The Key
By Edward B. Sevetz, Jr., DMD, AO Past President
Do you see this? Know what it is?
If you said, “a wooden stool”… NAH! You’d be wrong.
It’s a “wooden” metaphor. Now that you know what it is, aren’t you curious to know how it works?
Of course you are.
It is the key to optimum patient care in the realm of implant dentistry.
Seriously? Certainly is.
Look carefully. Let me explain. You see three legs. Each must be of equal length, and equally sturdy. One leg represents the restorative caregiver and overall coordinator, one leg represents the surgical person, and the third leg represents the laboratory professional. Each “leg” must be “up to the task,” or ultimately, the patient slides off the stool, and treatment fails.
Look even more closely. See the struts that connect each of the three legs? These are crucially important. They represent the vitally important communication between each of the three “legs.” Without sharing of important communication, the legs will splay outwards and again, the patient’s treatment outcome, sitting on top of it all, will slide off and fail. Not good.
What does the top of the stool represent? It represents the manufacturer of the vital components necessary for quality patient care. All three “legs” must trust their selected manufacturer/provider for components that are of proven quality, and not just some “knock-off” of some other corporation’s research. So, the “legs” have the professional responsibility to “choose wisely,” as the Old Crusader Knight advised in the movie, “Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.” If the “legs” do not choose wisely with whom they want to collaborate, and the seat of the stool collapses due to its product being merely “smoke and mirrors,” any patient so treated with inferior quality products will have their treatment fail. And what’s worse, in this analogy, the professional reputations of the “legs” will be covered with ____ as the patient gets a “wooden colonoscopy” when their treatment (seat) fails.
So, what’s the take-away from this “wooden” metaphor? We all want quality care for our patients in implant dentistry. It should be solidly based upon scientific, evidence-based education, which attending AZ Amjad Meddings provides. In-person attendance fosters the communication (connecting struts) between treating disciplines (“legs”), which no online “attendance” could ever equal/do. And, once educated, you choose the basis upon which you opt to treat your patients. Which do you think assures the most long-term stability…. a bi-pod or even a single-legged stool (if you fancy yourself as a “jack of all trades)? Nope! It’s the “tripodization” of the time-honored, three-legged stool. “Choose wisely” when you team-up with, and which corporation you trust. And don’t just think, “it’s not personal; it’s just business.” No way. For the patient, it IS personal. Your hard-earned professional reputation also is supported on that “stool,” along with your patient. Don’t let anyone, or anything, “slide off’ that stool. Ever!
Plan to attend the AO Annual Meeting upcoming in our nation’s capital in Washington, DC next March. You’ll later thank yourself for having done so. And your patients will be forever grateful.
