by Christopher Piehler
October is a month of celebrations. Whether you are raising a stein at your local Oktoberfest, tramping through a multicolored forest alongside fellow leaf peepers, or living your dream of dressing up as Indiana Jones for Halloween, the tenth month of the year is first in fun.
For many orthodontic practices, October is also the season of the candy buyback, which is one of the few ideas that falls into the category of win-win-win.
Win #1: most of the buybacks I know of culminate by sending the candy to American troops stationed overseas. Who could possibly be more deserving of a familiar treat from home?
Win part deux: the patients who part with their sweets get either cash or some sort of reward—not to mention that their teeth are spared the wrath of all that sugar. (To be clear, I am in no position to cast stones at kids who get carried away while savoring their Halloween treats, since I once ripped off a bracket while munching a Bit-O-Honey.)
And then there’s the third—and most orthodontically significant—win: Getting sticky candy out of the hands (and mouths) of patients saves orthodontists from a slate of time-consuming emergency appointments on the days after Halloween.
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A successful candy buyback transforms an orthodontic practice into a hub of activity that everyone involved can feel proud of. If anyone out there knows of a surer way to create a bond between patients and a practice, I would love to hear about it and share it with my readers.
Of course, orthodontic charity comes in many forms. This month’s cover subject, Ed Shagam, DDS, PA, does pro bono dentistry on tigers, bears, and elephants. (Imagine dealing with those angry parents.) Why does he do it? Certainly not for the prospect of a referral. Shagam himself says, “I believe in a lot of community service. And this is the only way a lot of these animals can get the care that they need.” He steps into a cage with these wild animals not for a tax deduction or to build his status in the community, but because he saw a need that only he could fill. That, to me, is certainly worth celebrating.
Christopher Piehler
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