The Power of BHAGs (Part 3)
By John C. Cranham, DDS
Sometimes you can see clearly where you want to go with your dental practice. I can vividly remember driving my car to St. Petersburg for my first class taught by Pete Dawson. It was 1989. When the class was over, I drove my little car all the way back to my 800-square-foot office in Portsmouth, Virginia, and arrived at four o’clock in the morning. I had just bought the office from a doctor who did mostly silver fillings—maybe only four crowns in the entire year. I remember I could visualize what I wanted to do with “my” practice but deciding the first steps was overwhelming.
A dental office can be the loneliest place in the world. I had to figure out the attainable steppingstones. We didn’t have the internet back then. Finding mentors and connecting with supportive, sharing colleagues was more difficult. In dentistry today, it’s easier to find those steppingstones. One of the most rewarding things I do today is helping dentists develop.
I caution dentists to not assume they will achieve their big goals fast. There is a temptation to give up when progress is slow. You’ve got to stay on the path to get to where you want to go. Think about your goals and steppingstones every day but be kind to yourself if it takes more time than you visualized.
Remember that everyone is different. All your buddies are going to be in different cities, different socioeconomic areas, and different practices. They’re going to have different opportunities. Social media can be your enemy when it comes to self-confidence and determination. There will be certain people that develop faster.
I can remember being very frustrated the first year or two in my little town of Portsmouth. There were dentists going through the same classes I was and were already doing the kinds of cases that I wanted to do but wasn’t doing yet. During the first two years in practice, I sometimes wondered if I would ever do the kind of dentistry I wanted. But I kept in conversation with my patients, eventually they began accepting treatments, and the floodgates finally opened.
One of the greatest things about this profession is we can always strive to be great. I don’t think I’m there yet. It’s the striving part—the working at it and seeing things improve that makes it so fun and rewarding. I love it.
People ask me, why are you setting BHAGs at this stage in your life? You’ve already accomplished so much. Why are you totally reinventing your practice systems? Why are you going fully digital after practicing on analog articulators for 35 years?
What I’ve been able to do in dentistry is constantly reinvent myself, and I feel like I am growing in what I can do. So, I say it’s because reinvention is awesome. It’s fun. And my staff knows that if I get something working well, I’m going to find a way to make it even better tomorrow.
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About Author
Dr. John Cranham practices in Chesapeake, Virginia focusing on esthetic dentistry, implant dentistry, occlusal reconstruction, TMJ/Facial Pain and solving complex problems with an interdisciplinary focus. He practices with his daughter Kaitlyn, who finished dental school in 2020. He is an honors graduate of The Medical College of Virginia in 1988. He served the school as a part time clinical instructor from 1991-1998 earning the student given part time faculty of the year twice during his stint at the university. After studying form the greats in occlusion (Pete Dawson & The Pankey Institute) and Cosmetic Dentistry (Nash, Dickerson, Hornbrook, Rosental, Spear, Kois) during the 1990’s, Dr. Cranham created a lecture in 1997 called The Cosmetic Occlusal Connection. This one day lecture kept him very busy presenting his workflows on these seemingly diametrically opposed ideas. In 2001 he created Cranham Dental Seminars which provided, both lecture, and intensive hands on opportunities to learn. In 2004 he began lecturing at the The Dawson Academy with his mentor Pete Dawson, which led to the merging of Cranham Dental Seminars with The Dawson Academy in 2007. He became a 1/3 partner and its acting Clinical Director and that held that position until September of 2020. His responsibilities included the standardization of the content & faculty within The Academy, teaching the Lecture Classes all over the world, overseeing the core curriculum, as well as constantly evolving the curriculum to stay up to pace with the ever evolving world of Dentistry. During his 25 years as an educator, he became one of the most sought after speakers in dentistry. To date he has presented over 1650 full days of continuing education all over the world. Today he has partnered with Lee Culp CDT, and their focus is on integrating sound occlusal, esthetic, and sound restorative principles into efficient digital workflows, and ultimately coaching doctors on how to integrate them into their practices. He does this under the new umbrella Cranham Culp Digital Dental. Dr. Cranham has published numerous articles on restorative dentistry and in 2018 released a book The Complete Dentist he co-authored with Pete Dawson. In 2011 He along with Dr. Drew Cobb created The Dawson Diagnostic Wizard treatment planning software that today it is known as the Smile Wizard. Additionally, He has served as a key opinion leader and on advisory boards with numerous dental companies. In 2020 he published a book entitled “The Cornell Effect-A Families Journey Toward Happiness, Fulfillment and Peace”. It is an up from the ashes story about his adopted son, who overcame incredible odds, and ultimately inspired the entire family to be better. In November of 2021 it climbed to #5 on the Amazon best seller list in its category. Of all the things he has done, he believes getting this story down on paper is having the greatest impact.