Thank You for Supporting Your Local Dentist

Wal-Mart. Home Depot. Lowes. Shell. Circle K. Chili’s. McDonald’s. Outback Steakhouse.

What do each of these places have in common? I’ll give you a hint—they’re owned by large entities, employ not just thousands but MILLIONS of people and they have stores across the nation—some even in other countries. In other words, they’re all corporations. And while the corporate world was mainly dominated by the retail and hospitality industries up until recently, the healthcare sector—dentistry in particular—is beginning to see more and more corporate offices popping up in place of small town practices. And, like the big-dogs mentioned above, these corporations are promising to offer more, for less. But can lower costs make up for what will ultimately be lost in the tradeoff? I’m not so sure…

Bigger Isn’t Always Better

Dentistry used to be strictly private practice, meaning that aspiring dentists would rent or buy their own office spaces, employ their own employees, manage their own schedules, take care of their own marketing and treat their own patients. And the people liked that. They liked knowing that when they had a toothache, they just had to call their local dentist, make an appointment and know that they would be treated by the same person who treated their last toothache, and the one before that. If they had a cavity, they could trust that their dentist would do what was best for them, because they had been doing so for the past ten years. If they had to undergo a more extensive procedure, they could rest assured knowing that their dentist would take all of the necessary measures to ensure their upmost comfort throughout the entire ordeal. Unfortunately, patients do not have this same level comfort with corporate dentists…

In a corporate dental practice, the dentists themselves don’t own or manage the practice, but rather, a corporation does. These non-dentist “owners” are in charge of making up their dentists’ schedules and of setting their daily goals. However, whereas a private dentist’s daily goals (which he sets for himself) consist of adhering to his patients’ needs, a corporate dentist’s daily goals consist of signing patients up for the most expensive treatments possible so as to avoid getting fired.

There are two points here that I would like to address:

1)    I put “owners” in quotation marks because, according to the law in 46 states, it is illegal for anyone other than a licensed dentist to own a dental practice. Corporations get around this law by purchasing property and providing all the necessary personnel to maintain a dental office, including the dentist themselves.

2)    In corporate dentistry, unlike private dentistry, the ultimate goal is to turn a profit, and if dentists aren’t doing that, they’re viewed as “invaluable” by their bosses and fired. While it is true that the goal of any business is to create profit, corporate chains are known for hiring dentists just out of school because these individuals have high student loans to pay off, giving them more incentive to “sell” dental care than an established dentist. In fact, it is not uncommon for patients of corporate dental chains to be pushed into treatment options that they can’t afford and coerced into signing up for long-term financing agreements that they can’t keep up with.

Furthermore, dental chains have notoriously high turnover rates. A lot of the time, this is because dentists cannot sell dental care at the high rates the corporations expect them to. Other times, the dentists simply realize that mill-like care isn’t what they signed up for. They want to experience that doctor/patient connection that comes with private care. Either way, this means that as a patient of a dental chain, you miss out on that trusting relationship that comes with knowing your dentist, and are therefore denied that level of comfort that is only achieved after years of putting your health in the hands of the same person time and time again. 

We Appreciate You

At Lakeshore Family Dentistry, we make a living off of performing dentistry, yes, but to us, what we do is more than about selling dental care—it’s about getting to know you and caring for you in a way that corporate dentists don’t. In our practice we don’t just want to know about your medical history (though that is important too!), but we also want to know all about YOU. We want to know what you do for a living, how many children you have (if any), what you enjoy doing on your days off, what you’re scared of and most importantly, what your hopes are for the future. Believe it or not, all of this information helps us to better treat you and create for you the smile you didn’t know you wanted.

As a private practice, we are thankful for each and every one of our patients, because without you all, we would not be lucky enough to do what we love. So, as a final thought, we would like to thank you letting us restore your health, beautify your smiles and improve your lives. Continue to put your trust in us and we promise, we won’t let you down.

Visit http://www.lakeshorefamilydentist.com/staff.html to get to know a dental team you can count on to always be there for you.