Professional Courtesy: Fear Is Contagious—But Preventable by Dr. Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD

Election season will have wrapped up by the time you read this column, so you can dry your tears—of joy or sorrow, either way. Halloween and the run-up to the election made October one of the scariest months I can remember, so I thought it’d be a great opportunity to discuss fear. After all, when pollsters rank the things that scare the people most, dentists always rank high (alongside snakes, public speaking and confined spaces).

People fear the dentist for obvious reasons: invading their personal space, discomfort with procedures, and previous bad experiences. They’re all reasonable explanations for why people fear the dentist, but it’s time to confront our fears as dentists. We’ve been trained to live in fear since the first day of dental school, where we were afraid of failing classes or discovering we couldn’t perform procedures properly. I’d say that the fear stays with you long after graduation. Such as:

Fear of getting sued. Its official name is liticaphobia, and it influences nearly every decision we make in our practice, from employee discipline to the possibility of an adverse outcome from a dental procedure. These events are filled with land mines. Great documentation is our best friend and there are many resources at our disposal to keep this fear at bay.

Fear of procedure failure. We perform the same procedures on a routine basis, but things don’t always go as planned. Moisture contamination, a cracked tooth that’s worse than expected, or a patient who didn’t follow post-procedure instructions are just a few examples of how procedures can “fail.” Of course, failure isn’t the strict definition of what’s happened every time; rather, it’s how we feel when we repeat a procedure or replace a filling at no charge so we can “make it right.” This is just the way many dentists are wired.

Fear of business failure. When the new-patient flow is diminished or hygiene patients don’t keep their appointments, there’s a fear that the office may not survive. You start to wonder if it’s time for a career change, or just time to rejuvenate the practice with some new technology or a new procedure. As a business owner, I feel the burden of having other people who depend on me to make a living.

This list is starting to scare me, so I’ll stop it at three items that might contribute to your anxiety. Let’s discuss a plan to deal with them—and any other fears that might lurk inside your dentist brain: Organization and preparation are the enemies of fear, and they’ve served as my primary defense.

Dentistry demands that you perform the same procedure many times every day, week or month, but the circumstances are never the same. To some it seems easy and routine to be a dentist, but these people don’t understand the challenge to be consistent. This is the core of success, because you can have the most impact in this area.

While your colleagues are complaining about the next president, corporate dentistry, insurance companies or anything else that’s outside of your control, you should be laser-focused on delivering a consistent experience in your practice.

What is “consistent”? You identify and address the variables present in each patient experience, and address them in a way that ensures your patients have an excellent experience every time they visit your practice. This examination starts with the team members who answer the phones, seat the patients, provide hygiene services and process claims; it ends with your dentistry. You should review every procedure you perform on a regular basis and decide if you’re using the best materials and equipment. You should track those pesky “no-charge office visits,” when you see a patient to correct or address an imperfect outcome.

The new year is just around the corner, and taking a hard look inside your practice might be the best place to focus your resolutions. There are thousands of dental professionals online at Dentaltown.com ready to provide suggestions and help you conquer the fears you face every day.