What’s your time worth?
Dental materials aren’t expensive. Your time is expensive. Stop penny pinching.
I was recently giving a talk to a group of dentists. During the talk I discussed ways of working more efficiently and one of the many items that I mentioned was a safety syringe.
Eliminate needlestick
This syringe has several advantages such as it:
makes needlestick injuries impossible
eliminates the need to sterilise syringes
is quicker to set-up
is faster to use and to dispose of
But, the dentists were unimpressed. I asked why?
“The syringes cost more.”
I don’t accept that they cost more when you factor in the high initial cost of buying re-usable syringes and the fact that those syringes have to be bagged and sterilised after every use. Plus those syringes wear out and need to be replaced periodically.
But, even if I did accept that the safety syringes cost more, it is an absolute maximum of $1 per injection. That led me to ponder…
What’s your time worth? Let’s do the maths.
Say, for example, you turn over $4,800 per day. A good sum but not outstanding. I know some practices turning over less and I know some practices turning over more.
That means:
an hour of your time is worth $600.
a minute of your time is worth $10.
6 seconds of your time is worth $1.
If the disposable syringe save you 6 seconds it is worth it. If it saves you more than 6 seconds you are making money by using it.
Stop penny pinching
So often I see dentists not buying time-saving materials and equipment in an attempt to keep costs down. What they don’t realise is that by using inefficient materials and equipment they are limiting their productivity.
I take an entirely different view. I say that you cannot penny pinch your way to prosperity.
You will do far better by maximising your clinical time and to do that you need every assistance you can get. If a material or piece of equipment saves you time, then it is a bargain that you should not turn down.
