Dentaltown February 2022 - 28

message board
TonyCannoli
Member Since: 06/29/06
Post: 4 of 64
Most of the time, I pick up the phone and work things out. I give the benefi t of the doubt, but if
the person is just out to hurt you, you have to stand up. Give your side of the story without violating
patient privacy laws. I say refute the charges and go after the mom with controlled righteousness
on the same medium and call out her ridiculous, socially unacceptable behavior. Make her slightly
embarrassed for slandering your business and physically threatening your team in public. ■
12/14/2021
kiddent
Member Since: 04/28/05
Post: 8 of 64
Are you trying to win? There is no winning here. All that approach is going to do is fan the
fl ames and make the wildfi re spread. Fortunately, I haven't had to deal with this much but the
few upset parents we've had, I've always called and spoken with them. In instances where I still
felt I was in the right, I did not approach it that way; I let them know how their feedback allows
us to be a better provider, blah, blah, blah. Kill them with kindness. It has worked well for me.
It's one review, one patient, static point in time. It will be buried over time. Would you
prefer the parent post a picture of your aggressive letter on Facebook? Is that going to make the
situation go away faster or is it going to exacerbate things? Is that going to allow sane parents to
just dismiss this person as a diffi cult parent, or are you going to validate that parent's review to
the eyes of the public by getting aggressive with a legally threatening letter? Not a good idea. ■
12/14/2021
wdhenry
Member Since: 01/09/06
Post: 9 of 64
Please don't take this personally, because I don't know you and only mean to help, but where
there is smoke, there is usually fi re. For this to keep happening to you, it tells me that you likely
wear your feelings on your sleeve and have trouble hiding your emotions, and the patients are
picking up on it and some are getting offended enough to want to hurt your business. This has
had a tremendous negative overall effect on your quality of life over the past couple of years.
Not much you can do about what other people say or do when they are not at your offi ce.
But you can control you and how your react to your environment. I would think your energy
would be best spent there. ■
12/14/2021
Mack2
Member Since: 07/21/05
Post: 13 of 64
" Wdhenry " said it much better than I could. The private practice of pediatric dentistry
is a really tough sport. I'm truly sorry to hear that you're going through this, but I honestly
agree that looking in the mirror and working on improving your own ability to interact with
patients-even the nutty ones-calmly and gently is something that needs to be done.
It doesn't come naturally to me, either; I'm defi nitely still working on it. Here are two books
that have had a massive impact for good on my ability to work with nutty patients and just
people in general: Leadership and Self Deception by The Arbinger Institute and How To Win
Friends and Infl uence People by Dale Carnegie. ■
12/14/2021
moonsdeli
Member Since: 04/05/18
Post: 14 of 64
Cameras are cheap now. Put one in every op and inform the patient a recording is in progress
for quality control and compliance purposes. If they object, they don't belong with you. People
act way different when they know (or think) they are being recorded. ■
12/14/2021
jarod
Member Since: 01/16/14
Post: 22 of 64
I'd let it go. The mom of a child I hadn't seen before drove 3.5 hours for the appointment but
refused to wear a mask, and got mad when I told her I thought she should look for another dentist.
She can leave me a review. Who cares? I'm not right for her. Just like patients can switch
providers, providers can not treat people they don't feel comfortable with. Personally, I leave it
up to the parent if they want to move forward with things. ■
12/14/2021
28 FEBRUARY 2022 // dentaltown.com
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Dentaltown February 2022

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