Amy Dukoff
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 ATIENTS’
EXPECTATIONS can affect your procedure. Patients can be very demanding
and emotionally challenging. Despite their demands, it is important for
you to take control of the treatment plan for the patient. It can
be hard to perform the treatment that you know is needed when that treatment
will not totally satisfy the patient’s request. Usually, once patients
understand that you are providing care that they need in a way that will
benefit them and not you, it’s hard for them to argue.
Many times, patients will deliver an ultimatum,
declaring that if you don’t do as they say they’ll leave. Furthermore,
a patient may demand a specific outcome, and if you cannot promise that
outcome then the implied criticism is, “What kind of dentist could you
be?” Threats and other attempts to intimidate you can make you feel
as if you need to be 100 percent right, and yet it is our job to please
the patients. Ultimatums and implied put-downs are usually used to
manipulate us. It is hard to say no to a patient’s request when the
patient appeals to our ego and purse, but success in the long run is most
important.
In endodontics, one is faced with decisions each
day. The emergency visit can be the most challenging. Many
times, the patient will be in extreme pain and have to be seen immediately.
One will of course accommodate the patient as much as possible, and whenever
possible, and try to conform to his time constraints. However, there
are those patients who arrive demanding that the treatment be completed
in one visit, under their terms, with no concern for your schedule or or
even for the question of whether it would be best for them. It is
hard to be stern with a new patient, but in order to provide quality care
one must be firm. It is important that the doctor is comfortable
with performing his procedure rather than verbally agreeing to provide
care that he knows he should not be doing.
Patients need to be firmly and matter-of-factly
told of your procedure objectives for them. Furthermore, they need
you to tell them definitely what you plan to do and why it is good for
them to have the procedure done. Once the patient gains full and
unwavering confidence in you, the overall relationship will blossom.
January - March 2006
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Success
in the long run is most important.
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