The Dental Myth That Never Dies

My patient cancelled her last appointment…”I forgot,” she said.

Considering her age (82) I accepted the memory breakdown.  She just needed a simple composite on her lateral incisor.

Another routine moment in a dental practice. Until I sensed some hesitation on her part.

So I asked if she had any reservations about the filling (it was clearly missing), and she said…”Well, I thought fillings last forever.”

And so, there it was…the dental myth that never dies.

So I took the opportunity to start a conversation about about this pervasive myth that most dentists have been fighting for years.

The heart and soul of a practice that believes in comprehensive care is these conversations that we get into with patients every day.

Business is a conversation.

During this particular conversation my patient learned the difference between the various materials available for treatment.  She also felt a lot better about the old dentistry that her brother had placed through the years.

She asked me to assess the rest of his work and how long I thought it would last.

Her brother did nice crown and bridge work that was holding up, and she felt good about that too.

Then she brought up her daughter who is in the middle of getting some older crowns replaced.  She had been wondering about that too…now she felt relieved.

All of these issues were generated from a mistaken belief and a good talk.

So I started to ask more patients about this myth…and lo and behold it was disturbingly popular…even in my practice.

Do a survey in your practice.  See what kinds of conversations a simple question can generate.  You may be surprised that it may lead to changing people’s beliefs about materials, hygiene and occlusion.

On my other blog CasePresenter.com I write a lot about getting our patients emotionally involved.  Destroying myths like these are quite emotional as you can tell by the “feeling” reactions of my 82 year old patient.Train everyone in your practice to open these conversations…especially the hygienists.

The Spear blog had a post concerning 5 Ways to Start a Conversation with Your Patient.  All of the suggestions were quite good.  But if you really want to home in on the subject at hand…destroying this myth is a good place to start.

It may also be good for dentistry…so many forces are out there teaching people things that are just wrong.  Start a grass roots campaign to help the profession.It’s worth repeating...Business is a conversation.