Becoming more efficient

I had a conversation with a dentist concerning efficiency.

They took 90 minutes to do a crown preparation. I told them that it was possible to do a high-quality crown preparation start to finish in 30 minutes or less. They couldn’t imagine how they could ever do it so quickly.

They did what dentists often do when it’s suggested that they work more efficiently: “I don’t want to work that fast. I like to do high quality work.”

I had to show the dentist some of my crown preps. He admitted that they looked pretty good.

I remember visiting Dr Omer Reed at his office in Phoenix and watching him prepare two teeth for gold onlays. He picked up the handpiece and used it for less than 30 seconds, then he put it down. I wondered why he’d stopped so soon. Surely, he’d only just got started. He invited me to have a look. I put on my loupes and saw two of the most text book perfect gold onlay preparations that I’d ever seen.

That experience opened my mind about what’s possible.

So, how do you go from needing 90 minutes to do a crown preparation and reduce that time by two thirds? It seems impossible at first glance but here are the steps:

1. Take a baseline timing how long you need to do the procedure.

2. Think critically about every step of your processes. Let’s just take for example local anaesthetic.
   How long does it really take to work? Is there a way you can give it comfortably without topical? When do you give it so other processes can occur simultaneously? Is there a safety syringe that does not require recapping?

3. Make changes and measure what happens. Maybe, mastering a painless local anaesthetic technique that doesn’t require topical saves you 90 seconds. You’ve had a win. Rejoice!

4. Go back to step 1 and repeat. Find another 90 second saving in a different part of the procedure.

You can’t go from 90 minutes to 30 minutes tomorrow but if you keep going through the four steps above, each time finding a time saving you can easily cut 60 minutes off your crown prep time within a year.

It just needs thought and persistence.