Paul Newman said it best in the 1967 film, “Cool Hand Luke”: “What we have here is a failure to communicate”
So how do dentists avoid failing to communicate with their patients? Well….for better or worse, technology has entered the arena of dental communication.
Here are a few ways in which dentists and their staff will “attempt” to communicate with their patients: the time honored phone call, text, email, and..of course, my preferred, a good old face to face talk.
So…. do all patients like these forms of communication? Its hard for some dentists to accept, but text and email are not always a desired way for a dentist to communicate with their patients. Believe me… I understand! Phone calls are definitely more comfortable for some people. Fortunately, in most cases, all a patient usually has to do is let their denist know about their preferred preferences of communication and the dentist will avoid email and text with, hopefully, no problem. If you do appreciate emails and text messages, it sure can be a handy way to be reminded of an upcoming appointment!
I can’t close this blog without describing my favorite way to communicate with my patients: face to face. Something that I always appreciate is making eye contact with my patients. Eye contact allows me to understand what my patient’s concerns are and how I can best help them. After all, I am working in a very senstive area and I need to understand how to meet my patients’ needs.
Thanks for reading my blog. Hopefully we can all avoid a “failure to communicate,” no matter what the situation.