Josh Bernstein, DDS, Cosmetic Dentist

I just received this note from a thankful patient:

I came into your Dental office a couple of years ago for a consultation. I just wanted to send you a message. I guess I could have emailed you.
You suggested that I have my tonsils removed and thought that that would help me immensely with several factors including my TMJ. Well I wanted to let you know that I had my tonsils out one year ago June 13th and it has changed my life DRAMATICALLY!! I cannot even tell you what a difference it has made in my life. I think of you often and wonder why it took twenty years and seeing a dentist to get the problem taken seriously. The ENT who preformed my surgery has been in practice almost 30 years and had never seen anything like it. He is convinced that you saved my life.

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to see me and for being so kind and honest with me. I will never forget when you told me that my tonsil were so large that they could be obstructing my air way at night. You turned to me looked me in the eyes and said "Nicole this is serious, this could kill you." That sent chills down my spine. The next day I called my Dr and demanded that he give me a referral to an ENT. And the rest is history.

Anyways I hope that you are doing well and wanted to thank you again!

Nicole

Here is my very best staff member doing a dental exam on my daughter at Glacier Point in Yosemite.  It appears that her wisdom teeth are coming in!

Josh Bernstein, DDS Founder and President, Dental Comfort Academy http://www.allnewsmiles.com

Sometimes, something comes along that is just a great improvement in customer service.

In our busy dental practice, a big part of our administrative job is helping patients find and keep valuable appointment time. With my busy schedule, we like scheduling patients as soon as possible to accommodate their needs. We recently implemented "Smile Reminder" to assist us with this.

With everyone having so many phone numbers these days, it is often difficult to connect with people by telephone. "Smile Reminder" sends messages to our patients by email and by text message. This allows us to reliably confirm appointments, remind patients about an upcoming appointment, fill appointments on late notice, and encourage patients who are overdue.

All we need is your email address and your cell phone number and "Smile Reminder" helps us help you in an all new way.

Karen: Karen is a beautiful, intelligent, super-nice baby boomer, working hard for a well known biotech company. As part of a makeover for herself, she decided it was finally time to take care of her smile. We replaced all of her old restorations, including the old silver fillings and porcelain-metal caps. At the same time, we did porcelain veneers on her upper and lower front teeth to give her the straight, white, beautiful smile she's always wanted.

Janice: Janice is a pretty, young professional who has never been happy with her crooked front teeth. She would rarely show her teeth when she smiled. She tried orthodontics recently but did not like it. Doing a very conservative case with porcelain veneers on only her 2 front teeth, we were able to give her a beautiful new smile, just in time to meet her what may turn out to be her future in-laws! (Photos were taken immediately post op so she is still numb and her gums are a bit red from removing the extra cement.)

One of our favorite places in the world is a perfectly charming Bed and Breakfast on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. The Cottage Inn is everything you imagine an Old Tahoe Inn should be. Impeccably restored cabins, a warm, cozy main house and dining room, and a fitting bear theme that really works--considering the frequent woodland visitors on the West Shore.

Melanie, The Cottage Inn's innkeeper, is a gem. Although she barely knows us from our infrequent visits, she treats us like close family friends. As impressed as I am with The Cottage Inn and its normal routines of providing a great place to stay and a fabulous mountain breakfast, I am even more impressed after a recent customer service experience.

As some of you know, I speak to dentists nationwide on the topic of customer service, a subject sadly not familiar in the world of healthcare. We could all learn a thing or two from Melanie and The Cottage Inn--especially when it comes to "policy." Personally, I don't like to use the word "policy" in my office because it's negative, but of course every business has certain guidelines meant for following.

A few years ago, we stayed at The Cottage Inn and cut our stay short. Despite the "policy," Melanie gave us a full credit for the days we did not stay. Recently we wanted to use our credit and discovered that, according to the "policy" our credit had expired. Melanie quickly checked with the owner and fully honored our credit to make a last minute reservation.

As if that weren't enough, when winter storm warnings made travel a bad idea the next day, Melanie ignored the "cancellation policy" and encouraged us to come again within the next 3 months. As former innkeepers ourselves, this is something Allison and I might have done, too, but I don't know too many other businesses with such a keen instinct for outstanding customer care. If any of you ever have the chance to visit the West Shore of Lake Tahoe, there is only one place to stay--The Cottage Inn. Be sure to say hi to Melanie.

Clifford: Clifford has been a patient of ours for many years. He travels to our office from Sacramento several times each year, when he is not white water rafting or weight lifting! Over the years, his teeth became chipped and worn from grinding. To restore him, we placed porcelain on his more severely worn front teeth. Now he's ready to smile his way down the rapids this Spring! (He was still numb in the "after" pictures so his smile wasn't working completely just yet...)