Maintaining proper oral health and hygiene is essential. Though most people learn standard practices like brushing, flossing, and rinsing daily, part of their oral care requires regular visits to the dentist. Unfortunately, some people overlook this vital fact and ultimately develop severe dental problems requiring invasive and extensive treatment procedures. Although there are many reasons for skipping dental visits, poor patient experience is often at the top of the list.
Problems At The Dentist’s Office
Believe it or not, many patients report issues with dental practices that result in them forgoing essential preventative care and treatment. Some of the most common complaints include:
- High treatment costs
- Long wait times
- Poor treatment by dentists and support staff
- Miscommunication between dentists and patients
- Painful procedures (prompting dental anxiety)
- Lengthy and multi-visit solutions
What Can You Do?
Whether you’ve heard these complaints about your dental practice or you simply wish to prevent negative feedback, there are things you can do to improve the patient experience. Continue reading for advice.
Lower The Cost of Your Services
It goes without saying that the operational costs of a dental practice are expensive. You and your staff also deserve to earn a decent salary. Be that as it may, when your services are too high, it can be more than your patients can handle. Therefore, you should consider practical ways to reduce your service rates.
Vamp up your marketing and education efforts on preventative care as it can reduce the need for patients to receive costly surgeries and treatment. You can consider adding to the list of insurance plans you accept. Another option is to create interest-free dental options that enable patients to break costly treatments into more manageable payments.
Streamline Or Enhance Processes For Fewer Visits And Wait Times
Multiple visits and long wait times are common complaints for dental patients. Time is precious to everyone, and as most people lead busy lifestyles, they don’t have much to spare. When they have to take time off from work several times or spend hours at the dentist’s office, it throws their schedule off, causing complications in their professional and personal lives.
Although treating patients thoroughly and ensuring you’ve covered every step is essential, there are ways you can save them time (without lessening the quality of care). Find effective ways to streamline processes. One example might include a patient portal allowing patients to complete forms and upload essential documents to save them time during intake.
Another suggestion might include hiring an oral surgeon and other dental specialists to reduce referrals and provide a one-stop shop for patients to get faster treatment. Lastly, transitioning to digital dental labs makes submitting and filling orders more efficient.
Prioritize Bedside Manner Amongst Staff
Your patients deserve to be treated with care when they visit your office. As oral care is invasive, sensitive, and commonly tied to anxiety and phobias, your staff must possess the necessary bedside manner to put patients’ minds at ease.
Although working in the healthcare industry can be stressful, part of being a good dentist (or support staff) is to be professional, empathetic, compassionate, and friendly. When hiring staff to join your practice, evaluate their customer service experience, communication, and interpersonal skills. You should also implement regular training to help you and your team improve your bedside manner.
Finally, if a patient complains about how they were treated, be accountable, investigate their concerns, and develop a solution to prevent the problem from happening in the future. Communicate the changes to your patients and encourage them to return for treatment.
You started your dental practice to help patients within your community improve their oral health and overall wellness. However, accomplishing this goal is impossible if your practice doesn’t provide top-notch patient experiences. While you may be unable to control all the issues patients have with visiting the dentist, you can take steps to improve your establishment. Use the advice above to implement strategies to give your patients the best care possible.
