In this brilliant TED talk, Sree Koka, a dentist and a prosthodontics expert, discussed how to emphasize with patients without teeth about their treatment options. Listen to this 14 minutes lecture, to serve your patients better.
Highlight in this talk include:
- Value-Based-Dentistry – that takes into account the patient’s preferences, beliefs and dreams.
- For example – the patient’s wishes to improve his appearance, his function (to speak better, to eat better, to get out of pain and feel more comfortable again)
- Value = Quality / Cost – which can be measured as follows:
- Quality combines measured outcome, service, safety
- Cost combines financial cost, (fear of pain), time and effort ( e.g. – required visits to the clinic, social costs (e.g. while teeth are still missing), and opportunity cost (e.g. – compared to alternative treatments)
- The Platinum Rule: When the patient asks “Doctor, what would you do if you were me?”
- try to spend time and learn more about the patient, so that you can recommend the best solution according to his own preferences, wishes and dreams.
- In other words, do not answer what is best for YOU, or for the AVERAGE patient, but rather focus on the patient in front of you, and what’s most likely to cater his personal needs and priorities.
- Ideal Physician Behaviors, according to interviews with thousands of patients, include: Empathetic, Respectful, Personal, Humane, Honest, Thorough and Confident.
- Note that the first 5 (out of 7) appreciated behaviors are directly related to (kind) behavior towards the patient, whereas only the last 2 are related to professional expertise.
Life without teeth influences much more than the ability to eat. It also, and MOSTLY, influences many other life quality aspects, such as self confidence and self esteem, job interview, the ability to dine with friends.
We hope this video will help you work closer and more empathetically with your patients, which in turn will enable you to provide better care, to win your patients hearts, and to successfully grow your clinic and enjoy on the way.
