Four Levels of Dentists

The Four Levels of Dentists

Level I Dentist - The Patcher

The Level I dentist is a busy dentist treating superficial symptoms and many emergencies. A crisis care practice. Always behind on time because there is little or no time spent in examination and diagnosis. If there is examination time set aside for each patient, this time is more than likely violated.

This dentist lacks any clear philosophy of practice and generally doesn’t have adequate technical, communicative or organizational skills. This dentist has no model for how to practice other than a few seminars he or she may have attended.

Level II Dentist - The Mechanic

The Level II dentist is very much like a Level I dentist in that the majority of the patients fail to receive any form of complete examination and diagnosis. Level I and II dentists represent over half of the dentists in the United States. This dentist does exams on his/her patients but examination time is relatively short. A thorough periodontal or tooth charting is not always completed. Even if more time is spent with diagnosis (which is rare) there is no definitive diagnosis as to cause and effect completed. He/She is primarily just looking for what's broken so they can fix it. No long-term treatment plan is created.

Examination, diagnosis and treatment planning is generally oriented to what insurance companies will allow, what they dictate and what they will pay for. Sometimes, the dentist will only take x-rays that the insurance will allow.

In many instances, the Level II dentist does schedule time for new patients but most of the time is spent with the hygienist or other personnel. There is frequently no education and/or consultation appointment. The Level II dentist runs a very busy practice with many auxiliaries and their overhead can be very high. The Level II dentist may also have 2-3 hygienists and, in some instances, an assistant or two for the hygienist. They believe that "Bigger is better", when it comes to their practice.

Even though the quality of the restorations provided are generally excellent, Quantity and volume are the key ingredients for the Level II dentist.

Level III Dentist - Health Focused

The Level III dentist is usually far removed in philosophy and purpose from the Level II and Level I dentists. The Level III dentist is emotionally more mature and generally has a better formed personal philosophy of life and practice. That is, there is a pattern of consistent behavior toward himself, his family, his staff and his patients. He/she has a more organized, more comprehensive view of the practice and the world in which he/she lives.

The Level III dentist is at least as concerned about the cause of disease as he is about mechanical treatment. The basic difference between Level I, II and III dentists is that the Level I and II dentists are mechanics treating patients’ problems and disease from a mechanical- "I’ll fix you"-paradigm as opposed to “let’s look at what caused the problem; how can we prevent it from recurring; and what can be done to repair or correct the problem" paradigm.

The Level I and II dentists are mainly concerned with fixing teeth. The Level III dentist becomes more involved with the variance of biologic and self-inflicted factors that affect the cause of disease and can impact the treatment.

The Level III dentist does a more thorough examination; he spends more time in evaluation and examination, creates a relationship and becomes personally involved with the patient. This is the major distinguishing factor between the I and II and the III and Level IV dentist.

The Level III and IV dentists have both the desire and the skills to create a relationship with his/her patients. The time for examination and diagnosis for the Level III and IV dentist is increased from 10 minutes or less for Level I to an hour or more. The examination and diagnosis protocol is divided into two, or perhaps even three, appointments.

The record keeping is more thorough, it is more complete. The examination charts are far more thorough. Treatment plans and comprehensive dentistry are the hallmarks of the Level III and IV dentist.

Level IV Dentist

The Level IV dentist can be identified by the strongest personal and practice philosophy. This dentist is mature emotionally and can communicate the need for comprehensive dentistry without manipulation, and with a positive outlook.

This dentist has to be highly organized and highly skilled in the areas of clinical excellence. The mistake is often made that the Level IV dentist is successful because of advanced technical training; however, nothing could be further from the truth. This Dentist has a strong self-concept, usually established by parents, good mentors and role models in his/her chosen field of expertise. He or she has excellent diagnostic, clinical, organizational and communication skills.

In fact, the development of positive self-concept, the organizational and communicative skills are what differentiates the Level IV dentist. Both are thorough in examination and diagnosis. Both take a preventive, rather than simply a treatment or mechanical approach to their dental practices; the difference between the Level III dentist and the Level IV dentist is based on the:

Depth and maturity of the dentist’s personal and practice philosophy.
The dentist’s ability to organize his time and techniques into useful systems and strategies.
The dentist’s ability to communicate the need for preventive and corrective treatment in a motivational manner which enables the patient to move forward.

I realize that not everyone is interested in seeing a Level III or IV dentist. Patients that are only interested in crisis care or just fixing what's broken would be quite happy in a Level I or II office. But if you'd like to have a future based on choice instead of chance, and you'd like optimum care, then you need to be seeing a Level III or better dentist.

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