Before each patient being prepared for surgery, I review his or her case, so I remember the treatment plan we have discussed with the patient and or prosthodontist.
Last weekend when I saw the CBCT of my patients who was being prepped by my assistants in the surgery room, I made a pause with amazement! How did I admitted him while his treatments seemed too advanced to be done by a periodontist and might have been better if it’s done with Oral and Maxillo-facial Surgeon.
When I showed to a colleague of mine that the patient doesn’t have sufficient bone and his work is much advanced specially with the price told to him as the treatment cost, I didn’t find it profitable for such an advanced treatment.
I told my receptionist if I truly had admitted him and is set for the treatment, in response they said yes and even I gave a treatment plan (which still I couldn’t remember!)
So, with hesitation and instead of referring him to a Maxillo-facial surgeon I went to surgery room of our clinic and started to analyze the patient clinically. While hesitant I told myself that I have done more sophisticated and complicated cases and since I made a mistake for the treatment cost, then that makes me responsible and not the patient.
I started to the treatment and guess what, not only it was not as challenging as I have had expected, in contrast it was done smoothly with minimally invasive surgical procedure.
After the surgery when I asked my receptionist that it seems it wasn’t as challenging as possible, she replied; “if you want to perform a surgery you do it and you challenge yourself. The moment you refer a patient to a maxillo-facial surgeon, we know you just either too tired to do it or you just didn’t get the positive vibe from the patient!”
Her replied made me think and I have realized she might be right. What I love about my profession is that where I am now is because of years of training and learning handled to me by my mentors and teachers in the field. I love challenges and I always want to be better and perform better.
Lucky for my patient, he received the best treatment of implant placement with simultaneous bone graft and soft tissue management.
My works becomes boring when there is no challenge in it and one of the best motivations in my career and life is the challenges that help me think out of the box and become a better version of me.
I remember a quote from the Boxing World Champion of the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao;
“Life is meant to be a challenge, because challenges make you grow.”