Made In Switzerland
By Contributor
By Contributor
So, first let me say that I love having my office in Hinsdale! Yes, of course we all know it’s a beautiful community but far more importantly my experience here and with the surrounding communities has provided me with opportunity to serve a patient base that recognizes and values high quality education and high quality health care services. Generally, my patients know quality health care is an integral component of longevity.
This is an area where people strive to learn, expand, and grow in all areas of their lives, so this is the perfect fit for our Dentistry By Design mission—time invested plus quality education and quality treatment equals strong patient relationships. This is the trifecta to meeting and surpassing individual patient goals and desires.
I was fortunate to attend the University of Geneva School of Medicine as part of my post-doctoral studies. My concentration was in the Art of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry, directly under the tutelage of the prestigious and internationally renowned Dr. Didier Dietschi.
So, that’s interesting information but what does that mean for my patients?
Well, just like we are all becoming acutely aware of the vast difference in the U.S. and European health care systems, regulations for aesthetic dental certification in the U.S. are vastly different than Europe. Legally in Illinois, any general dentist with a snazzy website can claim any skills they wish. That doesn’t mean they know how to perform them well or with the best long term outcome for the future health of the patient. U.S. patients must practice “buyer beware” because sadly there’s a lot of “cowboy” dentistry happening out there.
Combine no officially recognized aesthetic specialty certification, few regulations for who can perform many specialized treatments, with the facts of how little dental insurance is willing to contribute for quality care and far too often the end result is a quick, cheap, short term fix which often cascades quickly into unnecessary and significantly costly future procedures. In Europe, doctors must be certified in aesthetic procedures.
Most U.S. dentists are forced to compromise on treatment time, quality of materials, and their own education in order to financially keep their heads above water. One of the greatest hurdles dentistry faces today is patient education. People don’t know what questions to ask, sometimes they are embarrassed, and generally they don’t understand the long-term detriment and effects to their health of cheap, discounted dental care. The most expensive dentistry you will ever have done is the dentistry that wasn’t done correctly the first time.
I have been honored to be a recognized KOL (Key Opinion Leader), and helped in product development for several international dental companies. There are huge discrepancies in the dental world of product quality and service. Who, what, and from where are you receiving what your natural tooth is being replaced with? U.S. patients often don’t understand that corporate, discount or high volume dentistry is positioned to last three to seven years, typically with a much more extensive, invasive procedure to follow.
A good analogy would be you wouldn’t replace parts from your Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes with Hyundai parts and expect to have a good or lasting outcome, would you?
Let’s face it, “Your smile is your ride for your lifetime!”
Dr. Michael Morgan and Dentistry by Design are located at 28 Chicago Avenue in Hinsdale, 630-325-2525, chicagolandcosmeticdentistry.com.
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