KeystoneExplorer | Fall 2023 15 dentistry issues Q sequence and monitor patient treatment, we become what I call “four-walled dentists.” We go to our four-wall office day in and day out, we do our four-wall dentistry, and then we leave our four walls and go back out into the world. Meanwhile, we have missed a universe of a world right there in the four walls of our office. We cannot do what’s possible for our patient if we cannot see it and we cannot see it, if we cannot know what is possible. Only by opening our walls to the flood of interdisciplinary dentistry can we know how, when, and why the different dental specialties can contribute to comprehensive biologic, esthetic, structural, and functional patient oral health. The intention of this article is to promote honest communication about the relationship of the referring restorative dentist and the endodontist. Listed are ten examples of what your endodontist wants you to know to make us more effective, more efficient, and more valuable in terms of your patient’s return on investment, time, optimum choices, predictability, and their faith that your interdisciplinary team will deliver. Ten Interpersonal AGD General Dentist/Endodontist Lessons 1. MAKE A POWERFUL REFERRAL • Make a compelling referral. A weak referral is telling your patient that you need to see an endodontist and give them two or more names. The patient wants, instead, to hear you say, “I am bringing in my endodontist for this part of your treatment because I want the same high level of care for you as you experience in my restorative practice.” Without this explanation, your patient feels like you are sending them away into an abyss. How do they choose? If you “send” your patient to two different specialists at the same time, such as an endodontist and periodontist, they feel torn apart. They feel loss of control and so should you. Dentists should have two endodontists that you consider competent. Then mix and match the personality of your patient and the endodontist. • Do not refer to an endodontist because they are the closest to your office. Refer to your #1 choice to whom you would refer yourself to. Most patients trust their dentist. They refer friends and call you “my dentist.” You have earned their trust and they do what you recommend for them. On all treatment options, patients ask, “Doc, what would you do if it were you?” Tell them the truth. What WOULD you do? Therein lies the answer for your patient as well. Before you answer your patient, always look in the mirror and tune into radio station WWIDIIWM. “What would I do if it were me?” They will smell it if you tell them your radio station truth. This is what they want and need to hear, and they need to hear it from you! • Tell your patient that regarding the distance to endodontist’s office, reassure your patient that endodontics is often a single visit so that even if there were a distance, it would not be like having to go to the orthodontist many times over multiple years. • Tell the endodontist not only the history of the endodontic tooth, but tell the endodontist about where the patient is in your practice such as new patient, middle of a large treatment plan, maintenance patient, etc. • Tell the endodontist about the patient’s dental IQ and dental value. A huge benefit is to know, for example, if the patient is an energy sucker, time burner, skeptical, asks lots of questions, trusts our judgment, accepting, etc. These patient characteristics are not meant to demean the patient in any way. Rather they are meant to help make a successful referral. For example, if the endodontist were to know in advance that your patient needed everything fully explained every step of the way then the endodontist could easily plan for this and put on their patient “Doubting Thomas” hat. Then the endodontist will plan the time to allow patient questions and answers. The endodontist then listens intently, facing the patient, at the same level as the patient and writing with a pencil and new legal pad. • Ask the patient if they could wave a magic wand or snap their fingers and have everything they wanted different in their teeth, what would it be? When they pause as if finished, end with the question of: What else do you need to know from me to proceed with what you want? Do not appear to be rushed. You have all the time in the world for them. This is where the magic happens: You’re sitting, facing your patient, looking at them, the staff knows not to interrupt. Perhaps for the first time your patient profoundly knows they are not teeth to you, but they are a person who has teeth. • Instead of a big case presentation at the end of the examination or at a case presentation appointment in a week, your patient has started with the most import-
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