Stop telling and start asking….

Posted: March 5th, 2010 |

When was the last time that you sat down with your patients listened to them Laura_ Horton_ by_ Catchlight_Art_Photography (6)instead of providing them with information while that sat and listened?

Dentistry as we know it has been all about telling our patients.

Telling them what there problems are, how we can help, the options available to resolve their problem and such forth.

Dentistry as it should be is about communicating effectively with our patients, do this this we must stop talking to our patients and instead flip it around and begin to ask questions – open ended questions.

No-one likes to be spoken at constantly. If you focus on the patient and being interested in them and their concerns with their mouth this style of communication will lead you into greater relationships with your patients.

You should aim to do 20% of the talking and the majority of that should be at the end of the appointment when you are wrapping everything up.

Start today with every patient that you see!

Laura Horton

Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Training and much more. Visit the website today to see how we can help.

2 Comments on “Stop telling and start asking….”

  1. #1 dentinal tubules said at 08:52 on March 5th, 2010:

    From a perio point of view , if you leave all the explaining to the end , you will get nowhere
    Most patients need the following explanation even before they begin to comprehend
    1. role of plaque
    2. role of systemic disease
    3. patient susceptibility
    4. plaque charts
    5. how are the pocket numbers explained
    6. what do radiographs show
    7. extent of disease
    8. treatment required
    9. risks/side effects and benefits
    10. long term sequelae

    Now all that can take 30 – 40 minutes.
    In a specialised area , asking them to do the talking can lead the conversation in the wrong direction very easily from my experience

  2. #2 admin said at 10:39 on March 7th, 2010:

    Hi Druh

    My advice is to build a relationship with your new patient when you meet them and find out what the patients concerns are – what do they want from you? What are their goals and how did they end up in this situation? Dentists are technical people and patients aren’t so listening to them at the beginning breaks down barriers.

    You are also talking about the presentation of treatment and in my experience if you are doing this at the beginning you need to amend the structure of your appointment. Patients do not want to be talked at constantly they like a dentist that listens to them and understands them as well as once they have been assessed explaining the options clearly in a way that suits their personality.

    This is why the role of the TCO is so important as they do all of this for you – you then assess and present. A TCO can even explain all the technical details you have listed such as pocket scores and the roles of plaque saving you a massive amount of time you can do points 6 -10 and save yourself masses of time!

    The dentist / TCO should only be doing 20% of the talking and that should be at the end of the NP appointment when you present treatment.

    If you would like to know more about the structure I advise for you then give me a call!

    Laura