Summer's Over Now Back to Work

Wow, no blogs in August 2011.....how did I manage to miss an entire month. I suppose I could blame it on the Earthquake that we had here in Northern Virginia....or Hurricane Irene...but the truth is that I was really enjoying summer and was just too tired and busy to post. Mea culpa.

Yesterday in the Wall Street Journal there was an entire article about the Post Labor Day Blues and apparently there is a recognized clinical syndrome called Post Vacation Syndrome. I know it well. Towards the end of my week at the beach on the Outer Banks I started to get a wicked toothache (note my clear Bostonian roots....just like seeing the movie The Town). I started myself on antibiotics and then on the Monday that I returned to work I found myself in the dentist chair in Arlington at 7 am. The news was not good...I needed an urgent root canal. Great. What a way to come back to work! So I got 2 recommendations from my general dentist and off I went at 11 am for my journey into the world of endodontics.

The doctor I saw was outstanding. He was amazingly skilled and I could tell from watching his hands that he was confident and precise in his approach to my procedure. The root canal took about 45 minutes and the next day I was 100% pain free. Amazing.

Out of curiosity I went online to check him out after the fact. Guess what? He had only a 60% positive rating. The reason seemed to be that he didn't spend enough time discussing the various options with some of the patients who posted. Another patient complained that he worked too fast !?! Let me tell you something, I have no knowledge of the ins and outs of endodontics. I have no desire to understand the ins and outs of endodontics. I wanted a skilled professional to do the right thing for me and I am very pleased with the result. That's why I am the patient and he is the dentist...

So as I prepare to get back into the swing of things I would like to share the results of the patient survey that I posted on Survey Monkey. Although nearly 10,000 individuals participated in the survey I have provided 49 of the best responses. Actually, truth be told those were the only responses. None of these are from my Mom.

If you want to see the summary of the survey then click HERE.

This month I have a lot of interesting stories to share and I will try to be a good Doc and post more frequently.

Goodbye Summer 2011.....you will be missed!