If you can't explain it simply...

Almost everyone likes to compare themselves to Einstein but I would not be so bold, except to say I came across one of his quotes that backs up what I've been telling dentists for a long time.

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

– Albert Einstein

Genius in explaining treatment to patients is not demonstrated by taking a long time, or giving lots of technical details, or showing how complicated things are.

Genius is giving short, concise, easily understood explanations in plain English. Just the essentials. No more, no less.

Last week I visited a podiatrist. To explain what was going on he pulled out a set of foot bones with rubber ligaments attached. He got his point across but all the time be was talking I thought how much simpler it could have been.

What I would have said was: "Your ankle is not bending properly and that is stressing the tendon on the bottom of your foot making it sore." 20 words and 6 seconds would have been enough.

Instead it took a couple of minutes and I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about feet.

Do you have a concise easily-understood explanation of crowns? Of root fillings? Of implants? Of veneers.

If not it's something you should think about. Be like Einstein. Demonstrate your deep understanding by the simplicity of your explanations.