A Texas State Dental Board meeting transcript was recently revealed, and it’s not good. The shutdown of dental offices has NOTHING to do with patient welfare. It’s about CONTROL.
Here’s a link to the article with the transcript: https://www.tdmr.org/dentist-dental-board-members-say-that-patients-should-just-deal-with-broken-teeth-and-severe-pain/
Video text below the break: Continue reading
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® Today’s rant about the virtue-signaling about “healthcare and essential heroes.”
UPDATE: A friend saw my video and sent me this… very funny (and true, except the “veteran’s” reaction).
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® I previously wrote about the state-sponsored bigotry dividing Americans into “essential” and “non-essential.”
Today I read an article featuring an exchange between New York’s Governor Cuomo and a local CBS affiliate reporter. Governor Cuomo, referring to the people protesting to re-open New York, said they should just get an “essential” job, if they want to work. Yep… he said that.
Editing to add: I just found this video of the treasonous motherfucker (Cuomo) saying it and some editorial commentary (Fox News) afterwards. If I embed the video, it autoplays, and I hate that. Go here: https://video.foxnews.com/v/6151570659001#sp=show-clips
Text of my video below the break: Continue reading
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® I first posted this on Facebook. I’ve added to it a bit here. And, I’ve since taken a break from Facebook. It’s unfortunate that so many mistake their own cognitive dissonance, precipitated by thoughtful posts that contradict their prejudices, for “offense.” It’s unfortunate that, since they lack the ability to articulate a cogent counter-argument, they strike out by “reporting” me for “offending” them. I’ve lost a lot of friends over this.
I’m posting and venting about this, because I’m pissed that my own country (and even my own colleagues) are trying VERY HARD to put me out of business. I also realize that some well-intentioned folks are “worried” about me, because of how I express myself. Rather strongly, you might say! 😊 I dare suggest that MANY feel exactly as I do. I just happen to have the balls to say it and the ability to articulate it well. It’s my super-power! 😉 I’m OK. But, I don’t care who I “offend” with this screed.
This is war. I am at war. I really do feel that way. Not a “shooting war,” mind you. Not yet. This isn’t the Persian Gulf in 1990. But, honestly… it feels worse. This is much worse. I wasn’t worried back then. I knew what I signed up for. I had an entire Navy battle group around me. And, I knew that we would kick ass if and when we had to.
Today, I’m at war with the bombardment of negativity about this fucking virus. It DOMINATES our lives now. Every waking moment of every single day, with no end in sight. No glimmer of hope.
I’m at war with the notion that we should ALL shut down, virtually indefinitely… the consequences of which will be FAR worse than the damage caused by the virus. Well… not actually ALL of us. The “chosen ones” aka “essential” are exempt. I’ll touch on that a bit more later.
I’m at war with my own profession. I have “colleagues” who are publicly jockeying to REPORT any other dentist who dares to see patients in need. I wish I was kidding. It’s rampant!
I’m at war with Continue reading Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior®
I first posted this on my personal Facebook feed. I expected a lot of negative feedback. But, the opposite happened, for the most part.
It seems the new measure of a person is his or her capacity for righteous indignation, pandering for “social justice,” and public virtue-signaling. Keeping up with the Joneses is no longer a material pursuit. It’s an emotional attention-getting pursuit. And, hoo-boy… has this “crisis” provided that opportunity in spades.
I’ve had some friends extremely upset at me for not being as “worried” as they are. I’ve had to “un-friend” some on social media for being rather nasty. One long-time (~20 years) friend and colleague gleefully admonished me for having my practice still open and that I’d be “shut down soon.” He had missed the fact that my state had already shut us down except for emergency patients. But he was apparently happily anticipating the impending shutdown of my business. That’s not cool at all.
I’ve been chastised for being “cavalier” in my posts about this Coronavirus. I’ve been excoriated for not demonstrating the proper amount of fear and dread. I’ve endured the derision and contempt of colleagues even for being open to see emergency patients. Many dentists, incidentally, have run for the hills, ignoring their training and expertise in infectious disease control. They’ve closed their offices and are referring emergency patients to the ER. Or, they’re not even answering the phones at all.
But, I’m the bad guy. According to some… a really bad guy. For seeing emergency patients. My own colleagues are PISSED that any dentist would see patients. Some have accused the dentists who are open, of “stealing” or “scooping up” their patients. You know… the ones who they’ve left in a lurch, refusing to see them.
Consider that I came into Dentistry at the time when
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® Taking a brief break from the Coronavirus hysteria (I’m not done!) to post some dentistry. A friend just boldly posted on Facebook: “Stay home. Close your business. Don’t go out. Live in fear…. No thanks!”
Me, neither! I did this case today. It had been planned for months. Patient is a young woman who has some congenital dental issues. She has had cosmetic bonding done twice before. Her chief complaint was the appearance of teeth #s 6, 7, and 10.
#6 is mesially tilted and rotated. #7 is a peg lateral (as you’ll see). #10 is actually #11. The tooth in position #11 is a retained deciduous canine.
We talked about all options including ortho and veneers. She wanted minimally invasive and “minimally expensive” treatment. She asked if I could JUST re-do the bonding. I sure can!
Here are some side views:
Here’s a close-up of #s 6 and 7. Pretty, eh? Continue reading
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® I’ve stayed out of posting on social media like Facebook, though I’ve been lurking a bit. It’s a good thing I’m staying out of the fray, as I’d likely make a lot of enemies by calling out people specifically.
So, I figured I could post my thoughts here in more “generic” form without calling out any particular person. 🙂
First… if you read my last two posts… it’s working! Today was pretty full. Not a banner day, but decent. Tomorrow’s schedule is even better. Next week is even better.
A few of today’s patients told me they appreciated my email, and it made them feel better. Booya!
I sent a third email out today to reinforce the previous two. But, that’s it… no more emails. I don’t want to bug them.
<rant>
To those dentists who are caving to the hysteria….I’m an adult. I’m a free American. I’m a trained doctor, well-versed in infection control. I’ve dealt with HIV, H1N1, Hep B, Hep C, and other bugs far more virulent than this one.I don’t need “guidelines” from a gov’t lackey looking to score political points. I have all my training and over 30 years of experience. My patients are also grown-ass adults who can make their own decisions with my professional input, for which they’ve trusted me for years.
If “universal precautions” didn’t work, we’d all be dead by now.We are OPEN. My patients are coming. And, we’re all going to LIVE happily ever after!If you choose to discard your own training, experience, and the exercise of critical thought in deference to the edicts of government lackeys… and then leverage your weakness as delusional “virtue signaling,” knock yourselves out. I’m not doing it. I’m going to work and living my life.
No doubt, those who are reflexively shutting down because they were told to are subject to the pervasive guilt complex that has long-infected the dental profession. It also goes to show that dentists are prone to the herd mentality.
As I like to say, “your mileage may vary.”
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® OK… So, by now most of us have witnessed the full-on panic in America. It’s crazy. If I’m honest, I will say that I don’t suffer fools well. I admit that I am contemptuous of those who adopt the “herd mentality.” And, man are we seeing that!
Like many practices, mine has seen a lot of cancellations or simply delaying scheduling planned treatment. Next week’s schedule is full of holes. Big holes. What to do?
First, I sent out a mass email to my patients to allay their concerns as it pertains to Coronavirus and dental treatment. You can see that email here. I also posted it on my practice Facebook page and my practice blog.
Then it occurred to me that I might incentivize scheduling next week. So, I sent out another email yesterday: Continue reading
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® Coronavirus is all over the news. The resulting unjustifiable panic is the real “pandemic.” Perhaps we should call it “pande-MONIUM?”
The news offers many opportunities to communicate with our patients with context that can be leveraged due to hyper media coverage of a topic.
I just posted this on my practice blog site, my practice Facebook page, and sent it as a mass email to my patients. Continue reading
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2020 The Dental Warrior® 
I wrote about Walmart Dentistry a few years ago. In the previous iteration of “Walmart Dentistry,” it was my understanding that it was a DSO renting space in a Walmart retail location.
This time it’s different. Walmart opened a new health clinic in Georgia. It has a medical and a dental side. Run BY Walmart. They also published their fee schedule, with costs that are notably lower than the “average” out there in the real world.
Cheaper than a haircut! Click on image to download their full fee schedule.
So… is it time to panic? I submit that this could be GOOD for our industry. Well… good for PART of our industry. Mind you, I am a solo fee-for-service private care practice. I am “out of network” for all insurance plans and don’t generally even accept assignment. The vast majority of my patients are self-pay (cash). I won’t get into the merits vs challenges of such a practice. But, I’ll simply say, “It ain’t easy! But, I’m the captain of my own ship.” 🙂
Should private care practitioners (even those participating “in-network”) be worried about competing with Walmart? I say NO. Not a bit. Who should worry? Corporate Dentistry, that’s who. Click the link to see evidence of that. The DSO industry (aka McDental) has taken notice! I’ll admit to looking forward to indulging in some sweet schadenfreude while Walmart and the other McDental chains (Corporate Dentistry) race to the bottom! The only problem for DSO McDental: Walmart is already at the finish line.
Both McDental and WallyDental are targeting the same audience: Continue reading
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