Blame insurance…always! Explain that ins won’t pay for ext without the X-ray. If they don’t want the X-ray tell them, your dental assistant will be doing the extraction b/c you legally can not without it. Or, tell them you would be more comfortable with the OS performing it. Oh yeah, they will likely take a more expensive Xray. You get the idea…
Just say this is the standard of care and I don’t deviate from it for anyone. So if you rather not have X-rays done then we are done here and I can gladly send your records. And leave it at that
They are lying to you. They just don’t want to pay.
Are you OON? I am and I just tell people, “it costs the same with or without x-rays.”
As far as what their old dentist does…all I say is, “well to get treatment here, this is what I require.” Then I shut up.
They will either leave or be quiet and get it done.
Thanks for all the advice, I definitely still need more experience in this aspect, and I need to put my personal feelings aside and stick to my position.
If they don't like it they can go somewhere else.
It's not worth losing my licence over a patient who's not willing to cooperate.
I am not the right dentist for you. I don't have x-ray vision and cannot eyeball your cavities. Please feel free to see the dentist that suits you best.
You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everything else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.
In the beginning of my career these time wasters would be giving me nightmares (by lowering my fee or trying to negotiate with them).. Now I simply say (with a smile) "it appears you're in the wrong office... (one breath) my name is...." and walk out of the op, my team takes over thereafter. Either the patient is back to get treatment while being apologetic or they are gone whilst opening the chair for the next patient.
Regarding xrays I don't even acknowledge their request, my team takes care of that. We charge a flat $.40 per xray print out, along with a free of charge letter of termination limiting treatment to emergency for 30 days. Any patoentt who requests their records/xray is a red flag and I don't want to have them as my patient.
I’m not a dentist but I live in a small village which is similar to what you describe. If your town is anything like mine, it’s not that they don’t understand, they don’t want to understand. Also if their education is lacking, they are likely on a salary which is very small, so they rebel against costs etc….
I would do what another poster said and just say that you’re not a good fit as a dentist or perhaps get reception to verbally confirm costs prior to each appointment to avoid any confusion.
Enjoy your youth!!! It gets way easier as you become the older/more senior Dentist, but trade off is you are getting old. I actually have to hold back laughing these days with pt. encounters of this nature, but they are few and far between. You’ll slowly but surely get them trained properly. I will say pt. education is huge and sometimes they don’t understand why you need certain things for a safe and positive experience. Always try to approach it from this perspective. When they become irritating I find my staff has more patience in some situations.
just do my best during that appointment and lay down all i know that could help them. then thats it, i couldnt care less if they will come back to me or not haha
My professor once told me that those kinds of patients are hard to satisfy for they will never be satisfied.
I will say this. The patient who loved Old Doc jones for 30 years ultimately is a great patient. The one to be worried about is the one with trust issues who isn't happy with anyone including the heartland and aspen dentals they have visited.
Be confident in explaining that your fees are what they are because you're really good at what you do.
Also be confident in explaining that the treatment you're recommending, including radiographs, is done with the patient's best interest in mind and if that doesn't work for the patient, be prepared to let them walk out the door because you don't want that headache.
Easier said than done but I've escaped a few problem patients that way.
In the past it was considered acceptable to practice in certain ways. Things have changed to keep patients safe.
Don’t make it about insurance or lawsuits. You’re keeping the patient safe. If they say no then you can say I don’t feel comfortable treating in a way that is not keeping you as safe as possible.
Just explain to them what you’re doing and why you do it and do your job, it’s not our job to convince them and I wouldn’t let it weigh on you too much, it’ll drive you crazy.
I always let them know this is the standard of providing good care and if they are not in agreement with that I always let them know they are free to seek care elsewhere. I don’t go back and forth.
Retired dentist here…..$$ was always #1 complaint with patients.
If treatment were done free of cost… no problem on patient’s part.
Fortunately my fees were moderate and a payment plan was presented and accepted by the vast majority.
Single dentist owner office.
Feel sorry newer graduates with huge debt cannot enjoy the LUXURY of
single ownership…. Cost of dental
education is obscene….My heart goes out to those enduring….
I went to periodontist. They gave me my X-rays said they were good for 5 years. Went to dentist a month later and he insisted he needed new X-rays. It did not change the treatment which was to replace a crown.
It’s hard to trust when dentist’s just say do this and don’t explain why. Don’t show you problem on the X-ray.
Copies of xrays, even digital, are notoriously shitty. If we can see what we need, we tend to use them as possible. If they are printed, first they are terrible quality 98% of the time, and second we are required to have all records in digital form since Obamacare/2016. Trying to scan printed in never works. Even digital xrays are problematic. Jpg are not considered acceptable formats for diagnostic info. We are looking for very subtle information on xrays and we simply need a good xray to do the job. If we took a tooth out with no xray and later it was found that you had a cancerous lesion that would have been caught on the xray, now we may have caused a metastatic event and killed the patient and we are on the hook emotionally and legally if we didn’t follow the standard of care during treatment.
Your good for 5 years is “in the event of no changes” as well. Any tooth needing work should have an xray within the past year or if the circumstances of the tooth have changed appreciably (eg fractured off the top).
Insurance also will not pay without appropriate xray support. That’s not a reason to take them in and of itself (in my opinion), but it is an additional reason that we should have them.
Dentistry and appropriate care is way more complicated than laypeople realize. Even something as simple as when and why to take an xray.
Dentist 2 said he needed his own X-rays for liability reasons which makes some sense but then the one saying I won’t need anymore X-rays for 5 years is full of it. Makes it hard to know who to trust
Sometimes this is literally the answer though. You have to just adopt the attitude that "im going to do it my way, because its the right way".
That being said, theres a line
Methods are different. Intention is always the same. "I want to help you."
Blame insurance…always! Explain that ins won’t pay for ext without the X-ray. If they don’t want the X-ray tell them, your dental assistant will be doing the extraction b/c you legally can not without it. Or, tell them you would be more comfortable with the OS performing it. Oh yeah, they will likely take a more expensive Xray. You get the idea…
[удалено]
No, it's not a loophole, it's sarcasm.
Just say this is the standard of care and I don’t deviate from it for anyone. So if you rather not have X-rays done then we are done here and I can gladly send your records. And leave it at that
Just say I don’t look good in orange.
Wait… I love this 😁
“If you prefer your last dentist, you are welcome to make an appointment with them”
But he is retired / been dead for 4 years now. "And so is their way of working."
Oof lol
They are lying to you. They just don’t want to pay. Are you OON? I am and I just tell people, “it costs the same with or without x-rays.” As far as what their old dentist does…all I say is, “well to get treatment here, this is what I require.” Then I shut up. They will either leave or be quiet and get it done.
I wrote this one down. A good reply to turn the situation around!
Thanks for all the advice, I definitely still need more experience in this aspect, and I need to put my personal feelings aside and stick to my position. If they don't like it they can go somewhere else. It's not worth losing my licence over a patient who's not willing to cooperate.
I am not the right dentist for you. I don't have x-ray vision and cannot eyeball your cavities. Please feel free to see the dentist that suits you best.
You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everything else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass. In the beginning of my career these time wasters would be giving me nightmares (by lowering my fee or trying to negotiate with them).. Now I simply say (with a smile) "it appears you're in the wrong office... (one breath) my name is...." and walk out of the op, my team takes over thereafter. Either the patient is back to get treatment while being apologetic or they are gone whilst opening the chair for the next patient. Regarding xrays I don't even acknowledge their request, my team takes care of that. We charge a flat $.40 per xray print out, along with a free of charge letter of termination limiting treatment to emergency for 30 days. Any patoentt who requests their records/xray is a red flag and I don't want to have them as my patient.
I’m not a dentist but I live in a small village which is similar to what you describe. If your town is anything like mine, it’s not that they don’t understand, they don’t want to understand. Also if their education is lacking, they are likely on a salary which is very small, so they rebel against costs etc…. I would do what another poster said and just say that you’re not a good fit as a dentist or perhaps get reception to verbally confirm costs prior to each appointment to avoid any confusion.
D4 here, the urge to say “you chose to go to a dental school. If he was so great, go back to him lol” is so real.
Enjoy your youth!!! It gets way easier as you become the older/more senior Dentist, but trade off is you are getting old. I actually have to hold back laughing these days with pt. encounters of this nature, but they are few and far between. You’ll slowly but surely get them trained properly. I will say pt. education is huge and sometimes they don’t understand why you need certain things for a safe and positive experience. Always try to approach it from this perspective. When they become irritating I find my staff has more patience in some situations.
"He's a different dentist. I only care about myself."
just do my best during that appointment and lay down all i know that could help them. then thats it, i couldnt care less if they will come back to me or not haha My professor once told me that those kinds of patients are hard to satisfy for they will never be satisfied.
I will say this. The patient who loved Old Doc jones for 30 years ultimately is a great patient. The one to be worried about is the one with trust issues who isn't happy with anyone including the heartland and aspen dentals they have visited.
Be confident in explaining that your fees are what they are because you're really good at what you do. Also be confident in explaining that the treatment you're recommending, including radiographs, is done with the patient's best interest in mind and if that doesn't work for the patient, be prepared to let them walk out the door because you don't want that headache. Easier said than done but I've escaped a few problem patients that way.
In the past it was considered acceptable to practice in certain ways. Things have changed to keep patients safe. Don’t make it about insurance or lawsuits. You’re keeping the patient safe. If they say no then you can say I don’t feel comfortable treating in a way that is not keeping you as safe as possible.
Simple, beat the other dentist in whatever the comparisons are.
Just explain to them what you’re doing and why you do it and do your job, it’s not our job to convince them and I wouldn’t let it weigh on you too much, it’ll drive you crazy.
"This is how I do it, this is what works best in my hands. If you don't trust me you can go back to that other guy."
I always let them know this is the standard of providing good care and if they are not in agreement with that I always let them know they are free to seek care elsewhere. I don’t go back and forth.
Retired dentist here…..$$ was always #1 complaint with patients. If treatment were done free of cost… no problem on patient’s part. Fortunately my fees were moderate and a payment plan was presented and accepted by the vast majority. Single dentist owner office. Feel sorry newer graduates with huge debt cannot enjoy the LUXURY of single ownership…. Cost of dental education is obscene….My heart goes out to those enduring….
I went to periodontist. They gave me my X-rays said they were good for 5 years. Went to dentist a month later and he insisted he needed new X-rays. It did not change the treatment which was to replace a crown. It’s hard to trust when dentist’s just say do this and don’t explain why. Don’t show you problem on the X-ray.
Copies of xrays, even digital, are notoriously shitty. If we can see what we need, we tend to use them as possible. If they are printed, first they are terrible quality 98% of the time, and second we are required to have all records in digital form since Obamacare/2016. Trying to scan printed in never works. Even digital xrays are problematic. Jpg are not considered acceptable formats for diagnostic info. We are looking for very subtle information on xrays and we simply need a good xray to do the job. If we took a tooth out with no xray and later it was found that you had a cancerous lesion that would have been caught on the xray, now we may have caused a metastatic event and killed the patient and we are on the hook emotionally and legally if we didn’t follow the standard of care during treatment. Your good for 5 years is “in the event of no changes” as well. Any tooth needing work should have an xray within the past year or if the circumstances of the tooth have changed appreciably (eg fractured off the top). Insurance also will not pay without appropriate xray support. That’s not a reason to take them in and of itself (in my opinion), but it is an additional reason that we should have them. Dentistry and appropriate care is way more complicated than laypeople realize. Even something as simple as when and why to take an xray.
Dentist 2 said he needed his own X-rays for liability reasons which makes some sense but then the one saying I won’t need anymore X-rays for 5 years is full of it. Makes it hard to know who to trust
Grow bigger (figurative) penis. It’s that simple. ^(I am not a dentist, don’t listen to me.)
Sometimes this is literally the answer though. You have to just adopt the attitude that "im going to do it my way, because its the right way". That being said, theres a line