How to handle bargaining dental patients?

 Dealing with patients who haggle or bargain over the cost of their treatment can be challenging. Here are a few strategies you can use to handle this situation:

Be transparent: Clearly communicate the cost of treatment to the patient before any work is done. Provide them with a detailed treatment plan that includes the cost of each procedure. This can help prevent any surprises or misunderstandings after the treatment is complete.

Explain your policy: Make sure your patients are aware of your payment policy, including any fees for late payment or missed appointments.

Be empathetic: Listen to the patient's concerns and try to understand their situation. They may be facing financial difficulties or have other reasons for wanting to negotiate the price.

Offer options: If the patient is unable to pay the full cost of treatment, consider offering financing options or a payment plan.

Stand your ground: Be firm but respectful when discussing payment with the patient. If necessary, remind the patient of the value of the treatment they received and the cost of running your business.

Follow up: Make sure to follow up with the patient after the treatment to ensure that they are satisfied with the service and to remind them of the outstanding balance.

Be Professional: Be Professional at all times and avoid getting into personal arguments or confrontations with the patient.

It's important to remember that while you need to be mindful of your own financial needs, you should also strive to provide quality care and maintain positive relationships with your patients. 

How referral program could skyrocket your dental practice?

A referral program is a way to encourage current patients to refer friends and family to your clinic. Here are a few examples of how you could implement a referral program:

Offer a discount: Provide a discount on future services for patients who refer a new patient to your clinic. For example, offer $50 off their next cleaning for every new patient they refer.

Giveaway: Give a prize to patients who refer the most new patients within a certain period of time. For example, offer a gift card to a local restaurant to the patient who refers the most new patients in a month.

Loyalty rewards: Create a loyalty program that rewards patients for each referral they make. For example, offer a free cleaning for every five referrals a patient makes.

Send a thank you note: Show appreciation for patient referrals by sending a personal thank you note or a small gift.

Make it easy: Make it easy for patients to refer friends and family by providing referral cards or an online referral form.

Remember that the goal of a referral program is to make it as simple and rewarding as possible for your current patients to refer their friends and family to your clinic. These could help you to skyrocket your dental practice with a large proportion of your new patients coming through referrals. 

How to increase patients' flow in a dental clinic?

 

There are several strategies you can use to try to increase the number of patients visiting your dental clinic:

Marketing: Increase your visibility through online and offline marketing campaigns. Utilize social media, email campaigns, and local advertising to reach potential patients.

Referral program: Encourage current patients to refer friends and family to your clinic by offering incentives for successful referrals.

Special promotions: Offer special promotions, such as discounts or free consultations, to attract new patients.

Networking: Attend local networking events and conferences to connect with other dental professionals and potential patients.

Online reviews: Encourage satisfied patients to leave positive reviews on sites like Google and Yelp.

Collaboration: Partner with other medical or dental professionals in your area to cross-promote each other's services.

Improving services: Make sure that your services are up to date, with well-trained staff, clean and comfortable facilities, and cutting-edge technology.

Expand services: Offer additional services, such as cosmetic dentistry, orthodontics, or implant surgery to attract more patients.

Remember, it's important to track your progress, so you can measure the effectiveness of your efforts and make adjustments as needed.

It's also important to note that you should be compliant with the laws and regulations of your area and consult with experts to help you with the legal and financial aspects of expanding your business.

PGCEE MDS 2022: Inflammation and bleeding on probing around an implant are usually less than with natural teeth because:

 # Inflammation and bleeding on probing around an implant are usually less than with natural teeth because:

A. less plaque accumulation

B. less blood vessels

C. dense connective tissue with type III collagen

D. sulcus lining by keratinized mucosa

The correct answer is B. Less blood vessels.

Compared with an implant, the support system of a natural tooth is better designed to reduce the biomechanical forces distributed to the tooth/restoration and the crestal bone region. The periodontal membrane, biomechanical design of the tooth root and material, nerve and blood vessel complex, occlusal material (enamel) and surrounding type of bone blend to decrease the risk of occlusal overload to the natural tooth system.

Regardless of whether gingival health is relative to success, all dentists agree that the ideal soft tissue condition around an implant is an absence of inflammation. Radiographic bone loss and increased pocket depth have been correlated with sulcular bleeding. Therefore, the gingival status around an implant should be recorded and used to monitor the patient’s daily oral hygiene. However, surrounding soft tissues around implants have fewer blood vessels than teeth; therefore, inflammation is typically less around implants than around teeth.

Ref: DENTAL IMPLANT PROSTHETICS, SECOND EDITION, Carl E. Misch

PGCEE MDS 2022: Caries risk status for a DMFT score of 4 is:

 # Caries risk status for a DMFT score of 4 is:

A. Very low

B. Low

C. Moderate

D. High

The correct answer is C. Moderate.

The World Health Organization Global Data Bank (1995) shows that out of 178 countries for which data is available 25 percent were categorized as having very low levels of dental caries (DMFT 0.0 to 1.1), 42 percent as low (DMFT 1.2 to 2.6), 30 percent as moderate (DMFT 2.7 to 4.4) and 13 percent

as high (DMFT 4.5 to 6.5) and 2.1 percent countries as very high, i.e. 6.6.

Ref: A Textbook of  Public Health Dentistry, CM Marya

PGCEE MDS 2022: Parent child relationship has been described as:

 # Parent child relationship has been described as:

A. One tailed

B. Two tailed

C. Three tailed

D. Multi tailed

The correct answer is A. One tailed.

The home is the first school where a child learns to behave. All the home individuals influence the child’s behavior but none so much as the mother, e.g. in case of a broken home, the child may feel insecure, inferior, apathic and depressed. Mother child relation- ship has been described as one-tailed.

Ref: Shobha Tandon

Mallampati Classification : PGCEE MDS 2022

 # If base of uvula and soft palate are visualized on maximal mouth opening it is referred to as Mallampati  classification:

A. Class I

B. Class II

C. Class III

D. Class IV

The correct answer is C. Class III.

Visualization of the amount of posterior pharynx is important and correlates with the difficulty of intubation. Visualization of the pharynx can be obscured by the tongue, which also interferes with visualization of the larynx on laryngoscopy. 

The Mallampati classification is based on the structures visualized with maximal mouth opening and tongue protrusion in a sitting position.

Class I: Soft palate, fauces, uvula, and pillars are visualized

Class II: Soft palate, fauces, and a portion of uvula are visualized

Class III: Soft palate, the base of the uvula is visualized.

Class IV: Only the hard palate is visualized