As I write this, the Orthodontic Products team is recovering from California’s latest earthquake. For those of you who have never experienced this scintillating geological phenomenon, I can tell you that most earthquakes I have experienced have felt like someone slamming a really heavy door: short, sharp, and over before you can say, "Holy cow, it’s an earthquake!"

By contrast, the Chino Hills quake, as they are calling it, was longer and more rolling, and therefore truly surreal. Imagine feeling your 12-story building swaying back and forth—and more frighteningly, creaking like an old pirate ship—for what seems like 5 minutes. It’s a good reminder that modern technology can give us only so much control over our lives and that sometimes, the wisest course of action is to dive under a desk and hold on tight. Of course, it turns out that my latest bout of earth-surfing lasted only 20 seconds, but gut-churning fear makes time pass more slowly.

I can speak so flippantly about the recent round of tectonic shenanigans because no one was hurt—although some of my photos and a particularly valuable plastic egg did fall off my shelves. As someone who always tries to see the positive in every situation, I have taken this opportunity to rethink my office design to make my workspace both more earthquake-proof and more ergonomic.

So how does this relate to orthodontics? Well, with August comes the end of the summer, the busiest season of the orthodontic year. As the weather starts to cool down and the river of kids running through your office gets downgraded to a stream, now is the time to take a look at how you run your office and question everything.

Why is your clinic laid out the way it is? How do you make sure patients don’t miss appointments? What elastics should you use to get the most predictable results? How do you keep on top of your overhead?

It just so happens that we have answers to all of these questions in this issue, but as I learned from listening to coworkers tell their earthquake stories, each of us has to shake it up in our own way.

Please write or call and let me know how it goes.

Christopher Piehler