Dentaltown September 2017 - 87

I

love golf. I've been playing for more
than 25 years, have a decent handicap
and play well. If you're a golfer, or know
one, you can appreciate how difficult
the game truly is. Two rounds are never the
same, and many unpredictable variables can
be a recipe for a very frustrating afternoon
on the course.
While I've often tried to make improvements to my game, I always seemed to revert
to where I started. After a few particularly
frustrating seasons, I decided it was time
to seek professional help. I had a golf pro
analyze my game, and what happened
during those sessions was something I never
thought would work: He literally made a
one-degree change in the way my club lies
on the ground. Yes, a one-degree change.
And with this one small adjustment, while
changing nothing else, I improved my score
by an average of five strokes per round. It is
amazing the impact that one-degree change
had on my game, and I wish I had made
that simple adjustment many years earlier.
At this point, you're probably wondering
how my golf game relates to your dental
practice. You may have owned your practice
for years and may have, in the past, tried to
implement change through a new system or
technology that required a lot of effort but
reaped little benefit. Let's face it: Change
is hard, and implementing and sustaining
big change in your small business can be
a monumental task. But it doesn't have to
be that way. I believe that you can make
small and simple one-degree changes that
can yield huge results for your practice
and significantly affect the overall health
of your patients.

According to a 2013 research brief by the
ADA that looked at dental care utilization
from 2000 to 2010, the percentage of patients
who visited their dentist in the past year
was down among adults age 19 to 64 and
flat among those age 65 and older.1 And
for those who do come into the practice,
research shows it takes them an average of
60.9 days to decide to purchase dentistry
when there's an out-of-pocket expense.2
During their decision-making process
patients seem to seek information that
answers these key questions:
* Should I get the dentistry?
* Can I get the dentistry?
* Will I have the time and money?
Patients expect the dental team to provide
them with the information to answer these
questions while they are in the practice.
Let's look at a few one-degree changes that
your team can make to help patients make
decisions that are best for their oral health.

by Drew Nagle
As the director of strategic dental
partnerships at CareCredit,
Drew Nagle has more than
a decade of coaching and
leadership experience, and has
had the opportunity to work with
hundreds of successful dental
practices. He delivers relevant
and practical insights, which
empower dental teams to take
individual ownership of the practice's treatment acceptance.
He also shares proven strategies that build confidence, so
team members can help more patients accept the dentistry
that they want and need.

"Should I?"
Dentists know when patients need
treatment, so they try to educate them
as to why they should accept it. Doctors
often start the treatment recommendation
conversation with the "what" and fi nish
with the "why."
An example: "Mrs. Jones, you need a
crown for your right back molar. While
you may not be experiencing discomfort,
there is a crack and eventually the tooth will
break. This will cause you pain and possibly
a larger financial investment in the future."
Patients make decisions based on how
the product or service benefits them. To
help patients answer the question "should

dentaltown.com \\ SEPTEMBER 2017

87
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown September 2017
