FOCUS ON THE DESTINATION - NOT THE VEHICLE - Elko Dental Specialists

FOCUS ON THE DESTINATION – NOT THE VEHICLE

By admin April 2nd

When most of us make travel arrangements and select an airline carrier for flights, we prioritize price most, especially if the main details (flight times, number of connecting flights, etc.), are similar. The reason we do this is simple and logical: we assume that the product is essentially the same, although the little perks may differ slightly (number of bags allowed to check for free, free meals/snacks served during flight, leg room, presence of TVs on flight, etc.); ultimately, we will arrive at the desired destination. At the end of the day, we don’t value the small perks much if the total cost of the flight differs significantly–we choose the one that saves us the most money because THE DESTINATION IS THE SAME, AND EXPERIENCE GETTING THERE FEELS SIMILAR, IF NOT IDENTICAL.

Many people also shop for orthodontic treatment in the same way–they go for lowest price, assuming that the final result (“the destination”) is the same regardless of which doctor (or non-doctor-smile-center!) they see—they have a “Braces are braces, aligners are aligners,” mentality. This is a very flawed assumption that could lead to a regretful outcome. The braces or aligners are like the airplane (they are the VEHICLE to get you somewhere), but the destination depends heavily on the doctor (pilot) you see! Imagine wanting to go to Mazatlan, and shopping for an airline ticket based on price alone—all you care about is obtaining the lowest priced FLIGHT. Would you ever pick a flight to Minnesota, simply because it was the cheapest flight you could find, rather than searching only for flights to Mazatlan? (Nothing wrong with Minnesota—I have lived there and LOVED it—but Minnesota has a very different climate than Mazatlan . . . ) Of course not! It wouldn’t make any sense! Although that flight to Minnesota was the cheapest FLIGHT you could find, it wouldn’t actually get you to desired DESTINATION—Mazatlan. You must look at flights to MAZATLAN, not just FLIGHTS in general.

People TRULY want beautiful SMILES, not just straight teeth, but they tend to think those terms are synonyms (i.e., “straight teeth” = “beautiful smiles”), when that is simply not the case. THAT is why many people tend to shop for orthodontics based on price; they don’t realize that the doctor is like the pilot, and the treatment plan, skill, appliance type, etc., is the route to the final destination. Trust me, in orthodontics if you shop on price alone, you may end up getting to Minnesota in winter when you wanted to get to the beach in Mazatlan. The doctor’s education, knowledge, and skill in recommending a treatment plan, placing the braces in the ideal spot, using the appropriate wires, elastics, myofunctional exercises, etc., or in designing the appropriate clear aligner therapy, is THE KEY component of determining results. Moreover, if you were to choose a primary care dentist, and not an orthodontist, for your orthodontic needs, that is like choosing an airline executive to fly the plane. Can you imagine the mess that would result if these professionals decided to switch jobs for a day? I certainly wouldn’t book a flight on that day . . . Worse still would be to choose an aligner club employee to be your pilot, because that’s like choosing to have NO PILOT (or to gag and bind the real pilot and stuff him in the tiny cockpit lavatory, under the guise that “nothing to fear here, folks! The pilot is on board and in full control of this plane, jetting through the air at 20,000 feet.”)

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FOCUS ON THE DESTINATION – NOT THE VEHICLE

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