Finding and treatment planning with the doctor

• Step 1: Alerting the doctor:

  • Find time for the doctor to come meet in the consult room. Put yourself on the light bar.

  • Make sure the pictures and xrays are ready for viewing: 

  • If you are in a rush, the Doctor can put the photos in imaging while a briefing is done

• Step 2: Quick intro about the patient:

  • Primary concern / "Pain"

  • Relevant Medical/Dental History

  • Preferred treatment

  • Pain/ Discomfort/ TMJ

  • Habits

  • Personality type

• Step 3: Preliminary treatment plan/Timeline:

  • If there are multiple option, make sure to note the pros and cons of each option to present

  • Needs to be chronologic

  • Document everything

• Step 4: Explaining to the patient the final result

While the patient is waiting:

• While the patient is in the room, they can be looking at previous cases.  Minimize the time they are sitting there doing nothing.

• Are there any videos or before and after pictures that would be relevant to the patient?

Sample script for doctor briefing:

"Lisa’s is a 15 yo female who’s primary concern is crowding. She’s had the crowding for as long as she’s known. She can’t clean the area and it’s become inflammed and causes some sensitivity. Her dentist is Dr. Brown and he has written a referral for the resolution of lower crowding which is hindering the patient’s OH and a retained baby tooth. Her last cleaning was May of 2022 and the has no pending treatment. We have a Pan from May on file. Lisa also has a retained primary Urc.  This is her first orthodontic consult but she going to another orthodontic consult next week with Dr. Smith whom Dr. Brown refers to. The patient is looking for a braces treatment because her friends have braces.

Explaining to the patient the findings and treatment recommendations:

• Keep it simple:

  • Use layman terms

  • No need to go into the technicals - this turns patients off

• From Start to finish, the conversation should flow like a story.  This is what I mean by strategy

• Simplify this strategy and think of things that can demonstrate what you are about to explain.

• HOWEVER: everything that is discussed should have relevance.

• You can use the videos and the before and after pictures BUT need to explain them thoroughly.

• Child vs. Adult: For children, involve the parent.