A smile...pass it on

“So, is it a command or a request?”

What? I was standing in line at the grocery store, double checking that I got everything that I came in to get. I must have had a very puzzled look on my face as I looked at the older gentleman in line ahead of me. He repeated, “Is that a command or a request?” as he pointed at my Smile Generation t-shirt.

“Well,” I replied, “I suppose most people smile when they look at it, so it must just be a given.”

“Hmmm…” he said fighting off a smile of his own, “I just have fun reading people’s t-shirts.”

I explained to him, “If you were out at the Irvine Marketplace at lunch time today, you would’ve seen a few hundred of us wandering around with this shirt on. It’s for the launch of our new website called The Smile Generation.”

I turned around so he could read the back of my shirt. “We have several hundred dental offices across 5 states.”

He just smiled at me, so I smiled back. He said, “You have a nice smile.”

I replied, “We have good dentists.”

He laughed.

When he got to the register, the checker asked if he wanted to donate $1 to the City of Hope for pediatric cancer research. He said he would, and she asked him to write his name on one of the cards they hang up around the store. Instead of writing his name, he pointed to me and said, “I want to write down her company’s name because she’s just been so nice. And I like her smile.” I flashed him my pearly whites again, thanking Dr. Reagan and Dr. Buehler in my head for all the work they did in my mouth. Then I turned around so he could see the back of the shirt and get the spelling right.

I smiled and said, “Thank you,” and he smiled back before gathering his groceries and wishing me a good day.

How do I wear my t-shirt? Well, I started wearing mine for charity:water. Then I wore it so I could wear a t-shirt and jeans to work. Next thing you know, I’m wearing it for pediatric cancer research. How will you wear it?

The t-shirts have been printed and they’re being stacked in the boxes, they’ll be loaded on the truck to be shipped to your office.  The t-shirts are almost here but we still haven’t reached our goal.

$20 is all it takes.  $20 is 4 trips to Starbucks, its outfield seats at the Angels game, it’s a top from Forever 21, but for one person it can be clean drinking water for 20 years.

That’s the donation we are looking for as part of our charity: water “Smile Gen Days” campaign.  So far we have raised $16,153 towards clean drinking water.  But we’re only half way there.  The goal is $30,000.

So donate today at www.mycharitywater.org/smilegen and wear your shirt with pride, the question is how will you wear it?

Each weekday from now until June 11^th we will show a new video of members of the PDS Family wearing their shirts.  Make sure you come back to see what’s next.

DrBicuspid.com recently posted an article by our President Steve Thorne. Steve focuses on “optimizing your practice” in these changing economic times in an article entitled”The Art of Modern Denstistry”.  Visit Dr. Bicuspid and check it out:

http://www.drbicuspid.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=pmt&pag=dis&ItemID=304372&wf=34

The Cover of HOW Magazine

“32 Reasons” is the name of Pacific Dental Services corporate brochure. It provides “32 Reasons” to join Pacific Dental Services.

32 Reasons Featured in HOW Magazine

Well we now have one more reason to be proud of “32 Reasons”. Our brochure was listed as the 16th best Brochure-Merit category in How Magazine’s 2010 International Design Awards. How Magazine is an industry leading design magazine.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

The Red Cross team working their magic.

100 lives. In one day 33 brave people were able to save 100 lives for 30 minutes of their time. It’s incredible isn’t it?

When you see the poster on the wall promoting the event or you recieve an e-mail in your inbox your first thought isn’t (at least mine isn’t) “man I can save 3 people’s lives today”. It’s more like” I’ve got so much work to do today how can I find the time.” or “Do I really want to get poked in the arm?”  But when I really look at it; I saved 3 lives today.

Albert and John from the IT team, doing their part.

I’m not a doctor, I’m not a dentist. I don’t save lives.   I’m in Marketing, I spend my day trying to convince you how cool things are or why you can’t live without my product or service.  But not today, today I’m a life saver.  So thank you 33 brave life savers for giving up your time, your arm, and your blood. Thank you to everyone who volunteered who wasn’t able to give, all of  you made a difference today.

Michelle Moreno showing off her new Cheetah Snuggy

If saving lives isn’t cool enough, think how great Michelle Moreno felt she won a cheetah print Snuggie in the blood drive raffle.  Looking good Michelle!

We’re going to do it again in November and maybe next time you’ll get the chance to save a life.  If you’re not here at support contact your local Red Cross.

Give blood and save a life or maybe 3.

Recently we have been a little delayed getting our online content out there. There are some really fun and engaging things we are putting together, which are close on the horizon(and are taking our resources). That doesn’t mean we have forgotten about our readers and our amazing employees. :O) This coming Friday we will be answering some of the questions all of you asked about PDS.

Without further ado, congratulations to all of our new office openings! It takes a lot of planning and teamwork to launch an office and we thank everyone who put in their time and effort. A special shout out to the owner doctors who invest so much of themselves into their new offices. We will now be doing a monthly update of our new office openings to keep from spamming Twitter, Facebook and the Blog; it’s going to be a busy year.

Aurora Modern Dentistry – Aurora, CO
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Clinical Leadership provided by
Dr. Charles Rodgers

Stonecrest Dental Group & Orthodontics – San Diego, CA
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Clinical Leadership provided by
Doctor Katayoun Afshar

Cherry Creek Modern Dentistry – Glendale, CO
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Clinical Leadership provided by
Drs. Charles Rodgers &
Ashleigh Harrison

Escondido Smiles, Escondido, CA
Monday, March 29th, 2010
Clinical Leadership provided by
Doctor John Nosti

Way to go team!

Dental Assistant Recognition Week, scheduled for March 7–13, 2010, is a week-long tribute to the commitment and dedication this essential team member exhibits throughout the year. The dental assisting role continues to diversify and expand. Whether they are taking digital x-rays, working chairside with the dentist, or contributing to the success of CAD/CAM & CEREC Connect, dental assistants are vital to the success of the dental practice.

“One Team, One Goal: Improving Oral Health” is the theme for the 33rd annual Dental Assistant Recognition Week, which is sponsored by the ADA. This is the perfect time to acknowledge and recognize this versatile, multitalented member of your dental team—your Dental Assistant.

We appreciate our Dental Assistants because we recognize this vital role they play on our team! This is national DA Recognition week – what is your team doing to recognize all the hard work from your dental assistants?

Woodbridge Dental Group and Orthodontics

We are proud to announce the opening of Woodbridge Dental Group and Orthodontics; Pacific Dental Services’ newest affiliated dental office in Texas.

• Clinical leadership provided by Dr. John Barnes
• The PPE provided by Dr. Elizabeth Samuel

The team in Texas is great and we are always looking forward to seeing them grow.

CNN recently did an expose of Hospital Bills and Medical Expenses. One patient was charged $1,000 for a single toothbrush!

Watch the video via CNN here: http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2010/03/01/cohen.health.care.bills.cnn

(In case you were wondering, no the toothbrush is not from the future)

Dr. Raether and her family celebrate with Linda Ryan, Joe Saporito, and Marvine Martinez

First off we want to congratulate Dr. Gail Raether for becoming Colorado’s first owner doctor. Dr. Raether provides the clinical leadership at River Point Dental Group and Orthodontics in Sheridan. Congratulations Dr. Raether.

Regional Partner Joe Saporito presents Dr. Raether with a key to her future.

We also wanted to recognize our January “I’m a Big Deal Winner” Ryan Lucio who also is from River Point Dental Group in Sheridan where he serves as the Operations Manager.

Dr. Ashleigh Harrison, Dr. Vidhya Sampath and Regional Partner Joe Saporito congratulate Operations Manager Ryan Lucio.

Ryan was the unanimous choice this month! His team sent in wonderful stories regarding his character, team spirit, professional attire, commitment to excellence, PPE, and his professional daily attitude and demeanor under any circumstances!

Way to go Colorado, don’t stop a rockin!