[LargeFormat] FW: Found: Nikkor LF website

[markb]

Have to agree with U.D. Here, dentistry is not a job to make someone rich!
Unlike boring Australia, overhere in exciting England, dentists have much
more freedom when they open, hence they are their busiest in the evenings
and at the weekend.

However, there is clearly a huge difference between the work they do here as
compared to the USA. Here, dentists mainly fill 'em and pull 'em, and will
perform corrective procedures (especially on children), if misalingment will
cause future health problems. All of this treatement is available on the
NHS, and is free for many, those in work make an nominal payment. (e.g.
Amalgam filling - depending on size £5.84 - £15.08, Composite  filling
£11.00 - £19.15). It is my understanding that the majority of work performed
by US dentists is of a cosmetic nature and is costed accordingly.



----- Original Message -----
From: "rstein" <rstein@bigpond.net.au>
To: <largeformat@f32.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 1:59 AM
Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] FW: Found: Nikkor LF website


> Dear Nephew JIm,
>
>      Uncle Dick rarely goes in for confessions ( except when they agree to
> beat it out of me and I get to wear the "special" underwear....) but I
must
> tell you that I am not a rich dentist. This is not the result of a planned
> campaign - it just seems to have developed over time.
>
>     Practice here in Perth was governed for the last century by what might
> be termed a British professional mentality - if that could be said to
exist.
> We were trained on a curriculum that was governed by the current practise
in
> the UK at the time and when we went out into the field we were Mr. rather
> than Dr. - the small exclusivity of a surgeon rather than a physician. We
> were and are governed by an act of parliament and were prohibited many
> things - alcohol and drug addiction, adultery, and advertising being the
> chief proscriptions. Of course they frowned upon coin clipping and murder
> but not with the same interest that was taken when a surgery sign was a
> quarter of an inch oversize. I have personally observed a dentist on a
> ladder measuring the sign of a business rival to see if he could put in a
> complaint to the board.....
>
>     As a result of this my practice has always been conservative in
> appearance and conservative in nature. The premises are rented but are
> modest. The menu of services I perform is limited to what I can do without
> causing disaster - fillings, extractions, false teeth, scaling and
cleaning.
> I eschew implants, orthodontics, complex periodontics, and an increasing
> raft of new ideas that are being foisted upon the profession and the
public
> by the dental trade and the advertising agencies.
>
>      This latter factor has become more evident - the advertising firms
seem
> to have held someone to ransome and the restrictions on paid touting seem
to
> have been lifted. I counted 46 pages of practice advertisements and puffs
in
> our latest edition of the Yellow Pages and daily there are more appearing
in
> newspapers. I await the first television advertisement with cynicism.
>
>      Cynicism? Well, the patients ain't getting a whit better treatment
from
> any of us and all the adverts do is try to rip trade away from one
practice
> to another. The price for this is extracted from the patient and adds
> further to the burden on their pocket - in some cases acting as the
deciding
> factor that prevents them from seeking adequate treatment until it is too
> late.
>
>     I refuse to compromise my principles and put out a load of hooey. As a
> result my income stays significantly lower than that of other
practitioners.
> I make up the difference by looting poor boxes in churches and taking
> portraits and wedding pictures. Should my landlord force my rent up past
> economic sense or the clientele fall off to the point of complete
> stagnation, I am going to look for employment in the photographic trade -
> there is far too little real photo knowledge being sold out there and it
may
> be time for Uncle Dick to put on his cape and tights and come to the
rescue.
>
>      Uncle Dick
>
>
>
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