Solving common problems in the dental practice is all about mindset. Solutions tend to come from a better inherent understanding of your practice’s values and vision. Clarity of vision makes problems simpler. Thus, one powerful way to use your vision is to make it the basis for how you practice. But first, you must revitalize or find it through a model such as the Appreciative Inquiry Model.

Revitalize and Problem Solve in Your Practice

Part of the problem solving process is finding the disconnect between what you say and what you do. Problems can be worsened if something is clear for the dentist and not for the team.

Vision is the life-blood of a practice. It is the dream that feels within reach, that is worked toward because it is understood to be achievable. So how do you figure out what yours is?

Using the Appreciative Inquiry Model

A problem solving model is not your friend in searching for a viable vision. Why is this? Problem solving models start by identifying a problem and analyzing it. This is then used to guide action.

The flaw in this seemingly sensible model is that it begins from a place of ‘wrongness’ or ‘missing.’ Instead, it is more productive to focus on what is currently good about what you have and how you can enhance it. This a subtle shift in perspective and mindset that sets the tone of the ‘problem-solving’ conversation.

What I’ve just described is known as the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Model. It begins with appreciation and valuing what is, then transitions to envisioning what might be, and concludes with a dialogue about what should be.

The envisioning portion is all about considering values, vision, and vitality. You look forward, not backward, because that is the best way to deliberately stumble upon a new or more inspiring vision.

What gives your practice life? It would be difficult to find out by focusing on the negatives. There is a kind of magic to looking around with fresh eyes and realizing the positive attributes you already possess.

AI enables you to ask what you want, rather than what you don’t want. It focuses on building from a foundation you already have, so that you are not resource poor, but in fact capable of changing based on the abundance you already contain.

What is your practice vision and how did you come to it? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments! 

Helping patients move past denial over their dental health is no easy feat. In your dental practice, you have likely encountered this situation many times.

The truth is, patients who won’t or can’t accept the treatment they need for improved oral health can be put on a more positive path. The hard part is that they often require a significant amount of patience.

In a previous blog, I discussed the mechanism of denial and how it functions to constrain our patients despite our best intentions. There is no ‘forcing it’ because the psychological weight is too heavy. Facing a loss of a measure of health is extremely difficult, despite whether we ourselves believe the issue isn’t significant.

Characteristics That Support Change For Patients in Denial

One way to help our patients in these situations is to avoid frustration. Acceptance of other people’s emotional struggles can come from checking in with our own personal response to stress.

How do you create lasting change? Exploration of this question can give you a clearer perspective about similar answers for others. It can also reinforce the sense that our reactions to stimuli or upset can be quite different.

Once you (or a patient) have accepted change, you will still need to rely on your own resilience to parry the unexpected difficulties or days where your resolve is less strong. Some of the qualities that help in this situation include courage, commitment, awareness, curiosity, confidence, support, and skill.

The foundation of change is the first of these qualities: courage. Making changes in spite of fear is reliant on our willingness to see the potential risks and move ahead anyways. A big piece of this is recognition. If you can recognize what is holding you back from change, you can externalize the fear, make it more manageable, and talk about it rationally with others.

How do you help patients accept and appreciate change? 

Denial in dentistry is often more subtle than how it appears in other medical professions. Because the denial doesn’t stem from a life-threatening situation, it isn’t as apparent to us or to our patients.

How we respond in a situation where patients react illogically to our recommendations can make all the difference in our effectiveness at helping them. Ultimately, trying to force feed convincing information leads nowhere. It simply encourages our own doubt in ourselves or leads to inaccurately judging a patient’s level of motivation.

There is an alternative to backing off and laying the discussion aside. This alternative depends on an understanding of the process of denial and enables us to enter into that process with our patients.

What is Denial and How Does it Affect Our Patient Care?

Many of us have experienced denial wrenchingly in our personal relationships or less severely with difficulties like having too much stress or high cholesterol. By definition, we don’t see our behavior or feelings in these moments as denial.

Remembering this will help you relate to your patients with a greater degree of empathy. Also, don’t forget that denial is normal. It can’t be avoided or overcome, so it’s much more helpful to approach it empathetically.

One of the most common ways I see denial showing up in dentistry is when patients avoid treatment we have recommended. The fact that these treatments don’t usually involve anything life threatening doesn’t mean they aren’t a significant loss for the patient. What seems like an insignificant diagnosis to us (bite problems or decay) can feel like a loss of a measure of health to them.

There is much to be said on this topic, but the most important thing to do first and foremost is to think of your role as one that is not just informative. The patient is in denial not because they doubt the validity of your assessment. They simply don’t believe the implications are true for them.

Patience is the true means for helping patients through denial. They will come to recognize what they can’t see clearly after guided conversation and appropriate questioning.

How do you recognize denial in your dental practice? We’d love to hear from you in the comments! 

3 Ways to Help Patients Articulate Their Expectations for Successful Dental Treatment

Patient expectations are a tricky thing in dentistry. They vary from patient to patient both in the level to which expectations are considered and in the content of those expectations.

You can ensure good relationships with your patients if you define expectations before providing treatment. Exceeding expectations doesn’t require you to be perfect. It simply requires paying attention and showing an enthusiastic desire to fully meet their goals.

Before you can deliver on your promises, you first have to figure out what exactly the patient wants.

3 Ways to Figure Out Patient Expectations

Meeting and exceeding expectations is tricky because patients usually don’t know outright what will make them happy. They may not know how to articulate what they’re thinking.

Your guidance is most effective when offered during the comprehensive exam appointment. It’s important to gather views and opinions rather than solely data.

1. Ask About Their General Health

This can tell you what a patient’s aspirations are for their health. Interestingly, the clinician’s perspective on what a patient ‘needs’ may not match up with what they actually ‘want.’

Unless the treatment is detrimental to their health, why get in the way of what they value just because it doesn’t line up with what you would personally choose?

An example of this is a situation I encountered where a patient had asked about bleaching. The dentist felt her teeth were already white enough and discouraged her from bleaching. He later learned from one of his hygienists that she was the type of person who highly valued small differences in her aesthetics (i.e. she ran five to six miles every day for fitness).

He decided to reopen the bleaching discussion now that he better understood her values.

2. Ask If They Regularly See a Physician

This does more than give you the name of your patient’s physician. It starts a discussion about how the patient chose their physician and what they like or don’t like about the care they receive in that practice.

Pay attention to any comments that indicate a high or low level of trust for healthcare providers. You can also learn about their scheduling convenience and cost containment preferences, as well as how much they value a doctor’s willingness to take the time to listen to them. Ask them to tell you more about their answers and how they apply to expectations of your practice.

 3. Ask About Their Previous Dental Experiences

Similarly, this gives you more than just concrete data. It’s a chance to learn what their attitude is toward dentistry and how their past experiences have shaped what they expect of you.

For example, if the patient tells you they go to the dentist regularly but still get cavities, this might lead you to wonder why they think decay continues to occur. You can ask follow-up questions such as, “Would you like to change that pattern?” or “What part do you see me playing in preventing decay?”

Ultimately, clarity is the key to good relationships with patients. Endeavor to understand them on a deeper level and you will deliver care that exceeds expectations.

What questions do you ask patients to provide better care? Please let us know in the comments!