Modern Hygienist - October 2008 - (Page 35)

MENTORING | career based on years of experience and evidence, but it started with her very first patient after graduating dental hygiene school. “My very first patient—my dentist’s brother!— was a cardiologist,” she says. “I remember going to pick up my trusty scaler and he stopped me. He said, ‘You’re not going to clean me before you clean me. I wouldn’t cut you open without cleaning your chest.’ I was slightly taken aback, but I ended up polishing him first. Then, I handed him the mirror and began to show him how to floss. He started to hemorrhage heavily. “That was an eye-opener for me. I realized that bacteria can get in through the blood and enter the heart—and this was my very first patient in 1976. Since then, I’ve always polished and flossed first, showing the patient what disease is instead of just telling them and going into scaling.” BUSINESS OR PLEASURE? Many dental hygienists frown at the idea of thinking of dental hygiene as a business or profit center. Bringing money into the equation heightens fears of less time with patients, selling treatment, and the “prophy mill” scenario in which relationship is sacrificed for profit. Ms. Dopson-Hartley has heard all this before, but making her way to lecture halls to address crowds about the hidden profits of hygiene wasn’t nearly as calculated as some might imagine. “My practice wasn’t dictated by insurance in the ’80s, and my last 12 years of practice we were insurance-independent, so we had to be better than everyone else—people aren’t just coming to you because you’re on their policy. My prophy fee in the early ’90s was more than $200. I was able to discover patients’ needs through instrumen- tation and then turn the needs into wants, into desires, into production.” When “dental hygiene guru” Dr. Ken James came to her office to talk practice management, he saw Ms. Dopson-Hartley’s numbers and how they were tracking with sales and case presentation and was quite impressed. “He told me I needed to be out there and teach,” she says with a laugh. “I told him I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just doing my job.” And that’s where it started. From Dr. James’ discovery, to Dr. Woody Oakes of The Profitable Dentist who put her on the podium, to Dr. Dianne Wright who introduced her to holistic dentistry, Ms. Dopson-Hartley’s journey—and this is just the beginning— is one of a mother, a healthcare provider and yes, a businesswoman. mh “Know your numbers. If it’s not tracked, it’s not fact! They tell you where you’ve been.” — Deborah Dopson-Hartley, RDH Northbound… (Clockwise from top right) One great product Deborah wouldn’t be without is GC America’s MI Paste (gcamerica. com). You can take the woman out of Florida, but you can’t take Florida out of the woman—Deborah is an avid University of Florida Gators fan. Since moving to New York, however, she is all about the arts—including theater, comedy and music. Another must-have product? Handscalers from Hu-Friedy (hu-friedy.com). PHOTOS: MICHAEL VOLTATTORNI, DAVID MUIR/GETTY IMAGES October 2008 | modern hygienist 35 http://www.gcamerica.com http://www.gcamerica.com http://www.hu-friedy.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Modern Hygienist - October 2008

Modern Hygienist - October 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Letters News Modern Solutions Trends: Homecare Trends: Perio Trends: Ergo Trends: Mid Care After Chemo Professional Rewind Esthetic Expertise: Make or Break Relationship Hands-on Hygiene: Have You Seen the Light? Going the Distance Training for Life Presi-dental Politics Ad Index Moonlighting

Modern Hygienist - October 2008

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