Challenge Your Biases | The Smile Squad #8

Challenge Your Biases | The Smile Squad #8

Challenge Your Biases

By Dr. Jess Ritter

Our brain is an incredible machine.

It can process an astounding amount of information. Because we are flooded with information from millions of sources every day, our brains have developed ranking systems to decide which information deserves our attention and which information is important enough to store in memory.

Our individual life experiences, in all their glory, mold the creation of shortcuts in our brain that cut down the time it takes for us to process information.

The same exact truth is interpreted differently by different people.

This leads to BIAS in its many forms.

One bias in particular, anchoring bias, is particularly applicable to a person's dental health.

Anchoring bias is the tendency to rely heavily on the first information you learn when you're evaluating something.

Your earliest dental experiences have shaped what you believe dentistry is about. It's molded your perception of your current dental health and what's possible for you.

Historically, most of what dentistry had to offer was reactive. Tooth ache --> remove tooth. Tooth breaks --> filling or crown. Cavity --> filling. You get the picture.

As dentistry has continued to advance though, dentists are no longer just tooth mechanics reacting to problems. We can be your artistic architect of optimal dental health as well.

I want you to ask yourself this very important question: "Where are you today with your dental health and where do you want to be?"

Challenge your bias around how you've come to relate to your dental health, your experience with dentistry and what you believe is possible for you.

I know without question that you are underestimating how great your dental health can be.

Try to imagine not having any dental issues for many years at a time. Try to imagine that your dental health could be completely transformed in a short period of time. Try to image not worrying about the next tooth breaking or hurting. Try to imagine having a smile that is magnetic and attractive.

The harder it is for you to imagine, the stronger your anchoring bias is. Examine it. Challenge it. Your quantum leap in dental health demands it.I'm here to support you in your journey...your Artistic Architect of Optimal Dental Health.

In Service,

Dr. Jesse Ritter