Right from day one I tried to have a very academic perfectionist approach to my practice. And right from day one most patients appreciated it.
In fact, the high point of my career is when three senior General practitioners of my locality individually separately appreciated my approach to practice when I met them in association gatherings.
But to my surprise there is a class of patients who in fact do not appreciate this. They equate speed with effectiveness. They view as dentist who works step- by -step academically as incompetent.
Off & on I get such patients.
Now the irony is that these patients have come to me on hearing avert my approach to clinical practice. But on entering the clinic they want a quick fix.
The problem is widespread and the reasons for the same are multiple.
Herein, I would like to elaborate my views on the same.
There are certain loss of patients who equate quality with speed. They feel that a dentist who works meticulously with attention to detail is an incompetent dentist.
There are so many dentists in every locality who offer a quick fix & cover it up with sweet talk & less charges.
Because of the inherent resistance of the body these dentists are able to get away with shoddy work. But the patients of these dentists are not aware of the sub-optimal dental treatment done for them. Thereafter, they view the dentist who does a meticulous, step by step approach with contempt.
So the causes of patient demanding quick treatments are multifactorial.
MANAGEMENT :-
To begin with most of these cases respond very well with just slight explanation & counseling. They appreciate the dentist hard work & academic approach.
There are some obstinate patients.
They need to be recognized ASAP. Once you start the treatment these patients create nuisance & at times havoc.
To manage such patients a dentist to have plenty of systems in place.
There are class of patients who genuinely require dental treatment to be completed early.
Some of them are
1. Pregnant women
2. Patients with medical problem.
3. Patients with limited mobility
4. Handicapped Patients
5. Patients who are staying far away from this clinic.
There is a distinct class of patients who request treatment to be completed early due to a different set of reasons.
1. Some women cannot spore more time due to familiar issues.
2. Exam going students.
Dentist must also keep in mind that some patients request early completion of treatment as they are not comfortable with the auxiliary staff of the clinic for genuine or frivolous reasons.
In my career however once in a while I come across patients who sermonize me to complete their treatment fast. Basically these patients are nasty patients and bad hearted human beings & compulsive sermonizers who sermonize to complete the treatment fast since they do not have anything to sermonize about.
Nothing can be done for such negative human beings. Phase them out as soon as possible and hope they dont come back again.
