Evolve or die

Watching Wimbledon this week I was in awe of how the big three – Djokovic, Nadal and Federer – have stayed at the top of the sport for more than a decade. This is at a time when the technology and bio-mechanics of tennis are rapidly evolving.

If you look back on YouTube at Federer's win in 2003 you'll see the game was quite different back then. If you go even further back to Laver's era the game of tennis is almost unrecognizable.

That got me thinking about dental practice.

During my career, my dental practice was in a constant state of evolution. I was ceaselessly looking for shifts in public perception and dental technology.

Let me give you one very corny but relevant example.

Around 25 years ago people's perception of male doctors was that they wore a white coat and a tie. Then around 20 years ago that perception changed to them wearing scrubs. [Look at TV medical dramas if you want proof of this.]

As a dentist, you could ignore the trend, or even wear runners and a t-shirt to work but it would create the wrong perception.

Another example. Practices used to have a website, then they all moved to Facebook and now it is instagram. You want to be up with the trend, or even better, out in front of it.

In dentistry, if you want to be like the big three you have to evolve. You don't get to learn your craft then do it exactly the same for the next 30 years.

What have you done in your practice recently that is different?