When young female dentists consider a practice takeover, one factor plays a surprisingly large role: ergonomics. In episode #136 of the podcast 'Queens & Sons of Dentistry', the Berlin-based dentist Valeria Sabet, co-founder of the learning platform Wisdom, explains why many existing practices and even new dental products are not designed for the coming, predominantly female generation of dentists – and what this means for those handing over practices, for manufacturers and for founders.
Why takeovers can be off-putting
Sabet observes that many young female practitioners, in Berlin for instance, shy away from taking over an existing practice – because these practices are simply not designed for them. The background: most practices available for takeover were once founded and built up by a man. Naturally, the founder had everything set up to suit his own body height at the time – from the furniture through to the equipment. Sabet herself is 1.63 metres tall and experiences the consequences of this way of building directly in everyday practice.
Treatment unit, contra-angle handpieces, work surfaces
She becomes specific when it comes to the equipment: in a treatment unit from the 1990s, the contra-angle handpieces were built incredibly large at the time. Although some of them have become somewhat smaller in the meantime, the underlying problem remains. The operator's stool usually does not lower far enough for her – the consequence being a permanently unergonomic sitting posture. The work surfaces on the treatment side are also frequently far too high. And a smaller colleague observing a male colleague sometimes needs a step, according to Sabet's account, in order to see anything of the treatment field at all. What sounds anecdotal describes a structural problem: instruments, units and practice fittings have been aligned with male dimensions over decades.
Product development without a female perspective
Asked whether this affects only older practices, Sabet answers clearly: the problem runs through a great many companies and devices. Even new digital products are still very often conceived in collaboration with men – simply because hardly any young female dentists of her generation have so far been involved in development. This is also apparent in marketing: as an example she cites the advertising for a new 3D printer, staged like a car commercial with loud heavy metal music. Content of that kind is simply swiped away on social media by her and by most of her female colleagues. Her recommendation to the industry is therefore to consult young female dentists and to bring them actively into product development. Sabet, who advises companies in this field herself, reports that many well-known firms answer in the negative when asked whether they have contacts from this target group – some do not have the topic on their radar at all. Given the forecast that in around ten years 75 per cent of the dental profession will be female, she considers it high time to change course.
Women run practices differently
The differences do not end with the size of the equipment. In the podcast, Sabet describes how women also run practices differently – for instance in their cooperation with the laboratory. Women sometimes send out laboratory work in an entirely different way because they give greater prominence to the socio-economic background of their patients. Her example: a 17-year-old with a congenitally missing tooth or a knocked-out tooth needs an interim denture. A clasp denture with clasps visibly flashing on the canines is socially devastating for a young person. A female principal who has a child of that age herself thinks about this and discusses the matter with the laboratory in person – whereas many male principals, in Sabet's observation, no longer even write the laboratory docket themselves but tell the assistant: 'Just send it out.' As a guiding principle she quotes a colleague: men think in gross terms, women in net terms. A man says his practice generates one million euros in turnover; a woman thinks about her practice more in social contexts. The same applies to the team: a man knows he has a dental administrative assistant, a dental assistant and a dental prophylaxis assistant – a woman knows she has a single mother, a mother of two children and an employee who is caring for her father.
For those handing over practices, for dental depots and for manufacturers, the conversation thus contains a clear message: ergonomics, equipment design and the way people are addressed all help to determine whether the next – predominantly female – generation takes over a practice and which partners it will work with in future.