How to handle Dental Patients Requesting a Second Opinion?

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Meet Darren Kaberna

Darren Kaberna has been working in the dental industry since 1997 in well over a thousand dental offices. Darren holds a BS in Biology and Chemistry and a MBA in Marketing and Finance. He teaches practical methods to grow your dental practice, and is impacting the lives of both doctors and their staff all over the country, not only improving dental practices but helping people achieve their dreams.

Everyone has been there right? The dreaded request for a second opinion. What do you currently do when your patient tells you that they want to get a second opinion? Are you scrambling for the right words? Are you getting upset at the patient for not trusting your recommendations? Unfortunately this a lot because most practices are not prepared.

These reactions will rarely end in case acceptance. Accelerate My Practice can show you how to change your mind set on this topic and take you from dreading this scenario to welcoming it and not killing the opportunity. Unfortunately the former happens a lot because most practices are not prepared.

The first thing you want to do is validate the patient’s feelings. This is a big relationship builder for you and the patient. Don’t be combative and question why they don’t trust you. Instead, approach it with a no problem attitude. Think about it, if you were making a $20,000 investment you’d want a second opinion too. That being said, you want to ensure they see a likeminded provider for the second opinion. A dentist who also provides comprehensive dentistry versus patchwork dentistry or they will end up with a completely different treatment plan. Go out there and find a colleague that you can trust to not steal your patients from you, but who will offer up treatment similar enough to yours and meet with him or her to discuss this arrangement and offer to do the same for his/hers patients in return.

Now that this is in place you can offer to your patient on the spot to have your staff call that office, set up the appointment for them, and email x-rays over for the visit. Now you look like a rock star who is absolutely confident in your treatment planning and is not threatened in the least. Just the mention of doing these things for your patient will likely result in about half of them changing their mind right then and there.

The ones who go on to the appointment will be presented with a similar treatment recommendation for treatment and the patient is now feeling confident enough to start treatment with guess who?? YOU!