Your patients need to understand, for real, what can happen if they do not follow through with your recommended treatment. If you accomplish that, then you have done your job educating the patient. From that point forward, it’s on the patient and the front desk. The following education techniques will help you get there:   TRIGGER WORDS & “YET Trigger words initiate a process or course of action. The term “trigger word” derives from the use of an explosive gun in days gone by to start a race. “Yet” is a trigger word. Patients may not notice gum disease yet. The patient hasn’t lost...

Your practice will be rushed, hectic and stressed without a schedule that is well designed. The purpose of blocking scheduling is to decrease stress, keep production on an even keel from one day to the next while maintaining or increasing production. These are the steps for implementing with guidelines:

Time Study

Over two to three weeks get accurate times of every procedure. All staff can help. Create an index card for each patient that comes in. Note the following on the card:

1. The time the patient arrived
2. The time the patient is seated
3. The time the procedure begins
4. The time the procedure ends

At the end of two or three weeks, average out the times for each procedure.

What Does A Dental Consultant Do?  Many dentists will tell you dental consulting works. If dental practice management firms had no worth or benefit they could not stand up to harsh economic realities for long. What a veteran dental consultant brings to the table are systems and protocols successfully implemented in other practices that have been improved and tweaked over many years. Top dental consultants talk and network with each other. They pay attention to what works and what doesn't work across all dental practices. Marketing & New Patients Practice management consultants generally have little marketing training or background.  Note: Cambridge'a...

1. By survey, the overwhelming number of new patients expect a cleaning as part of their first new patient appointment. 2. Unless the new patient is an emergency, has a broken tooth or toothache assume all new patients will get a prophy but, do not guarantee a prophy when scheduling. 3. The doctor always does an exam first however, many doctors do not like doing the comprehensive exam in uncleaned patients as caries can be missed if a lot of buildup is present. For that reason, many practices schedule the patient through hygiene but, of course, the doctor must still perform...