DentaltownUK July 2018 - 43

I'm loving the open-ended questions here. Already writing some of them down to practice
on Monday morning. I agree with the questions posed above.
I would probably then ask her, 'Do you have any idea why your teeth seem to have been
breaking down?' ■

Dentallica
Member Since: 29/03/04
Post: 23 of 114

24/2/2018

Not to get overly picky here but I'd suggest a rephrasing. Instead of, 'Do you have any idea
why,' I'd maybe phrase it along the lines of, 'What do you think might be happening that is
causing your teeth to break down?'
It's a subtle change, but the first way is a yes/no thing, whereas the second way gives the
patient freedom to guess or speculate, which is 100 percent what I want them to do. There is
nothing better than when a patient comes to self-diagnosis and realization of some or all of
what is occurring in their mouth. Doesn't happen a lot but when it does, it is all easy sledding
from there. ■

Timmy G
Member Since: 14/04/02
Post: 24 of 114

24/2/2018

'Have you lost teeth from them breaking?'
'No, but I had braces ... and they took some out'.
'How did that go?'
The purpose of the conversation should be to discover what her goals and needs are. It's
tricky because dentists, especially those with a lot of training, immediately switch to diagnosis
and treatment planning. Most actually go right to treatment planning before diagnosis.
The first thing is to listen to the patient and figure out what their problem is-from their
perspective.
The argument is usually that because they don't understand, and if we educate them by
showing and telling then they will understand. If we are good communicators they will want
our solutions. That 'case acceptance rate' we hear about on here translates to accepting our plan.
Closing the deal.
Well, I understand pretty well and at this point in my life if I were her, unless there were
more diagnosis issues, I'd probably have someone do a crown. I already have a bite guard done.
I'm not her, though ... and I'm also not who I was 20 years ago. It's not about educating; it's
about figuring out what people actually already care about ... and how you can help with that.
It's easy to fall into manipulation otherwise. ■

rundoc
Member Since: 05/07/10
Post: 28 of 114

24/2/2018

I think your front desk needs to help on this kind of patient. She isn't coming in because a
bombed-out #19 keeps her up at night. If your FD can figure out she is coming in for a cosmetic
consult, then it's time to change gears. Open the schedule a little and slow way down. Don't have
10 things going when she comes in. Keep asking what she wants to do and just listen. Show her
before and after photos of your work. It may be exhausting for mouth janitor to listen to her, but
it can be worth major money if she wants to do something nice. If you, in effect, just "waste"
about half an hour or more, then that's the chance you take to hook a really big fish. You have
to change your approach for every single patient, in my opinion. Not easy to do sometimes. ■

davidpalmer
Member Since: 14/04/00
Post: 29 of 114

24/2/2018

Boom! Nice post, David! Love all of this! If I can add, I think you hit the nail on the head
that it is easy for people to see potential issues and of course want to fix them, potentially driving
the patient away. (I will later tell you how I know).

John Nosti
Member Since: 23/02/04
Post: 32 and 34 of 114

dentaltownuk.com \\ SUMMER 2018

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