Being Dentist: Love It, Live It, Worth It!

Being Dentist: Love It, Live It, Worth It!

 

They say dentistry is saturated and you won't find the scope even if you see through a microscope. The most common advice these days is ‘Don’t spoil future of your kids by getting them into BDS Course. I wonder why, so much of negativity all around? Is the scenario really very bad these days? Is the truth really very demoralizing? Answer is ‘NO’ A BIG “NO”, rather I would say that we need to change the perception towards our profession..

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Let’s do a quick comparison of hourly income of an average Indian dentist with other professionals.

A well placed corporate guy with an experience of 3-5 years, works at least 8 hours daily under hell lot of stress & has an average hourly income of Rs. 500. A general physician has hourly income of around Rs. 2000; provided the consultation fee is Rs. 500 & he gets to see 4-5 patients every hour. 

Whereas when it comes to a dentist, the hourly income varies based on skills, Location of practice & with every treatment but it is far better. 

In short sky is the limit!! When the hourly income is so high, where's the problem?

Source : DentistFriend

What After BDS: Clearing The Confusing Clouds

 

What After BDS: Clearing The Confusing Clouds

After my last post on What After BDS? I have been getting lot of emails from young minds to help for guidance for abroad studies. I have been in that stage where you do not know what do to and need some expert advice. 

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Here are few things you need to think about when you plan your future

Subject:
If you have just cleared your final year or internship, you may not have a clear idea about which subject to choose. I would suggest get in to general practice for a year. Do all kinds of dentistry. In this one year time, you will develop a liking for a subject which you would like to pursue masters in. This one year will also add to your resume about what kind of clinical experience. Most colleges (outside India) do not entertain freshers for masters program. They need at least 1-2 years of clinical experience for application. This is applicable for clinical and management programs.

Future Plan:
Plan to settle abroad or come back? - Most countries do not recognise our Indian BDS. They do consider you for Masters/BDS but you cannot practice in their country without passing the licence exam. Clearing the license exam involves studying, time and money. So if you are sure you want to settle in that particular country you can start preparing for the license from day 1 or just study and come back.

 

Finances:
Another important aspect. Arranging finances can be difficult for few people. Full time courses are very expensive. You can look out for part time courses which are less expensive. If you plan to settle in that country, you have to be prepared for all kinds of expenses and probably some familial help to get you settled. You can always apply for loans and get started with.

 

Visa: 
Most major countries do give a student visa. It also depends on the country and course. I am wondering the state of USA visa if Trumph wins!! It’s not that easy to crack in the UK visa for work permit because you need to get an employment letter after the degree which may not be easy for everyone.

Young minds- are very enthusiastic. I know this because I was one. You should talk to lot of people who are in different countries. People who have settled from India to abroad in recent times. Their struggle stories are real eye openers. It may be easy for a few but majorly people take about 3-5 years to settle down. This should make you think about the time and money invested in all this. Are you ready for this kind of commitment and dedication? I am not writing this to demoralise you guys. But you should know the non glamorous side also before putting your foot in it. Do not just blindly follow someone coz its looks so pretty!

Hope these points will help you guys think on the right track and take proper decisions for future life. Stay tuned in for more action….

 

Read Part I : What After BDS: Earn And Learn! WHY GO ABROAD?

Source : DentistFriend

How To Make Your Clinic A Patient Magnet?

 

How To Make Your Clinic A Patient Magnet?

Our clinics are supposed to be healing spaces rather than fear creating spaces. Patients are more scared to walk in a dental clinic than walk in a general hospital. Are we not ready yet to break that stereotype of being painful clinics??

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What’s in name??

 

Who does not like luxury? Add that extra x factor to your clinic. Have a nice innovative name. Now a days “spa” and “boutiques” are trending. Small addition may add that “chic” factor to your practice. Of course when you write spa…you need to do justice to the name. Have that kind of ambience that will confuse the patient if he in for a real spa!!

 

So what things incite fear in a patient and make our dental clinics an unpopular place to visit?

1. 1. Pain, of course.

2. 2. Hearing somebody cry or yell due to pain.

3. 3. The typical hospital smell.

 

Painless dentistry- is not difficult to practice. Conscious sedation, oral sedation, magic wands for local anaesthesia….there are countless ways to do it!

 

 

Sound proofing??

 

Your dentistry may be painless for the mouth but you have to make it painless for the ear too! Some patients do complain of the hand piece noise that makes them irritable than any dental procedure. I have had to put on some earphones for few patients to calm them down and prevent them from hearing the hand piece noise. So what can we do??

 

1. 1. Sound reduction hand pieces are available. They may be expensive but if you have clientele that demands such kind...why not??

2. 2. Sound reduction headphones...they absolutely cut off any outside noise.

3. 3. Scaring other patients?- You may use sound proof door and windows to prevent any chair side noise that may scare the patients in the waiting room

4. 4. Increased insulation of walls and doors to absorb sound.

5. 5. Planning a waiting area away from treatment room.

 

 

I smell fear!!!!!!

 

Leave alone patients, until I became a dentist, I would also relate going to a hospital with smell of spirit and I would feel nauseated. Most patients relate lot of situations with the smell. Many "people have a fight-or-flight reaction" to the sights, sounds, and smells of a dental office. This is the beginning of the fear development. To break that negative thought, air fresheners can be used. They not only create a pleasant environment but also reduce patient’s anxiety by calming the nerves. You can have orange, rose and lavender flavours which have shown to improve the patients mood and reduce anxiety levels (Trying to create a spa! Remember!)

 

 

What more??

 

Show an Waiting area-you can have some soothing photographs and music to relax the atmosphere rather than patient and procedure photographs.intra oral view of teeth to a normal regular non dental person. Most feel disgusted. I was once removed from my own family group for posting an intra oral picture of great work I did. But your patients don’t care about your good work in bold fully blown up pictures. So save them for consultation.

You can add in trendy magazines and board games for fun and this will be a distraction and help them pass time in the waiting. Fresh flowers or plants also help relax patients. Having plants or greenery around reduces pain perception. If you are an aquarium person, make sure your aquarium has clean water and no dead fish!

 

 

Temperature of the clinics- the patient should neither feel too cold nor too hot. The temperature should be well adjusted for them to feel at “home feeling”

Declutter your reception of unwanted stuff. There are so many things like pamphlets . These will help your area look neat and clean giving an impression of a well maintained hospital. There are many more simple ideas that can help you to make your clinic a patient magnet, for more of such innovative yet simple ideas stay tuned for part 2…………….Coming soon

 

 

More Blogs From This Author:

      What After BDS: Earn And Learn! WHY GO ABROAD?

      What After BDS: Clearing The Confusing Clouds

Source : DentistFriend

How To Design A Digital Marketing Plan For Your Dental Practice?

 

How To Design A Digital Marketing Plan For Your Dental Practice?

In this blog, let’s see things to consider while setting up marketing plan for your dental practice?

 

 

1. Budget

 

The rule of thumb says that you should invest at least 10% of your annual revenue in all the possibilities that has potential to grow your dental practice but if you have started your practice recently then in that case you can even start with zero budgets.

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2. Media

 

Let’s consider your 10% yearly revenue as your 100% marketing budget. Now you have to make sure that you use this budget in multiple activities throughout the year & not on just any one activity.

 

Your activities may include staff training & development, CSR, Internal marketing, Digital Marketing but make sure that all of these activities are within DCI guidelines.

Now let’s understand which activities you should focus more?

The mode of activity will completely depend on
Your location
Differentiation of practice
Stage of your practice
Treatments you offer
Education level of your potential patients etc.

 

 

Let me explain this with an example,
 

Suppose if you practice in a rural area then what’s the use of spending money on digital marketing as there will be minimum chances of getting ROI. This doesn’t mean that you should refrain from digital marketing but try to use only the free tools and spend your budget on other activities. 

 

Let’s take one more example, if you practice in tier I city and have differentiated your clinic for Painless dental treatments then most of your budget should be allocated to digital marketing. 

 

In upcoming blogs I’m going to tell you about platforms that you have to use specifically in digital marketing, but till then make sure that you have a complete clarity on your basic marketing plan.

Source : DentistFriend

How To Decide Which Practice Management Software To Buy

 

How To Decide Which Practice Management Software To Buy

In this blog let’s see what to look in good Dental Practice Management Software?

 

Friend’s, the purpose of practice management software is that it should help you to manage your whole practice easily. If you are based in tier I or tier 2 cities and still not using practice management software then probably you are lagging behind.

Visit the DentistFriend.com dental portal to buy or sell second hand dental clinic equipment. 

There are hundreds of practice management software available in the market and many are free of cost but when I say good software then the number shrinks to 3-4. Even out of this 3-4 software, every software has some or other drawback.

 

For example: If one software helps in branding it doesn’t help in marketing or vice versa. One will have a multi-practice option but will miss on some other feature.

 

Now, as a consumer you have to decide what you want and which software fits in with your requirements.

 

 

Here are some insights on how to decide which software to buy?

Before you go ahead reading this blog make sure you have read,  “Life-cycle of your Dental Practice” otherwise you won’t understand what I am going to tell you.

 

1. If you are in your introduction stage of your practice then probably you need to take support of other big brands to become a brand but if your practice is already into a maturity stage then instead of relying on third-party marketing, you can have your own marketing budget and use the software that helps in branding your clinic.

2. Here is something I want you to think about, let me put this in simple words, suppose you have subscribed a paid version of the software and using it to send messages to your patients then ideally all the messages should go by your clinic’s name and not by the software’s name. If messages are being sent by the software name then it means that the company is branding themselves & charging you for it.

 

3. Second important aspect is that, some companies promise to list you on their portal but what’s the sense if there are already 10 dentists listed on the same page no matter above or below me coz at the end of the day it’s not killing the competition but creating a competition further.

 

So be careful before you get trapped in to this marketing jargon.

Source : DentistFriend