Dr. Bruce Ward president@cda-adc.ca Relationships Matter In April, when I retired after practising dentistry for 49 years, it felt bittersweet. I knew it was time, but I worried that I’d miss my patients and staff. I’d been caring for some families for four generations. As my last day neared, I realized that I wasn’t going to see them regularly anymore. Among my team, I’ve been working with my receptionist, Kim, and dental assistant, Debbie, for nearly my whole career. They’ve made my working days smooth, effective and enjoyable for nearly 45 years. More than colleagues, they became good friends. And just because I’m retired doesn’t mean I’ll lose touch with them; in fact, we all had dinner last month. It means something to work closely with people for a long time. You get to know them so well that you work together seamlessly. You trust and rely on their knowledge, technical skills and instincts. Not only do you know their character, but you also care about their well-being. Work relationships are significant. The people you see every day at the office have considerable influence on the quality of your career and your life. Putting effort into building strong relationships with my staff also contributed to the high quality of care we provided for patients. In 2018, a national survey undertaken by the Canadian Dental Assistants’ Association, the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association and CDA revealed that one of the main reasons staff leave a dental office is because of an unpleasant work environment. I’ve always tried to do my best to make my dental office a comfortable and enjoyable place to work. At my practice in Coquitlam, BC, we’d do communication exercises as a group of 26 staff members. We’d have weekly staff meetings and talk about any problems that people were experiencing interpersonally so we could try to solve them together. I worked hard to listen and to understand other staff members’ points of view. Over the years, I’ve learned that for a staff member to trust me, they need to know that I have their back, that I will support them even if they make a mistake. We’re all human— even me—and we don’t always do things perfectly. But supporting a person to address a situation ethically and improving the overall systems in the office to make sure they’re designed correctly to prevent errors allows our colleagues to grow while respecting our shared humanity. I believe that it’s the responsibility of dentists to create a culture of respect and build an office environment that people want to work in. This environment carries over to both staff and patients. My patients appreciated that whenever they came into the office, they’d see the familiar faces of long-time staff. When you think about it from the patient perspective, a dental office is often highly charged emotionally. Patients sometimes arrive in pain and are often nervous or worried. How much better must they feel when the emotional tenor of their care providers is one of harmonious calm? Yet, we don’t learn how to manage people and create a work culture in dental school. These are skills that we must build on our own, over time. If I’ve learned one thing from my career, it is that relationships matter and nurturing and tending to them is one of our most important tasks. After my last day in April, the new practice owner asked me if I could cover for a dentist on leave. I’m actually happy to be able to go back occasionally because I’ll get to see friends, patients and colleagues that I’ve had the privilege to know for such a long time. From the President 7 Issue 3 | 2025 | CDA at Work
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