Should I ask patients about their timeframe for starting implant treatment?
Yes, and ask it two ways, because people think about time very differently. First question, do you have a timeframe for when you want to start this treatment? Then the flip side, do you have a deadline you have to be finished by? Those sound similar but they pull different answers out of different people. Some folks plan from the start date forward. Others, like me, lock onto a deadline and work backwards from it. You have no way of knowing which kind of person is in your chair, so you ask both and let them tell you. The answers reveal whether they are ready to move soon or just kicking tires, and whether something real is pushing them. That tells you how hard to press on next steps. Skip these two questions and you are guessing at urgency that the patient would have handed you for free.
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.