There are a number of reasons why there may be a breakdown in relationship between a patient and a dentist, these include:
1. Bad treatment experience with particular dentist
2. Felt rushed during previous appointments
3. Felt uncomfortable discussing options with dentist or pressured into accepting expensive treatment plans
4. Did not trust dentist for one reason or another
5. Put off by other areas of the practice, leading to a poor view of the practice even if got on well with dentist.
2. Felt rushed during previous appointments
3. Felt uncomfortable discussing options with dentist or pressured into accepting expensive treatment plans
4. Did not trust dentist for one reason or another
5. Put off by other areas of the practice, leading to a poor view of the practice even if got on well with dentist.
Bad experience
A bad experience during treatment, this usually means you were willing to go ahead with treatment with a particular dentist but something during this treatment has stopped you from returning. This can be anything from the following or more:
1. Experienced pain during treatment
How can this be overcome/understood?
2. Dentist continued treatment despite you wanting them to stop.
3. Treatment involved more than you thought, took a lot longer than you thought or needed more appointments than you thought.
4. The dentist said or did things during treatment that you deemed inappropriate.
This includes examples such as;
1. Experienced pain during treatment
- This can happen to any patient during a procedure. Different patients have different tolerances for pain and some patients will struggle to differ between pressure and pain; especially for a treatment they have not experienced before. It may be that an extraction was more sore on this occasion than with your previous dentist or that a root treatment almost made you jump out of the chair whereas your previous root treatment was pain free and done without any anaesthetic!
How can this be overcome/understood?
- First off, dentists do not want to hurt their patients, as dentists our main aim is to provide pain free and effective treatment for patients; but sometimes some discomfort is unavoidable or unexpected. An extraction may be much more difficult than a previous one or a tooth to be root treated much more sensitive than the previous one.
- First off you should call your dental practice and ask if you can speak to your dentist about your concerns or if you can arrange an appointment with your dentist to discuss your concerns.
- The majority of dentists will want to know why you are feeling what you are feeling and what they can do next time to ensure you have a good experience. They may not even realise this is the way you are feeling until you don't turn up for your next appointment.
- If they are not willing to discuss your concerns or problems directly on the phone at a separate appointment (or even over email) then you are best placed to find another dentist (either at the same practice or a different one) who will give the time to hear your concerns and help you reach your treatment goals.
2. Dentist continued treatment despite you wanting them to stop.
- This is a communication error on both parts but can be very traumatic for you patients as we fully understand. If this has happened at your previous visit or with a previous dentist do not assume it will always be the case. Your dentist will not always say to let them know if you want to stop at any time; but if this is on your mind then mention it to your dentist. Discuss your concerns in a normal conversation and decide on a signal e.g. putting your hand up, for when you want the dentist to stop and they will stop at this signal. So long as you can decide on this between you then both parties can complete the treatment and end in a much happier result.
- If you have spoken to your dentist about this and they continue to not stop when you make the signal then you should consider finding a new dentist who will respect your decisions either in the same practice or a different one in the area.
3. Treatment involved more than you thought, took a lot longer than you thought or needed more appointments than you thought.
- Again this boils down to communication. you may be surprised to discover that different patients want to know differing amount of information regarding their treatments. Some are happy to know how many appointments they will need and the cost whereas others will want to know every exact detail of what is involved and what to expect afterwards. Both these views are completely valid and your dentist will respect your wishes with regard to this so long as you let them know.
- If something takes longer than you thought or you seem to be having more done than you thought/agreed to then ask your dentist to stop and just explain again what they are doing, what the procedure is and be forthcoming about the exact amount of information you would like to know.
- Your dentist will have given you the information they think is suitable and necessary for you to know but they will be happy to discuss in more detail if you so wish. Alternatively if your dentist is telling you too much information then just tell them you don't want or need to know all this but you are happy for them to proceed with what was agreed and is necessary.
4. The dentist said or did things during treatment that you deemed inappropriate.
This includes examples such as;
- Speaking to nurse throughout treatment and seemed to not be concentrating on job at hand - This may happen in your practice and if you are concerned but otherwise happy with your dentist, tell the receptionist or practice manager or the dentist themselves if you are comfortable doing so and they will more than likely change this for your benefit
- Using instruments that are unrecognised and look dangerous - standard instruments are used by almost all dentists so if something is concerning you feel free to ask your dentist what it is, what it is used for and they will more than likely be happy to explain this to you to put your mind at rest.
- Not using safety glasses, mask, apron or other safety clothing - not all dentists or patients will wear different safety clothing/equipment but if you are at all concerned then discuss with your dentist or the practice manager in the first instance
- Taking x-rays and leaving the room when doing so - the radiation dose in taking x-rays is very little as described in the x-ray blog article but as dentists can take hundreds a week they leave the room to limit their own radiation dose, as you can imagine this dose adds up over the weeks, months and years so do not be alarmed.
Felt rushed during previous appointments
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There are a number of reasons for this and again communication on both parts is key.
reasons may be: 1. You were expecting your appointment to last longer - why was this? what has changed from your previous appointment? are you health service where you were previously a private patient? Were you expecting other things to happen during your appointment? if unhappy discuss with your dentist if comfortable doing so, otherwise tell your practice manager/receptionist and they will help you come to an understanding. 2. You felt the dentist did not care for you as an individual - if your dentists approach did not come across as very personal then again tell the receptionist/practice manager. It may be that the dentist is young and inexperienced, have a different approach to treatment to your previous dentist or simply that they are in fact rude, in which case it may be time to find a new dentist. 3. You felt your teeth were not checked thoroughly - Maybe your dentist was more gentle than your previous dentist or works at a faster pace but it is rare for your dentist not to check your teeth properly, again discuss with your dentist if you feel comfortable doing so or discuss with the receptionist or practice manager if you feel better doing this. |
4. You felt the dentist is just after your money and doesn't in fact care about your teeth - in the very rare case that this is true then find a different dentist, most of the time however; even if you think this is the case, it won't be and a simple discussion about it with your dentist or dental practice manager/receptionist will help remedy the situation.
5. You felt as you were late going into your appointment, your dentist is just rushing through patients to try and catch up - again communication here is key with either the dentist directly or the practice manager/receptionist. The dentist may well be running late and appear rushed but more often than not this may just appear the case as they are a little out of sync due to something unexpected happening earlier in the day and if you feel this way then a full discussion with the receptionist at the time or a call back from the dentist when they are not busy should remedy the situation. 6. You felt that the person before or after you; or your partner was in for much longer and yet was charged the same amount as you - This again is quite common and is often the case if you have very good teeth and recent x-rays already on file compared to someone with a lot of tooth decay without recent x-rays. Your check up fees may be a standard fee but it takes longer to check all their bad teeth as opposed to checking your very clean, caries/decay free teeth. Otherwise if you are not happy then discussion with practice manager/receptionist or dentist themselves if again indicated! |
Felt uncomfortable discussing options or did not trust dentist
Sometimes differing personalities may mean that you and your dentist cannot come to a mutual decision, the best way to proceed from here may be to find another dentist that you can be happy with treating you,once you have both tried your best to make the relationship work.
If you feel pressured into making a decision or accepting a certain treatment then let your dentist or receptionist/practice manager/nurse know. Dentists may not be natural salespeople and so they may come across in a way that they do not realise themselves is pushy or uncomfortable.
Always remember it is your decision at the end of the day, the dentist should give you all the possible options and prices and then it is upto you to make a decision, they may ask you to make appointments there and then so as you are not waiting for months to have your treatment completed or so as you do not forget to make the appointments later on, but you do not need to do this if you are uncomfortable doing so.
If you do not trust the dentist, ask yourself why; the reason has probably been explained in this article already and how to overcome it also.
If you feel pressured into making a decision or accepting a certain treatment then let your dentist or receptionist/practice manager/nurse know. Dentists may not be natural salespeople and so they may come across in a way that they do not realise themselves is pushy or uncomfortable.
Always remember it is your decision at the end of the day, the dentist should give you all the possible options and prices and then it is upto you to make a decision, they may ask you to make appointments there and then so as you are not waiting for months to have your treatment completed or so as you do not forget to make the appointments later on, but you do not need to do this if you are uncomfortable doing so.
If you do not trust the dentist, ask yourself why; the reason has probably been explained in this article already and how to overcome it also.
Put off by other areas of the practice, leading to a poor view of the practice even if got on well with dentist.
Here there is not a lot that you can do as a patient, you can make suggestions to your dental practice about improving decor, layout of the practice, tidying the outside of the practice etc.
some practices will have suggestion boxes where you can anonymously make suggestions. This really is down to the practice to make the decisions to improve the appearance of their practice. If you are happy with your dentist and have built trust with them then say to them directly that the appearance of certain areas of the practice almost put you off coming, be specific. If they do not make changes on the back of patient suggestions then it is upto you to decide whether to stick with them or find a new dentist.
some practices will have suggestion boxes where you can anonymously make suggestions. This really is down to the practice to make the decisions to improve the appearance of their practice. If you are happy with your dentist and have built trust with them then say to them directly that the appearance of certain areas of the practice almost put you off coming, be specific. If they do not make changes on the back of patient suggestions then it is upto you to decide whether to stick with them or find a new dentist.
Generally everything comes down to 3 main principles:
1. Good Communication on both parts; If you are unhappy with the input or communication from the dentist then increase your input or help them understand the situation by discussing all of your concerns or apprehensions with them or another team member who can help.
2. Almost all reasons for a breakdown in the dentist-patient relationship can be managed and overcome simply by full and frank discussion.
3. On the rare occasion that problems/concerns cannot be dealt with by good communication or you still feel your dentist does not value you as an individual patient then it is time to find another dentist who can offer you what you want or need. One dentist, no matter how good they are will not please everyone just as in every walk of life, if you are not a good match then simply find a new dentist where you will both be more content!
1. Good Communication on both parts; If you are unhappy with the input or communication from the dentist then increase your input or help them understand the situation by discussing all of your concerns or apprehensions with them or another team member who can help.
2. Almost all reasons for a breakdown in the dentist-patient relationship can be managed and overcome simply by full and frank discussion.
3. On the rare occasion that problems/concerns cannot be dealt with by good communication or you still feel your dentist does not value you as an individual patient then it is time to find another dentist who can offer you what you want or need. One dentist, no matter how good they are will not please everyone just as in every walk of life, if you are not a good match then simply find a new dentist where you will both be more content!
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