As restorative dentists, we’re forced to take responsibility for our patient’s satisfaction with every step of treatment. Once treatment is done, we’re married to those patients. So even though that implant or root canal was done by someone else, if it starts hurting under “your” crown, then that makes it your problem. it still falls to you, and that means we have to be the experts in diagnosis and treatment planning. That’s impossible unless we can recognize a patient’s risk factors, and communicate the patient’s challenges long before we begin treatment.
Just addressing risk factors isn’t enough though. The second key to diagnosis is understanding the patient’s motivations and expectations on a deep level. That’s at the heart of gaining treatment acceptance; the art of coming to a mutual understanding with the patient, and creating a patient-practitioner partnership from the start. People respect and support their partners for as long as they contribute to the partnership. People don’t sue their partners as long as they’re providing expertise and care that matches the partnership’s goals.
We can only help the patient know what to expect once we fully understand their relevant risks and expectations. This is the key to successful treatment without regrets or compromise. No one wants to be surprised by a patient’s unrealistic expectations after days of chair time and thousands of dollars of lab bills. No one wants to pay the patient to sit in the chair because they missed the diagnostic clues the first time, and treatment has to be redone. That’s the predictability and confidence we offer. Most of what comes after that is already in our skill sets. To learn more about what we offer, click here.