This edition first published 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Brooks, Janine, author.
Title: How to survive dental performance difficulties / Janine Brooks.
Description: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018010419 (print) | LCCN 2018010645 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119255635 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119255628 (epub) | ISBN 9781119255611 (pbk.)
Subjects: | MESH: Dentistry–standards | Professionalism | Work Performance–standards
Classification: LCC RK56 (ebook) | LCC RK56 (print) | NLM WU 21 | DDC 617.6–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018010419
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: ©yewkeo/Getty Images
Becoming a member of the dental professions involves considerable personal effort, intellectual challenge, financial cost and emotional engagement. It is a great achievement and just the start of a privileged and rewarding career. Individuals are expected to consistently deliver what they have learned, to the best of their ability, for the benefit of patients, whilst adopting a persona and lifestyle that comply with ever higher public expectations and changing clinical practice and regulatory requirements, until they retire perhaps 40 years later.
Of course, none of us is perfect. We are human. Life happens. Things go wrong. We make mistakes. We all sometimes get tired, suffer physical or mental illness, have relationship or money problems. We are distracted by personal issues or family pressures, get bored or complacent or disillusioned by the system we work in, or are irritated by some of the people we work with or treat. Consequently, we take our eye off the ball. We may find we can’t do some of the technical aspects of dentistry as well as we should or used to, or fail to earn as much money as we expected, while doing what the public and profession expect of us. Patients now complain more frequently than before and their expectations are increasingly high, fed both by our own profession’s sophisticated marketing and glossy advertisements and better public information about what standards to reasonably expect.
How we deal with all this stuff is important to our survival. It’s tempting to ignore any niggling self‐doubts and only concentrate on the aspects of dentistry we are comfortable with, or to blame others when things go awry. We need, however, to acquire and maintain not only the confidence and skills to manage the great juggling act of great dentistry, but also the humility to acknowledge our weaknesses, seek and listen to proper advice and ask for the right sort of help.
A letter of complaint from a patient, threat of legal action from a solicitor or a notice from the GDC or other regulator telling us we are under investigation can either be the start of a personal catastrophe or an opportunity to review how we manage work and life and get back on track.
Dr Janine Brooks, who is herself a dentist, has unique knowledge and experience of supporting colleagues who have struggled or come under the spotlight and scrutiny of professional regulators over many years. This excellent book is a comprehensive guide to performance in dentistry that should be considered as a guide to prevention as well as cure and is essential reading for all dental professionals.
I have been incredibly fortunate to have received contributions from several dental professionals who have generously written their fitness to practise stories in the spirit of altruism and a desire to help other dental professionals. I am very grateful to them all and I believe their words bring home the humane aspects of what it is to struggle with performance.
I am also extremely grateful to a non‐dental professional who has contributed so generously of his time, John Brooks, my husband. He has tirelessly proof read the manuscript and offered a much‐needed sanity check, allowing me to see the wood for the trees, not to say practise (verb) for practice (noun). Any inadvertent errors are mine alone.