Do You Truly Believe in Prevention?

Posted on December 8, 2023December 6, 2023 by Michael Goldberg DMD

Most health professionals would say “of course.” But is “belief” enough? How does belief translate into action? Do you keep score? Let’s look at some of the more common preventive strategies. How does your practice rate? Here’s the scorecard: How does your practice perform? A score of less than 22-27 indicates that you have a great opportunity to improve the health of your patients and improve the bottom line of your practice. Why wouldn’t one minimally offer all of the...

Becoming Comfortable with the Uncomfortable

Posted on April 14, 2023April 6, 2023 by Michael Goldberg DMD

We all need to start somewhere. Think of the first time you put a mirror and explorer into your hands- uncomfortable right? I am going to start with a few stories where I am certain you can relate, followed by a challenge to become comfortable when discussing HPV, a known risk for oral pharyngeal cancer. My son, like many children, was always trying to one-up us. Kids love to do that to their parents. When he was about 11, we were sitting at the dinner table, where we often discussed the ...

STOP THE MADNESS by Dr. Michael Goldberg

Posted on January 27, 2023January 26, 2023 by Michael Goldberg DMD

There’s a saying, often attributed to Albert Einstein, whose essence is “if you keep on doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve been getting.” The point being that oftentimes, a singular action, all things being equal, will result in the same outcome. DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR OUTCOMES? Are you tired of patients not appreciating you? Are you tired of patients not accepting your best care? Are you tired of people coming back with the same problems? A...

Is A Medical Model Right for Your Practice? Part 2: Two Visit New Patient Appointments

Posted on September 23, 2022September 6, 2022 by Michael Goldberg DMD

Last week in Part 1, I introduced telehealth as an option to build value into your diagnosis and treatment plan. Since a one-visit new patient system presents some challenges, other than for patients who are very healthy, here is another option to consider. A two-visit new patient process similar to the medical model, especially for patients with more involved issues. This is the model most hygienists and dentists were taught in school. It’s only in private practice that the one-visit model ...

Is A Medical Model Right for Your Practice? Part 1: Telehealth

Posted on September 16, 2022September 6, 2022 by Michael Goldberg DMD

When you go to a primary care physician for a routine examination, chances are you’ll get weighed, have your “vitals” (blood pressure, temp, pulse) taken, have your lungs and chest listened to, ears, nose and mouth explored. Perhaps they’ll take an EKG to monitor your heart. Lastly, they’ll ask you to provide a urine sample and have blood taken so some lab tests can be run. What happens afterwards? Since the results of your urinalysis and blood work take several days to get back, ther...

What’s a “Hygiene Visit” Worth? With Dr. Michael Goldberg

Posted on July 15, 2022July 14, 2022 by Michael Goldberg DMD

Price becomes an objection when a patient does not perceive “meaningful value.” Without such a value-based context, people use money as a benchmark. Is your hygiene visit worth $39, $59, $99 or more? Or is it only worth it if the “insurance will cover it?” And now that the new hygienist you just hired is making 20% more than the previous one, how does that figure into the profitability of the practice? We are in complex times, made more intense by the pandemic-effect, which acceler...

Who Guides Your Patients To Their Destination? with Dr. Michael Goldberg

Posted on March 25, 2022March 21, 2022 by Michael Goldberg DMD

In my last blog, I discussed the value for, and the tactics involved in trying to discover a patient’s WHY. Recent events and the effect that inflation has, and will continue to have, on all our lives for the foreseeable future, makes this exercise of utmost urgency in your practice. In light of this new reality, I would like to propose that you consider reframing each and every role in the dental practice. If your treatment is not presented in the right light, towards a patient-relevant bene...

Why? What? How? with Dr. Michael Goldberg

Posted on January 14, 2022January 7, 2022 by Michael Goldberg DMD

WHY?…WHAT?…HOW? This is a philosophy that is often taught in dental and hygiene schools: Diagnose, Treatment Plan, then Treat. And yet, immediately after this is taught, a focus is placed on learning treatment, or the HOW. And then upon graduation the focus also becomes on treatment and production. The diagnosis (WHY) and planning (WHAT) become secondary. They’re only an avenue to an end…Production, a means to an end. That’s where the money is. In a nutshell, that’s the problem with...

It’s Not JUST About the Science

Posted on February 12, 2021May 20, 2021 by Michael Goldberg DMD

At a time when “evidence-based” everything is all the rage; I would like to share my experience and philosophy in regard to salivary diagnostics. My approach comes from a non-scientific perspective garnered from my 40+ years of clinical experience. I come at it from both a trained scientific, human, psychological, patient management and pragmatic mindset. Several years back, I had a discussion with a well-respected career academic and journal editor about “evidence-based” medicine. He qu...