Sexy Staff

[Drabuisa]

What is the effect, if any, on having a dental office filled with extremely attractive assistants, hygienists, front desk staff, etc. Could it possibly be intimidating to patients or is it one of those things where patients feel better in an office with "better looking" people working on them?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Doc Smile]

What is the effect, if any, on having a dental office filled with extremely attractive assistants, hygienists, front desk staff, etc. Could it possibly be intimidating to patients or is it one of those things where patients feel better in an office with "better looking" people working on them?

Serious? You cant hire people just based on their looks. Unless you hire them under the pretense of "model." But that is still unprofessional and kinda unethical. If you hire an energetic, motivated, good work ethic staff you will be better off than a bunch of big boobed, dyed haired hotties who only talk about J-Lo's bootie and Brad Pitt's beard IMO.

Men my like the look of your staff (and some women) but odds are they will feel uncomfortable (esp women). Friendliness always beats looks. But you still dont want to hire ogres who are uncomfortable to talk to.

 

[FutureDent020]

What is the effect, if any, on having a dental office filled with extremely attractive assistants, hygienists, front desk staff, etc. Could it possibly be intimidating to patients or is it one of those things where patients feel better in an office with "better looking" people working on them?

If you are a male, the effect is a jealous / unhappy wife. A wise dentist once told me, hire married, post menopausal women only. He was joking of course, but then I looked around his office, and that's all his staff consisted of...

 

[SeattleRDH]

Good luck explaining that to your wife! And if you're not married: Good luck not sleeping with any of your staff! Haha!

 

[GTFOOMICT]

Of course my wife's childhood pediatric dentist and her next dentist all left their marriages and chased after an assistant or rdh.

I will probably have the ugliest staff in the state as a result of this.

 

[MarkND]

Of course my wife's childhood pediatric dentist and her next dentist all left their marriages and chased after an assistant or rdh.

I will probably have the ugliest staff in the state as a result of this.

 

[Drabuisa]

Serious? You cant hire people just based on their looks. Unless you hire them under the pretense of "model." But that is still unprofessional and kinda unethical. If you hire an energetic, motivated, good work ethic staff you will be better off than a bunch of big boobed, dyed haired hotties who only talk about J-Lo's bootie and Brad Pitt's beard IMO.

Men my like the look of your staff (and some women) but odds are they will feel uncomfortable (esp women). Friendliness always beats looks. But you still dont want to hire ogres who are uncomfortable to talk to.

I'm not saying to hire staff based primarily on looks, I'm just wondering if the looks of the staff has any effect on the patients.

 

[Drabuisa]

Good luck explaining that to your wife! And if you're not married: Good luck not sleeping with any of your staff! Haha!

I already proposed this idea to my wife and she says I'm only allowed to hire men who are 65+

 

[SeattleRDH]

I'm not saying to hire staff based primarily on looks, I'm just wondering if the looks of the staff has any effect on the patients.

An outgoing personality goes much further than looks. Women who are "mom-like" are more comforting to patients than model types.

Also, good looking assistants and hygienists are more likely to get sexually harrased or stalked by patients. Do you want to have to step in the middle of that? It's really awkward. My hygiene program had a rule that our last names were not to be used on our nametags or documents that went home with patients because stalking was so common.

Oh yeah, and don't forget potential lawsuits! Are you going to let your assistant go if she gains 40 pounds?

 

[Simiam]

I would imagine you should stick with staff that is most likely to do the highest quality of work for the least amount of drama...

 

[Simiam]

Oh and never have more than 1 type A personality!

 

[Mackchops]

If you're a high-end cosmetically-focused practice then having a staff (including yourself) who look the part maaaaaaay matter. But then again, like everyone has said, I would choose a personable staff member who can pull him/herself together to look professional -- whether they're hot or not wouldn't come into play (for me at least! My wife might veto a hottie).

Then again, make sure you and your staff have good teeth and no bad breath

 

[yappy]

Who's more likely to make the appointments/ pick the family dentist? The woman. Therefore, I would pick people that would be comfortable for them. Have you ever witnessed older woman's reactions to attractive woman in a consumer setting? Watch out.

I think a person with a warm personality who doesnt look too young to be disrespected is best. On the other hand you dont want to go too far the opposite direction either.

Besides if your staff is too over the top people will notice and it will prob reflect poorly on you. (shallow)

 

[DrJeff]

If you hire a staff with looks as a primary focus, chances are that you'll end up a staff that while easy on your eyes, will have issues working together and hence make YOUR life at the office more difficult.

When I'm looking to add/make changes to my staff, once I know a candidate has the proper skills/requirements/certifications for the job, the number 1 thing that I look for is the chemistry between the potential new employee and the rest of the staff (to the point where for many job positions that I've filled in my office, I won't offer the job to a candidate until they've gone out to lunch with the rest of my office staff (when both myself and my business partner AREN'T there) so that my staff can see if they can get along with this person, and also freely talk about myself and my business partner to the candidate. If my staff likes the person, then I'll offer them the job. If they don't, then I usually won't offer them the job.

Office staff dynamics very often makes a HUGE difference in how pleasant an office is to both work in, and also be in from a patient perspective, IMHO much more than what a staff looks like

 

[Drabuisa]

OK, now I see. I really appreciate all the feedback because I seriously thought that appearance (attractiveness) of the staff played a larger role in a dental practice.

One more life lesson learned on SDN .

 

[dentalWorks]

wait just a minute...

are you guys suggesting that hiring attractive staff opens up an opportunity to sleep with them?

 

[Alex2012]

What is the effect, if any, on having a dental office filled with extremely attractive assistants, hygienists, front desk staff, etc. Could it possibly be intimidating to patients or is it one of those things where patients feel better in an office with "better looking" people working on them?

Actually I can only see having an attractive staff playing one important factor in the dental office. Having an attractive staff keeps men (who present with pain) from crying. People are less likely to cry and complain around an attractive staff. Other than that, I seriously wouldn't consider looks in the job requirement. I want my staff to be skilled at patient management and if it is possible that looks factor into that, it would be purely coincidental.

 

[SeattleRDH]

If you hire a staff with looks as a primary focus, chances are that you'll end up a staff that while easy on your eyes, will have issues working together and hence make YOUR life at the office more difficult.

When I'm looking to add/make changes to my staff, once I know a candidate has the proper skills/requirements/certifications for the job, the number 1 thing that I look for is the chemistry between the potential new employee and the rest of the staff (to the point where for many job positions that I've filled in my office, I won't offer the job to a candidate until they've gone out to lunch with the rest of my office staff (when both myself and my business partner AREN'T there) so that my staff can see if they can get along with this person, and also freely talk about myself and my business partner to the candidate. If my staff likes the person, then I'll offer them the job. If they don't, then I usually won't offer them the job.

Office staff dynamics very often makes a HUGE difference in how pleasant an office is to both work in, and also be in from a patient perspective, IMHO much more than what a staff looks like

best advice in this thread

 

[newyorkblork]

I won't offer the job to a candidate until they've gone out to lunch with the rest of my office staff (when both myself and my business partner AREN'T there) so that my staff can see if they can get along with this person, and also freely talk about myself and my business partner to the candidate. If my staff likes the person, then I'll offer them the job. If they don't, then I usually won't offer them the job.

I was actually wondering if any other people did this. I'm a lowly D1 but [in my daydreaming of my future practice] was wondering of ways to ensure good office dynamics. One of the dentists I shadowed had a complete lack of control over the drama queens in his office. I think that kind of everyday horror would stress me out way more than anything else.

Also, some of the posts in this thread have finally showed me why we study ethics in D1

 

[Double Bonded]

What is the effect, if any, on having a dental office filled with extremely attractive assistants, hygienists, front desk staff, etc. Could it possibly be intimidating to patients or is it one of those things where patients feel better in an office with "better looking" people working on them?

just make yourself as sexy as possible. then the sexy people come to you.

 

[Azieb]

lol! I so like that!!!

Lol, how about also hiring a good looking male assistant or hygienist (or dentist) for the ladies? After all, 1/2 of your patients will be women!

 

[Azieb]

yeah that's soooooo true!!!

just make yourself as sexy as possible. then the sexy people come to you.

 

[youknowthedrill]

Of course my wife's childhood pediatric dentist and her next dentist all left their marriages and chased after an assistant or rdh.

I will probably have the ugliest staff in the state as a result of this.

Do what a friend of mine did...He would select two or three of his top picks and let his wife have the final say.

 

[LeoDDS]

Serious? You cant hire people just based on their looks. Unless you hire them under the pretense of "model." But that is still unprofessional and kinda unethical. If you hire an energetic, motivated, good work ethic staff you will be better off than a bunch of big boobed, dyed haired hotties who only talk about J-Lo's bootie and Brad Pitt's beard IMO.

Bull.

First off, the OP isn't talking about hiring a stupid blonde bimbo. He's wondering if having a staff that is attractive but still well trained. In that case, appearances DO matter a lot, especially in a more upscale office. In the real world, A LOT is based on appearances. Not just of your staff, but also how your office is set up. Most of the nicer dental offices will have an attractive staff that is friendly and trained, along with brochures out about invisalign and botox.

All I can say, all the nicer offices I've visited definitely have many things in common, with one of them being that their staff is thin, well dressed, and pretty high on the attraction scale.