Your patients are not different

It's an element of human nature that people find it very hard to admit mistakes.

There's a famous book called "Mistakes were made (but not by me)". In it the authors explain "why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decision and hurtful acts".

Whenever I meet a dentist who is failing frequently in treatment discussions with patients they always have a reason why it's not their fault:

• "My patients can't afford good treatment."

• "We're in an area with low dental IQ."

• "My patients prefer extractions and dentures." [What person in their right mind would prefer that?]

• "I explain the 27 things that can go wrong with a root filling and after that the patient just wants the tooth out."

• "My patients are different."

I hate to disillusion anyone but here is the truth: Your patients are not different.

Everywhere I have ever been people would rather keep their teeth. Also, people prefer good, long-lasting dentistry to short term patch ups. No exceptions.

The only reasons that people ever choose sub-optimal dentistry are either lack of understanding or lack of money. You can almost always fix the first reason and by staging treatment you can very often fix the second reason.