Dear «FName»,

I know that you have places
you’d rather be than in the dental chair.

Recently I had two worn out fillings replaced with onlays. How the treatment went has prompted me to write you this letter.

Firstly I had a “short” 40-minute appointment. Next, I had a 3-hour appointment. The time spent drilling on the teeth was so prolonged that I needed to have a top-up injection half way through. After 2 hours, the headrest felt like a solid piece of granite. By the end of the 3 hours my jaw was creaky and I felt like a punch-drunk boxer. The final appointment, a week later, lasted for another l-o-n-g 1½ hours.

The finished work is excellent, but it struck me that with respect to time in the dental chair, less is better. I wish that I could have done the work on myself because I pride myself on achieving maximum results in minimum time.

For example, a while ago we prepared 6 crowns and a root filling for a lady in just over 2 hours. We took pictures of the result and you are welcome to see how beautifully they turned out the next time you are in.

So what’s the difference? It’s not the quality. I would be happy to set my work side by side with this dentist’s. In fact, I would prefer my work because it is more conservative (I don’t drill away as much tooth).

So how do we do excellent work in less time?

Partly it’s efficiency and partly it’s technology. The efficiency comes from detailed planning and many hours of continuing education. The technology involves things like our new titanium, high-torque drills imported from Germany that work more quietly and smoothly. Or, our sensor handpiece from Japan for root fillings that allowed us to finish a job for a man recently in 50 minutes instead of the 4 one-hour appointments his previous dentist had said it would take (and, I’m happy to show you the result – it is superb). Or, our milling machine, also from Germany, that produces beautiful, long-lasting porcelain fillings in only one visit.

I’m writing to you because after my experience I wanted to get the message out to everyone about how efficient and simple dentistry can be. It frustrates me to think that people are going through hours of extra time in the dental chair.

Please pass on the enclosed cards to your friends who need a good, time-efficient dentist (and who doesn’t). I’m sure they will appreciate the difference.

With best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a great 2002,

Mark Hassed

P.S. Because your referrals save us advertising expenses I would be very happy to reward you with a double-pass to the movies for everyone you send along.