As dentists, we invest significant time and money in our careers honing our clinical skills to deliver the very best treatment for our patients. However, when patients come to make a decision about smile enhancement, they have no way of judging your skill in teeth preparation or occlusion, for example. In fact, whenever a patient makes a decision about treatment it’s always a leap of faith for them – even if you have 100 diplomas on your clinic wall.
Fact: performing clinically excellent treatment isn’t enough to make your clinic successful
You want to not only provide your patient with effective clinical treatment, but also give them an experience that makes them comfortable and a new smile that will change their life. You want every patient to value your solution and accept treatment.
But how do you do this when you know that traditionally, patients see dental treatment as expensive, time-consuming and uncomfortable?
To increase case acceptance in your clinic, patients need to fall in love not only with your dentistry skills but with the way you present your treatment plan. The treatment presentation is the moment which makes your clinic successful or not, and it all hinges on how well you can explain it to your patients.
It might seem like only a small part of the whole patient journey, but if you compile a treatment plan presentation and fail to explain it with the importance and emotion it deserves, you’ll be straight back to step one with the next patient.
In Digital Smile Design, our methodology includes a tried-and-tested Emotional Presentation. This is a high-impact type of treatment plan presentation which takes our patient seamlessly through four journeys: the Emotional, the Problems, the Solutions, and the Financial.
A DSD Emotional Presentation is carefully structured with compelling visuals and explanations which allow patients to understand and value the treatment proposed.
This type of presentation is simple to compile and an effective way to help patients see:
👉 The life-changing impact their future smile will have
👉 Why they need the dental treatment
👉 How the treatment will be done and how it will help them
👉 The cost of the treatment
The Emotional Presentation shows your patient what you are able to do for them, leading to increased case acceptance.
This approach is no ordinary treatment presentation. And no dental course teaches dentists and their teams how to effectively do this. Here are four ways that it will help you connect better with your patients:
In your first and second appointment with a patient, it’s all about the emotional game – every detail adds up to form an overall positive or negative experience which ultimately leads to the patient accepting the treatment or walking away.
Your Emotional Presentation is a key part of this experience. In this presentation, you start by taking your patient on the ‘Emotional Journey’ – through photos and videos, you show them their new smile for the very first time.
This is a tremendously positive experience: we surprise them, excite them and let them emotionally connect with their new smile before treatment even begins.
Read more about why we love Emotional Presentations.
This treatment plan presentation is the very first point of contact your patient has with their new smile – as well as the future self they could become with this new smile. It’s a powerful moment… and you are the person who is making this happen for them!
This creates a strong link between the patient, you and your team, as you work towards a common goal that will have such a dramatic impact on their life.
Have you ever explained a treatment plan to a patient and seen them nodding along, even though you knew they didn’t understand what you were talking about?
Social convention and politeness often mean that our patients SAY they understand, even though they might not. But it is our responsibility to make sure that they fully recognize the need for treatment and how the solution will work, before they go ahead.
Your Emotional Presentation is the tool you need to do this. The second part of the presentation is the ‘Problem Journey’, in which you use x-rays, intraoral scans and photos to show, rather than tell, your patient what the current problems are. Speak less, show more!
Seeing is believing, and by gaining a full understanding of the problems, your patients will place higher value on the need for treatment. Then, you move on to explaining the ‘Solution Journey’, backed up by the expertise of the DSD Planning Center.
Your patient has never seen a treatment plan presentation like this before. They are used to a dentist explaining a treatment that they only half understand, and relying on them to deliver a result that they don’t get to see until the very end.
Your compelling visuals not only explain the need for treatment, they let your patient experience the life-changing impact of their future smile. This will deliver an experience that is truly one of a kind and demonstrate what you can deliver.
So, are you ready to see how high-impact treatment presentations can dramatically improve case acceptance in your clinic?
Download our step-by-step guide!
We’ve refined the process to save you time and effort. By following our simple template, you can put together powerful presentations quickly, easily – and with no technical knowledge necessary.
Simply follow the steps and ‘wow’ your patients with what you can do for them.
Download here 👇