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Episode 118 – Special Edition: Handling the Unhappy Patient

Think back to the last time you had to handle an unhappy patient: are you proud of how you dealt with that interaction? Are there maybe some things you would have done differently? We’ve all been there. After our episode last week, Dr. Chad and I stayed on after our interview to discuss a letter he received from an unhappy patient. We kept the mic hot and are happy to now share this candid, personal conversation as we cover:

  • When to act and when to wait
  • How to take your patient along for the ride
  • Case presentation

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

REGAN: Hello and welcome to the Everyday Practices Podcast. I am your co host, Reagan Robertson. Before we get started today, I have a question for you. Think back to the last time you dealt or had to deal with an unhappy patient? Are you proud of how you handled that interaction? Or there may be some things you would have done differently if you’d had the chance to navigate that situation again. We’ve all been there. Last week, Dr. Chad and I spoke with doctors Kelsey and Anna. If you haven’t checked out that episode, I highly recommend that you do because we spoke about methods of highly effective communication.

Well, after the episode wrapped, Dr. Chad and I stayed on for an after hours conversation regarding a letter Dr. Chad actually received from an unhappy patient recently. Luckily, we kept the mic hot for you. And you can listen in on this behind the curtain conversation regarding case presentation, advanced screening technology, when to act and when to wait, and how to bring your patient along for the ride. Hope you enjoy this candid personal conversation between Chad and I. Let’s get started.

CHAD: I was gonna bring this up. But I got this letter.

“Dr. Johnson, I’d like to drop you a note about my visit at the new office. I have been a patient with the old doctor since 2007. You’ve done a very nice remodel job. And my hygienist Shonda was awesome, very professional and personal and did a great job explaining and cleaning my teeth. The end of my appointment has been bothersome to me, after 40 years since my last cavity. And 14 years of seeing the past doctor every six months, I was told several of my pits that I was aware of that I was aware of just so you know, and have not changed in years are now considered cavities, I have a hard time wrapping my head around around that I have suddenly developed three cavities in the last six months. That leads me to think that the old doctor in the staff was incompetent, or I was being pushed into additional procedures that may not be absolutely necessary and consistent with my history.

“I’m inclined not to think poorly of the old doctor, and I’m sure that dentist had the best of intentions at heart, but her judgment is inconsistent with my history. And we have not developed trust or relationship yet,”  which side note is valid. All right, back to the quote. “Hence I suggested we monitor the situation the young didn’t Dennis did not react very well. And Shannon did a nice job of defusing. I wanted you to be aware at this time. I’m not sure I’ll be returning to your office if Shonda had not been so great. I think it’d be an easy decision.”

REGAN: Oh wow. What was your reaction?

CHAD: So my mind started going eight places. It was six or eight places I can’t quite tell. And it was supposed to be dinner date. I’m sorry. lunch date was Sarah, this was this last Friday. And I sat for the next two hours in the car at the restaurant. Talking with her about it thinking about it. And I

REGAN: This really got under your skin?

CHAD: Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, and so I mean, so I wrote him a somewhat long email. And I explained to him, you know, everything about it. But I basically just said, you know, at the end of my email response, but my confidence is with my associate he saw.

REGAN: Interesting You didn’t pick up the phone, you wrote it out?

CHAD: I did. I’m not a caller.

REGAN: Interesting, right. Because that is a it’s a well thought out letter that was sent to you. And he also kind of presented a nice worded note.

CHAD: It would have been really easy for him to have not written that. And so I do appreciate it. And I actually passed it along to my associate too, so that way, she could see what the issue was. And and so I wrote back and I mean, you know, just for posterity sake.

So I wrote back exactly. I wrote and I said,

“Hi there. I did not get your your original message. So thanks for double checking. This is always a difficult situation and I can understand your frustration. Something has to give right? I apologize ahead of time its. What’s that,

REGAN: I have to interrupt. If you’re watching something right. You’re watching it. Eventually it could get worse. I was just at the optometrist last week, and I have had I have the most brilliant I think optometrist because when I was 12 years old, he put me in contact gas permeable contact lenses and said to me at the time, he knelt to me to talk to me and he said, Reagan, I have not had a pain patient isn’t young as you go into context, I’d like to put them on you because I’m, I’m concerned that by the time you’re 18, you might have to wear coke bottle. glasses. Do you know what those are? And he showed them to me and I didn’t want that. And I said, Okay, so it got me over the fear. And he went on to my eyes had been stabilized from 12 years old to 41. And I just went in last week and my left one got a little bit worse. He has taken exceptional care of me and you know what my first thought was? primal brain. What did you do?

I see you every year. You’ve never been watching anything. You’ve never said anything like how on illogical irrational thought process I had. But I asked him I said What happened? And he goes, Well, he was it’s actually you’re still better than the write it so but he basically said in a very nice way you’re not getting any younger.

CHAD: Yeah, that makes me want to go to Washington and see this guy.

REGAN: You know, he’s so phenomenal. So anyway, so my, you know, I get kind of tight here in the chest thinking about, you know, what, what this guy probably was feeling. But at the same time, he had fair warning. That’s my point.

CHAD: You’re you’re watching something that doesn’t mean that it’s not going to ever progress. And here we are. 26 years later, this guy’s upset that 40 years after he’s been watching something. Yeah. And so there’s a little bit of irrationality to it. And I don’t mean that in a mean way. I’m not trying to knock on this guy. And I’m not saying his name. I’m not saying that, you know, associates name or anything like that for, you know, the sake of it’s not about them.

But I said, the good news is that ultimately, the good news is that the old doctor was calling it like he saw it at his comfortability level. Number two, the new dentists that you saw my associate was calling it like she saw it at her comfortability level. And number three, you are in charge of your mouth. And if you want to wait in order to see if it progresses or not, then we are also comfortable with that. A

nd so then I went, I went through, you know, I just I went through stuff, because we talked about that we personally use diagnodent. And that I you know, in the middle of the paragraph I put so the problem becomes that if you ask 10 dentists, you’ll get 20 opinions. So it can leave a patient confused with so what’s the truth, when indeed the cavity processes isn’t poof, you have a whole but rather a disease process that typically occurs over a few years two or three, and it slowly progresses until it becomes a whole large enough to either feel or eventually see. And the laser that we use, helps us detect it earlier numerically quantifying it for when we hope to hold on numerically quantifying it for when we hope to monitor it, and then therefore we find more cavities, yes, but it’s also because our tolerance for treating disease is lower.

Hopefully you can appreciate that any medical team with new technology and training might be more apt to find disease than the old guard that simply treated the worst of the disease, and we can’t hold that against them. And therefore the new guard is only better because we are treating disease earlier and earlier. And the risk that we run is that we aren’t waiting to amputate only when the disease is close to terminal. So I tried explaining is just like listen, I mean, you know, like if you want to wait and you know, think that your your holes are, are okay, and that the stains and stuff like that, then we’re gonna be able to numerically quantify that over time if indeed they do get worse. And, and if they do get worse then we’ll be able to plead our case.

REGAN: Did he respond to this?

CHAD: No. But this just happened Friday. I mean, just so you know, this is brand new.

REGAN: I’m extremely excited about turning this into a case study when it should be an article so we should write up an article around it too. Sure. I’m excited because I’m really excited because my initial reaction if I’d received that letter would have been to call immediately call the patient. Yeah, talk to the patient.

CHAD: I would have had too many talking points and I think my trouble is I really like writing it out so that way like I can draft through it and then say, Okay, I like how this is read because even after I typed everything out I went to the beginning and I said I apologize for the long email but I want you to know that I’ve thought this out in essence you know, and that wouldn’t have come on the front end of a long conversation I would have been like listen we use diagnodent. Listen, the sensitivity and the specificity of using an explorer versus the the visual eye you know, and versus the diagonal this and that and there’s different you know, he would have been like Dude, I don’t know what to make of this.

REGAN: So right but but here’s what what what as a as a patient listening in to it, you got me very excited because you you wrapped it around being able to tech things earlier. You also did a really good job explaining that treatment is a bit of an art form, but the why it’s a bit of an art form. And it’s because because when you’re watching something that tells me that you see something. So there’s something to see there’s something observed. And do you go to the point of amputation? So it’s up to the doctor and the patient together really kind of to determine you’re telling me it’s an agreed upon course of action, we can catch it now. And you can move forward, we can continue to watch it progress and continue to see the decay spread. Until what point so you know, is it is it is our agreed upon course of action.

We’re gonna just let it continue to decay until it becomes painful run and you feel like it’s it’s obstructing your, you know, your daily life is that is that where you need to go? I myself would be the person that says, As soon as you see anything, let’s go forward and fix it. Because I just don’t want to I don’t want to deal with that. I don’t want to I definitely don’t want it to progress and, and in patient education, understanding that dis ease in the body, when you’ve got those types of things going on, that causes inflammation, inflammation hurts your heart hurts the rest of your body. So I feel like I got that from your email.

CHAD: No. And you know, I think as well, whatever, if people are diagnodent fans, and they’ve got their magical number, if they use that number, and if you said oh my goodness, they’re staying in it read a 10 out of 100. Let’s fix it. And I’d be I would be prone to saying, okay, read and check it out. I normally don’t treat these until this magic number. And yours is a third of that. I’m confident that this is not an issue yet. It could be another 20 years before we need to fix it. So let’s actually not, but his numbers were way above the threshold of what we use.

Okay. Yeah. And, and so I actually I blind copied my associate into this email. So she see, because this is a tough, basically what I’m doing is I’m holding a mirror up, or whatever the word is, for I’m showing an ugly book, you know, like, because it’s not a pretty princess book where it’s like, Hey, you know, like, this is a fairy tale story. It’s like, no, this is an ugly story about how a patient was dissatisfied. And some of it might be his fault. But let’s also look at some of it our fault. And fault. I’m not really looking to aim blame anyone but like, the trouble is, as an owner, when I started right away, like I took all the heat, my associates now that I’m still the owner, and the point guy, I take the heat for some of the associated stuff, but but they then having been shielded from that they don’t sometimes understand where it’s just like, shoot, you know, like, if we don’t do stuff, right, I’ll get a call from someone saying, you know, hey, what, you know, they canceled my appointment.

So when I told my associate about this, she felt horrible. She said, I’m so sorry, you got this email. And I explained to him about the cavities. And he basically said, No, we’re gonna watch them, which surprised me. And I didn’t know how to respond. And I’m sure that might have come off poorly to the patient. Thankfully, Shonda rescued, um, do you think I should, you know, apologize, or what should I do? And I feel really bad. I got flustered and stuff like that. And I wrote and I said, Hey, listen, I’ve got your back. And I said, I was fair with him in the email, but at the same time, I wanted to copy you in so that way, we could reassess it, what could we have done better or differently? And I also can’t say to him, Well, maybe it’s your bias against young female dentists, or I can’t say, you know, hey, maybe, you know, judging.

In the previous interview that we just did that, you know, it kind of fits the demographic of that, you know, doesn’t that lack of mentioning, but not to the not to this patient, but I think we need to recognize what’s going on. And I said, he also has a bias that his mouth is perfect. And he has a bias that his previous dentist that he chose was perfect. And so I said, The problem is, we can’t say that to them. So here’s just six points of what I came up with for a rhetorical self analysis of the situation. Okay, number one, did you build rapport with them first?

REGAN: Mm hmm. Number two?

CHAD: Yeah. Did we link did we match mirror all that? Question two, did we explain diagnodent? You know, if you’re an office that use diagnodent, did we explain what was going on with it? A lot of times, I like saying, Hey, here’s the deal. I’ve got this laser that’s like a radar gun. If you’re into nerdy science, it measures the bacterial fluorescence within the tooth, and then it reads me back the differential. So that number I can record over time. And if it’s just a stain, I know that it’s just a stain because the numbers low. And if it’s higher than my threshold number, and I won’t get into the weeds, whatever your number is, but let’s just say minus 30. If it’s 30 and above, then I’m going to call it you know that it’s speeding. I’ve got this radar gun and you’re speeding. If it’s going one over the speed limit, I’m probably not going to pull it over. But if I find that it’s going a few over or 10 over or 50 over Aren’t over.

REGAN: Yeah, that’s a great metaphor. Easy, easy. I know exactly what you’re talking about now.

CHAD: Yep. So let’s see what these numbers say, oh, here’s a 20. Perfect. We’re letting it off the hook, it’s going under the speed limit. 15. Perfect. All of a sudden, we have a 55. It’s like, ooh. And that’s 25 over the speed limit. This isn’t just like, maybe we can retest it. Now, ultimately, down the country roads, that’s that’s Chad going f150 down the country roads over. That’s not five over.

So next question that I asked, Did you put photos up on the screen for the patient to see? Question four. Remember, when he when someone hesitates, or you doubt that they’re on board? Let them go for a while with the watches. Who cares? I said, so you get a bigger cavity. And we told you about it. And you chose to wait. So if indeed, if it’s a cavity, it’ll get worse.

REGAN: This is so beautiful. This beautiful might So yeah, I love it. I’m not exactly what I thought, though, I would have been like, Well, why didn’t she say, Hey, we’re watching these, I would think these are pretty bad. But let’s just you know, you can watch them if you want I would do I mean, it’s really not fun. It’s easy to say, I have to match their level, because here’s the deal. They’re adults, and they won’t want to do what they want to do. So I’m trying to find an art to win the long battle.

And what’s really cool is, so this is a new office to us. We bought it from the older dentist, and he’s now retired, you know, within the last month or two. And, and so when we go in there, a lot of people are going to, you know, be like cool. You know, I like the new stuff. I like what you’re doing. If the old doctor trusted you, I trust you. And they actually literally say that out loud, then you’re going to have the few that say, you know what, I’m just I just don’t know about this. I think I want to wait and you know what, the worst thing for me to say is, you know, you’re gonna die if you wait, or something like that, you know, like, like it like as though it’s going to be the end of the world that date, but but I just want them to come back. And then I could if it indeed is so bad, is what I’m saying it’s gonna get worse.

And I should be able to tell the patient. Oh, my goodness, that number was a 55. Last time. It’s an at this time. That’s horrible. Yeah, fix this. Look on the screen. Look at that picture. Look how bad that’s getting are is does that not concern you? And if it doesn’t concern them, I just go Alright, but I’m, I’m like, at this point. Last time I was concerned this time, I’m really concerned. Now let’s say it’s a 31 on the diagnodent. And the next time it’s a 32. It would be it would be it would be making a mountain out of a molehill to be like, Oh my goodness, look at got one. Number one. It’s like interesting.

CHAD: How many how many docs have diagnodent?

REGAN: Hmm, that’s a really good question. Let’s say I’m just gonna guess, a quarter.

CHAD: I know my previous dentist did I know that the one that I had for forever did because he explained it to me. I’m not in a car metaphor, but it was similar. Am I messing up your number here The reason I want to get you back focused on your numbers is I am blown away. This is gonna be one of the best bonus podcasts I think ever by how you took one situation. And you were already laying out like a plan like a plan on on diagnosing like exactly what happened.

And poor Sarah, she’s trying to have dinner on the border, and I’m ordering my chimichanga then getting back to my email. And I know that sounds bad. I was just I don’t know if that’s the right word. I was very motivated to make sure to thoroughly respond to him. And everything that was coming to mind. I seriously felt like I had six or eight things. And honestly, I think my I had eight paragraphs when it was done writing out 1234567 Yeah. You know, like, with a closer, so I had like seven, seven, you know, paragraphs in a closer and every idea.

I was like, No, I can’t I can’t let that go. I’ve got it. And I probably would have remembered it later. But I was just like, I was hot on it. And so we had point number four is basically you know, like when someone hesitates, then then just just roll with it. I I did that the week before someone said, You know, I think I’d just rather wait and I go, we’ll wait with you. And hold on. But Dr. Paul homily brings that up, where it’s just like, we’ll wait with you, you and I, a lot of times, we’ll joke around, I’ll say, Hey, here’s the deal. If it gets that bad, you know where to find us? Right? You know, if not, we’ll see you back in six months. And if it does get that worse, then I’ll plead my case. And I’ll show you and if it’s convincing enough, I think you’ll be sold and if not, then we’ll keep waiting with you. And it what it takes the pressure off is I’m now the guide on trying to to be there.

There’s, you know, sage wisdom, but at the same time, not bad guy versus the good guy or the bearer of bad news. I’m simply just trying to advise them as I call it. And I explained to this patient before we get to points five and six I explained to him I said, you know, this is like an umpire that’s called in on the sixth inning halfway. And then the team that it was being called in favor for says, Well, why aren’t you jumping like the last guy? And it’s like, well, there’s a possibility number one that he wasn’t calling it right? Or there’s a possibility that I’m not calling it right.

Or maybe there’s a little bit of gray area where it’s not right versus wrong. It’s this, you know, it’s a lot more difficult than what you’re thinking it is. It’s not in the strike zone, out of the strike zone. It’s like, well, but you’ve seen umpires like, you know, they calibrate, but at the same time, like, do they calibrate within millimeters? Or a half an inch? Or why only millimeters wide? Why not? You know, micrometers? I mean, how much? layers have to –

REGAN: That is the engineering, you’re coming out. And that’s what’s really interesting. And I think that that in and of itself, we should write an article for you because it is you you said to me one time, he was about holding one of those really bright lights, like sending light? Yeah, transilluminator maybe I get a dog. That’s what I’m gonna name it.

CHAD: You were saying, You were telling me the story, and you were like, Well, I mean, is it? I can’t it says count to five will? Do I just count up? Do I hold on five? Yeah, the curing There we go. So do I hold for five. And it was like, the minutia that your brain goes through, it was quite fascinating, because that is not, that’s not how my, my brain never works, my like that my brain works within a margin of error. And it’s because in my in my job, the only thing, the only thing in my career, that has to be absolutely 100% precise as if I’m working in print. Because then it’s one and done, it’s not going to be redone, that is forever. But if it’s in the digital space, for example, there’s going to be a margin of error.

If I’m speaking to a group of people, there’s going to be a margin of error. And so I can kind of figure out what I can get away with in it. And what’s nice about that is I determine my margin of error. And I don’t usually have to walk somebody through that conversation with me to get them to say, Yes, I understand your margin of error, I accept your margin of error, and we go forward. And now you’re making it even more difficult, because now you’re, you’re telling me that they can control that margin of error. And the only thing that I can relate it to is, especially in the early days of designing, I would I would only show what I recommend. This is what I recommend, this is what my training recommends. This is what my experience recommends.

And a doctor would come back to me and say, Well, yeah, but I just don’t like that color. I just, you know what, I just don’t like it. I don’t have a reason, or I just don’t really care for that design. I can’t tell you why. But it just doesn’t pop. So can you do something different? But I don’t know what it just it just kind of like would would just dissolve into this unproductive mess. And, and, and for me, honestly, I mean, I love doing what I do. And I love being able to showcase and influence and get people in front of the right people, but I’m not. I’m not practicing physically practicing healthcare. It’s a different level of story. Yeah. Well, I’m gonna be very interested to see if he writes back, or if he’s you.

CHAD: Oh, yeah, me too. And you know what, um, to be fair, I guess I can’t blame him if he’s totally upset. And I did write back I said, You know, I guess if you How did I word it here. I said, I understand if you move on to another office. But that said, running the risk of yet another opinion. But remember that how you treat any condition when presented to you, it’s up to you, you know, like, basically, like, You’re in charge of your own mouth.

It’s okay, even if you get a third opinion, or a fifth opinion and stuff like that. So point number five that I wrote to the my associate, did we look over the dental history, and we went to the Kois course together? So this will, you know, matter, more, more people, but the question is, so he alluded to, he’s just like, I haven’t had a cavity forever. And you guys find a cavity? And so it’s like, did we look over the dental history? And were we respectful of that even in how we dialogued it? And so, you know, I said, you can get a good read from the hygienist also about the patient’s demeanor, like if we for some reason, didn’t have time to read that dental history. And point number six, it proves I said, words matter. But nonverbal communication matters more.

REGAN: Yes.

CHAD: So my last thing that I I wrote and I said, you know, I’ve been in your shoes and all these little fail failures helped create you into a better words, word Craftsman to handle each scenario as best as you can. But we have to keep telling these patients in particular the truth about their mouth. I hope that you can see in this email that I believe in you and I have your back. If he does, stick around and you see him again, find a nice way to state that you’re in charge. And we’ll continue to watch these. But I’m concerned about these readings being this way and that and that they’ve got worse because of this and that and explain those kind of things in the last 18 months, it’s got that way.

And sadly, this goes back to when we were talking with Anna Adams and Kelsey. I said, sadly, I get a pass sometimes, since I’m a guy and mid career, and I’m a bit older, and I have more experience. So right or wrong, people will take my confidence factor as the truth, just like they did with the old dentist. But you have to build that over the years so that they see it in your eyes. Yeah. And so that was my response to hers to just say listen to this isn’t, uh, you know, why did you do this? And we’ll talk about this. It’s just like, no, I, I more or less kind of want it to hurt just a smidge, too. That way. You can learn from it. And like, let’s let’s do this constructively. That’s all it was.

REGAN: I think I think it’s an incredible mentorship. piece. I think it’s a great coaching piece. I think it’s a great boss move. I mean, I think you did a great job. And I think the thoughtfulness is what I’m going to remember from this in this situation like that, you put that much thought into it, you really dissected it, and you really want to ensure that it can be a learning moment so that, you know when it does, because it will happen again, it will happen in the future.

Somebody’s going to you know, come through and be that way. I like you know, the confidence building is important when I was doing consulting outside of dentistry. And inside but I dyed my hair, you’ll probably remember it like fire orange, red. Well, yeah, remember that it was like bright carrot, orange, red. And I had that specifically because I was one short and two in the security industry. It’s nothing, it’s almost nothing but tall men. And I thought how am I going to get them to listen to me and understand that what I have to say matters and I can really help direct their conversations in the direction they want it to go. So I thought the only way to do that would be just to really flamboyantly be myself and demand attention basically demand attention.

And it worked. It worked great. I was never, never treat In fact, that was I was treated most respectfully in that in that essence, but I did you know, I did receive advice from from my mentor in that space that talked to me about how you know how I the words that I use, how I show up my body language all of those pieces and and I took it to heart so I hope your associate takes a turn and I can’t wait to hear how how this story you know.

CHAD: Like so my my second most senior my most senior associate I should say, You know my my right hand man, Dr. Emily, she’s a little Spitfire. I don’t listen, I’m six four. So I don’t know how to tell you how tall she is. But look at Atlanta dentistry in Des Moines, Iowa area. Okay, for Anna dentistry. She’s super small. I mean, I don’t know if she five foot is she five foot four somewhere?

REGAN: Is Shonda small?

CHAD: Yes, shes does even smaller my dentists. Because Sean does below five foot I think before 10 411. So but but Emily’s smaller and she’s petite and everything like that. And she’s younger and she looks young. So, but she doesn’t take flak from people. And she is a boss when it talks about confidence factor. So in other words, like if you’re just say, well, that’s just what females have to put up with. It’s like, No, I’m saying that’s what they they’re presented with. But she didn’t put up with that garbage. Yeah, and, and so it’s really cool. Because like, what I’m saying is you can also have victory in that it’s not like you have to be just like, like, well, I guess I’ll just put up with it for the next 15 years. Oh, no.

REGAN: Oh my gosh, no, my parents good friend Helene. She’s the same super petite, super petite 515 foot two, she ran a gigantic commercial construction company in Alaska for 30 years. And she showed up on work sites in high heels and sparkly belts. And she just put up with nothing. So I know and you don’t even have to be rude or mean about it. I’m not saying that, you know, you know, takes no prisoners. But like, but

CHAD: When you’re starting out your career like Dr. Anna, Dr. Kelsey, you know, your, your confidence does need to be built up. So I think this in that moment is I don’t know how long Dr. Han has been with you. But I think this in that moment could be one of those defining characteristics to help lend confidence and credibility to what she diagnosed. And I think you honored that and that was really cool.

REGAN: Right? And, you know, I hope that the listeners that are listening to this, you know, what is going to, you know, perhaps become a podcast here or after hours. Yes. that they’ll see the tie between you know, Dr. Anna and Dr. Kelsey, and when I had asked them, How would they deal with that this email is what I was thinking of, and I thought I didn’t want to bring it up and steal their spotlight but in a separate discussion right now we’re discussing, you know, this email and kind of diving into it more so I hope this was helpful to some.

And and I think the younger you are, the better or I should I even say if you’re looking at retiring This is what the younger people are dealing with. And if you want to help out number one, make sure that you’re mentoring in a, in a productive way that builds their confidence. And number two, be diagnosing to the risk factors that you should so that way when they step into it, you’re setting the bar the bar high, you’re not just giving everyone the pass of Hey, you don’t have any cavities. You don’t have any period disease. You don’t have any cavities. Either. You have a period disease, and then the next person goes in and gets whipped up, because they’re telling them the truth. Yeah. So that’s all I think this is a little

REGAN: You shouldn’t have to clean up the mess that somebody else leaves. Bye, bye sloppy diagnosing.

CHAD: That’s exactly, it.

REGAN: Well thanks for listening in everyone and we;ll see you next week on the Everyday Practices Podcast.

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Dr. Devin Giron
PDA Member Since 2018
Vida Dental Studio
Santa Fe, NM

Dr. Devin Giron's Experience with Productive Dentist Academy

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Dr. Anthony Baird
PDA Member Since 2019
Millcreek Family Dental
Bountiful, UT

Dr. Anthony Baird's Experience with Productive Dentist Academy

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Dr. Jon Ehlers
PDA Member Since 2022
Tiger Family Dental
Sedalia, MO

Dr. Jon Ehlers's Experience with Productive Dentist Academy

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Dr. Maggie Augustyn
PDA Member Since 2020
Happy Tooth
Elmhurst, IL

Dr. Maggie Augustyn's Experience with Productive Dentist Academy

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Drs. Clint & Kelly Euse
PDA Members Since 2008
Advanced Dentistry by Design
Carson City, NV

Dr. Drs. Clint & Kelly Euse's Experience with Productive Dentist Academy

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Accessibility On Our Website

We are committed to continuously improving access to our goods and services by individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to use any aspect of this website because of a disability, please call (800) 757-6077 and we will provide you with prompt personalized assistance.

If you have trouble seeing web pages, the US Social Security Administration offers these tips for optimizing your computer and browser to improve your online experience.

If you are looking for mouse and keyboard alternatives, speech recognition software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking may help you navigate web pages and online services. This software allows the user to move focus around a web page or application screen through voice controls.

If you are deaf or hard of hearing, there are several accessibility features available to you.

Closed Captioning
Closed captioning provides a transcript for the audio track of a video presentation that is synchronized with the video and audio tracks. Captions are generally visually displayed over the video, which benefits people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and anyone who cannot hear the audio due to noisy environments. Most of our website’s video content includes automated captions. Learn how to turn captioning on and off in YouTube.

Volume Controls
Your computer, tablet, or mobile device has volume control features. Each video and audio service has its own additional volume controls. Try adjusting both your device’s volume controls and your media players’ volume controls to optimize your listening experience.

Read More About Accessibility and Why It Matters

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Helpful Resources

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Podcasts

Self Reflection & the Dental Practice, Part 1 (E.239)

“There is nothing more heartbreaking than to witness somebody get...

Self Reflection & the Dental Practice, Part 1 (E.239) (featured image)

Handling Difficult Patient Encounters (E.265)

“Get rid of the need to be right.” ~Dr. Paul Etchison Ever had a...

Handling Difficult Patient Encounters (E.265) (featured image)

Preparing for the Sale of Your Dental Practice (E.142)

“Ninety-five percent of dentists cannot retire and maintain their...

Preparing for the Sale of Your Dental Practice (E.142) (featured image)
In the Press

I’ve Arrived: From $100 in the Bank to Generational Wealth in Less Than 3 Years.

from Dental Entrepreneur – Winter 2023 By Dr. Maggie Augustyn...

I’ve Arrived: From $100 in the Bank to Generational Wealth in Less Than 3 Years. (featured image)
From Our Blog

Why Every Dental Team Should Attend a Dental Workshop

In the fast-evolving dental profession of today, staying competitive...

Why Every Dental Team Should Attend a Dental Workshop (featured image)
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Your Privacy
Privacy Policy

This privacy notice discloses our privacy practices and the use of Google Analytics 4(GA4), an analytic advertising feature. This privacy notice applies solely to information collected by this website and the GA4 platform. It will notify you of the following:

  1. What personally identifiable information is collected from you through the website and GA4 platform, how it is used, and with whom it may be shared.
  2. The choices available to you regarding the use of your data.
  3. The security procedures in place to protect the misuse of your information.
  4. How you can correct any inaccuracies in the information.

Information Collection, Use, and Sharing

We only have access to/collect information that you voluntarily give us via email or other direct contact from you. We will not sell or rent this information to anyone.

We will use your information to respond to you, regarding the reason you contacted us. Unless you ask us not to, we may contact you via email in the future to tell you about specials, new products or services, or changes to this privacy policy.

While Productive Dentist Academy is the primary data controller, Google, in the context of providing Google Analytics service, acts as a data processor. We use Google Analytics 4, a widely recognized web analytics service provided by Google, Inc., to track user interactions and gather data for advertising purposes. As a third-party vendor, Google Analytics operates independently and maintains its own privacy policy, which can be found at https://policies.google.com/privacy. We carefully select our third-party vendors for their commitment to user privacy and adherence to data protection standards. As part of our ongoing commitment to your privacy, we implement measures to ensure that services like GA4 comply with our high standards of data protection.

GA4 collects certain personally identifiable information from you as you interact with our website. This information includes but is not limited to your device ID, IP address, and geographic location. The information collected through GA4 is used to analyze user behavior, optimize our website’s performance, and tailor our content to better serve your needs. This data is compiled and anonymized, ensuring that it cannot be linked back to individual users.

Please note that GA4 may share the information collected with Google and other third-party service providers to enable data processing and reporting on website usage. However, we will not sell, rent, or share your information, especially your personally identifiable information, with any third party outside of our organization.

Your Access to and Control Over Information

You have certain rights regarding the data collected by GA4. You have the right to do the following at any time by contacting us via the email address or phone number given on our website:

  • See what data we have about you, if any.
  • Have us delete any data we have about you.
  • Express any concern you have about our use of your data.

In addition to opting out of any future communications from us at any time, you may also opt out of the GA4 feature if you so choose. You can opt out of the GA4 Advertising Features we use through Ads Settings, Ad Settings for mobile apps, or through the NAI’s. This link points to Google Analytics’ currently available opt-outs for the web https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/ 

Security

We take precautions to protect your information. When you submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and offline. GA4 also follows industry best practices to protect your data both online and offline.

To ensure data protection while we are using GA4, we are implementing additional security measures that include and are not limited to:

  • limiting data access, 
  • using secure protocols, 
  • managing data sharing with Google

Wherever we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a lock icon in the address bar and looking for “https” at the beginning of the address of the Web page.

While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

Contact Us

If you have any concerns about the use of GA4 or believe that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, please contact us immediately. We are committed to addressing any privacy-related issues promptly and transparently.

By using our website and consenting to the use of GA4, you acknowledge and agree to the data collection and processing practices described in this notice. For more information about GA4 and its privacy practices, please review Google’s Privacy Policy on this link https://policies.google.com/privacy.

If you feel that we are not abiding by this privacy policy, you should contact us immediately.

Read More About Our Privacy Policy and Why It Matters

Terms of Service
Terms of Service

Entering this site or the links accessible through this site, you agree to be bound by this agreement. The information and the resources contained on and accessible through this site are made available by Productive Dentist Academy and/or its suppliers and vendors, and are subject to your agreement to their terms and conditions.

All contents copyright (c) Productive Dentist Academy

All rights reserved, Productive Dentist Academy makes this website available to all users for the sole purpose of providing educational information on health-related issues.

The accuracy of website, information, and resources identified are not warranted or guaranteed, or intended to be a substitute for professional health advice, to contradict health advice given, or for health care of any kind.

Your use of this website indicates your agreement to be bound by the Terms of Use and you expressly agree to be bound to the foregoing terms and conditions.

All materials on this website, including the site’s design, layout, and organization, are owned and copyrighted by Productive Dentist Academy, or its suppliers or vendors, and are protected by U.S. and international copyrights.

Material on this site may be used for personal use only. Commercial use of any sort is strictly prohibited.

Use of Resources & Information
This site may not be used as a supplement or alternative for health care, and is not intended and does not warrant or guarantee the quality or quantity of any services of any of the advertisers identified; further, the information provided is merely for educational purposes, and its accuracy is not guaranteed. Do not use this site as a substitute for health care. Please consult with your doctor or other health care provider regarding any health questions you may have. This site may not be used for health diagnosis or treatment. Do not use this site to disregard any health advice, nor to delay seeking health advice, because of something you read or see in this site.

You understand and agree that neither Productive Dentist Academy nor its suppliers or vendors or linked domain names are responsible or liable for any claim, loss, or damage of any kind, directly or indirectly resulting from your use of this site or the information or the resources contained on or accessible through it.

Productive Dentist Academy expressly disclaims any implied warranty or representation about the information or accuracy, relevance, completeness, timeliness or appropriateness for any particular purpose of any kind. Your use of this site is also subject to all additional disclaimers that may appear throughout the site.

Other Internet Sites Links
This site also includes links to other internet sites created and maintained by Productive Dentist Academy’s suppliers, vendors, affiliates, or subscribers. Be aware that Productive Dentist Academy does not control, makes no guarantees about, and disclaims any express or implied representations or warranties about the accuracy, relevance, completeness, timeliness or appropriateness for a particular purpose of the information or the resources contained on these or any other internet sites.

Further, the inclusion of these links is merely for your convenience and is not intended and does not reflect Productive Dentist Academy’s opinion on the accuracy or the importance of these other sites; further, Productive Dentist Academy does not endorse in any manner any of the views expressed in, or products or services offered by these other sites. All information in any site by Productive Dentist Academy, or associated or linked site, is extracted, read, used, or relied upon by you at your own risk.

Disclaimer of Warranty
Productive Dentist Academy and its suppliers and vendors disclaim all express or implied representations or warranties regarding the information, services, products, materials, and any other resources contained on or accessible through this site, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. All information provided by Productive Dentist Academy is made available “as is” and “as available” without warranty of any kind, or any express or implied promise, including, by way of example, its continuing availability.

Limitation of Liability
With respect to products, goods, or services purchased from any entity identified, listed, named or contacted through Productive Dentist Academy’s website, or any links to Productive Dentist Academy’s website, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall Productive Dentist Academy or its suppliers or vendors be liable for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, incidental, exemplary, contractual, or consequential damages, or any damages whatsoever of any kind, resulting from any loss, which by way of example, includes loss of use, loss of data, loss of profits, business interruption, litigation, or any other pecuniary loss, whether based on breach of contract, tort (including negligence), product liability, or otherwise, arising out of or in any way connected with the use or performance of this site, with the delay or inability to use this site, or with the provision of or failure to make available any information, services, products, materials, or other resources contained on or accessible through this site, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.

You acknowledge and agree that the limitations set forth above are elements of this agreement, and that this site would not be provided to you absent such limitations.

Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Productive Dentist Academy and its suppliers and vendors from any liability, loss, claim, and expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) related to your violation of this agreement or use of this site in any manner. Your use of this site shall constitute your acceptance of the terms of this Agreement, as revised and modified, if any, each time you access this site. Productive Dentist Academy may modify this agreement at any time, and such modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting of the modified agreement.

Miscellaneous
Productive Dentist Academy’s failure to insist upon strict enforcement of any provision(s) of this agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right.

This agreement and the resolution of any dispute related to this agreement or this site shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Washington, without giving effect to any principles or conflicts of law. Any legal action or proceeding between Productive Dentist Academy or its links, suppliers or vendors and you related to this agreement or this site shall be brought exclusively in a state or federal court of competent jurisdiction sitting in Skagit County, Washington.

Copyright
All materials on this website, including the site’s design, layout, and organization, are owned and copyrighted by Productive Dentist Academy or its suppliers or vendors, and are protected by U.S. and international copyrights.

Links
This site contains links to other sites. Productive Dentist Academy is not responsible for the privacy practices of other sites that are linked to us.

Questions
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding Productive Dentist Academy’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, please contact us.

Read More About Our Terms of Service and Why It Matters

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