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Main Stream Clinical Care: So when I thought about this topic, my immediate thought was “Main stream? I’m not Main Stream – I don’t want to be Main Stream”. Main stream has a negative connotation – no one wants to be considered average or not special in some way. However, in dentistry, main stream is your practice builder – you can determine in your office what constitutes a “main stream” procedure. In some offices, a mainstream procedure may be that DO amalgam whereas in another, mainstream may consist of 8 upper and 8 lower porcelain veneers. Whatever it is, the purpose of mainstream care is that is delivered in a consistent, predictable, successful manner. As a patient, perception is going to be our guide to what we feel comfortable with a dentist providing. If a dentist treatment plans a program of dental care for a patient and is very consistent, confident and definitive in the explanation to the patient of what will be delivered, then the patient would likely feel confident in the dentists’ ability to deliver on what they promise. So, Main Stream Clinical Care is really dictated by the dentist and his dental office; You don’t want your 10 year dental assistant to ever say in front of the patient “Doc, I’ve never seen you do that before!” or “ Doc, do you need these instructions?” No one wants to be the guinea pig.

Dental Blog by
Dr. Jon Ackerman
Prosthodontist
Ident Specialists