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Professional Courtesy: Trust Me, I'm a Doctor by Dr. Thomas Giacobbi

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Categories: Practice Management, HR and Accounting;
Dentaltown Magazine 

by Thomas Giacobbi, DDS, FAGD, editorial director

Each year, Gallup gathers data on the honesty and ethical standards of various professions. In the 2019 poll, dentistry ranked fifth (after nurses, engineers, medical doctors and pharmacists). Sixty-one percent of Americans said dentists’ honesty and ethical standards were “very high” or “high”; the score for nurses was 85%.

Our status as professionals provides some automatic trust, but we must actively build that trust with our patients because numerous outside forces are eroding trust in society. Some online “news” sources use media manipulation in their reporting, and deep fake technology allows for the seamless alteration of photos and videos that can lead us to question things that were previously considered “proof.” Now, body cams have become standard equipment for police officers and security cameras have been mounted in every conceivable public and private location—even our doorbells.

What are some of the factors at play once patients enter your dental practice? If you are a young dentist, they’re aware of the massive increase in the cost of education. Patients have always harbored some underlying skepticism about profit motives, and paying off a six-figure debt is a reasonable concern. Older dentists are not immune to the comments about income, but it usually takes the form of a comment about your vacation home, fancy car or kid’s education.

We know these insults are often a defense mechanism from anxious or financially stressed patients bracing for expensive solutions to their problems. Others may be influenced by comments posted under their Facebook status update (“Feeling sad, I just broke my tooth”). By the third comment, you may see ones that say, “My last dentist ripped me off ” or, “My friend had a broken tooth and instead of filling it, the dentist made her get a root canal and crown.” You get the idea.

While a patient’s concerns about finances are a big contributor to lack of trust, there are other factors at play. Prior bad experiences are typically at the top of the list. When a patient presents with complaints about his previous dentist, it’s time to take notes. Did the injection hurt last time, was the filling sensitive or did a procedure not turn out as expected? Clear communication and remembering the information your patient provided will lead to big dividends in your trust account.

So, how can you build that cryptocurrency of trust with your patients? Start very simply by meeting them where they live—with photo evidence. It’s instant Instagram. I take an intraoral photo of every tooth I treat and every problem that I discuss with a patient. If it can’t be seen in a photograph, then it might be visible in an X-ray.

If the problem is more esoteric, perhaps you could find an article online and print it for them to read at home. Why should you do a Google search for your patient? Because they’re going to do it when they get home anyway, and you’ll get to pick something from a reputable source. Of course, you don’t need to go this far in every case, but you know when you need it.

In other cases, you may find that a patient cannot accept the treatment despite the full-color photo you shared on the big TV screen. If that’s the case, then encourage them to wait it out and see if the problem goes away. I’m being a bit facetious, but I do think that some patients don’t appreciate your honesty until they find out that you are willing to do nothing.

How do you build trust with your patients? Do you think your new patients trust you more or less than they did five years ago? Share your thoughts and opinions under this column below. You can also reach me by email at tom@dentaltown.com.

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