Diamonds or coal?

I was having a browse around the web and stumbled across this quote:

‘Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs.”
                                                Malcolm Stevenson Forbes

It struck a cord as we have recently been having discussions about the ‘value’ of our team members including ourselves, our strengths and weaknessess and our Kolbe scoring. The question I have asked myself is, do we have chunks of coal or diamonds? has our team developed from the coal to the diamond?  Yes, like in all teams some of the coal has fallen off early and in our desire to be the best unfortunately have been moved or have chosen to move, that is fine, it is realistic. We have even suffered the loss of a diamond…. ouch!!

But what is the answer?, I am glad and proud that what I see around me sparkles!! The qualities our team members have, means they are no longer ’chunks of coal’, they have stuck to their job. I wonder is it possible to be ‘flawless’………..

Migraine success

We recently have been carrying out more work on sevral clients who have been suffering with severe and life restrictive migraines. 2 Clients come to mind and I am personally delighted for them that we have seen a hug improvement in their symptoms.

How have we done this??

Well firstly we have listened, this is an art many in the medical professions forget. We have empowered these clients in their own diagnosis and treatment and finally we have carried out careful and accurate PATIENT BASED treatment.

Below is a photo of the appliance we have used, this is called a ‘PGA’ (posterior guided appliance) and it is amazing what this piece of acrylic can do.

The appliance is worn on the lower teeth and the blue marks indicate the contact of the upper teeth on the splint. These are carefully and minutely adjusted until comfort is achieved. The 2 clients above to giv you some idea have tried all sorts of treatments and investigations to date with no success these have included medication, MRI imaging, full cardiac assessment and dental intervention. All  that was needed was some thought to what was happening and the simple answer is that the the muscles of the face and neck have been working in an uneven manner. They both have had immense improvement

1) From daily migraines to 1 in 10 days

2) From daily migraines with 8 painkillers per day to 2 painkillers in 2 weeks

and we are not finished yet!!

speaking offers

I have just recently had 2 very exciting speaking engagements confirmed. These have been a lovely surprise and I am very excited by  the opportunity to get up and tell others about what we have achieved in Blueapple…

1) on the 7th Feb 2009 I am speaking at the BDA/BDJ ’Young Dentists Conference’ in London. To present to a group of newly qualified dentists, the brief is to ‘INSPIRE’. I hope I will achieve this.

2) http://www.independentseminars.com/store/proddetail.asp?prod=Barrow27Feb09, on the 27th Feb I am taking part in a seminar again in London by kind invite of Chris Barrow (www.coachbarrow.com) This is a big one for me and the largest stage I will have spoken on, the nerves are already there but I am well up for the challenge, in fact I CANT WAIT!!

I have already started the ball rolling on what I want to do on the above and I hope it will hit the spot.

Seeing the light

Loupes and LED light

By blueappledental

I have just purchased a set of magnifying loupes and LED light source. It is proving to be a great investment to date, I had always thought these were for older dentists with failing eyesight!! How wrong was I, I am seeing things now I have never seen, my diagnostic skills I am sure have improved as has the overall quality of my work. ‘SEEING THE LIGHT’ is what it feels like, I am so delighted with the setup as I am convinced that the main benefactor of this will be my clients, great news!!