"Don't Tell Me to Floss!"
In the most recent survey on patient perceptions of dentistry, one of the clear findings was that patients do not want their dentist to tell them to floss (44% didn’t want to be told they needed X-rays either). Conversely in the same survey, 85% of the people said that they want their dentist to check the health of their gums. So where is the disconnect? If they want healthy gums, but they don’t want to be told to floss, are they crazy?
So the bottom line is that patients don’t want to be told anything. There’s a natural law that says we believe more the things we’ve discovered than the things told to us by others.
That’s why more often than not, when someone tells you about a good restaurant, the first thing you do is look at the restaurant’s online reviews because you want to see it for yourself. So how do you help your patients discover they have a problem versus telling them they have a problem?
So consider these 3 ways: what do they see, what do they hear and what do they feel?
Let’s start with what they hear.
We know that most patients want you to check the health of their gums. So what do they hear at the beginning of that process? And do they understand what you are doing?
There are 3 important things to know:
- You’re measuring, not probing. No one minds being measured. But there’s not a man or woman in America that would volunteer to be “probed.”
- You measure with a ruler, not a probe. Avoid at all costs any word that might be a trigger term that would evoke a negative emotional response like the word “probe.”
- Give the patient a word picture, an example or a metaphor that they can relate to that helps them understand what the goal is. A golf score might be relevant for some.
You might try something like this:
“We’re going to measure the health of your gums with this ruler, which has these marks on it. This is a little bit like golf—the lower the score, the better, and a 1, 2 or 3 usually means things are healthy. 4 and above there could be some cause for concern. Does that make sense?”
Before you start measuring, tell them they don’t need to listen and that you will go over everything with them when you are done. As you measure, make sure you say out loud every number. The power of Over Hear Psychology says that patients believe more what they overhear than what they actually hear. They will listen more intently and believe more what you tell them not to listen to than what you try and tell them directly.
Finally, when you discover the symptoms of disease never ever tell them they have a problem. Remember they don’t want to be told anything and they will believe more what they discover on their own. The best way to approach the topic is to ask “How long have you had this infection?” The patient’s response to that question will almost always be the same: “What infection?”
Now, they are asking you instead of you having to approach the topic by telling them something they don’t want to hear. They are asking you to tell them more instead of you having to tell them something they initially didn’t want to hear or had no interest in hearing.
Consider this simple example of the verbal skills that may be required today when discussing the importance of total oral health. More to come soon! For the complete inside look at the National Survey of Public Perceptions of Dentistry, download your free copy of “What Patients Really Want” The Public Opinion Survey on Dentistry and what you need to do now!”
Steven J. Anderson is the founder of numerous dental organizations including The Total Patient Service Institute that specializes creating high performance, case acceptance dental teams. For dates and locations of the next Total Patient Service “Total Immersion” experience, log onto www.totalpatientservice.com or call 1-877-399-8677.)