I love emergencies

In some offices they look down their noses at emergencies. It's almost as if anyone who has a dental emergency is somehow an undesirable patient. The very fact they have an aching tooth makes them a second class person.

Nothing could be further from the truth.Over my years in dentistry I used to pick up a steady flow of patients from nearby "donor" offices who refused to see emergencies. I always saw emergencies same day.

It was a great source of new patients and I found them to be grateful and loyal. On quite a few occasions I got to do full mouth restoration on patients who started in the office as emergencies.

To be able to see emergencies same day you only need three things:

• A flexible mindset.

• A free operatory.

• Sufficient staff.

Then you tell the emergency there will be a wait because you are squeezing them into your schedule. It works great.