What Is the Most Important Characteristic of a Dentist?

[HBomb]

Thought this might be interesting...

If you could use only one word, what word would you use to describe the most important characteristic of a dentist?

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[busupshot83]

his anterior teeth (since u cant really see his posteriors when he smiles)

 

[aileen]

PATIENCE!!!!!!

 

[SillyRabbit]

I would agree with aileen. Looks like it takes a lot of patience to learn all those procedures and then to deal with different types of people too...some angry, or afraid, or crazy.....haha who knows.

 

[Bickle]

Multi-tasker.

I dont know if thats a characteristic, but its something a good dentist needs to do well.

 

[drpduck]

Good communication skills and a positive attitude. Face it, not many people love coming to a dentist, so you have to make their visit as positive as possible.

 

[Mo007]

1. Personable to patients.
2. Sense of Balance to the tasks and the people who work with him/her.
3. Get to the Bottom of Things as they should be - and give detailed explanation to the patients of what the conditions were, and how they can do their part to overcome the problems.

busupshot:

Why would you care about your dentist's "smile" so much? - shouldn't you be concerned about yours more?

 

[busupshot83]

Originally posted by Mo007

busupshot:

Why would you care about your dentist's "smile" so much? - shouldn't you be concerned about yours more?

The OP said "the most important characteristic of A dentist," not YOUR dentist.

First impressions say a lot, and that's reality. If you saw a dentist with tore-up teeth, would you want him to work on you? That's like a mechanic driving a car that breaks down weekly.

You're a smart guy... you do the math.

 

[HBomb]

When I originally posted, I thought for sure I'd get something along the lines of "trustworthiness" or "integrity". I'm not trying to bash the profession, but in today's world, with rising costs and the need to pay off school loans or your kid's college tuition, ultimately I think you want someone who you can trust.

So far, we have:
patience
multi-tasker
personable
good communicator
person who gets to the bottom of things
anterior teeth
balance
trustworthiness
integrity

 

[trypmo]

IMHO: Empathy, and the rest follows.

 

[marshall]

In response to his smile, I don't think that is as much of a big deal. How nice does it have to be? If he or she has had a lot of dental work done it may not appear as nice as someone else's but perhaps he or she can now relate better to his or her patients.

 

[nanoarray]

genuine, supportive, non-judgmental, respect, know his limits (knowledge, skill)...any good words you can think of...

And good-looking? I remember there is a thread somewhere in predent/dent forums about being good-looking.....

 

[Calculus1]

Bad Ass

 

[blankguy]

Honesty.
Afterall you are dealing with another person's well being.
Second after honesty would be patience.
In case you have to deal with kids, patients that aren't that cooperative and/or challenging cases.

 

[busupshot83]

Originally posted by marshall
In response to his smile, I don't think that is as much of a big deal. How nice does it have to be? If he or she has had a lot of dental work done it may not appear as nice as someone else's but perhaps he or she can now relate better to his or her patients.

IMO: A dentist that doesn't have a nice smile, and can relate to his/her patients, means that the patients don't have a nice smile neither. Thus, that dentist is not doing his/her job. Booyah!

 

[critterbug]

1.) Personality
2.) Empathy/Compassion
AND A DISTANT 3rd.......SKILL



I'm prob gonna get some bashing on that comment, but it is absolutely true. From my research and personal experience, you can be the most skilled BAD ASS DENTIST in the world.....but if you aint got #1 and #2, you will be one BROKE ASS bad ass dentist

 

[StarGirl]

charming

 

[critterbug]

sarcasm?

 

[Dentalist]

sexy

 

[Balki]

Just two additions to the list:
Competance and Confidence. Nobody wants a great looking, funny dentist that doesn't know what he is doing. and Confidence, patients smell it a mile away if the doctor is not confident in what he is doing.

 

[Athene]

well i guess...............................smile supported by hell lot of patience.....

 

[Chompers]

on a physical basis, i would say the smile, as people go to you as the smile doctor. if your smile isnt important to you, how much importance will you give to your patients smile? why are 6 anterior veneers good for the patient and not good enough for your blotchy teeth?

otherwise, empathy.