Lost confidence

It can be hard to recognise – and indeed, acknowledge – our own failings in many area of our life – or, if we do, it is sometimes far easier to bury our heads in the sand that tackle the obvious. In an increasingly consumer-led health care profession, dentists and their teams can feel they are fire fighting, with the many layers of regulation and administrative demands adding pressure to an already high level of expectation regarding functional and aesthetic results. Treatment outcomes are not always predictable, professional relationships in a dental setting less so. Performance is often now measured by goals and KPIs (that may appear unobtainable) and clinicians can feel unnecessarily micromanaged. Add to this mix, a dental team who are all under pressure and patients who demand perfect results and it can all implode, challenging our day-to-day professionalism. But, what if we are not the first to notice this?