Treatment FAQ

what is the dentist's reponsibility in patient follow-up on a treatment plan?

by Francis Gerlach Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

It is the responsibility of the dental office to reach out to the patient and attempt to get them scheduled. Use this policy to outline what steps need to be taken for each patient that requires treatment plan follow up, including weekly and monthly meeting updates.

Full Answer

What should be included in a dental treatment plan follow-up script?

This not only leads sometimes to patients bringing up the subject themselves, but also sets the stage for you or a team member to mention the proposed treatment again. Call, text or email the patient several days after the consult. When a patient’s response to your treatment recommendation is “maybe,” get in touch, asking if there are any ...

What is a dental follow up?

Here’s how: If it’s an appointment for treatment, schedule it to occur within 7–10 days of the first visit. This accomplishes two very important objectives. First, it leaves little time for patients to have second thoughts. It also shows that your practice is highly efficient and dedicated to …

What can Dental Practice Enhancement do for You?

Aug 19, 2010 · Dentists have a responsibility to obtain and maintain the current health histories of patients. Team members are most often responsible for having patients complete their health / dental history forms, but that is only part of the process.

How do you demonstrate cooperative behavior during a dental procedure?

Even though they completely understand their need for dental work, they may not be prepared to schedule their treatment appointment on the same day they were diagnosed. In these cases, it’s extremely important for your dental team to have a script for dental treatment plan follow-up calls. This way, your team members feel less overwhelmed, are less likely to procrastinate, and …

What are the responsibilities of a dentist to a patient?

Dentists help their patients protect, restore and maintain their oral health. They diagnose and treat diseases, and administer care to injuries and malformations of the teeth, oral tissues and the mouth. Dentists also check a patient's head and neck areas as they relate to oral health.

What are 3 responsibilities of a dentist?

Dentists typically do the following:
  • Remove decay from teeth and fill cavities.
  • Repair or remove damaged teeth.
  • Place sealants or whitening agents on teeth.
  • Administer anesthetics to keep patients from feeling pain during procedures.
  • Prescribe antibiotics or other medications.

Why is treatment plan important in dentistry?

Dental treatment plans are fundamental to providing competent care to your patients. The treatment plan tells both you and your patient exactly what will happen when, and when the desired outcomes will be reached. It builds a relationship of trust between you and your patient and helps you identify viable options.

What should happen before the treatment plan is implemented in dentistry?

Preclinical exam—Before the examination begins, it is important that the dentist or team member conducts a preclinical exam to understand why the patient is there, past experiences, desired changes, any problems occurring, and more.Mar 20, 2018

What is the duties of a dentist in the hospital setting?

Dentists diagnose and treat dental issues and help patients develop better oral hygiene regimens. They clean teeth, correct bite issues, perform surgeries and extractions and perform other duties to ensure that the teeth and mouth are healthy.

In what situations do dentists have ethical responsibilities?

Whenever the scope of treatment exceeds their abilities or training, there is an ethical obligation to refer the patient to a capable dental specialist. Providing inferior treatment that may cause more harm than good should never be considered and is a violation of dental ethics under nonmaleficence.Jul 26, 2021

What is treatment planning in dentistry?

Your dental treatment plan outlines exactly what dental services your dentist recommends, in what timeframe, and how much they will cost after insurance, if applicable. It is a comprehensive, big-picture approach to oral care and is designed to prevent small issues from getting bigger and more expensive.

What is treatment plan?

Listen to pronunciation. (TREET-ment plan) A detailed plan with information about a patient's disease, the goal of treatment, the treatment options for the disease and possible side effects, and the expected length of treatment.

What are the phases of treatment planning in dentistry?

The phases of care framework can be used by dental practitioners to formulate a treatment plan for patients using a methodical and patient-centered approach. The phases are broken into key stages: urgent phase, control phase, re-evaluation phase, definitive phase, and maintenance phase (Sivakumar et al. 2021).Sep 9, 2021

How do you write a treatment plan?

Treatment plans usually follow a simple format and typically include the following information:
  1. The patient's personal information, psychological history and demographics.
  2. A diagnosis of the current mental health problem.
  3. High-priority treatment goals.
  4. Measurable objectives.
  5. A timeline for treatment progress.
Aug 24, 2018

What can you have done at dentist?

10 Most Common Dental Procedures and How They Work
  • 1 – Teeth Cleanings.
  • 2 – Teeth Whitening.
  • 3 – Extractions.
  • 4 – Veneers.
  • 5 – Fillings.
  • 6 – Crowns.
  • 7 – Root Canal.
  • 8 – Braces/Invisalign.

What is Ante's law?

Ante's law states that “the total periodontal membrane area of the abutment teeth must equal or exceed that of the teeth to be replaced.”1 For more than 80 years, this law has been taught in standard textbooks of prosthodontics as an important condition influencing FDP design.

Can you schedule an appointment on the same day you are diagnosed with an oral health problem?

Even though they completely understand their need for dental work, they may not be prepared to schedule their treatment appointment on the same day they were diagnosed.

Can you schedule a dental appointment on the same day?

Even though they completely understand their need for dental work, they may not be prepared to schedule their treatment appointment on the same day they were diagnosed. In these cases, it’s extremely important for your dental team to have a script for dental treatment plan follow-up calls.

What do you need to know before calling a patient?

Patients need to know they are more than just a number to you. Before a team member calls the patient, make sure he or she knows some personal information about the person he is calling. For example, the patient’s occupation, children, pets, etc.

What is a patient greeting?

1. A personal greeting. Patients need to know they are more than just a number to you. Before a team member calls the patient, make sure he or she knows some personal information about the person he is calling. For example, the patient’s occupation, children, pets, etc.

What is the operation of a dental office?

The operation of a dental office involves doing many tasks which may require a different set of skills. The list of tasks and who is responsible to do what is different from one office to another. There are tasks that are unique to larger offices and there are tasks that are grouped together in smaller offices.

Do dental offices have the same title?

If you have worked in a dental field for some time and have been in different offices, you know that different offices don’t have the same titles for their roles and responsibilities necessarily; two offices may mean a different thing when they refer to the same title. That’s why we are going to define each title for the purposes of this article.

What is the role of receptionist?

The main responsibility of the receptionist in general is to deal with patient communications. They are the first point of contact with patients, both before their first visit as well as during an office visit; they are also the communication bridge between patients and the back staff. receptionists further take care of checking the patient out and, in a lot of practices, book their next appointment at the end of the appointment. Collection, answering phone calls, reaching out to patients to confirm their upcoming appointments, answering emails and following up on recalls or pending treatments. They play an essential role in making sure patients are happy because they are the ones that primarily communicate with patients when the patient is not in the office (which is most of the time). They are usually the ones who also check insurance eligibilities before patients come for their visit. They contact insurance companies and enter the details of the insurance plans into the practice management software so that treatment coordinators can accurately provide an estimate to patients (for out of pockets).

What is a treatment coordinator?

In most offices, treatment coordinators are the ones that put the treatment plan together, present it to the patient, get their consent and have them pay the deposit to start the treatment (if applicable). They have a great understanding of dental insurance and different plans, they understand dental codes (ADA codes), and know how to break treatments into phases. In addition to that, and probably more importantly, they know how to communicate the value of each treatment to patients in such a way that patients accept the treatment.

What is the role of a manager in an office?

They manage the employees and should be trusted by them to give them direction and guidance. They should have an understanding of all aspects of the business and to be able to prioritize tasks and assign them to the right people in the office.

What is an office manager?

The office manager typically is the person responsible for smooth operation of the office. S/he is the one who manages other employees by deciding the priority of the tasks that they need to perform overall, assigning the tasks to the right person (s) and monitoring the performance.

Why Follow-Up On Unscheduled Treatment?

The most obvious reason is to fill your schedule! And if we were playing Family Feud right now, I bet that would be the number one answer! Yes, it’s true. And most offices wait until there is a lull in their schedule before even doing anything with this. So if there is never a lull in their schedule, the unscheduled treatment plans go untouched.

When Do We Follow-Up On Unscheduled Dental Treatment?

First, let me warn you, that I have a strong opinion on this! And the second warning is, I’m going to share it with you right now! So, here goes! I’m going to give you another “Don’t”! Don’t call patients when you have an open appointment you can’t fill. Because when you do this you just sound desperate.

How Do We Follow-Up?

Phone calls may not be the best way to manage this. And there are a couple of reasons I say that. First, it puts a whole lot of pressure on the person making the call. Should our patient answer the phone, this call could go south pretty quickly. And that’s not where we want to go.

Emails Are The Best Way To Follow-Up

Let’s face it! This is one of the hardest things to do in the dental office. Following up on unscheduled dental treatment is hard! Which is one of the reasons it often doesn’t get done. If it was fun and easy, everyone would want to do it. But it’s a job nobody really wants to tackle.

Your FREE Email Template for Unscheduled Dental Treatment Plans

Go ahead and download this free template now. And of course, you can customize this to sound more like you! Or keep it just as it is. Either way, I don’t mind! And my recommendation for the subject line of your email is just the name of your dentist. Don’t put “unscheduled treatment” in your subject line. Just something like: “Dr.

What is the difference between dental fear and dental fear?

Fear is a reaction to a known or perceived threat or danger. It leads to a fight-or-flight situation. Dental fear is a reaction to threatening stimuli in dental situations. Phobia is persistent, unrealistic, and intense fear of a specific stimulus, leading to complete avoidance of the perceived danger.

What is dental fear?

It leads to a fight-or-flight situation. Dental fear is a reaction to threatening stimuli in dental situations. Phobia is persistent, unrealistic, and intense fear of a specific stimulus, leading to complete avoidance of the perceived danger.

How to relax a patient?

The most important and fundamental way of helping patients to relax physically is to teach them proper breathing techniques. Diaphragmatic breathing is a relaxed form of breathing. Use of the diaphragm for breathing reduces tension in the chest and provides more oxygen for the body per breath.63The technique can be done as follows: 1 sit up straight; head should be upright not hanging forward or tilted back 2 rest one hand on your chest and the other hand on your abdomen 3 next, blow out all the air in your lungs until you feel empty 4 then begin to breathe in; inhaling must be done evenly: count your breathing until you feel exactly full, to help you get a measured, even breath 5 exhale evenly: count the breath out of your body, without any sudden release 6 exhale longer than you inhale.

Is dental anxiety monotherapy?

Management of dental anxiety. The etiology for dental anxiety is multifactorial, and hence there is no monotherapy for management. Proper evaluation of the patient and identifying their source and level of anxiety can enable the dentist in deciding a proper treatment plan.

What is the purpose of aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy is an alternative treatment approach, wherein essential oils of aromatic plants are used to produce positive physiological or pharmacological effects through the sense of smell.

What is relaxation technique?

A relaxation response is the opposite of a stress response, and when practiced regularly it not only lowers stress and anxiety levels but also enables an individual to cope with the symptoms of anxiety. This can be achieved by both deep breathing and muscle relaxation.

What is cognitive therapy?

Cognitive behavior therapy is a combination of behavior therapy and cognitive therapy, and is currently the most accepted and successful psychological treatment for anxiety and phobia.

What is a treatment coordinator?

A treatment coordinator closes or assists in closing the treatment plans generated by the doctor. They take responsibility for the entire patient base and work toward having no patients with incomplete treatment plans.

Can you hire an associate without a treatment coordinator?

I should also note here that it is almost never a good idea to hire an associate without also having a treatment coordinator. Why? Well, it’s rare to find an associate who can sell effectively. They are trained to diagnose and produce dentistry – and that is exactly what you should utilize them for. The associate can diagnose and then hand the patient over to somebody who is trained to sell: the treatment coordinator. Then the associate can move right on to seeing the next patient. Of course you would train your associate to communicate with patients, treatment plan and present treatment – but this takes time. And again, as you expand you can end up with the same scenario described earlier – where your associate has no time to sell. So, a treatment coordinator is critical even in this case.

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