Maximize The Value of Your Dental Practice Today! | Schedule Consultation

Episode 137: The Only Thing Dentists Need to Say to End Patient Frustration

“When patients have to keep coming back because the ceramic shade isn’t right it’s very frustrating for you, but more so for your patients…this is why it’s so important for patients to know their risks.” ~Dr. Bruce B. Baird

As I keep repeating, your patient’s risk factors are not your problem but your patients don’t know that unless you tell them.

All they have are their own ideas of how long their dental work should take and when it takes longer they get frustrated and angry and blame you. 

I don’t know if you’ve ever had a patient with high aesthetic risk have to come in three or four times to get their ceramic matched. Of course, it’s frustrating for you but think about what your patient is feeling. What are they thinking when you’re trying their crown for the 3rd or 4th time? They think you don’t know what you’re doing, that you’re a terrible dentist. 

That is absolutely not the case. So how do you alleviate this problem?

The answer is simple: you have to In this podcast episode I’m going to share a few methods I learned over the years to set myself and my team up for success:

  • How to help patients understand their risks 
  • What to say when you share your treatment plan
  • Using patient education as a practice-building tool

Never miss an episode! Subscribe on iTunes & Spotify. Visit us at http://www.productivedentistpodcast.com

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Hello, this is Dr. Bruce Baird, of The Productive Dentist Podcast today we’re going to talk about the fourth risk factor, which is an aesthetic risk, and what do we mean by aesthetic risk? Well, when you have a patient that smiles, and they don’t show their teeth at all, that’s what you would call a low aesthetic risk. Somebody who just you could almost have any laboratory do the dentistry for you, you could have them, you know, you can have a crown that’s a different color, you can have crowns that have a metal collar to patients, or other people are never going to see it on that patient. So what’s the highest set of risk patients? Well, that’s when they smile so big, they show their gums, they you know, and as I go in through the risk factors with these patients that are high risk, I truthfully, don’t even talk to them about it if it’s low risk.

Because it’s not, it’s not a big deal but when you have a high aesthetic risk patient, it’s imperative that they understand that they’re high risk and I’ll tell you, I go back 30 years, and I’d have that patient with a big smile come in and I would go they broke their front tooth and they would say, Can you fix it? And I would say yeah, you know, we can fix it, it’s gonna be great, you know, I use a great lab and these guys are amazing and they’re going to do a great job and as matter of fact, the guy who developed the sunrise crown was my ceramics back years ago with gold with porcelain on it and did beautiful work but what we would do is I would take my shades, and I would prep the tooth, and we would go have the crown made, and it would come back and sometimes it’d be right on but as many of you know, you put it up there and you go Darn, you know, I didn’t catch the, you know, didn’t get the right Chroma on this.

It’s a little too bright, or it’s a little too down and so I would tell the patient, I said, You know what, let’s let me send it back to the lab. Let me make a change on this and I would tell him that and we would get it back and it still wouldn’t be quite right. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but so maybe the third time you’re sending them to the lab, and they’re doing a custom stain job right there in the office and Danny was great at doing that but when he passed away at a young age from pancreatic cancer, so I lost my ceramics but the same thing happened I you know, they’d go to another local lab and have them check and it would come back and it just wouldn’t be exactly a perfect match and that is that’s very frustrating for the dentist, but even more so frustrating for the patient. Because what did they think during that time? What are they thinking, as you’re trying it in for the third or fourth time? They think you don’t have a clue what you’re doing.

They think you are, you know, one of the worst dentists and I mean, it’s just they think you don’t know what you’re doing. Now. So how do you alleviate that problem? Well, I’ll very simply in talking to the patients about risk factors. I explained to them that they’re a high risk and I’ll say something like Maggie when you smile. You see everything you see your gums, you can see your teeth, you can see the edges of your teeth. So when we do this dentistry for you, on your front teeth, it has to be perfect. I mean it literally has to be perfect. Now I have some patients Maggie when they smile, you can’t even see their teeth, but you’re not one of those and so I have options as a dentist at that time. I used to charge one and a half times the cost. So if a crown was 1000, I would charge 1500. If it was 800, I charge 1200 and I tell the patient, you know, your teeth are gonna be a little more expensive because of that hot, big, big smile, but you have, it’s got to be perfect. My commitment to you is to make sure that it’s perfect. Now, it may take us longer, you know, it may not be an overnight deal, we may have to send you to the lab to have it done, we may have to, it may take three or four appointments.

So having said that, now the patient knows, it may take three or four visits in order to get this done correctly what is the patient think when you get it done the first visit or the second? First of all, they know they’re very difficult, but you know that you’re committed to giving them what they need, which is a beautiful crown that you can’t tell the difference between it and the teeth around it. Now, I’ve been very fortunate I’ve been using serif technology now for as most of you know, for four years but I didn’t do a lot of anteriors until probably the last eight years, and the software has gotten so good and I’m able to pick blokes I’ve learned to do custom staining myself and so when I’m sitting there with a Sirak, and I’ve told this patient is going to be extremely difficult, I don’t care if you use me for D or whatever scanning and sending it to a lab.

I don’t really care but my advantage over the competition and the other dentists around is, first of all, I can do the crowded one visit but I can also do custom staining and I can do it and I can do it where the patient is watching me and so now they look at it is wow. I mean, Dr. Baird and his team, and they really know what they’re doing and they go out and when they start talking to other patients, they’re saying, Oh, you’ve got to go see them. Because they can do the staining and you know, some people have a big high smile, they’re actually talking about risk factors to their friends, who they know have had dental issues. So it’s an absolutely amazing practice-building tool to be able to do it right there chairside even more. So it is the opportunity to set yourself apart, you know from other dentists, and I’m not trying to take anyone else’s patients but what I will tell you is I’m going to do the best dentistry that can possibly do. If I’m not good at staining, I’ll go to staining courses, I’ll go learn, I’ll go to Vita I’ll go to, you know, whoever I need to go to, to learn how to do it and that’s what I’ve done over the years. You know, there are actually some AACD fellows that were lab technicians before they became dentists.

So they’ve learned how to do that anybody can learn it, it just takes take some time. So these are the things that I look at when we are, you know, talking about the highest aesthetic risk patient. The other thing that you have to look at it, what about that patient that’s a high aesthetic risk that is losing their teeth, you know, from a denture standpoint, they’re going to lose their teeth, or what I call terminal dentition, they’re going to lose them. You have to be very, very aware and taking impressions on where you want that smile line to be and so what I’ll do is we’re taking impressions for, say dentures or whether it be immediate, whether it be,

gosh, whatever it is a hybrid bridge up top, all of these things come into play. Whenever you’re doing these, these are more complex type treatment plans. So let’s say first, if it’s a denture, if it’s a denture first, well, you know that they’re going to smile to a certain level. So you’re going to want to have that gingiva starting there but what about that hybrid bridge case? What if a person smiles with no teeth in and shows that upper ridge? What does that tell you? Well, what it tells me is, we’re going to have to do if I’m going to go with a hybrid that has to have, oh, 13 millimeters of thickness, I’m going to have to take away a bunch of bone. Now does that bother me to do that? I’m not really but I have to know that this patient when they smile, I got to have 13 millimeters above that. So those are things that are critical. It’s a matter of fact when I have a patient that has so much bone in many cases, I’ll do more of a crown and bridge truss type FP one where I’ll have more crown and bridge, I’ll put the implants in but it will be really no pink there because when they smile, they’re already showing it I would also rather do a little alveolar plasti so that that smile line is right at that level. I hope that makes sense.

So it’s extremely critical. In implant prosthetics. What I’ve seen is I’ve seen people and this is something you have to be very, very aware of If you go in and you’re saying, I’m just learning to do implants, I’m going to pop for implants up top, we’re going to get rid of the roof of the mouth for you and so you go in and you pop in the implants, and then you put your snaps on, and all of a sudden you realize Good grief when they smile. I mean, I can see all that pain, and it just doesn’t look good. How do I know these things? Well, I’ve done them, you know, and I’ve gone back and said, You know what, I don’t like the way this looks, let’s make some changes but the bad news is, if you’ve already put those implants in that position, you don’t have a lot of places to go, you know, without taking them out and then doing a significant alveolar plasti.

So I’m looking at smiles, and their smile risk very critically, when I’m doing any type of prosthetics that include implants. Because once those implants are in a certain spot, I’ve got it on patients and taken out all the implants that they’ve had on the upper ridge. Or even the lower, where I can now place implants at the right position so that if I’m going with snaps, say locators, or whatever type of stuff you have, I’m going to have good aesthetic results, because people don’t want to look like Mr. Ed, you know, with these teeth, you know, big old giant teeth, and that’s when they stand out. How many times have you had that happen often? So? Or have you had people say that hopefully you haven’t had teeth that look like way, but it’s critical in implant prosthetics?

The other areas that make a big difference are I’ve seen dentists and I’ve had patients walk in and their teeth are ugly as heck. They said, Yeah, had implants done, they snap them out and now what they’ve done is the dentists previously had put in four implants and made a bar, which they didn’t have enough room for snaps, but now they’ve added another two or three millimeters in a bar. With attachments, well, even using breed and attachments on the side where you’re not adding to the occlusion, it still can be a major problem on aesthetics. So if you’re doing a bar, a bar overdenture or snaps, those are great for those patients who’ve lost an enormous amount of vertical but when you’ve just done an immediate taken out teeth on somebody’s got to be aware of those things. It’s absolutely paramount, and it’s critical. So I had a patient years ago come in that had a maxillary sub subperiosteal implant in I don’t do maxillary subs, I’ve done probably 50 mandibular subperiosteal. That’s, that tells you how old I am.

So it’s this maxillary sub that was coming in and the thing had settled into the sinus. The patient came in, I didn’t know it is settled in the sinus at the time, but I had the patient come in and when they smiled, they couldn’t even put their lips together. Guess who they were pissed off at? They weren’t pissed off at the guy who did the subperiosteal they were pissed off at the dentist who did the teeth. So I said okay, I said we’ll take those out for me. You know, because they had, oh, ring attachments on this up.

I said take them out for me. She goes, Oh, I can’t take it out. I go, Wait a minute. Yeah, you can take it out. This lady had not taken the upper sub out, since she had it done for years. So I was like, okay, so we got it out, it was not a pretty picture. That’s when we found out the tissues were just, like, minced up and then, the patient was actually upset with the restorative dentists. When when I took that denture out and she smiled, I can see the framework of the sub. I mean, there’s no way that restorative dentists could be successful with the prosthetics being set up that way. So you know, just be aware of that aesthetic risk. It’s not unusual to have patients who, you know when you’d when I talked to them, and I explained that it’s going to be more costly, because of that they understand.

So I can charge a higher fee, the fact that I do pretty much all my own staining and custom staining, I usually don’t even charge them that extra fee, and I could if I was trying to, you know, nickel and dime if I’m sending the laboratory. I mean, the truth is you can send it to any ceramist in the world and have this work done as long as the patient’s paying for it. You know, I think in the past, I would go oh, I’m going to send him to this ceramics. I’ve never told him as a different cost and then here the bill would be and I’d be going like crap, I didn’t even make any money on this case and that happens a lot in the early stages in implant dentistry.

I remember Paul homily talking about, you know, these big cases are wonderful, but there’s a lot of people that aren’t making money doing and so you have to just really be aware of those things. So anyway, that’s today’s risk factor, which is an aesthetic risk, we’re gonna be talking about physiologic risk and some of the other risk factors that I’ve made up myself that I work with my patients on a day-to-day basis. So Hope you guys have a great day send me questions if you have to Bruce a productive dennis.com go to iTunes go to the store and register for the podcast I would really love it if you do that and tell your friends because we’d love to have them get involved. So talk to you next time.

Regan
Hello, Regan Robertson here from Productive Dentist Academy. Do you ever have that nagging feeling that you deserve more, more case acceptance more time with your family, and more profit without sacrificing excellent patient care? I have great news for you. You can join your favorite PDA podcast hosts Dr. Chad Johnson, Dr. Bruce B. Baird, Dr. Victoria Peterson, and myself at a PDA productivity workshop in 2023. This is a full emergency where we give you the resources and tools you desire. So you can align your team streamline your systems and consistently produce more without raising your fees and without more time in the chair. This is the nation’s number one dental business course and the best part is this program guarantees your dental practice growth. We have two events in 2023 March 2 to the fourth and September 28. To the 30th fair warning, these events get full quickly. March is already half full as I record this so grab your registration today. If you have to have it right now you can email directly Brent brent@productivedentist.com To save your seat and hurry these events fill fast.

Dr. Bruce Baird
Thank you for joining me for this episode of The Productive Dentist Podcast. If you found this episode helpful, make sure you subscribe, pass it along to a friend. Give us a like on iTunes and Spotify. Or drop me an email at podcast@productivedentist.com Don’t forget to check out other podcasts from the Productive Dentist Academy of productivedentist/podcast.com Join me again next week for another episode of the The Productive Dentist Podcast

Menu
Need help?
Accessibility
Accessibility Options
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

Appointments
Need help?

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Do not include sensitive personal, financial, or other confidential information (Social Security, account number, login, passwords, etc.). This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Helpful Resources

Below are links you may find helpful when scheduling an appointment with us.

Notifications
Podcasts

Episode 201 – Requested Replay: Setting Expectations for Your Team

“I struggled with setting expectations without being a prima donna...

Episode 201 – Requested Replay: Setting Expectations for Your Team (featured image)

Episode 227 – Big Hairy Audacious Goals

“How can you challenge yourself, and how can you commit to it so...

Episode 227 – Big Hairy Audacious Goals (featured image)

Episode 104 – Requested Replay: Why Team Members Leave

“68% of your employees leave because they didn’t get along with...

Episode 104 – Requested Replay: Why Team Members Leave (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

Investment Grade Practice™ News – February 2024

Dear Doctor, This year marks the 20th anniversary of Productive...

Investment Grade Practice™ News – February 2024 (featured image)
Follow Us On Social Media

Facebook

Stay informed on updates and upcoming events from our office.

LinkedIn

Connect and learn more about Productive Dentist Academy.

YouTube

Subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Instagram

View fun photos and follow our team on Instagram.

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

Search
Search the Website

Use keywords in the search box below to find what you're looking for.

Go to the Top of the Page