CAD/CAM international magazine of digital dentistry

I opinion _ patient communication Thefilterprinciple:Isevery patientafinalspatient? Author_ Simon Hocken, UK 34 I “Yourworkisgoingtofillalargepartofyourlife, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t foundityet,keeplooking.Don’tsettle. Aswithallmattersoftheheart,you’llknowwhen you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep lookinguntilyoufindit.Don’tsettle.” SteveJobs,CEOofAppleInc. in2005 _You remember finals, don’t you? Of course you do. Your examiners carefully selected a pa- tient(s) for you to examine and diagnose and for whom to present a treatment plan. The finals pa- tients were unlucky enough to have more than one dental problem and you were marked on finding all of them and your ability to determine a set of solutions for the patient. Afterwards, most of us headed off into practice, where a series of finals patients are paraded in front ofusonadailybasis.Nowthesepatientswillinglypay ustomakeourprofessionaljudgements,offerourbest solutionsandsuggestafeefordoingthedentistry. However, that’s not always what happens, is it? There’ssomethingthathappensingeneraldental practice (be it public like the National Health Service [NHS] here in the UK, mixed or private practice) that is rarely spoken about in dental magazines, online forums or even at the bar at dental conferences. And it’s this: many dentists consult with, examine, diag- noseandtreatmentplantheirpatients,notintheway that they did for their finals patient, but by applying some sort of filter—a filter of which the patients are completely unaware. Such filters have several ele- mentsandinmy25yearsofbeingadentist,followed bytenyearsofcoachingdentists,IthinkI’veprobably heard or seen them all, or at least their effects. Thefiltermayhavesomeorallofthesecomponents: 1. WillthepatientlikemeifItellhimaboutallofthis? 2. Will the patient come back if I tell him about all of this? 3. Will the patient think I am overprescribing? 4. (For returning patients) If I tell the patient about all of this now, will he wonder why on earth I haven’t mentioned it before? 5. Will the patient be willing to pay for all of this? 6. IfIpersuadethepatienttohavethebigtreatment plan, what happens if it goes wrong? CAD/CAM 3_2012