There's no failures in sports

There’s no failures in sports dentistry

We see failure everyday as a dentist, whether it’s our treatment or someone else’s . As a profession, we don’t talk about it much. If something we do doesn’t work out we can spend alot of time thinking about it though, usually on our own.

That can be for the rest of that day, whilst walking the dog, lying in bed at night, even at the weekend. And certainly when you see that patient’s name in the appointment book, the sick feeling in your stomach returns, even years after the event.

We don’t spend this much time reflecting on all the other patients we saw that day/month/year where things were routine and went well.

I see young clincians struggle with accepting that they can’t always attain the standards they demand of themsleves. The first years of practice can be particularly hard.

There’s no such thing as failure. The treatment may have failed but it’s an opportunity to reflect and learn. Taking the time to do that is the important thing and what you owe the patient. Talking it over with a colleague can be helpful and assists with developing a way of managing your own emotional response to the event.

Every experience can be a step to success, just like in basketball.

There’s a few other things that can be unpacked from Antetokounmpo’s reply about what success means and how “success” is being promoted to the profession, but that’s for another day.

As always have a great week and make mine even better by sharing this newsletter with a friend!

Rosie