Getting Patients to "Yes" with Six Month Smiles!

As a Six Month Smiles provider, you probably understand that having clinical confidence in your ability to approach different case types effectively will likely result in you doing more cases, thus making your Six Month Smiles experience more enjoyable and profitable.  Similarly, when your entire dental team is trained and knowledgeable about Six Month Smiles, their clinical confidence will equip them to recognize and discuss the possibilities with patients comfortably.

There’s one more major key to doing more cases in your practice, however.  Communication!!  Having the skills to communicate influentially (and also ethically) with your patients is what allows you to do more of what you want to do…and less of what you don’t want to do. It’s equally important for you and your team to have the NON-clinical confidence to know what to say, and when to say it…after finding out what your patients want, and WHY they want it, by asking probing questions and listening. Please re-read that last sentence with your team!

They’re Not Gonna ‘Just Know’…Have you ever been asked: “Are you accepting new patients?”  When I hear that question in my practice, I begin to hyperventilate!  Why don't our own patients know that we are always accepting new patients?  The answer is simple: we haven’t told them!  We haven’t made it clear to our patients that, even though we have a busy, thriving practice, we are always accepting new patients and grateful when our patients refer others to us.

If you were to poll your patients, I guarantee you’ll discover that your patients know very little about the many things you can do for them or people they know and love. 

The same is true with Six Month Smiles.  Unless you AND your team members let patients know that you can likely straighten their teeth in “about six months”, they won’t know about it.  And if they don’t know about it, they won’t ask for it.

Who Else Is Gonna Tell ‘Em? Is anyone else going to tell your patients what you can do for them?  Of course not.  So…let’s uncover some ways to bring up your patients’ crowded or spaced teeth in a non-confrontational way, and how you can help them with Six Month Smiles.  By the way, this is often best done by the TEAM!

1. “Nowadays we have a simple and comfortable way to straighten your teeth in an average of about six months! Would you want to know more about it?”
   
   
2. (During a hygiene visit) “How would you feel if I told you that you could have straight teeth by about the time of your next cleaning?”
3. (During any exam, said by the doctor to a team member) “Mild/moderate crowding/spacing in the upper arch, mild/moderate crowding/spacing in the lower arch…would be a good candidate for Six Month Smiles…”
4. “You know, your smile reminds me of another patient…and Dr. Bowman just finished straightening her teeth in about six months with clear braces. Her results were amazing! Would you like to know if he could do the same thing for you?
5. “More and more of our adult patients are getting their teeth straightened in about six months using our new, simplified clear braces procedure called Six Month Smiles. Can I show you photos of some of our patients?”

Hopefully these examples will stimulate your imagination and ignite you and your team to help make your patients aware of Six Month Smiles in your practice.  Share this article with your entire team, and empower them to let your patients know what you can do for them, starting today!