Case Acceptance Begins and Ends With Trust

If there is a single, common core to all dental practice success - whether measured in treatment success, dollars, or personal fulfillment - it is case acceptance. The patient must accept the dentist's recommendations before any of the good things can happen that they bring about with their clinical skills and the latest materials and equipment. Case acceptance begins and ends with trust - the patient's trust in the dentist. Dentists need to shift their focus away from gaining acceptance of treatment plans and toward gaining the patient's trust. Some of the components of trustworthiness as they relate to new patient and case acceptance are: 1. competence, 2. consistency and integrity, 3. listen before you talk, 4. open and honest communication, 5. be trusting, 6. keep your word, and 7. keep confidences.