How do I find out if a patient’s view of their dental problem is realistic?
Most patients walk in with a story about their mouth that is either wildly understated or built on fear, and almost never accurate. Your job is to find the gap before you ever talk treatment. I use a written application the patient fills out, because what someone writes down is more honest than what they say across a desk while reading your face. It tells me how they see the problem, how big they think it is, and how long they have been living with it. Then I compare that to what the exam actually shows. That gap is gold. If they think it is minor and the films say otherwise, that is the conversation that matters. Find the gap first. You cannot move someone toward reality if you never measured the distance between where they think they are and where they actually stand.
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.