Procedural Care

Procedural care, on the other hand, consists of rote routines learned through training rather than education.

Quality health care must include the best of both elements.  The cognitive component is the key to progress and effectiveness in any type of health care.

It is hard to comprehend, much less appreciate, the chain of decisions that must be evaluated for just a “simple” prescription for medication or treatment procedure.  It is the “shot” that is perceived as the cure, so the value is placed there rather than on the cognitive process used to decide what kind of shot and whether the shot was necessary.

In the orthodontic world, it would be easy to perceive the appliances and braces as the cure.  If this were the case, anyone who could get their hands on an appliance or learn to glue braces on could treat an orthodontic client.  Hopefully, we will not lose sight of the importance that cognitive care plays in the success of orthodontics and how it sets practices like ours apart in the marketplace.