568: Risks and Benefits with Patients - Dr. Lee Brady - a podcast by ACT Dental

Risks and Benefits with Patients

Episode #568 with Dr. Lee Brady

Every dental procedure has risks and benefits. How well are you communicating them to your patients? If you're unsure or don't know how to get started, don't miss this episode! To empower you with risk communication, Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Lee Brady, director of education for the Pankey Institute and founder of Restorative Nation. She shares her insight for managing patients’ expectations, reducing fears around procedures, and helping patients take ownership over their decisions. To learn how to advocate for patients through your communication skills, listen to Episode 568 of the Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

• Dr. Brady’s website: https://leeannbrady.com
• Dr. Brady’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drleebrady
• Dr. Brady’s social media: @drleebrady
• Restorative Nation: https://restorativenation.com
• Subscribe to the Best Practices Show Podcast
• Join ACT’s To The Top Study Club
• Join ACT’s Master Class
• See our Live Events Schedule here
• Get the Best Practices Magazine for Free!
• Write a Review on iTunes

Main Takeaways:

Learn how to communicate risks and benefits.

Be mindful of what constitutes a risk for your patients.

You have the gift of time. Slow down your conversations.

Focus on risks and benefits that are most relevant for patients.

Advocate for your patients by giving them information and education.

Quotes:

“I think about all of my communications with my patients as being about risks and benefits. It’s the core of patient communication. And often, as dentists, we do think of that as a technical thing, like one procedure has certain technical risks over another one. But I actually think it’s a much bigger conversation than that because, for my patients, they think of the cost of one procedure over the other. One might be a risk or a benefit. A common one is how long it takes for a procedure to get done. So, with implants, we want all of our patients to do implants. And sometimes, they still ask about doing what we would call an old-fashioned bridge. Well, one of the benefits to a bridge is, chop, chop, you're all done in three to six weeks, where implant dentistry sometimes takes six to nine months. To us, we go, ‘Well, that's a no-brainer.’ We want the best thing, technically. To a patient, that may be a tipping point decision.” (3:26—4:24)

“Some people consider any surgical procedure a risk, no matter how much we tell them it’s easy and straightforward. Or the discomfort. There are a whole range of things that we can put in our risks and benefits box that actually are more tied to the logistics of the dentistry for the patient, or the emotional side of it for the patient, than they are about the stuff we learned in dental school.” (4:27—4:50)

“For me, if I need an informed consent, that says to me that I...

Further episodes of The Best Practices Show with Kirk Behrendt

Further podcasts by ACT Dental

Website of ACT Dental