“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire, which transcends everything.”
—Napoleon Hill
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Too often, in our rush to get through a hygiene re-care visit, I think we miss opportunities to present higher quality restorations to our long-term patients of record. We would all agree that we look at teeth with old amalgam restorations differently now than we did five, ten, or fifteen years ago. The blue shadows around the restorations, the cracks and craze lines, and thin unsupported cusps are all signs of trouble and I believe we have an obligation to tell, show, and educate our patients about their problems and how to correct the situation.
When I go into the hygiene room my goal is to do a systemized, concise presentation that gets a high rate of acceptance for treatment that is in the best interest of the patient. When I do this presentation, it is based on an old sales principle of getting someone’s Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action and when done effectively it usually takes between two to four minutes. Let me walk you through a typical visit.
First let me say an intraoral camera is essential in all hygiene rooms and we require the hygienists to have a minimum of four pictures of all four quadrants of the mouth up on the monitor or we do not do the examination. We always have pictures!!!!!
When I walk into the room I greet the patient and do the warm up part of the visit to renew our relationship. After that I stare at the pictures for a few seconds and say nothing, then ask if they are having any problems. Then I do the examination of the teeth and gums, and perform an oral cancer screening. Here now is where things start to happen. I sit the chair up and stare at the pictures again for a few silent seconds and say “SOME OF THESE TEETH CONCERN ME” and I am quiet again for a few more seconds (this gets ATTENTION).
Then I point out with a laser pointer the blue shadows, the cracks and the weakened, thin, or undermined cusps and explain that years ago we would probably would not have done anything to these teeth until they broke or needed root canals, but we know more now than we did years ago and even though they don’t hurt and are not broken they have a problem. Then I say that “I HAVE SELFISH MOTIVES FOR WANTINING TO FIX YOUR TEETH BEFORE THEY BREAK because I can do a better job for you if the tooth is not broken or had a root canal, and many times we can do an inlay or onlay which is better for the tooth because we don’t have to take away as much good tooth.Even though an inlay/onlay costs as much as a crown, it is often a better restoration.”
(I do say, if some teeth have very large restorations or if we find too many cracks under the amalgam, the crown may be the only choice, but I still have better control over the final product if I start with something that is not broken below the gum line.) 
We then go back to the pictures and I say, “What I normally do is try to do the WORST TO THE LEAST WORST” so if there are six teeth in question I would say for example as I point to the teeth, “Lets do these two first and these three next and this one last. I will do them at a rate that you are comfortable with.” For most people this is enough information, but for people whom need more information, I have a five page photo albums that show before and afters of amalgams to inlay/onlays. All of the above literally takes less than two minutes and creates INTEREST.
I then usually get some of the following questions from the patient:
- What do you do to the tooth?
- How long does it take?
- How long does it last?
- Does it hurt?
- How much does it cost?
- What payment arrangements can be made?
Your ability to effectively answer these questions will create DESIRE.
The patient is then escorted to my scheduling coordinator and a hand-off is done, whereby the coordinator is told of the treatment that is to be done, and asked to help the patient with scheduling and financial arrangements. My coordinator is very trained and skilled in this area and her skill in helping the patient find a way to pay for the treatment creates ACTION.
This process may seem like it could be time consuming, but I guarantee you, if you follow the steps and use the phases I use, you will do a systemized effective, concise case presentation and your existing, loyal patients will receive higher quality care, and restorations that will last and last.
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131 E. 13065 S.
Draper, UT 84020 |
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888-344-9991 toll-free
801-576-9991 phone |
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The editor of this newsletter is Emily Webb of Becden Dental Laboratory, Inc. Please send any questions or comments about this newsletter, or suggestions for articles to: emilyw@becdendental.com
©2006 BECDEN Dental Laboratory, Inc. |
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