I wish I wasn't obsessed with beauty.
The thing with dentistry, is that I think it's really important to have a good idea of beauty.
With so much flim flam, I believe that understanding the basic tenets of beauty is very valuable for my patients.
After all, I'm in the business of making people feel beautiful.
In my obsessive self-quest, I've met many pretty people and truly beautiful people as well.
I've seen countless masterpieces of art. I've handled and made a few myself.
Beauty is perfection.
Perfection is attained by perfect practice.
Perfect practice is by carefully measuring results, calibrating and removing sources of error.
If this sounds like drudgery, it sort of is.
However, I think that this is a worthy price for my patients.
-Matt
ps. Hopefully, I'll get a decent camera sometime in 2011 to show you what I mean.
I stopped taking photos, as they don't do justice to the subject.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Why I haven't been posting
Dear readers,
My apologies for not posting much the past several months.
I've been working on the job search, and recently been a bit unmotivated.
I've learned that DentiCal creates a certain mentality and a certain lack of gratitude.
Even with the 25% chance of reimbursement, even with the 20% reimbursement of fees, even with putting up with a higher chance of getting sued--I have to deal with patients that can't be bothered. It's been a bit upsetting, so I've been focusing my attention on other things like spending time with friends, and learning to be a normal 27 year old.
Nevertheless, I really love dentistry.
Even with everything that sucks about dentistry, I can't help but love it.
It's like the chef with scarred and pitted hands.
I know of no other profession where I can be constantly challenged with getting better, where I'm paid to make friends, and where I can be paid to treat people like family.
I was chatting with Dr. Li at the Berkeley Free Clinic.
We agreed that reimbursements are down. Overhead is up. Our staff drive better cars than we do. However, the trust that we receive from our patients is sacred and beautiful.
And I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.
But we wouldn't trade this
My apologies for not posting much the past several months.
I've been working on the job search, and recently been a bit unmotivated.
I've learned that DentiCal creates a certain mentality and a certain lack of gratitude.
Even with the 25% chance of reimbursement, even with the 20% reimbursement of fees, even with putting up with a higher chance of getting sued--I have to deal with patients that can't be bothered. It's been a bit upsetting, so I've been focusing my attention on other things like spending time with friends, and learning to be a normal 27 year old.
Nevertheless, I really love dentistry.
Even with everything that sucks about dentistry, I can't help but love it.
It's like the chef with scarred and pitted hands.
I know of no other profession where I can be constantly challenged with getting better, where I'm paid to make friends, and where I can be paid to treat people like family.
I was chatting with Dr. Li at the Berkeley Free Clinic.
We agreed that reimbursements are down. Overhead is up. Our staff drive better cars than we do. However, the trust that we receive from our patients is sacred and beautiful.
And I wouldn't trade it for all the money in the world.
But we wouldn't trade this
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Why Obamacare scares me
After about eight months of paperwork, I'm finally a MediCal/DentiCal provider.
The thing is...MediCare has been largely cut since July 2009.
It only covers kids 6 months to 18 years.
It only covers a limited number of not-ideal procedures.
And get this...it pays ~$20 for an exam, $5 an Xray, etc.
I'd lose money after paying my staff.
If Obamacare touches dentistry, I'm genuinely scared.
The thing is...MediCare has been largely cut since July 2009.
It only covers kids 6 months to 18 years.
It only covers a limited number of not-ideal procedures.
And get this...it pays ~$20 for an exam, $5 an Xray, etc.
I'd lose money after paying my staff.
If Obamacare touches dentistry, I'm genuinely scared.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The Dental Van
Last night, an interesting ad came up on Craigslist: an opening for the Oakland Dental Bus.
It's a nonprofit service created by a lawyer-turned-dentist in Arizona.
Originally, it was run out of his home.
Now, it's a national organization the provides dental care to needy kids in schools across America.
This is how it works:
The van goes to the school site.
Equipment, Xrays, chairs, portable ops are set up.
Patients are seen, treated, and (if needed) referred to get further care.
This sounds just like what I did in Cambodia, but in some ways better:
1. No airline ticket or antimalarials needed.
2. I can help the local community.
3. I get paid (not much) doing it.
It sounds like a lot of fun!
It's a nonprofit service created by a lawyer-turned-dentist in Arizona.
Originally, it was run out of his home.
Now, it's a national organization the provides dental care to needy kids in schools across America.
This is how it works:
The van goes to the school site.
Equipment, Xrays, chairs, portable ops are set up.
Patients are seen, treated, and (if needed) referred to get further care.
This sounds just like what I did in Cambodia, but in some ways better:
1. No airline ticket or antimalarials needed.
2. I can help the local community.
3. I get paid (not much) doing it.
It sounds like a lot of fun!
Visiting an orthodontist
I was tempted to do two posts, but I won't.
This is one of the times when I really wish that I had a better camera for dentistry.
At Dr. Vicki Wang's office, I was given a quick review on cases for interceptive dentistry.
Essentially, there are a cases that should be caught before they get really bad:
1. Open bites
2. Cross bites
3. Skeletal malocclusions
It's important, because the bone gets harder once a youth turns into an adult.
One that happens, it requires expensive, painful surgery to get it fixed.
This is one of the times when I really wish that I had a better camera for dentistry.
At Dr. Vicki Wang's office, I was given a quick review on cases for interceptive dentistry.
Essentially, there are a cases that should be caught before they get really bad:
1. Open bites
2. Cross bites
3. Skeletal malocclusions
It's important, because the bone gets harder once a youth turns into an adult.
One that happens, it requires expensive, painful surgery to get it fixed.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Some bumps
Yesterday, I called Youth Uprising in a vain attempt to get plugged in.
I called in the morning and reached a live person.
When I mentioned that I was interested in volunteering, she immediately shunted me to an answering machine.
You may call me an elitist outsider, but I'm a bit miffed.
Regardless of race or profession, my policy is to try to treat everyone with equal respect.
I do this regardless of whether I'm speaking to world class researchers or janitors.
I'd expect the same thing from any group that I work with.
I may call these people again, but I'm hesitant to waste my time.
I really do feel like the youth of Oakland are not being provided resources that they need.
However, I'm a bit wary of what type of hoops I'll have to jump.
I'll be calling on Dr. Pamela Alston, community dentist and long-time philanthropist in Oakland.
I called in the morning and reached a live person.
When I mentioned that I was interested in volunteering, she immediately shunted me to an answering machine.
You may call me an elitist outsider, but I'm a bit miffed.
Regardless of race or profession, my policy is to try to treat everyone with equal respect.
I do this regardless of whether I'm speaking to world class researchers or janitors.
I'd expect the same thing from any group that I work with.
I may call these people again, but I'm hesitant to waste my time.
I really do feel like the youth of Oakland are not being provided resources that they need.
However, I'm a bit wary of what type of hoops I'll have to jump.
I'll be calling on Dr. Pamela Alston, community dentist and long-time philanthropist in Oakland.
Guidelines
I explored Stanford on Friday by Strida.
Most of the students (and staff) were out of school.
However, I still got some very good tips regarding helping out non-profits.
1. Securing partnerships with private industry.
From Leah at the School of Business I learned that one must "pitch" proposals to a company and outline:
Amanda (at the Haas center for social reform) recommended that I seek out a local grassroots organization to get an understanding of the true needs of the community as they perceive.
Otherwise, one risks the appearance of being an "elitist outsider."
She pointed me to Youth Uprising.
Most of the students (and staff) were out of school.
However, I still got some very good tips regarding helping out non-profits.
1. Securing partnerships with private industry.
From Leah at the School of Business I learned that one must "pitch" proposals to a company and outline:
- Gain: What will the company gain from helping you?
- Exposure: What publicity will they get? Are you touting their product/reputation, or adding it to a long list of "sponsors."
- Liability: Where is the event held. How liable will they be if some freak accident occurs?
- Goal: What is the goal of your project
- Cost: How much will it cost the company to help you? How much time and expense will be incurred.
Amanda (at the Haas center for social reform) recommended that I seek out a local grassroots organization to get an understanding of the true needs of the community as they perceive.
Otherwise, one risks the appearance of being an "elitist outsider."
She pointed me to Youth Uprising.
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