Patient Dialogue

Practicing specific dialogue for potential situations can help make the situation less stressful. An example dialogue may be, you have a new whitening system that you want patients to try out. You say to Mrs. Jones. “Good morning, how are you?”

Mrs. Jones: “Fine.”

You: “Would you like to try our whitening system?”

Mrs. Jones: “Why? Are you saying my teeth are stained?”

Now what? Of course you are not saying that, you are simply offering a fantastic product to a patient who you think may need or want it. The next words you say are going to determine where this conversation goes from here. Use dialogue like, “we believe”, “I find”, and back up what you are saying with facts this will help the conversation.  As a team member in the practice your word, experience and expertise is going to go along way.

Some patients will question your treatment. They may say that their mom or sister went to a dentist and that dentist told them that extracting teeth is better than getting dentures. Focus on the facts; you can’t refute what another dentist said. You don’t know all the facts of that situation. So, focus on what you do know. Why is it important for this patient sitting in your chair right now to embark on this treatment? How is this course of action going to change their life? Or how is it going to give them the smile they want.