Accelerate My Practice Blog

The Front Office of your Dental Office is the first and last point of contact with patients, so lets make sure that procedures are concrete and the interactions leave both the patient and dentist feeling confident!

Why is it that some people will willingly break appointments at the dental office yet keep their hair appointments?  It is more commonly known as the “perceived value.”  Patients value how their hair looks more than their dental health sometimes!  How do we change this philosophy?  It starts with establishing a relationship based on trust and respect from the get go.  It is also important to set clear guidelines “gently” with patients so that they know what your practice boundaries are and can comply with ease.

It's our job to provide Dentists' with the information needed to increase their dental case acceptance. Every once in awhile doctors will come across the big case, our first priority is answering any and all questions that the patient may have, our second priority is closing the case with patient cofidence! Take a look at how AMP role plays a Big case in Dental Case Acceptance. 

What do you do when a new patient comes to you and they haven't been in for many years? First, take them back for a consult and take time to discuss their case and explain to them that due to the time they’ve taken to come back in you have concerns about their decay and  explain the options! In previous episodes we’ve talked about the importance in tapping into the emotions of a patient. In this case you may ask, "You're only 41 and the decay that is being presented here needs to be taken care of. Now understanding expenses may be a concern, how do you feel about dentures?" Give them a worst case scenario, it will prompt then to ask for additional options.   

Now that we've talked about the importance of understanding and familiarizing your dental practice with the psychology of dental case acceptance, lets go one step further. Follow along to see how to utilize staff and how to handle a smaller case in dental case acceptance! 



The first 15 minutes of every hygiene visit should be dedicated to knowing your patient and updating all diagnostics.  As we know the hygienist is not allowed to make a diagnosis but we certainly can share our concerns.  Creating value and understanding comes not only from building a relationship but also educating the patient.  One way to create value is using co discovery with the patient. During that first 15 minutes while using the intra-oral camera or reviewing the x-Rays the hygienist can let the patient know of any areas of concern.

“Mrs. Peterson I’d want to show you this picture or X-Ray of your tooth on the upper left side. Do you see this large silver filling and how around the edges it appears to be broken? . I know the Dr. will be concerned about it as well, often times we will find decay around those margins."

Dentists are presented with a handful of different cases on a daily basis ranging from that little, easier to talk about case, to the big case that is hard to even find the right words to say. As a hygienist and dentist it is important to explore the psychology behind case acceptance.  

How do people make decisions? How can we understand what the patient is really saying with their yes or no to when it comes to spending money on dental treatment or on new shiny things.  What can we say as a dentist or hygienist to have the patient say YES to treatment? What words are we using? Do we use technical dental terms with drawn out explanations or are we presenting emotional outcomes like beauty, youth and/or change in appearance?

We all know that Periodontal Disease is a tricky topic to bring up with our patients! How do we bring it up? First things first, focus on the words you are using to portray the message you want patients to receive. 

Interesting how “bloody gums” becomes more emphatic when described as “hemorrhaging gum tissue!” The goal is to elicit behavior change and the focus on the “emotion” does just that.