Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.
Finding a dentist you will keep going back to
Most dental problems are cheap when caught at a routine check and expensive when they announce themselves with pain, so the real foundation is a practice you trust enough to keep visiting. Comparing two or three practices on location, opening hours, costs, emergency cover and how they treat nervous patients takes an afternoon and saves years of drifting between whoever has a free slot.
First tasks
- List the dental practices within twenty minutes of home or work
- Ask each practice whether it is taking new patients and what a check-up costs
- Compare the shortlist on cost, hours, emergency cover and reviews
- Register everyone in the household with the practice you chose
Household dental record with recall dates
Ask most families when each person last saw the dentist and the answer is a guess, usually wrong by a year. A single record listing each person's practice, last check-up, last hygienist visit, recall interval and any ongoing treatment makes it obvious who is overdue and gives a new dentist the history in seconds.
First tasks
- Create a dental record page with one row per household member
- Ask the practice reception for each person's last visit dates
- Write each person's recall interval beside their name
- Check the record against the practice's recall letters @recurring(yearly)
Medical history and medicines sheet for the dentist
Dentists need to know about blood thinners, bone-strengthening medicines, heart valve problems, diabetes, pregnancy and allergies before they numb, extract or prescribe anything. Filling in the same form from memory in the waiting room is how things get missed. A prepared sheet, checked by your pharmacist, means treatment is planned around the full picture.
First tasks
- Gather every medicine box and inhaler in the house and list them
- Write down allergies and any past reaction to dental anaesthetic
- Ask your pharmacist which items on the list a dentist should know about
- Save the sheet on your phone and hand a copy in at the next appointment
- Check the sheet still matches your current medicines @recurring(quarterly)
