Comments on The Daily Grind: You know, that patient.

Thank you all for commenting. I had a feeling thi...

2009-06-05T10:53:14.354-05:00

Thank you all for commenting.
I had a feeling this would hit home for a lot of us.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
john

I have been practicing general dentistry for 14 ye...

2009-06-04T14:34:13.403-05:00

I have been practicing general dentistry for 14 years and have had similar experiences. I can see that you put 100% of your energy and good will into your patients but sometimes those patients won't recognize your efforts and may even blame you for their problems. My advice to you is to LET THEM GO. Don't own their problems. If they don't care about their teeth, why should you?

Well if you haven't done any work it is easier to ...

2009-06-04T12:29:15.827-05:00

Well if you haven't done any work it is easier to discharge someone. Then you have not started treatment. Obviously you cannot go around discharging patients all the time. But the fact is that if a patients is not going to do the treatment that you think is needed to avoid pain or loss of teeth then they need to see someone else. Both you and the patient must feel comfortable, respect and

I recently dismissed a patient that had been a pat...

2009-06-04T10:55:14.261-05:00

I recently dismissed a patient that had been a patient for many years. Whenever her name was on the schedule, the staff always said, "Oh no, not her!" She came in recently and wanted a nightguard. We took iimpressions and then at the next appointment, she said,"No I had wanted a retainer", which was not what she had said at the previous appointment. We retook impressions

I totally agree. But for me my problem becomes w...

2009-06-04T08:25:16.687-05:00

I totally agree.
But for me my problem becomes when I haven't done any work and they are in a holding pattern in hygiene.
I don't want to do any work on them and quite frankly they don't want any work.
Then a front tooth needs to come out.
This patient still doesn't give a crap about their teeth but they want something done. Do you send this patient

You certainly have more patients than I would. Som...

2009-06-03T22:18:23.652-05:00

You certainly have more patients than I would. Some people just don't care. My approach is if you are civil and care about your own dental heath I will bend over backwards to help. If you don't care about yourself then neither do I. I would have sent this person a discharge letter instead of a treatment plan.
I bet in a few years what you did will fail due to neglect on the patients

There are too many patients that won't take respon...

2009-06-03T20:15:22.800-05:00

There are too many patients that won't take responsibility for their own health. I try to weed them out during the first phase of their treatment (simple restorative,hygiene, endo and exo). If they are not motivated, I won't start crown and bridge or implant treatment. Too risky for the patient and the dentist. I want to sleep at night.