Atta Boy!

Hey all. Hope you are having a good week.

Good news here. I just booked my first lecture! Signed the contract and everything. Only one problem — I am going to speak in my own back yard. The meeting is the Florida National Dental Conference in Orlando. I am thrilled though.

There is not backing out of this now. The tri-fold is at the printer’s now, and I am still waiting on the content for the DVD. He promises any day now. But we are very close (I know I have been saying this for awhile, but that is what you get when you are working with a guy who already has a full time job).

And another good thing. The Best of Apopka contest came and went this year. Remember last year when I was ticked that they kept calling me to buy ads and to come to the dinner and all that stuff? Well, I refused to buy all the stuff and I didn't go to the dinner or anything. Turns out, I won best dentist. I was pretty proud, but I refuse to buy all the stuff for this thing they have created just to make money.

I wish all of the above would lead to groves and groves of patients coming here, but that has not been the case. Pretty slow around here lately. But what can you do?

Before I forget, I am going to comment on the surveys on Friday.

Do you guys read the AACD's magazine? This last magazine was devoted to composites.
I read it cover to cover. The content in this magazine was awesome. The guys who write for this magazine are great technicians and great photographers. And this one was no exception. They had guys I have heard of before (like Jason Smithson, who has a big following on DentalTown) and a bunch of guys I have never heard of.

I liked the stuff so much that I wrote the editor. Am I alone in this or do you all feel compelled to do these things? When I see someone promoting the kind of dentistry I think is right on, I feel led to tell them.

I told editor that, although I am a cosmetic dentist, my practice consists of mostly "meat and potato" kind of stuff. Also, being conservative is a big part of the way I practice. I told him that this magazine was right on the money and I read it cover to cover and that I would appreciate more articles like these. I received a response the same day telling me that he was honored to receive my letter and he would share it with his staff.

Also in this magazine, I saw THE BEST COMPOSITE FILLING I HAVE EVER SEEN! Now, there are some dentists that are good and there are some that shame me and there are some that stain their composite fillings that I just don't like. But there was one picture that I almost made me fall out of my chair.

I read the article and then looked at the picture. Then I put the magazine away, only to come back to it the next day. Dang, this guy is good.

I sat down at my computer and found this guy’s website. I had to write him. I had to tell him that the ‘after’ picture in his article was the best picture I had ever seen. I told him that I work hard to make a natural- looking filling and I thought I was doing a pretty good job. I told him that he, in one article, made me a better dentist and that I would, for a long time, work harder to do better work because of his article. I told him thanks and to keep it up.

I mean, you all do a very good job of commenting on this site. I get a lot of “atta boys” here, and I can tell you they go a long way. You all know how tough it is to keep doing this every day. Some days you just get beat up. You get stepped on. You get eaten up and spit out.

But I can come to the blog and people tell me that they love it, and then I am okay. I know I am not supposed to get my encouragement from others and I am just supposed to love myself enough to know that I am okay, but sometime that get old.

What does it for you? How do you get your encouragement? Is it the fat pay check? Your patients? Your staff? Your spouse? This blog? How do you go home some days and not want to just punt the dog?

Hey just think, next time we talk it will be Friday. See you then.

john