Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

Jacqui Goss explains how to create a good impression without saying a word December 12-18, 2011United Kingdom Edition Matrix for Class II composite fillings Protection during larger preparations FenderWedge provides a protector for the tissue and separate the teeth, simplyfing the following application of a matrix. If you like FenderWedge you will like: ”FenderWedge protects and separates during preparation 3390-1109©DirectaAB Distributed in the UK by Trycare Tel. 01274-88 10 44 Protection and Separation Protection and matrix for primary teeth FenderWedge can be ap- plied buccally or lingually for optimal access and vision. Available in four color coded sizes. A t the end of my previous article, I promised to consider the feelings a potential or actual patient has when entering a dental prac- tice for the first time. As you can imagine, a good impres- sion at this stage is critically important so here goes. Be warned, if you book me to visit your practice to dis- cuss training or my consul- tancy services I shall invari- ably arrive early (M6 traffic willing). I’ll stand outside for a while. I’ll walk towards the entrance from different direc- tions. I’ll look in and through the window (only if you’re on the ground floor!). I’ll sit in the reception or waiting area – in different seats. I’ll get up and read the notices, shuffle through the magazines and visit the toilet. I’ll drink your coffee if I’m offered a cup (or will it be a mug?). In short, I’ll do all the things you and your team members never or rarely do but which your patients and prospective patients do all the time. Why? Because you may be a whizz with a high-speed or slow- speed drill, your nurse might be Olympic standard and your hygienist could be world-class but if the door handle is loose that’s what will determine a patient’s lasting impression. An airline owner (whose name I forget) said that if there’s cof- fee stains on the food trays, the passenger think you don’t maintain the engines properly. If some of the things I’m about to describe seem trivial, why do I come across them so often? Why aren’t they fixed or corrected or sorted out? Why risk that negative first impression? I know a practice where the first appointments after lunch are made for 2pm. The staff have their lunch from 1pm to 2pm and the practice is closed. But we all know that patients invariably arrive early for ap- pointments (you don’t like them being late) and so have to wait outside (in all weath- ers) until the door is unlocked on the dot of 2pm. In practice, the first appointments after lunch don’t begin until 2.05pm or even 2.10pm so early arriv- ing patients have unnecessar- ily braved the weather. Why not make the appointments a little later or open the doors five minutes earlier? Another example: I visited a practice and there was a hand- written note on the toilet door saying the lock was broken. It was a nuisance but these things happen. Unfortunately, when I visited again several weeks later the same note was still there. Was the reason a chronic shortage of handy- men in the locality or a distinct lack of interest on the part of practice staff? I know what I thought. And now I’ll have a go at Richard Branson. Not for the service on his airlines (I’ve never flown Virgin Airways) but because as “litter tsar” in the 1980s he failed miserably. The peculiarly British habit of dropping litter is more ram- pant than ever these days. When I do a performance au- dit on a practice, I include photographs in my report. Surprisingly often there is lit- ter outside a practice – on the pavement, in the gutter and in the car park (if there is one). While I agree few people take notice of it, wouldn’t a litter- free approach to your practice eliminate the possibility of a bad initial impression? The approach to your prac- tice is important in other ways. An A-board on the pavement (subject to local authority Why improving your practice is a mystery - part three ‘You may be a whizz with a high-speed or slow-speed drill... but if the door handle is loose that’s what will determine a patient’s lasting impression’ Don’t leave your patients out in the cold