How To Improve Patient Experience For Your Dental Practice

Going to the dentist tends to undesirable for many people, whether it be a fear of getting work done in their mouth or perhaps not enjoying the feeling of sitting and waiting in a dental office. Dentists understand that this can sometimes be the case and strive to improve the experience and their relationships with their patients. How exactly can that be done though? While it may not be possible to necessarily make a patient love going to the dentist, there are plenty of ways you can improve the experience your dental practice provides to your patients. Here are a few ways you can do so.

Have A Smooth Waiting Process

As with any type of doctor, dental offices can sometimes involve long waits in the lobby. For many, this can be the worst aspect of the entire visit. They don’t mind the actual process of getting their teeth checked and cleaned but instead hate having to wait in the office. For some, it feels like a waste of time. To others it’s an anxiety issue, having to sit there and wait to potentially get bad news about their teeth. It’s important to make the waiting process as smooth and quick as possible. Have a well thought out queuing system for getting patients checked in, whether it be a check-in kiosk or multiple receptionists who can help patients out. It’s also important to have some form of entertainment for patients as they wait, whether it be a television set up, or various magazines for them to read. This will help the wait feel faster than it probably is.

Chairside Efficiency

 As previously mentioned, patients tend to dread receiving dental treatment in any capacity. This is why it’s important that once you have them in the chair you focus on efficiency. There are various ways this can be done. First of all, be sure that you have any potential equipment and supplies you need ready to go and in the treatment room before your patient even sits down. This will ensure that anything you need is within arms reach and can speed up the process as well as show that you’re prepared and competent in your craft. It’s also important that you keep all of your more technical equipment up to date. This will tell patients that you’re serious about what you do and that you want to give them the best treatment available. 

Involve Your Patient

It’s important that you always do your best in involving the patient in their care. If you just perform procedures and do cleanings without explaining the what, why, and how of things, they won’t truly understand what it is that you’re doing and their overall experience could weaken. Be sure to discuss why certain things happen to their teeth, or why you’re performing certain procedures as well as how you’ll go about it. This will help your patient feel more control over the situation and their overall oral health.