An interview with Dr. Howard Farran

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 Dear all,

We all know that only clinical skills are not sufficient for succes in practice. A dentist needs to inculcate many skills in himself for success in clinical practice.

So continue reading:

When should a GDP start implantology in his clinic?

 
We call the last 50 years the “Golden Age of Dentistry” because everyone was doing porcelain-to-gold crowns and when there was a tooth that needed to be replaced, it was a three-unit fixed bridge porcelain to gold. We are now well into the new era, the titanium era of dentistry. The skill level to place an implant has plummeted just like automatic endo, and precast orthodontic NiTi wires. With imaging using 3D CBCT and then making a surgical stent to snap in place for implant guidance, placing an implant has never been faster, easier, higher in quality or lower in cost. I would jump into implantology immediately. When you replace a missing tooth with a titanium implant it is so easy to floss, so easy to clean, and the Strep mutans that causes cavities can’t eat titanium. It’s absolutely the future and you’ve got to get into implant dentistry today.
 
Do you do advanced periodontal procedures like sub-epithetical connective tissue grafts?
No, I do not. I have a great periodonist who that does that for me.

Some dentists are too talkative; some are too reserved & speak very less with patients. Your suggestions.
I will say it again, you only manage three things: people, time and money, and you need to pick your hygienist, assistant and receptionist with the same skill that your local soccer team picks its players. I believe that the most productive dentists mainly do the dentistry and leave all the small talk – the explaining of treatment, the collecting of money, the confirming of patients, everything else – to the staff. If you have a warm and friendly, educated staff who’s been with you for years and years and years, you should be able to just focus on the dentistry.
 
Should patients become social friends & should social friends become patients?
That depends on the exact person and the exact dentist. People are so complicated. Sometimes, a patient becomes a very good friend, but that’s the exception not the rule. Business is business. You can’t have a black and white rule and say never. What if you became best friends with your next-door neighbor and he became one of your patients? I would say that a patient being a good friend is rare.
 
Do you charge dentists, medicos, social friends when they come for treatment & how often?
Yes. Absolutely. Business is business. If my friend wants to come see me, he needs to pay. If he wants to get it free, he’s not going to get it free anywhere else. Business is business. Friends are friends.
 
When and how often do you raise your professional charges?

When Henry Ford started his assembly line, the Model T cost $668. Ten years later and 10 million cars made, it was down to $228. I think it is absurd that all dentists around the world raise their prices every time the Earth makes one revolution around the sun. This is not how other companies do it. You keep one eye on what the patient needs, wants and desires, and you keep the other eye on your cost. Figure out how you can do dentistry faster, easier, higher in quality, and lower in cost. Every other industry in the world figures out how to give their customers more value for less money. Raising your professional charges should be a last resort.
 
If a fresh dental graduate is in debt his attitude towards clinical practice may become too commercial. He may overcharge, overtreat & overdiagnose.
Integrity can never be negotiated. People who don’t lie, cheat and steal when they’re poor don’t lie, cheat and steal when they’re rich. A good person is just as moral in poverty as they are when they’re rich. When you see a rich man who’s an arrogant jerk doing illegal things, he would have done them as a poor man, too. People are people. They’re extremely complex and you’re always going to have a rotten apple in any basket of apples. If you get 100 new patients, one of them is going to be the nicest person you’ve ever met in your life and one of them is going to be the worst.

Is quality dentistry commercially viable?
Absolutely, yes.
 
Any specific suggestions to promote implantology?
You need to get your staff entirely behind implants. On Dentaltown.com, we have a dozen online CE courses on implantology. Start doing them on your staff’s missing teeth. Get your staff to bring in their moms and dads who have dentures. They’ll tell others about the implants.

Any specific suggestions to promote orthodontics
Same as implantology.

 

        

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