“Happiness is your dentist telling you it won’t hurt and then having him catch his hand in the drill”. - Johnny Carson

If only we could laugh as we did through dental school, continue to spray water at our colleagues and take alginate impressions of tonsils. You didn’t do that? What about the drinking games, pub crawls and Friday night curries? No? Okay so the hours spent in the library pawing over books intent on honours. Perhaps that was you?

Student days weren’t the same for everyone, some, the Melancholics took it seriously and were perfect, the Cholerics didn’t want to waste time and were sure they could finish sooner than the rest, the Sanguines just enjoyed the company, stayed vague and never let the truth stand in the way of a good story, while the Phlegmatics were just glad when they turned up on time for a lecture and stayed awake long enough to take notes.

If we had all understood ourselves back then perhaps some of us would have made different choices about how we would practice, where and for how many hours a day. We would have realised that we don’t all work the same and that the pressures of NHS dentistry aren’t for everyone. It wasn’t a problem then, nothing was really stressful but with mortgages, cars, practice loans, schooling and wages life takes on a more serious hew. Again not a problem until the strains of life add one to another and we find our stress levels, blood pressure and moods interfere with the way we work and live. The good news is that you can turn this all around and practice the way you want to!

Unfortunately for many, running a practice involves more skills than taught in dental school. While school equipped us for mastery in clinical dentistry, it didn’t really cover the pitfalls of human frailty along the way. With such a diverse range of people qualifying as dentists it is little wonder that many struggle throughout their practicing career, being placed in a box that says “One size fits all.” This, as we all know is not the case and it is for this reason that this seminar has been designed.

According to Dr Hans Selye MD, “Stress is the non specific reaction of the body to any demand placed upon it.” We have tended to think of stress as nervous tension caused by difficult patients, staff and events of the day. However, observation tells us that not everybody reacts in the same way to the strain of the day. Some go with the flow while others shrug it off and get on with it. Then there are those who get increasingly stressed by the events going on around them, often in their opinion for no apparent reason. I found this while treating patients for head, neck and back pain of dental origin. The question was always, why in more or less identical mouths did patients suffer so differently? Two patients with attrition caused by nocturnal bruxism, one suffering excruciating head and neck pain while the other appeared symptom free. In the same way why do some dentists appear unphased by daily events while others suffer!

Your health in dentistry:
The big killers of today are heart disease, circulatory dysfunction, stroke, diabetes and cancer. As a dental practitioner there are steps that we can take to ensure that we reduce the risk of becoming a statistic. This information is equally important for our patients. Stress, free radical damage and snoring all cause endothelial dysfunction. We will cover ways of reducing this risk for both patient and dentist!

Understanding the relationship between strain and work ethic
Not all dentists are born equal or have the same temperament. You recognise your personality profile and the way that you should tackle the running of a practice, unique to you.

How to work to your strengths
Once you know your strengths you can work to them rather than trying to be someone that you are not.

Doing more of what you’re best at

Fulfilling your needs in dentistry

Matching your practicing career to you

Making your practice a product of you, not your last principal!

Deciding on NHS or private
It’s easier than you think once you know who you are and what you really want.

How to get others who enjoy doing the rest!
Learn to stop doing what you’re no good and delegate!

Coping with an NHS practice
If you feel obliged to the NHS then understand the consequences and importance of your actions in running an NHS facility.

Treatment regimen that compliment your unique abilities
Apply your knowledge about you to your patients. You need to recognise their personalities and work with them not against them. This has been one of the most rewarding aspects of learning. To be able to relate to someone who you really don’t understand in such a way as to be able to help them without either of you getting stressed!

Attendees will come away, aware of their own health risks, their own personality type and thus their unique way of practicing. They will better understand staff and patients and be able to recognise symptoms in their patients that they can treat.

This evening course is a pre-requisite for a weekend in depth special to be held in Salzburg, Austria.

Please call Barbara on 01634 666123

Price:
£95.00 per dentist; £25.00 per team member

Time:
All events will commence 7.00pm prompt. There will be a 20 minute coffee break and time for discussion with our sponsors Costech and browse the book table.

You will also be able to chat with one of our team about the nutritional products that we are currently using.

Monday 19th May
Dartford/ Gravesend
Hilton Dartford Bridge Hotel
Masthead Close, Crossways Bus. Park, Dartford DA2 6QF

Tel: +44 (0) 1322 284 444


Tuesday 20th May
Brighton/Crawley
Arora International
Southgate Avenue, Southgate Crawley West Sussex
RH10 6LW

Tel: +44 (0) 1293 530 000