Volume 8 • 2021 • Issue 3

Working Together CDA has been working with some provincial dental associations (PDAs) and other organizations, in new and innovative ways, to encourage communication and peer-to- peer learning about practice management and business-related topics. Online communities of dentists, such as those at PDAs, are fertile ground for dentists to learn—from each other and from experts in other fields—in an organic manner that allows them to learn the skills that are most pertinent to their situations. Mentorship is a priority for CDA, partly because it supports knowledge transfer about all aspects of dentistry, including practice management. “For some dentists, workflow changes at the dental office brought on by the pandemic is top of mind,” says Dr. John O’Keefe, director of Knowledge Networks at CDA. “While others may want more information on how to start a dental practice from scratch.” These topic areas, and other business and practice management-related issues, will be explored further in the coming year in programs being piloted by Dr. O’Keefe. To learn more about the certificate in dental practice management at the UBC Sauder School of Business visit: dentistry.ubc.ca/cde/certificate- in-dental-practice-management Later, a student asked the group if they were charging patients a fee for increased PPE costs. Some did. Others didn’t. The same person told a story about patients getting upset about a PPE charge. “If everyone charged a PPE fee, it would be normative and thus acceptable. But if only some practices do it, it isn’t normative,” said Silk. “We’ve gained a lot of patients fromother clinics because patients don’t want to pay a PPE fee,” said another student. “In conundrums like this, it can be helpful to think of customer lifetime value. I am a dentist’s dream patient when it comes to this measure. My teeth will need a lot of work for a long time,” said Silk. “I would suggest that it would be unwise to lose a patient like me over a modest PPE charge.” A student said she was getting new patients who would usually get dental care abroad. “Snowbirds and people who might engage in dental tourism,” she said. Silk suggested targeted messaging to existing patients who would usually spend the winter abroad. I could see heads nodding on screens; a few people bent their heads to scribble a note. I left the class early because the next several hours were scheduled for student presentations. I was interested in seeing how the professors and students interacted, how the discussion and the teaching were shaped by the pandemic. Everyone seemed to be deeply affected by the changes brought by COVID-19 and worried about the struggle that it caused. Yet, the core lessons and tools that business education offered remained the same because they were flexible enough to be relevant even in unprecedented times. Everyone seemed to be deeply affected by the changes brought by COVID-19 and worried about the struggle that it caused. S upporting Y our P ractice 39 Issue 3 | 2021 |