Dr. med. dent. Viviana Jacobs is a dentist with advanced training as an orthodontist. She lives and works in Düsseldorf and loves the contact to her patients.
Why did you become a dentist?
It runs in the family - my parents are both dentists. When I finished my studies in dentistry, my father happened to find an open position for me. I applied to this practice. During the interview, I was asked about orthodontics and whether I would like to undergo additional training. I thought this was very interesting and, in addition to my work as a dentist, I completed my specialist training as an orthodontist. So now I no longer work as a dentist, but have my own ortho-dontic practice in Düsseldorf's "Zoo" district.
What do you do when you are not in the practice? (hobbies etc.)
I work a lot, but when I do have time, I play with my 1-year-old son and try to go to yoga class once or twice a week. I like swimming very much and I go on many city excursions and trips with my husband. Now that we have a child, we travel only in Europe, because it's too stressful otherwise.
What was your most interesting experience in the practice/with a patient?
Here I must say that orthodontics is completely different from dentistry. Working with children is a lot of fun, many patients are very nice and the children are not as afraid of us as they are of dentists.
In orthodontics, you build up a proper relationship to your patients - you see each other regularly every six weeks for a period of at least three years. It was a great experience that parents of my patients brought me non-alcoholic sparkling wine during my pregnancy. Before my pregnancy I was afraid of losing patients because I am taking a brief time off. It was all the more gratifying to learn that all my patients have remained with me. Of course, I also thought about who could adequately replace me well during that time – my husband jumped in and represented me well. (laughs) Many patients were also very hap-py about the baby. My logo shows an elephant, because my practice is right next to the zoo in Düsseldorf. When we knew that we were going to have a baby, I communicated it directly to my patients and had a flyer with an additional "baby elephant" created - they liked it very much.
What has been your greatest learning experience?
I emigrated to Romania at the age of 15 and lived there until the age of 24. Part of my family lives there. I went to a German secondary school and also studied in Romania. The long stay abroad was a great experience! Another learning experience was taking over my practice five years ago. There was a risk of whether my patients would continue to come to my practice. I put a lot of effort into everything and received very positive feedback. I learned that word-of-mouth advertising and personal recommendations make a big difference. I recently had a third learning experience. I became aware of the fact that you should never "become complacent", even if things are going well. Especially when things are going well, you should stick with your marketing, further develop it and never rest on your laurels.
What are your current challenges as a dentist?
My current challenges involve keeping up with the state of the art - everything is becoming more digital. Here, for example, I would like to buy an intraoral scanner. You cannot afford to become too used to a certain routine, and you should always innovate. I have to think outside the box, because the competi-tion never sleeps.
A big challenge is to recruit good employees. Above all, finding good assistants is very difficult, and retaining them requires great sensitivity. I consider it an additional challenge to earn another individual's healthy respect.
How can you strike a balance between professional and private life?
Balancing professional and private life is not easy, especially now with a small child, and it requires quite a lot of organization. But it works if you want it and are willing to accept it. You have to look for and make compromise, ensuring that both parents feel comfortable and happy. I work full time from Monday to Thursday. We have a nanny for my son, my mother lives nearby, and occasionally takes care of our little one. This support is very important if you want to continue to be successful in your job. I manage the arrangement through multitasking. Fortunately, women are very multitasking-capable. I met my husband at an orthodontic training course. He is clinic director for the department of orthodontics in Jena in the University of Jena, but also has his own practice here in Düsseldorf. We don't see each other during the week because he is in Jena.
But we have always had a kind of long-distance relationship. The weekends are sacred to us, especially now because of our son.
Is the role of a woman dentist different from that of a man? (Topic of male/female dentists...)
You can’t actually notice any difference between men and women. I believe women are more organized.
It depends very much on appearance. When my husband handled my practice during my pregnancy, he was also very positively received. But I can handle patients more quickly. I manage more patients in one hour than my husband. (laughs)
How did you come across Morita and how was your first encounter like?
People know Morita from endodontics.
I found out about Morita at the DGKFO trade fair and I knew immediately that if I bought a practice, I would also have Morita chairs. Design is very important to me, and you have to and want to set yourself apart. The practice is my second home - this is where I spend most of my time. I want to be effective and enjoy my work. The ergonomic concept was also important to me - the chairs are very comfortable. Not only the units for the patients, but also the doctor's chairs.
What does Morita mean to you?
In a nutshell: Individuality, quality, design.
What would you like Morita to have in the future?
I would like to see better accessibility. Morita is not available at all dental dealers. A big challenge is the technician service at the dealer – there is room for improvement here. In this regard, I'm thinking improved training for technicians in order to detect errors more quickly. I've experienced lots of technicians from the dealer who couldn't find the source of the error.