Defining characteristics of financially successful orthodontists

Financially successful personality profiles in most of the business world have been reported to be the choleric (powerful) and the melancholy (perfect) types. In 1996, Hughes proposed that the same relationship possibly exists in the profession of orthodontics. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a dominant personality profile exists for the most financially successful orthodontists. A questionnaire was used to gather information regarding the financial sophistication and the dominant personality profile of each participating orthodontist. One hundred twenty-six of the 300 surveys distributed to orthodontists were returned for a response rate of 42%. For every question, the null hypothesis of independence was tested with the chi-square test. The null hypothesis of independence was rejected for a P value of less than.05. The results revealed that no correlation exists between the financial sophistication of orthodontists and their personality profiles. However, over two thirds of the orthodontists had the choleric (powerful) and the melancholy (perfect) as dominant personality types. Interestingly, the questionnaire shed much light on factors that do contribute to financial success in orthodontics. Although statistical differences are lacking in these data, certain traits about successful practitioners could be identified. These orthodontists (1) allow their practices to grow if it will increase the net income, (2) view control of overhead as a key principle, (3) emphasize the competence of staff in determining the success of practice, and (4) believe in marketing. Implementation of these simple and common sense principles in some orthodontic practices might affect the business significantly.