Dentaltown July 2013 - (Page 20)

howard speaks column » Quit Rambling On by Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, Publisher, Dentaltown Magazine In 1980, when I was a freshman at Creighton University, one of our professors told us we’d earn 10 extra credit points if we went to see Warren Buffett speak when he visited our campus. One of the clearest things I remember Buffett say to the crowd was when someone pitches him an idea for something in which they wanted him to invest, he would hand that person a 4x6 recipe card and a No. 2 pencil and ask them to explain their entire idea on the card. He said 90 percent of those people couldn’t do it. This doesn’t just apply to investing, gang – this applies to dentistry! Dental manufacturers will call my practice and try to sell their products to us. We’ll tell them, “For a product to be successful, it has to meet four criteria; it has to be faster, easier, higher in quality and lower in cost.” Many of them can’t explain their products to me with those four simple criteria in mind. In fact a few weeks ago, just out of morbid curiosity, I listened to someone pitch an idea for one hour and 45 minutes. Even after all the time my team and I spent with the salesman we still had no idea what the value proposition was. It blew my mind! It doesn’t just stop at dental manufacturers, though - this also applies to treatment plans. If you can’t explain to your patients what they need on a 4x6 index card, you fail at presenting treatments. Period. Effectively presenting a treatment plan to your patients is one of the most serious aspects of dentistry. It can be the difference between a dentist who treats one-third of the caries in his or her practice to a dentist who treats twothirds or better. In the best dental practices, treatment plan presentations are typically done by a staff member; someone who can speak your patients’ language and sell the necessary dentistry. In other practices, what you often see are dentists rambling on, trying to explain what’s going on in their patients’ mouths. The patient has a toothache and the dentist says, “You have irreversible pulpitis. You’ll need endodontic therapy, post build-up and a fullcoverage restoration.” And then the dentist opens up a computer program and jumps into a giant, in-depth, scientific lecture about what a root canal is, what it does, what can go wrong, etc. Forty-five minutes later, the dentist asks, “Any questions?” and the patient looks like she got run over by a truck with no real comprehension of what just occurred. The best treatment plans are simple and explained in ways patients can understand them. The reason Christianity thrived was because the religion was recited in short, simple, understandable parables - and there was a point to each one of them! Stop complicating things and get someone on your team to explain treatment plans to your patients in the simplest terms. Your treatment plan also needs to be interactive. You need to follow your patients’ cues. When you talk to someone and they break eye contact with you, it means their mind is processing. When they do this, you need to stop what you’re saying and let them process. More often than not, they’ll respond with one of the following: “How much is it?” “Will my insurance pay for it?” “When would you do it?” “How long will it take?” “Will it hurt?” or “Will I need antibiotics?” What matters is you listen to their concerns, explain it in plain English and cut to the chase. I have had several patients come to my practice after they visited other offices to address their loose-fitting denture. In literally two minutes, I present the choices by saying, “Well you’ve got just a few options here. One, we can do nothing. Two, we can re-line it. With a reline, you drop it off at eight in the morning and you come back and pick it up at the end of the day. Three, we can make you a new denture. The fourth option, which would be a lot better, involves implants. We can put two of these little titanium screws into your jaw where the denture snaps on and stays in place. Better yet, we can continued on page 22 20 JULY 2013 » dentaltown.com http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown July 2013

Dentaltown.com Highlights
Howard Speaks: Quit Rambling On
Professional Courtesy: New Patients with Baggage
Second Opinion: Radiation Minimization – “Are We There Yet?”
Is Anyone Really Cementing e.max with RMGI?
Please Critique My “Breakaway” Office Design
Surely People Don’t Die from Tooth Decay?
Townie Choice Awards Preview: Dentistry’s Official Gear Guide
Corporate Profile: Gendex
What’s On Your Tray? Endodontics
Product Profile: Synergy
Do-it-Yourself Finance, Part VIII: It’s Retirement Time! How Do I Get My Money?
Dental Education by Circuit Training
Everyday Dentistry with CAD/CAM and Lithium Disilicate
Ad Index
Maximizing Anterior Design for Predictable Results in a Six-unit Anterior Makeover
In This Issue: Dental Hygiene Diagnosis
Perio Reports
Continuing Education Periodontal Probes: An Overview of History, Evolution and Clinical Technique
Dentally Incorrect

Dentaltown July 2013