Changing Your Patients’ Story About Dentistry

Success in any business can come down to how you are perceived. That’s why billions are spent on advertising every year, and it’s why new companies put so much work into branding. They want to make sure they tell the right storyYou, on the other hand, have to deal with the fact that most patients already have a story about dentistry: that it’s uncomfortable, potentially painful, and possibly expensive.

Let’s face it, even the best patients—the ones who value dentistry, always keep their appointments, and accept your treatment recommendations—don’t really enjoy dental visits. Lying on your back with someone’s fingers (and various instruments) in your mouth is nobody’s idea of a good time, even if you recognize that the result is worth it. Dropping off dry cleaning is a chore and a nuisance. A dental appointment is more personally invasive and time-consuming and therefore it seems more inconvenient.

This has significant implications. When something is seen as uncomfortable and inconvenient, a whole set of negative mindsets gets attached to it. Mindsets around cost and insurance get attached. Mindsets around pain get attached. Just look at how many people joke about the pain of going to a dentist. Most of them have probably never experienced any significant discomfort during dental treatment—it’s just easy to play on that stereotype. It fits with the story they tell themselves.

This is what you are up against. And this is why I say being a great dentist has to be about more than being a great clinician; you have to be a great value-creator. This is why you need to put time into crafting the right patient experience. It’s why you have to go out of your way to introduce patients to any new technology you bring in, for instance, and explain the difference that technology is going to make from their perspective.

Dentistry today has the potential to literally change lives. But in many cases, before you can change a patient’s life, you have to change their story.