{"id":28650,"date":"2026-01-30T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/?p=28650"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:29:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T21:29:52","slug":"throwback-why-what-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oraldna.com\/trends-in-salivary-testing\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/throwback-why-what-how\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwback: Why? What? How?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

WHY?\u2026WHAT?\u2026HOW?<\/span><\/h3>\n

This is a philosophy that is often taught in dental and hygiene schools: Diagnose, Treatment Plan, then Treat.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019re only an avenue to an end\u2026Production, a means to an end. That\u2019s where the money is.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, that\u2019s the problem with our entire healthcare system. We\u2019ve forgotten to ask WHY. We\u2019ve skipped the planning or WHAT and moved right into the HOW.<\/span><\/p>\n

Insurance encourages this as well. Reimbursements are higher for \u201cprocedures\u201d and not for the time it takes to diagnose and plan. Insurance is HOW driven. Even if there\u2019s some reimbursement for diagnostic procedures, there\u2019s none for the time it takes to collate the data and form a treatment plan. Thinking is not encouraged.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why does the patient have periodontal inflammation? Why do they present with a condition that resulted in the pain that motivated them to seek care? Why did that tooth crack? Why are they getting cavities? There are so many WHYs to be answered.<\/span><\/p>\n

So then, WHY aren\u2019t these WHY questions being asked?<\/span><\/p>\n

The simple explanation would be that it\u2019s about TIME and MONEY.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s an excuse. And, I\u2019m going to pose something that YOU might not like. It might cause you to take a good, hard look in the mirror.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s because practitioners don\u2019t care enough about their patients. They\u2019re not IN LOVE.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you loved someone, you would do everything in your power to make sure they didn\u2019t get hurt and if they did, you would fix it and make sure it would never happen again. That\u2019s what people in love do.<\/span><\/p>\n

If \u201cLove Thy Neighbor\u201d was the philosophy one had with every patient, then\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n