Many new and even experienced dentists feel as if their patients do not follow their guidance or dental advice. Dental practice brokers know that dentistry isn’t easy. And in dentistry school, communicating effectively with patients is not part of the curriculum. Naturally, many dental patients can feel a bit intimidated by the information their dentist gives them. Dental practice management teams can help ease patients’ minds by helping them draw an emotional response to their treatment.
Foster Emotional-based Response to Dental Treatment
Whether it’s food, a new car, or a medical procedure, patients make their decisions based on the feeling that the decision evokes—emotional response. Dentists need to create that emotional response in their patients when discussing treatments and giving dental advice and care.
Jeff Lindberry at Spear Education gives a great example of how to get around “playing more to the logical side of the brain” and get to eliciting an emotional response from their patients. The “key” Lindberry says, to deal with the patient’s fear because fear can cause patients to not hear your diagnosis or advice. Fear can be a powerful blocker and can keep patients from remember part or even all of what you say. Dental practice brokers advise their clients to understand that the key is to be emotionally engaged with your patient’s overall oral health and not just the immediate issues. By being emotionally engaged in your patient’s full, oral health, you build trust between you and your patient. You connect. Of course, it’s easier said than done because the reality is, people’s experiences are what shape their emotions. But it doesn’t mean you don’t try.
Use Co-Discovery to Foster Acceptance
Experienced dental consultants know that when a patient comes into your office, sits in your chair, you don’t always know what you will find. Allow your patients to be a part of the discovery of what’s going on with their oral health instead of just giving them a rundown of what’s wrong and what your recommendation is. Two ways to help foster acceptance are to:
- Show them photos. Showing your patient photos is a great way to communicate oral concerns without sounding clinical and detached. Besides, a picture is worth a thousand words and will evoke the emotional response we discussed earlier.
- Use layman’s terms. Being in the dentist’s chair can be scary enough as is. Throwing out medical jargon can be intimidating. Instead, try using terms and comparative situations that they may be familiar with.
Of course, there is a lot more that goes into communicating effectively so that your patients will hear and accept your diagnosis and guidance. But this can go a long way to helping bridge the gap in communicating with your patients. We know dentistry, by nature, is very technical and it deals with a part of our bodies that too many people neglect out of fear. They’ve probably heard secondhand accounts of how painful a root canal is, and that makes it easy for them to continue to put off their oral care. Dental practice brokers can put together a strategy to help you communicate better with your patients. Eliciting an emotional response is a great step toward getting your patients to listen to you so that you can provide the very best care that you know you want to.
