If you’ve ever sat down after lunch to do a tough root canal on #3, you know the feeling. You’re searching for that MB2 canal, you’re working methodically, but it just feels harder than it should. Your focus isn’t quite as sharp. Your patience is a little thinner. What normally feels like a challenge now feels like a grind.
We talk a lot in dentistry about sugar as the enemy. Clinically, it is. It drives caries, fuels bacteria, and creates the very problems we’re trying to solve. However, glucose is also the primary fuel source for your brain; and, when you’re doing mentally demanding work, like diagnosing, treatment planning, or hunting for an MB2, you’re using cognitive energy.
I was reminded of this as I was re-reading Thinking, Fast and Slow by the late Daniel Kahneman. He discussed Roy Baumeister’s research on willpower and decision-making. In controlled studies, participants performing difficult mental tasks showed improved performance and persistence when given a small amount of glucose (often in the form of lemonade). If you had a sip of glucose-infused lemonade, you did better. If it was Splenda-sweetened lemonade, you did worse. The idea is simple: when your brain is taxed, a small amount of readily available energy can help restore focus and endurance.
There’s the well-known study of Israeli judges, where researchers found that favorable rulings dropped significantly as the judges became mentally fatigued throughout their session, only to reset after breaks (especially when food was involved). As cognitive energy declined, so did decision quality. But when they refueled, their performance rebounded!
This matters more than we think in a dental practice. Every day, we’re making hundreds of micro-decisions: clinical judgments, patient interactions, and leadership choices. When our mental energy dips, we’re more likely to rush, default, or avoid the harder (right) decision in favor of the easier one.
This isn’t a license to snack on candy all day. It’s a reminder that your brain needs fuel to perform at a high level. Strategic fueling, whether that’s a balanced lunch or a small boost with a sip of lemonade, can make a meaningful difference in how you show up clinically and as a leader. So, take a look at your schedule. Where are your most mentally demanding procedures? Make sure you’re not running on empty when you get there.
We spend our careers fighting the effects of sugar but a small amount of glucose might be exactly what helps us do our best work.
If you need advice from a community of real dentists with real experience to help make decisions, book a FREE call with DSN today to see if our community of only dentists can help!
Be well and do well,
Addison Killeen
DSN Co-Founder
