Affordable dentistry vs exceptional dentistry
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 : Catherine-Anne Walsh
We live in Sydney, the L.A of Asia-Pacific. It is a city of stark contrasts: contrasts between the rich and the poor, the beautiful and well kept Eastern suburbs housewife or a minor television celebrity and the tired, worn out "squinter"*
To a foreigner visiting Sydney for the first time, this city may seem like heaven on Earth: beautiful beaches, a harbour in the middle of the CBD, mild weather, sport events on the calendar every weekend, all year round... To those who live here, reality is something completely different: dilapidated infrastructure, poor public transport- both in availability and in quality, segregation of people into suburbs (most people do not venture very far from their own suburb), not to mention house prices and rent prices which verge on being ludicrous and quality of which, at best, leaves something to be desired.
Even in its "richest", most exclusive suburbs, Sydney is decaying: the roads are worse than in most developing Eastern European countries (countries in which the GDP equals the total earnings of the residents of the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney), the parks and playgrounds are merely token areas meant to simulate at least minimal level of care for the citizens.
Everything here is expensive. But to some extent, everything in Sydney is made to feel even more expensive. There is a trend in this city's services and retail industries to be superficial and half baked. Promote now, deliver later, or not, just sell sell sell. The value of almost everything being sold every day in Sydney is being eroded by the attitudes of those selling. Almost everywhere I go in this city, I get disappointed: the cheap shops, the expensive shops, the cheap restaurants, the expensive restaurants, the cheap hairdressers, the expensive ones. No one pays much attention to their customers, the focus is entirely on hype and on the seller!
Sydney is a hard city to live in. It is not surprising, then, that a lot of people who contact our practice to enquire about an appointment, invariably ask about our prices. And even further, once they have visited our practice, some of them still get taken aback by our prices. Occasionally, I feel that some of my clients don't want to hear anything else but the "total cost" of their treatment. They walk in in a sort of paralyzing fear of being told they need an "extreme makeover" worth $50,000.00 and until a price of their proposed treatment is mentioned, they do not engage, they do not respond, they do not question. They do not question , that is, until they have the fees in front of them. The questioning starts then: "Do I really need all this treatment?"; "Why should I have all this done when there is nothing wrong with me and my teeth feel fine?"; "How urgent is this"; "But, the last dentist I saw never mentioned any of this (forgetting to mention that the last dentist they saw was 5 years ago)!". The agonizing starts here. You see, in the ideal world, I would be able to present my patients with treatment options. They would chose between these options based on the long term predictability and success of each option, the best esthetic result or the least invasive removal of existing tooth structure. I would then follow their choices and arrive at the most ideal treatment specifically tailored to suit their wishes.
Did I mention I live in Sydney, the hard city? People here are numb to the differences in what they are buying, they see everything you can pay for through the same lens- from bread buns to dental treatment: "I want as much as possible, at the lowest consequence to my cash balance, because I am unable to fend off all the other hustlers waiting outside, promising I will look 10 years younger, 10 kgs thinner and 10ft taller". The only explanation I have to this is: people here have been disappointed by broken promises too many times.
WHAT'S IN A PROMISE?
For us, everything! As a dental practice, we cannot send you a sample, give you a 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee (if you return the product unused and unopened) or organize a Christmas stock-take sale. You cannot buy our service over the internet, we cannot deliver it to your door, we cannot do an over-the phone consultation. So, we promise you a service we think will encourage you to arrange an appointment, set aside an hour of your busy schedule and give us a try. We choose this promise to be the promise of EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE! EXCEPTIONAL RESULTS! TRULY UNIQUE, CUSTOM- TAYLORED EXPERIENCE!
WHAT ABOUT "AFFORDABILITY"
Some of our competitors choose the promise of affordable service. What does this mean? Does it mean: "cheap"? How cheap? And at what true cost: is it at a cost to the customer service, to the quality of the treatment or at a cost to the dentist and his team? Because, let's face it: in a city as hard and as ruthless as this, we are all "customers", we are all paying the price of this lifestyle together, at the same time and to each other. The dentist is paying exorbitant prices for their supplies, their cost of business, their rent, their continuing education. The staff are paying exorbitant home-rents and mortgages and travel for hours just to get to work. Yet, the customer is being promised low cost dental treatment! Where is this affordability coming from in such an un-affordable city? Is the dentist obtaining cheap alternatives to the well known brands of materials? Is he or she using off-shore labs in China? Is he or she paying their staff poorly? Is he or she unable to complete enough continuing education due to costs and is letting his or her skills stagnate? Is he or she barely making ends meet and is becoming disenchanted and disillusioned with their profession?
CHOOSE WISELY AND HOLD US TO OUR PROMISE
We cannot promise "cheap" dentistry because we cannot deliver "cheap" dentistry. We understand that our fees may be high for a large number of people, but we are distributing those fees fairly amongst our team and our suppliers, investing constantly into the betterment of our service, our premises and our skills.
When describing our practice, you may not be able to say that we are "cheap" or "affordable" but you should be able to say that we work hard to keep our promises and put our customers first.
Whatever practice you choose to visit and for whatever reason, listen to their promise to you and hold them to that promise! Choose your dental team wisely. A good relationship with a dental professional can not only benefit you, by keeping your teeth healthy, but also your whole family and your community, by educating you and enabling you to educate others.
Dentistry does not provide one solution to all tooth decay, otherwise, Fluoride would have long eradicated this disease! Dentistry must provide specific solutions for each individual and this can only be achieved by developing trusting, long term relationship with your dental team.
Remember your old family dentist? Generations of one family used to see the same practitioner from the day they commenced to the day they retired from practice. This is very rare in today's world, especially in the Sydney CBD. I truly hope we can bring this back and make you feel satisfied, like a huge promise has for once been delivered and even your most extraordinary expectations have been met and exceeded.
Keep Smiling!
Your Dentist
*I once heard the word "squinter" being used in reference to the Sydney's Western suburbs commuters, who drive into the city at dawn, travelling East, facing the rising sun, then again, while driving back home, driving towards the setting sun.
