People love to buy. They hate to be sold.

There's a fundamental attitude that many dentists get wrong — they constantly recommend things to patients:

• "You should have a crown on that tooth."

• "You need an implant."

• "You must save that tooth."

• And so on...

And, once you recommend something you place yourself in the position of having to justify to the patient why your recommendation is correct. This leads you to start pushing for an outcome which means that you're selling dentistry.

But people love to buy, they hate to be sold.

When you try to sell dentistry to a patient it has undesirable consequences, notably, you feel anxious and the patient feels pressured. You run the risk of losing the patient's trust and goodwill. They may even leave the practice.So, what's the alternative?Is there a way to allow a patient to "buy" good dentistry without the risks and pressures that trying to "sell" dentistry entails.Yes, there is! More on that next week.