How many treatment options should I present to a patient?
Three, ideally. Not four. Four makes the case more complex, and you do the patient no favors by piling on complexity when they are already deciding on something big. Three options sit in a sweet spot for how people actually make decisions, and it gives them room to choose up or down without feeling cornered. Sometimes the clinical reality only supports two, and that is fine, present two. But when you can responsibly build three, do it. This is something you decide at the sit-down review of the clinical data, not on the fly in the room. Map your three plans before the presentation so the conversation feels like guidance, not improvisation. Give them choice, keep it from sprawling, and you will close more of these than the dentist offering one take-it-or-leave-it plan.
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.