Should I sit across the desk from a patient when presenting fees?
No. The desk-across setup is one of the quietest case killers in dentistry. It puts a physical barrier between you and the patient and casts you as the authority delivering a verdict, which drops them straight into a child or defensive state right when you need them thinking like a calm adult. The data backs this up. Facing off across a desk lowers trust and makes the decision harder, not easier. Instead, sit beside the patient or at the corner of the table so you’re both looking at the same information, solving the same problem together. Picture two colleagues reviewing a plan, not a loan officer and an applicant. That small change in geometry shifts the whole emotional tone of the conversation, and emotion is where these decisions actually get made.
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.