Townie Book Review: Discover two new titles. Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD

Secrets to a Successful Practice

Originally published as 101 Secrets of a High-Performance Dental Practice: From the Success Files of Bob Levoy in June of 1997, 201 Secrets of a High Performance Dental Practice leaves no doubt in my mind that there is something for everyone in this book. The book is easy to read from cover to cover, or you may choose to just read the areas that pertain to your practice. Whichever path you choose, the information is useful and many of the suggestions can be implemented tomorrow. The collection of 201 secrets is divided among 15 chapters with titles such as: “Golden Opportunities for Practice Growth” and “Get the Right People on Board.”

Excerpts from the book:

From Chapter 8: “Secrets of Successful Case Presentation” (page 127)
#105 Explain Pros and Cons: Patients tend to be impressed with and have more trust in dentists who explain both the pros and cons of treatment alternatives. Doing so imbues the dentist’s recommendations with a sense of balance and honesty, and makes them more believable.

From Chapter 12: “Be an Employer of Choice” (page 200)
#165 The Employee Survey: Another more comprehensive technique for initiating upward communication is the employee survey. It’s widely used as a management tool in industry to learn what employees think of their jobs, working conditions…. The advantage of the employee survey is that many employees are more comfortable expressing themselves anonymously on paper than they are in person.

A 27-question survey is provided for your use. This book has 201 secrets to share and there is certainly something here to help your practice grow. It is nearly impossible for a book to apply to everyone equally, but I think each dentist who reads this book will learn a few new secrets to improve the quality of his or her practice.

Help your patients understand The Whole Tooth

This is the second edition of The Whole Tooth, a patient- directed guidebook that answers every imaginable question about dentistry. There are a number of these books on the market, and you may ask yourself, “Why do I need a book like this? If my patient has a question, they can just ask me.” Most of our patients will simply ask us to answer questions relating to their oral health. However, I think it is important to have a book like this available for two reasons: the engineer and the “read it for myself” patient types. As stereotypes go, engineers are well known for prodding, detailed questions about everything. If they spend a few nights with The Whole Tooth, all of their questions will be answered to their satisfaction. The second patient type I mentioned has trust issues, and they can be comforted by the answers found in a hardcover book. The Whole Tooth is an unbiased third party that can address answers to the most common questions in language that patients will understand.

Author Dr. Martin Nweeia used his 10 years of experience as a columnist for USA Today as the basis for the information in this book. Additionally, he has worked for other newspapers and served as a correspondent for a CBS television affiliate in Honolulu. Currently, he practices dentistry in Sharon, Connecticut.

There are 17 chapters in this book and they are organized in the ways you might expect: Cavities and Fillings, Braces and Moving Teeth and Esthetics, just to name a few. Each chapter contains a number of questions phrased from the patient’s point of view with an answer in plain English. Graphic designer Kevin Hand provided an excellent collection of illustrations to complement the text and explain difficult concepts. The answers are clear, concise and well written. You should take this opportunity to develop a lending library of patient-education books that can be displayed in your reception area and loaned on request. Put The Whole Tooth on your list.