{"id":818,"date":"2018-12-10T19:01:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T19:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=818"},"modified":"2018-12-10T19:01:11","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T19:01:11","slug":"define-the-objective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/define-the-objective\/","title":{"rendered":"DEFINE THE OBJECTIVE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gravity is precise in nature, governed by laws and formulas; it does not respond to individual circumstances or objectives. It\u2019s easy because it always works. Clinical dentistry, on the other hand, is science for sure, but an inexact science at best. Inexact science requires the skill of an artist to create a consistent and predictable result since it is not a matter of an equation, hence the \u201cArt and Science of Dentistry.\u201d This inexactness is something that dentists struggle with daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am currently treating a patient who\npresented with a bunch of broken teeth. The patient is frustrated because these\nteeth have been \u201cfixed\u201d numerous times over the past few years. His previous\ndentist had tried to bond things here and there to keep the cost down for the\npatient but they just kept breaking. The patient, an engineer, said that he\neven tried giving the dentist suggestions to make things \u201cstronger\u201d. Those\nsuggestions only led to more failure. Predictable dentistry often requires\ndoing things that you would rather not do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently heard an ad on the radio with\na famous actor talking about colon cancer screening. He describes that having a\ncolonoscopy after age 50 is huge in finding and treating early changes that\nlead to colon cancer. Most people don\u2019t want to have a colonoscopy, but also\ndon\u2019t want to get colon cancer, so there is a dilemma. These actions have now\nbecome inconsistent with the desired outcome, much like the patient I just\ndescribed. He doesn\u2019t want to have a complete exam and map out a precise\ntreatment plan that will ensure a more predictable result, but he wants to save\nhis teeth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have come to a fork in the road. If\nyou don\u2019t want to get colon cancer you get screened and treat any early signs\nof problems to help avoid the cancer. If you want to risk getting colon cancer,\nyou don\u2019t get screened. If this dental patient doesn\u2019t want to lose his teeth,\nhe should get a complete exam and address the issues in a more logical and\npredictable manner. If he wants to risk losing teeth, he can keep putting\nband-aids on the teeth, but they may not hold up as he has already experienced.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dentists often struggle with patients\nwhose actions are inconsistent with what they want from dental treatment. It is\nimportant for dentists to listen to people to know what they want. A patient\nwho says she doesn\u2019t want to do a crown on a tooth has not said she would not\ndo crown. She is saying she doesn\u2019t want to do it, would rather not spend the\nmoney to do it, she won\u2019t enjoy doing it, and she will want it to be over as\nquickly as possible. What does she want the outcome to be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too many disappointments have occurred\nbecause a dentist compromised treatment and the result was not what the patient\nexpected. The dentist and the patient need to be very clear on compromise. The\npatient must understand that, if there is failure, it is most likely the result\nof the decision not to do the more ideal treatment. The dentist needs to\nthoroughly explain to the patient the risks and benefits of any treatment they\nare doing so that everyone is on the same page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. St. Clair\nmaintains a private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to\nhealth-centered family dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to\nsee written about or questions you have please email them to him at jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gravity is precise in nature, governed by laws and formulas; it does not respond to individual circumstances or objectives. It\u2019s easy because it always works. Clinical dentistry, on the other hand, is science for sure, but an inexact science at best. Inexact science requires the skill of an artist to create a consistent and predictable result since it is not a matter of an equation, hence the \u201cArt and Science of Dentistry.\u201d This inexactness is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions\/861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}