Tips to Increase Case Acceptance

Digital Doc recently had the pleasure of hosting a webinar with leading dentists, Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Sully Sullivan. During the webinar, we hear from two perspectives, baby boomers and millennials. Here we highlight some of the tips to increase case acceptance at your dental practice.

Sight and Sound Are Key

About 94% of how we buy is determined by what we see and what we hear. When you put a picture in front of baby boomers, they have ownership and will be more likely to accept the treatment you are recommending.

Many patients, especially younger ones, come to the dental office when they’ve already “educated” themselves about their condition on Google. Having an image to show the patient prevents an argument about what’s going on.

Put Patients in Charge

Give patients the driver’s seat. Allow them to tell you what they do and don’t like about their smile. Images captured with the best dental cameras from IRIS make this possible.

You can create a sense of urgency with every patient. As a result, case acceptance will shoot through the roof. Dr. Boals, the best dentist in Colorado Springs, recommends that you capture a picture for every patient before, during, and after treatment.

Use Positive Communication

Rather than scaring patients into accepting treatment, how about being positive about their dental health? For example, during a hygiene visit, you can tell the patient that you see wonderful enamel on 26 of their teeth, but there are some issues on two teeth. You then ask for their permission if they wouldn’t mind hearing about the issues in those two teeth. The resultant discussion will be a joyful one, rather than a reprimand.

It is important to take photos of every stage of the treatment process so that when a patient returns with an additional complaint. For example, if your patient comes to you with tooth sensitivity, you can point to the crack in their tooth as the reason for that sensitivity. Also, if insurance tries to deny a claim, those photos will provide solid proof of the necessity of the treatment given, and the claim will be approved. This gives patients more leeway to accept treatment recommendations.

Does the size of the TV monitor in your dental office matter?

The bigger the screen, the better. This is because older patients don’t have very good eyesight, so bigger screens work best for showing them images of their oral structures. Younger patients have big screens in their homes, and they use large screens at work. So, it is only natural that bigger screens would be ideal at the dental office to suit the expectations of these patients.