The day before New Years Eve.
All I can think of is how much has changed. As we try to social distance away from the start of the pandemic, it’s becoming more evident this is transitioning to an endemic. Dealing with the symptoms and living with this like we do the flu.
We slowly trade away Zoom meetings in quarantine space suits for smiles and in face meetings. I’m just glad to see the glowing enamel of my patients as they smile back at me in the chair. But nobody knows whether I’ve shaved under my mask still.
2020’s term of the year: ‘toilet paper shortage’. 2021’s term of the year: ‘supply chain shortage.’
I observed Covid doesn’t exist when we sit down at restaurants or eat snacks on a plane. Gotta admit, eating with a mask would be a sweet magic trick. And vaccines aren’t what they used to be. Instead of lasting a year or more, it’s now 6 months or so.
And speaking of vaccines, I’ve watched a lot of my professional sports teams with 90% vaccination rates get hit at an alarming rate of breakthrough cases. My staff as well! My entire front desk, vaccinated, is all out with illness right now.
Speaking of staff, I saw a lot of people quit their jobs. Hiring ads for dental staff have signing bonuses that rival most star Football players. Wage inflation is upon us. As is inflation with everything else. Who would’ve guessed printing trillions of dollars last year would have made things more expensive??? Good luck when it’s $50 for a box of medium latex gloves while dental insurance maximums stay exactly the same at $1500.
I’ve never been this familiar with the Greek alphabet. Delta, Epsilon, Omicron. Sounds like a great frat party.
I saw more of my friends and family this year but will admit that I did use the excuse of ‘not feeling well’ to avoid social outings. It’s just too convenient.
We had conferences and CE’s in person again. Whoopee. Now it’s just a bit more difficult to fast forward through the online videos to grab CE codes.
All kidding aside. I love the direction dentistry is going. It’s becoming more digital, easier and simpler for patients and doctors. There’s so much knowledge available to let us pick up new skittles. Learning from each other is how I’ve learned the most in my young career.
Infinite Dental has kept me more than busy on top of another record year working in cavernous mouths. Ideas continue to stream out of this dentist head. It’s exciting and I’m motivated more than ever. I can’t wait to kick off the thrive drive in 2022. I hope you are too!
Lam