Some really great chats this week with different people in dentistry, trying to navigate the new landscape of how the dental marketplace, around the world, continues to develop.
Hyper consumerism has exploded through healthcare in the most dramatic way, but it’s been coming for the longest time.
There is an extraordinary movie with David Schwimmer (off friends) called Breast Men where they chart the rise of breast augmentation surgery in the United States which takes two different directions and how rich people become by just selling surgery for cosmetic improvement.
Much of healthcare has dived into this marketplace because it’s a consumer (and producer) wonderland.
Once that happens there will be one camp that still sings the ethics song whilst trying to make a good living doing the right thing (as they see it).
There of course will be another camp which is, shall we say, somewhat more edgy.
What we see now through my profession is development and further enhancement of products which are targeted at both separate groups in order to maximise the revenue streams and maximise the profit.
In implant dentistry there are now whole implant systems and strategies entirely directed at the guys who are much more interested in making money and much less interested in providing healthcare than ever was the case even 10 or 15 years ago.
These providers are not even apologetic for how they go after these people and how they promote it and how they push them forwards from a business perspective.
I often wonder if the patients could see it from this perspective and how they would actually feel about it but maybe they would just be the same.
For what it’s worth, and for me, I can’t do it any other way than the way I do it now.
I believe that I apply the ‘daughter test’ to every patient that comes through the door and who knows and maybe I don’t and maybe I’m blind and maybe I’m the bad guy?
I suppose it doesn’t matter what your values are, as long as they make you feel good about yourself, make you feel like you’re doing the right thing (whatever that thing is) and you’re able to sleep at night.
What other way is there to test whether you’re on the right side of the line when it comes to taking sides.
Blog Post Number - 3041