Simply focusing on fixing teeth day in and day out can quickly make for a bored practitioner. How many fillings and crowns can one do before the mundane routine robs them of their excitement and passion and replaces it with dread? Reignite and reenergize yourself by focusing on enhancing a patient’s smile rather than merely brining their gums and teeth to healthy.
Changing a person’s smile taps into their self-confidence and self-esteem. Smiling sends a message of happiness and acceptance and is the one thing that connects us all. Therefore, knowing the impact a smile can make, why not be sure we are helping our patients have the smile they want? (within our power of course!)
Here’s what you do:
Hand patient a mirror and say,
“Before I lay you back and examine all of your teeth I first want to hear about your smile. Tell me what you see, tell me what you like about your smile, then tell me what you don’t.”
Listen attentively while your dental assistant takes notes behind the patient.
Prompt the patient to share more by asking Empowering Questions such as:
“Tell me more about that.”
“What happens when you do that?”
“How does that make you feel?”
“If X, then what?”
When the patient is finished, take the mirror and say,
“Thanks so much for sharing. When I lay you back I’ll be sure to take a look to see what we can do to enhance those things you like and change those you don’t. We can discuss things more when I sit you back up. How does that sound?”
Have you used the Mirror Script in your practice? If so, tell us in the comments below how it went. Also, be sure to head over to our Resource Library for more examples of Empowering Questions as well as many other useful resources.