thing by kind of backing away because we don't want to pressure the patient but what we've actually done is
9:44
we've reinforce the idea that this is not important and therefore we have de
9:49
advocated for them oh yeah we're we're actually doing harm to them if if we are
9:57
which I feel like everybody that's going to listen to this episode is is an ethical honest moral I'm proposing what
10:04
is right for this patient then we are actually demotivating de advocating for
10:10
that cuz what do you think in the next six months when they come in are they going to be any more motivated well no
10:16
you let me slide last time yes but but it it it is hard and again you got to
10:23
surround yourself with people that can take it to that next level and and our
10:29
office we've talked about Melissa before yeah that she is we call her the closer
10:35
mhm because she loves to go to that next level mhm she's just wired that way and
10:42
and she can just go in I know we've shared this I'll leave
10:48
we'll talk about treatment and I'll say hey Melissa's going to come in and talk about the money yeah I'll just say that
10:54
she's going to talk about the money what do you have insurance or don't have she's just going to come and talk to you
10:59
uh about it and then let's see what we're going to do and I'm out and Melissa will come in and she will say
11:06
you know this is what we think this is the treatment this is the money and she just doesn't say another
11:13
word yeah she will not say the next word yeah it doesn't matter how long that
11:19
patient sits there she's not going to be the next one to talk I could not do
11:24
that you be crawling out of your own be like oh here let me just pay for it you know I think you ought to have you know
11:31
I think God told me to pay for it but so I'm not that person but there
11:40
are people out there that like doing that so you got to have that person that's not afraid to ask well why not
11:47
yeah why not we think this is the best for you and there's something that we
11:52
try to do and we talk about it often is here's the problem yeah here are the
11:59
consequences of not dealing with that problem here's the solution and and here's the results of that so we we try
12:07
to keep we have a new relatively new hygienist and we had to have this conversation because I noticed we would
12:14
have a treatment and we would have a she would have a patient and there would be pre-existing treatment that wasn't
12:20
done and she was just not even dressing that she was just looking at new stuff
12:26
and I and I was telling her the same thing it if it if we proposed it before the problem
12:32
hasn't G gone away so you've got to say hey there was a problem before that we
12:37
haven't resolved um and again that doesn't mean they're always going to do it but we have to keep going back the problem has
12:44
not been resolved now now is the time and again it comes back to ethics and I think the
12:50
majority of the people in our field are ethical and we're just proposing again this is the right thing for you at the
12:57
right time yeah um if you don't want to do it why not why
13:02
not and if it's money let's see if we can resolve that that issue if it's I don't believe you then
13:11
maybe you need to go somewhere else go somewhere where you do believe them yeah it's finding out what is the barrier to
13:18
this how can we resolve that can we resolve that barrier but we we can't even attempt to resolve it without the
13:25
conversation yeah of what's what's can I ask what what's preventing you from moving forward with this or and some of
13:33
those things are Beyond like if it's Global if it's Nationwide
13:39
um you just have to say you know we this is not new you know um the world has
13:49
always just been yeah it's a it's a crazy year but we can't let that dictate what
13:55
we do what's best for ourselves yeah yeah don't let this personally impact
14:02
your your health you know it's interesting because I feel like every election year when I look back at it you
14:08
hear some real interesting you know uh
14:13
thought processes of people and so I was sitting with one client that we were
14:19
talking about this trend you know that he's been seeing in his practice and he said I just have heard some really
14:24
interesting things like I've got one that when I started talking about the crown that he needed he started talking
14:31
about the the dry food Goods that he he's been storing he's got this he you
14:37
know secured a weapon he he was like it it just turned into a really interesting
14:44
conversation and I think there is a segment of the population that is for
14:50
whatever reason every probably every election year but this year in particular has been spicy and so they
14:58
have gone to you know the world's ending the United States is collapsing and we
15:03
hear that and we're like that a little farf but you have to meet people where they are and so it you know he was ask
15:11
me how do you meet a person in that spot and I said you paint a scenario of how
15:20
when the world collapses the last thing you want to have is a Toth I know that's exactly what I think who's going to take
15:26
that tooth out who's going to do the ruken out if everybody's blown to bits and you're the only
15:32
Survivor the last thing you want is to have a toothache in that moment and again that sounds you know funny as we
15:39
talk about it but if that is the patient hesitation like I can't even think about
15:44
that cuz I'm thinking about my dry good you know storage capacity and how many years I can feed myself you you go okay
15:52
this is what we're working with let me let me paint a scenario that would be helpful cuz God forbid if that does
15:59
happen I sure the heck don't want this man having a toothache in the midst of Armageddon you
16:06
know so yeah I think we got to ask the question that gets us to that deeper
16:14
conversation and and there just may be radicals out there that you're never going to reach them and you're like okay
16:19
move next moving on next I tried my best yeah but I think it
16:25
is the right thing to do is to find out why you know get below can can I help
16:33
you navigate through this you know and I think sometimes it
16:39
it really is a look at you know treatment Acceptance in general I think
16:44
that when you have a trend that is that is resurfaced at this point in my mind
16:51
it's it's a such a finite period of time but it gives us a really good lesson
16:57
into people have to be really in the right frame of mind to purchase anything
17:04
right whether that's you know root canal on a crown or whether that's a car or you know a house or whatever they there
17:11
really is this kind of mode they have to be in where they're mentally prepared to
17:17
make that purchasing decision and so we do have I believe a responsibility to
17:23
help that patient get to a point where they're ready and yeah if there's a lot of clutter and insecurity
17:32
insecurity and it's affecting their Pro thought process and they really can't
17:38
focus yeah I I like that analogy we've just got to help them narrow that we're
17:43
not talking about the whole world let's just can we just talk about your mouth yeah and what's best for you yeah and
17:51
getting them to that point where they can focus on on themselves for that moment and I
17:59
think election years in my mind you know I was asking my husband before we
18:04
started this podcast I'm like you know he loves economics and studies everything and I'm like so have they
18:11
done any research on Election years and purchasing and all of that so he
18:18
mentioned that they've looked more into there's stalls in the stock market that they can perceive during election times
18:27
or around election time but he said I don't know that they've looked too much into like consumer buying habits and so
18:35
there there may exist may it may research may exist out there but I think the subjective evidence of just daily
18:42
living and you kind of break it down to this little microcosm of the dental field that we have and I for sure can
18:49
see that there's something that changes in the consumer mind at least towards dentistry and particularly depending on
18:56
your patients because you you'll have some patient that are intimately involved every day they're they're
19:02
watching and listening and then others like myself that you know I don't need
19:10
that every day I don't want it every day but it's it reminded me of a
19:16
story of how people react so your mother's good friend Karen cauldron said
19:24
you know there's a u there's been a over on the east coast they were boy not
19:32
boycotting what is the um the people that bring in all the stuff off the
19:38
ships oh oh yes uh anyway where they wouldn't let they
19:44
wouldn't take the products off or something like that what is that the union over there I don't crazy so anyway
19:51
so you know if you got all these 100 chips out there waiting to bring bring products in so Karen calls your mom and
19:59
says you need to get online get on Amazon and order as much toilet tissue
20:05
as you can because those ships are stuck out there and we're not going to get
20:10
toilet tissue so your mother's like oh my gosh so she gets online and orders
20:16
all this toilet tissue only to realize all the toil tissue is made in the United
20:22
States so you have patients that come in that are worried about toilet tissue
20:28
yeah when it's really not even an issue yeah yeah so some of those things maybe we can clarify that hey maybe that's not
20:36
going to be such a a big issue but also too you know patients
20:43
will use any excuse to postpone treatment yes yes and finding out that
20:49
why and it again goes back to why don't you want to do it this is the best thing
20:55
for you yeah and again it's either a money issue
21:00
or um every once in a while it could be a trust issue yeah and really it you
21:07
know it's hard to say but you don't need those people anyway right CU they're not they're never going to talk great about
21:13
you out in public anyway so sometimes it's like well I think you ought to get another opinion if you don't believe
21:19
just get another opinion I agree and Through the Years so many times we've we've said that to someone
21:26
or they've left on their own but a lot of times they come back yes
21:31
yes it's worth it to send them off I think and they come back with a different attitude they're better uh it
21:38
sad at the time you're like what what did we do and I've made those phone calls what do we do yeah you know why
21:45
did why did you leave yeah um but I think if you're just practicing like all of your your clients are ethically
21:53
trying to do what's best mhm that's that's all you can do some people aren't
21:58
going to like than you mhm yeah just part of it and that's okay just part of it yeah it's interesting that you
22:03
mentioned trust so a lot of times I'll talk about at least the four main barriers that I see um Financial is can
22:13
be one of them you know and how can we navigate that conversation with patients
22:19
do have we thought through financial options that were willing to offer uh trust is another one that's
22:26
probably the hardest to overcome right and honestly you know we can show all
22:31
the evidence I think pictures are worth a thousand words we can we can show them
22:37
what we're seeing but beyond that it very well could be go talk to somebody else first yeah as a matter of fact it's
22:44
a prequisite before I do anything in your mouth go I want you to go seek a second opinion because that can foster
22:51
trust also fear yeah we don't think about fear a lot but the in the Dental
22:58
field in particular a lot of times people don't move forward the foundational reason is fear now they may
23:05
mask it with you know I need to talk to my wife or oh I got to you know I got to look at my work schedule or I'll call
23:12
you back so they're very benign responses and it's hard to really
23:17
understand why they're delaying and they're just embarrassed to say that I
23:23
get totally freaked out now some are very vocal with their fear you know they
23:28
remind you multiple times throughout the appointment how scared they are but a lot of people the base reason is fear
23:37
yeah and so there's so many Comfort measures that we can offer but because
23:42
they're not bringing that up we don't talk about it because they brought up money yeah and so we spend all of our
23:48
time talking about that barrier when actually the foundational is fear I
23:53
think you're absolutely right so that's a big one and then time is another one one that people truly do have time
24:03
restrictions I know for me it's incredibly hard to get an appointment scheduled I work 5 days a week I don't
24:10
very rarely take a day off and so you know if I've got something that pops up I had a surgery as you know at the
24:16
beginning of the year and the hardest part for me was picking when I could be
24:22
off for a week of work and how much that was going to impact my schedule after
24:28
Sur for the next 2 or 3 months I was going to be making up for that week off and so I was yes I fear was certainly
24:35
there I sure the heck didn't want to have surgery more scared of the fear the pain if I didn't have surgery but um it
24:42
was more time for me that was the main barrier and so I do think that's a component that if we can kind of keep
24:49
those four most popular reasons in mind yeah the great news is we can usually
24:55
solve all of those trust is the hardest one solve and I think you're exactly right please get them to go seek another
25:04
opinion but the other three we should be able to solve them yeah but if we don't know but we have to address them mhm we
25:11
really do we got to get them to verbalize what that hesitation is and I
25:16
think what's interesting about election year is really when we think about that
25:22
those barriers are probably all still there but it's like we add a fifth one
25:28
yeah and so it's it then becomes maybe financial and uncertainty or fear and
25:35
general uncertainty and so I think that's what makes it challenging is that we're having to fight both of those
25:43
rather than just their default response yeah it it could be that it's like um
25:49
those four then become like on steroids yeah during that they're
25:55
just they're were more aware of them conscious of them or maybe we've never
26:00
thought of before now we're thinking about them so I think you're right I
26:06
think it's the four and we just have to spend I think the great thing is it teaches us during
26:12
this time if we're going to survive it economically we have to adapt as
26:18
offices how we approach those four where maybe in the past we've been able to not
26:23
really touch on them at all but now we we have to and it really
26:32
ultimately makes us better practitioners yeah I agree better caregivers because
26:37
now we're asking deeper questions and helping us understand
26:43
people better so that only helps us with the next patient and the next patient so
26:50
it's an evolution it makes us better Advocates you know I think there's a
26:55
concept that I talk about a lot called feast or famine yeah and so you know
27:01
shortly after Co when I couldn't predict a darn thing you know my my clients I
27:08
would have some clients that are like oh my gosh I can't keep up with the dentistry and I'd say Feast of famine
27:14
yeah you know it's Feast right now we got to prepare for a famine so I don't know when that famine is going to hit I
27:20
used to be able to tell you I can't tell you anymore so let's just Feast while we can Feast yeah and then we'll have some
27:26
stored up for the famine yeah and I think what the famine teaches us is
27:33
there's not this you know when we are in the feast mode there's a lot we don't have to worry about cuz we've got plenty
27:39
coming at our doorstep we can just take you take off the top surface level stuff
27:46
and and we are not only surviving we're thriving in that we've got excess we can waste it and so it creates a um a
27:54
comfort and we don't have to work real hard for what we've got because there's
27:59
plenty coming to us just naturally the famine teaches us a whole different
28:05
mindset which is we got to scrape the bottom of the barrel we got to save every weed every you know we've got to
28:12
really pull our resources together to survive not Thrive we're just we we got
28:19
to hit the basics and I think in that we do become smarter yeah and we develop
28:26
skills that will serve us well for the lifetime of a practice but if
28:31
we're just still in the famine think being on Feast mode mentality you'll
28:39
starve yeah you'll go from famine to dying but it's a cycle and the crazy
28:45
thing about human nature is we learn we learn those truths those things in the
28:52
feast then when we get in I mean in the famine we learn those things in the famine that the changes we have to make
29:00
then we get in the feast again and we get lazy again just we're
29:05
so predictable so predictable yeah I so to be to keep that
29:10
I think that I think the feast is U or the valley or whatever you want to call it is a great a great time it's a good
29:18
time because you can reset as we talked about before and retune and figure out okay
29:26
how do I become sex successful during this time so yeah and and it sometimes
29:32
we have to it takes a little more grit a little B bit more work a little bit more creativity and to me that's the exciting
29:39
stuff you know it's like cuz you're just weird I know like it's a problem let's
29:45
solve this problem you know uh and there's natural problems that occur in a feast but there minimal you know cuz
29:53
it's just it's easy and the famine to me is like that's where we develop our grit
29:59
and our you know savviness and it's a character builder Feast is a character
30:04
builder I mean famine is a of course Feast is too Feast is too CU you can be really stupid at a
30:12
feast you can yeah you can blow a lot of opportunities because you've got plenty more there yeah you can make more
30:20
mistakes and yeah both have their challenges for sure and I think too you
30:27
know famine in particular there for me
30:33
preco and becoming postco there's this
30:38
predictable period of September October October where we can experience a natural famine and for a while postco in
30:47
the first year or two after Co that famine period of time in September
30:52
October went away yeah completely it was really fascinating to watch that but
30:58
I'm seeing that become the norm again because we have November December that
31:06
naturally have for the dental field been busier times of the year because people
31:12
have these dental benefits that oh my gosh I forgot and now I want to use those or or I don't want to be
31:18
uncomfortable over my Thanksgiving trip or my Christmas vacation and so people become a little bit more naturally
31:23
motivated or aesthetically driven hey I'm going to see my family for the first time in a long time I want to look good
31:29
and so we just have a lot of things going well for the dental field in November December and September October
31:36
has historically been a downturn and I think it's been
31:42
exponentially hard this year cuz it's it's becoming the norm again for that to be a natural downturn and now we add
31:49
election on top of it and it's it's really been a difficult famine for a lot of people but so I think first and for
31:56
foremost there's comfort in knowing that you're not alone right you know what you're experiencing is is it's not just
32:03
your practice yeah um but don't sit in that you know fight it yeah what do we
32:10
have to do differently during this period of time um CU what's worked before hasn't so what do we have to
32:19
do uh to get people in and then what do we have to do differently as we have
32:24
conversations with those people and again the same fears that the same things that
32:30
we were talking about for our patient apply to us too for sure finances so we're worried about you know am I going
32:37
to be able to pay the staff am I you know so we have that Financial fear
32:44
um do I trust my staff to are they on board do they understand how critical
32:51
this time is yeah and again that's that's being comfortable enough to say
32:58
this is a scary time for me as the owner and this is why so will y'all we
33:06
got to all be on board yeah and we're going to have to do things differently and that's scary mhm because you're
33:14
asking me to do things that you never asked me to do like one of the things that I've been um trying to get our
33:21
ladies to do is um on our computer system we can look
33:28
at missed appointments um so it used to be would you call these people yeah
33:34
they're not going to call them they not going to call them I don't care if I beat them with tie them up with floss
33:41
and put the phone in there they're not going to call them yeah and and in this day in time I don't think the patients
33:48
necessarily want to talk to youh so now will you just text text them that's a struggle too you know so
33:57
it's hard it's hard to get out of our comfort zone even though well maybe they
34:04
just haven't bought into it maybe that's it too that it's that it's important to
34:10
do that so anyway so in that in that famine it's hard to get new skill sets
34:17
because you've been accustomed to what every what has worked in the past is Now
34:23
not working but we just want to keep doing what we've always done because it's
34:28
comfortable and we hope it's a cycle and it'll come back around so I think that's
34:33
hard for the the dentist owner and and hard for the staff too but again I think
34:40
it comes back to addressing that fear and the reality of our Productions down
34:47
yeah what what can we do what can we
34:52
do and then seeing if you can get everybody on board to do it and it's turning loose to come up with some
34:59
Creative Solutions you know and I I do think that's such an important point
35:04
that you bring up is sometimes we just have to work differently and harder you
35:11
know I think of an actual famine my guess is you know we would you go back
35:17
to Biblical times and they were traveling to different countries the countries that did have food they were
35:22
having to make long Journeys to go and get this you know enough grain to to bring back and feed their family for a
35:28
month and so it is a harder work and so when we look at things like texting
35:35
patients or calling them it's hard there's nothing easy about that but we're going and finding the food right
35:44
and I think if we've got the right mindset about it which is yes this is beneficial for us it feeds our practice
35:51
it feeds our team but also it is an ethical moral good thing to do to go and
35:57
advocate for that patient again in a way that nobody else is going to their
36:02
spouse isn't going to be going hey didn't you need a root canal yeah you should probably go and get that done you
36:08
know unless they're throbbing in pain the spouse isn't going to think to advocate for them because they've got
36:15
enough life worries for themselves a parent isn't usually you know advocating or thinking about that until their
36:21
child's in pain so we we don't want our patients to get to a point of pain we
36:27
want want to advocate for them ahead of time and so the team thinking of that when they're
36:33
placing those phone calls or when they're that you're doing what's right you're not just feeding us yeah that yes
36:39
that's part of it we have to be clear about that but you're also that's your way of advocating for the patient and I
36:46
always go back to if we compare it to medical and you know an oncologist gives
36:52
this diagnosis that's not good yeah but you got a chance and your chance is
36:58
treatment as soon as possible you know I can guarantee you that that oncologist
37:04
isn't sitting back and just not thinking about it again I hope they do it I hope they do right yeah so we've got even
37:11
though it's obviously not usually as life-threatening and dental it's still as important for the patient's health
37:18
and so I think you know reminding your team of that but then also letting them come up with their own how do you want
37:24
to go hunt for food yeah what what's some of your ideas or suggestions and
37:30
let's think through those as well because there could be multiple ways of going to get the grain right um but you
37:37
know unleashing your team to think about that and I think being vulnerable enough to know these are some scary times we
37:42
got to work differently is is smart in that yeah yeah and you may not you know you
37:49
may not have a team that comes up with ideas so you may have to go outside the office to Someone Like You that like you
37:56
got any ideas yeah what can I we have no ideas we're brain dead we didn't realize it but we are
38:02
brain dead we can only think of what we've always done yeah yeah we've talked
38:08
about going to Sonic and just asking people you know in the office exactly
38:13
yeah it and it could be that there's you know you can't you've never had to be creative and so you really can't think
38:20
of what to do so yeah depends on what your team has made up you may not have any like we talked about before
38:25
Visionaries or people that have ideas so you may have to have help yeah
38:32
and that's okay if you don't have the ideas and your team doesn't don't just sit back and starve you know Welly I
38:39
hope the feast comes back I hope we're not dead before it comes back yeah go fight for it so anyway long
38:46
story short yeah there's there's uncertainty in the world um but we don't have to just sit
38:55
back and take it yeah but we it it would be great if you had
39:00
someone on your team that can address those fears and the the why are you rejecting treatment find out the why
39:09
because it's more likely that we can again answer that why
39:15
yeah and not always we're not going to hit it 100% but again I think it's our
39:21
responsibility mhm oh you don't want to have the root canal well okay fine yeah we can't can't do that can't do that and
39:27
take tips from Melissa on your team you know ask the deeper questions of can I ask you what's holding you back or and
39:35
wait no I wish you could watch her it's I'm uncomfortable out in the hallway my
39:42
butt's tight I'm like oh my gosh I could never ask that but if you wait long enough the
39:48
answer will come and and listen well when the patient does speak you know to
39:53
hear what they're saying ask follow-up questions if you need to ask follow-up questions but sometimes you know uh we
40:01
get so eager for an answer and that Silence has been so deafening that the first thing they say we're like oh I got
40:06
a solution for you I can latch on to that no just listen just listen and as they talk it'll become evident what
40:13
their barrier is and we can start advocating for them on how can we solve that barrier how can we overcome that so
40:20
yeah and I think maybe I I don't know if your uh if your guys and gals have this
40:27
problem but you know I always think well I I know the I know the answer you know
40:34
CL clinically and so I give the answer
40:39
clinically and I think and I've talked about this before that I've done a great job in my mind I'm thinking this is
40:46
clear I've kept it simple but then I now I'll just say okay
40:52
I'm going to leave the room I've done I've done my best and Sher here going to tell you exactly what I said yeah cuz I
41:00
know you know teasing I I'll say I know nothing I said made any sense although
41:06
it was a great job and then just leave so um i' I've really put as we
41:14
talked about things like trust yeah man I just trust trust my team because I
41:20
really am and I don't say this I really probably am the weakest
41:25
link you know I'm I've said for I'm the mechanic yeah I can get into the engine
41:31
and you know fix things but everyone else makes it
41:36
possible for me to work on that engine yeah exactly I'm the
41:41
mechanic um and so I do things that they legally can't do but everything else
41:49
yeah they're the pros oh I can't tell you when I've made a temporary crown yeah and you wouldn't want me
41:55
to cuz now they're so dang good at they are so good at it you know sometimes I'll think man it's going to be tough
42:01
for the lab to improve on this maybe you shouldn't try so hard you know W so and
42:08
and and again part of that I think is age related so some of your younger dogs
42:15
are going to feel responsible so maybe I'm just tired and now like a great thing like do
42:23
it I don't care you know um but it is a sweet spot is it's a nice place to do
42:30
because you can be more productive mhm you can if I do exactly what I legally
42:35
and ethically have to do and leave the rest I can go somewhere else and do do
42:41
something well and then they bring a freshness to that task yeah right cuz when you are the mechanic and you're
42:46
doing everything you they get bored yeah they're like I suck
42:53
spit how did I get to this spot in my life I'm just sucking spit and blood I
43:00
had more I never had a dream for my life but this was not it this was if I had a dream this wasn't it so yeah uh I think
43:09
they like more responsibility and I wish in Arkansas I don't know what it is in Texas that they would give more expanded
43:15
duties to our dental assistants but you know pretty restricted because I think I feel like my team uh assistants could
43:25
probably do better with the fillings than I do yeah let me prep it yeah you
43:30
pack it in yeah but that's not true for Arkansas not
43:36
there's some states where there're expended functions like that Texas just imagine how profitable or how busy you
43:42
could be if all you had to do is prep and then walk out of the room yeah yeah so for those of you in that state enjoy
43:48
it God bless you congratulations we're envious it's not
43:53
it'll never happen in Arkansas or probably never in Texas no uhuh it won't think it will so so yeah lean on your
44:00
team but yeah basically lean on your team let them do their thing so I feel like those are some good tips for you
44:07
know this period of time and this is you know straight up in the middle of October this two will pass y everything
44:13
is cyclical and when you're in the famine you think oh my gosh yeah and they're
44:21
different periods of of famine but I think you were so smart prepare for the
44:26
famine prepare for the famine store up store up all you can and enjoy enjoy the
44:33
fruits of that period of time be smart with the fruits and then use the famine
44:38
to sharpen those skills yeah and if you if you're prepared for the fam then you
44:44
can be a source for other people yeah yes but if you're
44:50
not you can be of no benefit you're you're struggling like everyone else rest yeah yeah so it's just wisdom there
44:59
um to not just as we talked about the the Feast of not just blowing it yeah
45:05
but realize there's probably a famine in my lifetime mhm let me prepare for it be prepared
45:11
and I can be a blessing to other other people too during that time yeah I love it well thanks for chatting with me
45:18
again I love the new office I know it's filing pretty good and I'm glad I got to break it in I know well you got to move
45:26
it in so yes yeah that's true it's only fair that you get to break it in you lifted every piece of furniture up in
45:32
this room so I think we're going I think we're going to brunch now aren't we oh yeah can't wait ready love you love you
45:40
thanks for joining the conversation today we hope that you are comforted in knowing that you are not alone but we
45:47
also hope that you're walking away with some really great tips and tricks to try in your
45:52
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