Why do I need to prepare patients for cost before the fee conversation?
Because an unprepared patient hears a big number as an ambush, and an ambushed patient says no. By the time you discuss fees, the patient should already sense that real treatment carries real cost. You build that across the whole process, not in one panicked sentence at the end. Every visit gives you a chance to seed it, to hint at the scope, to soften the eventual number so it lands as expected rather than shocking. The dentists who skip this are the ones who watch faces fall the moment money comes up. Think of it like warming an engine on a cold morning. You do not floor it from a dead start. You let it run a minute first. Prepare the patient for cost early, and the fee conversation stops being a cliff.
If the answers you are finding here resonate with you, my team and I work with a small group of clients each year. The next step is a complimentary Discovery Consultation and Practice Review with Dr. McAnally.