If You're Happy and You Know it, Show Your Patients

A while ago my sister Nadia needed some restorative dental work and I arranged for her to see one of our faculty leaders, Dr. Gary DeWood, whom many of you know. Gary is an outstanding clinician and I have turned to him in the past to complete comprehensive restorations on my in-laws, who I am very close to, with tremendous success.

I knew Nadia would be happy with the results Gary delivered, and she was. But it was more than that.

"I knew I was going to get the best clinical care," she told me. "But what really made the whole experience great was Gary. I love his chairside manner, the way he communicates, and his obvious passion for dentistry."

She mentioned one example in particular of how his passion for the process inspired her. It was during the seating appointment when Gary was saying things like, "Look at that, what a great fit!" and "Perfect. Looks beautiful!" as he placed each restoration.

"I loved that he was so excited," Nadia told me. "I couldn't help but get excited too."

I asked Gary about that later, and he told me that was exactly how he felt about the case. He had gotten the work back from the Winter Lab and he was extremely pleased with the quality and really excited about how it all came together for the perfect result. And when he is truly excited about a patient's result, he lets them know it.

Are you still getting excited when you have a case that turns out exactly as you had hoped? And just as importantly, do you share that excitement with the patient? Generally speaking, when it comes to judging the results of dental work, most patients don't have an expert frame of reference. So a lot of how they feel about the final result can be influenced by how you feel about it.

If you're really happy with the way a case turned out, make sure you let the patient know. Your expert opinion counts for a lot, and enthusiasm is always contagious.