In my most recent book, ROMA Manual on Dentistry, my co-author Dr. Benson Baty and I take a humorous look at the hand-me-down training that happens so often in practices. (Language warning) ROMA stands for Right Outta My Ass. The purpose of our book is to take a light-hearted approach to dentistry. At the same time, we challenge assumptions and traditions and look at the evidence with some ethical lessons thrown in for good measure. Once our school days are over, consistent training can become questionable, especially with new technology. In the daily increasing digital world, this can be problematic. When our practice moved to digital images, one of the hygienists was not there for the training, which is a rather typical circumstance in a multiple hygiene practice. It was not of concern because the hygienist not in attendance took the best traditional images. The initial training was a full day of learning. When the absent hygienist returned, her lesson lasted about 10 minutes. The results of this hand-me-down training did not go well. Evidence Technology is a big investment that can pay dividends in terms of the information it can provide. Your business is made up of individuals—individuals who need to be shown how to get the best from that system. Dental practices often settle for hand-me-down training. This can result in a disservice to our patients, frustration for the staff, and loss of productivity. The hygienist in this story fought the change to digital technology. She was the best at the traditional system and hated the uncomfortable feeling of the change. Hand-me-down training can cost a lot Ultrasonic Scaler. Abraham Maslow describes the four stages of skill development: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. Dental professionals feel they have attained this level of unconscious competency a few years into their clinical practice. Some new graduates like to think they have attained this level of competency by the end of their initial educational process. New technology challenges our feelings of competency. Training doesn’t waste time. It is an investment in future success. Not a Coding Issue This practice has choices to make. It could go back to the phosphor plates. The hygienist could help the assistants, yet this is just more hand-me-down training dental supplies. Technology companies offer a variety of training options as a place to start. Then it comes to the 3 P’s: practice, perseverance, and positive reinforcement. That last one is possibly the most important. I had the joy of being there when my grandson took his first steps. He took about 5 steps and he fell. What did we did do? We cheered and said, “Hooray, buddy dental curing light! Nice job! You can do it.” He got up and took 3 more steps and fell. Once again, we said, “Hooray, buddy! Nice job! You can do it.” Did we help him get up? Sure, we were there with supportive hands. And of course, in a very short time, he was off and running.