I wasn’t sure what I should start off with for my 1st On the Cusp blog, so I decided to start with what I thought could be the most impactful, relevant and easy to achieve: case acceptance.
WHAT?!!? EASY?!?!
It comes up time & time again-how can we best get our patients to accept treatment? We are met with blank stares…broken eye contact…and the dreaded “I’ll think about it.” We take courses on occlusion & advanced treatment planning. We buy articulators, digital cameras…imaging software….and they “think about it.”
I have heard countless dentists talking, asking, sometimes grumbling about case acceptance, insurance…and a lot of frustrations about patient interactions. We are looking for that magic formula, phrase, solution, course… We talk about how our patient’s don’t understand the value…They don’t understand the treatment… They don’t understand what we are explaining… But-how much do we understand them? How much do we understand our patients’ goals & desires?
So-here is the 30 Day Challenge:
For the next 30 days, when you recommend that a patient do some sort of treatment use the phrase:
“Based on your goals, as I understand them, what I would recommend is ______________ to best meet your goals.”
That’s it. No course. No need to memorize any complex scripts. No need to purchase any fancy new equipment. What it will mean though, is that you will need to understand your patients. You will need to ask questions about what is important to them. You will need to listen and connect their desires to the conditions that you see. You will need to commit to this for the next 30 days. Things will change…and your patients will benefit.
I look forward to hearing your successes, your challenges and your stories-because, based on your goals of achieving greater case acceptance, this is a great place to begin.
*I would like to give a very special thanks to Dr. Gary DeWood for sharing this phrase with me. It has made all of the difference.
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