Lighten Up

Have you ever gotten done with a long procedure, sat back, massaged your hands and thought, “Why was I squeezing my mirror handle so tight? Was I afraid it would run away?”

I have done that, not thinking about it until it was too late and my hand was sore. I was holding onto my instrument, squeezing the life out of it, trying to increase my control. What wasted effort. And it made me sore. I have also done that in life. I wanted more control of a situation, but the only way to try to obtain it was to just do what I was doing more loudly, or more often. It didn't work, and sometimes, it made things worse.

Sometimes in clinical dentistry, you have to lighten up on your grip to actually gain more control of your instrument. Lightly grip with your fingers and you can more delicately direct your instruments. The same thing applies in life: sometimes you have to let go a little, lighten up a little, to regain some of the control you seek.

I had a teacher in junior high who would whisper when our class was getting too loud. He would whisper our instructions or the answers to a quiz. He would whisper until we all stopped talking. Those of us who wanted to hear those instructions would shut our mouths pretty quick, and encouraged the others to be quiet so we could hear him.

What are you doing in your practice that isn't giving you the results you want? Maybe you should change your approach. Shake out your hands and ease your grip.

Mike Lemme, DDS