I’ve been holding off writing this review, and while I know it will fall on deaf ears within the organization, I cannot keep quiet any longer. I’m absolutely sickened by what’s happening at Perfect Teeth since it was acquired by Mid-Atlantic Dental Partners in January. I’ll be the first to admit that the company was in need of change, but the manner in which these changes have been made is among the poorest examples of leadership I’ve ever witnessed.
I should have seen it coming. But, I’m an optimist, I’m a believer, I was a loyal employee of the old regime and blindly gave my trust to the new, shame on me.
From day one there was a clear divide between the new and old leadership, the new completely dismissing the old without any real interest in learning about the team, their roles, and their talents. “We’ll find a place for talented employees” they assured us while plotting to use those talented employees before cutting them off at the knees.
And while it was time for some of those loyal and talented employees to move on, the unethical and heartless manner in which these changes are being made and communicated is disgusting, especially after all of the talk about the importance of the team.
It’s not all doom and gloom, the new team has upgraded the patient management software; they’re redoing the practices; they’ve added some great talent, but sadly it’s coming at great expense to the company, their employees, and worse, their patients.
But don’t question their decisions, there’s absolutely no room for dissent. The COO claims he doesn’t want a team of “yes men,” but I assure you he does. He had the talent around him to be wildly successful, but he simply can’t see past his own ideas. It’s unfortunate because I like the guy, I believe he has the potential to be a great leader, but his ego is far too large to succeed right now.
That said, I’m a firm believer that people approach situations with the best of intentions and I believe the intentions of the MADP team are good, but sadly, the poor execution so far is overshadowing those good intentions. Can it change? It could and let’s hope for the sake of Perfect Teeth’s 25-year history, their 500+ employees and their 250,000 patients that it does.
