The Slow Consultation

Speed. Efficiency. Systemisation.

• I've tried the huge written plan with brochures.
• I've tried the confident suggestion.

However a few years ago, when I had a few patients that were unhappy with treatments that I did after a single consultation, and an economic downturn that left my practice with spaces all over the appointment book, I abandoned all the fancy methods.

I slowed down. Way down. From half-hour consults using a treatment coordinator, we went to having one hour consultations. In these longer slower consultations, I got to more fully understand exactly what the patient wanted. Deeply. So that we could tailor treatment to exactly what they wanted.

Instead of making quick decisions, we started to focus first on basic care before making decisions on bigger treatments.

"I know you want a nice smile, but I need to be sure your gum infection will heal before we can decide how to do this."

"Perhaps we get these three cavities fixed and that abscess managed before we plan your smile makeover".

Instead of making quick treatment plans, we started diagnosing which records would be necessary. Perhaps we needed a full perio chart, a conebeam, some oral hygiene instruction, a set of models and diagnostic waxup before we could make a proper decision. We would give a treatment plan for records to plan things precisely.

Sure we would mention the possible range of costs that the long term comprehensive treatment might be, but for now, we just stuck with the treatment plan of the basic care.

It was difficult at the start as no one was going ahead with any complex treatment. It was all just tiny treatments.

If you think about it, it is the ethical and professional way to treat a patient

However over six to twelve months something started to happen. Eventually those patients started coming back for their second consultation with all the gums healthy, the perio under control, the oral hygiene excellent, the caries risk managed. We would do a mock up from the waxup.

And now as the comprehensive plan was developed, the patients were much more comfortable to communicate both what they wanted and what they could afford. They had been thinking about the costs for months and now were past price-grief.

We could have a mature conversation about the risks in the short and long term. Likely long term costs of maintenance and repair.

This slow steady process of deep communication started resulting in the most comprehensive treatment planning I've ever done, and enormous acceptance rates! The acceptance rate was so high it has caused the problem of not being able to fit patients in for treatment for weeks if not months.

It turns out that there is no secret. Just dedication to making absolutely sure that your treatment is appropriate for your patient in the short and long term.

And taking time is important

Strangely, I've since learnt that in many industries they realise that most customers take 60 - 90 days before they can even make a decision about a purchase. In our practice, the average time from a new patient having a consultation with me, and the second consultation to finalise the comprehensive treatment plan is 4-5 months.

Slow and steady consultations win when you never want someone to leave unhappy

There are several more factors to achieving 95% treatment plan acceptance and I will address them over the next few weeks. If you found this useful, please make a comment, or share it. I will be covering this in Lisbon at RIPE together.

Coming next, we will explore price grief.