The Dentist and the Golfer By Steven A. Fishman, DDS, FADL, FICD
I am one of the few dentists who don’t play golf. However, I have no shortage of patients and friends who do. Most are average players who share their passion for playing, as well as their frustration in the futility of the sport. There seems to be an obsession with the latest driver or putter and the newest golf ball. Try as they may, the latest “tools of the trade” foster more enthusiasm than results.
One of my golf-playing patients is different. Scott has been a “scratch” golfer since his junior year in high school. Now, in his late forties, he has a negative handicap and gives away strokes before he even approaches the first tee. He consistently wins his club championship and plays at some of the most difficult and challenging courses in the world. Scott readily admits that the “pros” are several cuts above his playing ability. Nevertheless, judging by my small sampling, he is probably better than 98% of all golfers.
In my experience, those who excel in their vocation or avocation have a more realistic view than those below. I have been privileged to know some of the best attorneys, physicians, and educators in Chicago. For the most part, they seem less pretentious and more pragmatic than those less gifted. Scott is a good example. Our conversations about golf tend to be more philosophical than technical. He describes golf without the frustrated anguish of golfers with lesser skills. Scott’s is the mental game played by anyone who has mastered the technical skills of their craft.
I thoroughly enjoy talking “golf” with Scott. My questions range from, “Have you ever played with anyone who cheats?” to “What’s the story about this new driver that everyone is talking about?” It is this latter question that started me thinking about my own profession. Scott explained, “This new club has a bigger sweet spot. You could hit the ball a little off-center and still drive it straight down the fairway. However,” he continued, “it may take a couple of strokes off your game, but it’s not going to make an average golfer a whole lot better.”
In dentistry, like golf, there is a constant introduction of new technologically advanced “tools of the trade.” Advancements such as digital x-rays, lasers, cone beam CT scanners, and office- milled restorations constantly flood the dental marketplace. However, just like in golf, these are merely tools. It is the golfer and dentist, who first master the fundamentals of the game, that are best able to judge the actual benefit of these tools.
First comes the understanding of dental art, science, and physiology. Second comes mastery, acquiring the technical skill and experience to properly apply this understanding. Last comes the selection of the appropriate technology. You can’t replace mastery with mere tools in golf or in dentistry.
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