As a dental professional, you know that getting patients to come in for a dental follow-up appointment can be a challenge. Patients have plenty of excuses for avoiding the dentist. Some worry about the cost, while others are afraid to come in for work, no matter how gentle you are.

Allowing patients to bury their heads in the sand and delay follow-up appointments only hurts them, though, and it doesn’t do your practice any favors, either. Learn how to increase dental production and boost follow-up appointments with these tips from Dental Intelligence.

Provide Stellar Patient Care and Customer Service

Fear is one of the main reasons patients avoid dental follow-up appointments. It’s a struggle to get fearful patients into your office in the first place, and once they know they need follow-up care, they may delay scheduling their next appointment.

To stop patients from bailing on your practice, you’ll need to provide a great patient experience from the moment they walk through the door. Give every patient a friendly greeting and let them know that you’re happy they came to you.

Take the time to listen to patients’ questions and concerns. If they admit they’re anxious, don’t dismiss their worries. Patients are more likely to return if they believe you understand and care about them.

Never Lecture Patients

Many patients avoid the dentist because they haven’t seen one in years. They worry that the dentist might scold them for their poor oral hygiene, and a lecture is the last thing any patient wants to deal with. This is a self-defeating cycle, though, and it’s one your practice can help break.

When a patient gets in the chair, resist the urge to lecture them no matter how tempting it may be. Instead of a lecture, give patients an actionable plan that can help them feel empowered over their oral health.

Offer Alternative Treatment Plans

When patients need a lot of dental work done, it’s easy for them to feel overwhelmed. Some may even be so anxious at the thought of it that they don’t come back to your practice at all.

You can help to assuage their fears by offering treatment plan options when possible. For instance, instead of pulling teeth and fitting dentures, you may want to recommend a dental implant as another option. Implants don’t cause bone damage like dentures and fixed bridgework might, which can be reassuring to patients.

Consider Investing in Digital Photography Technology

Does your practice use digital single lens reflex (DSLR) technology? If not, purchasing a DSLR camera can be a wise choice.

No matter how attentive patients seem or how well you explain things, some of what you say goes in one ear and out the other. But pictures, as they say, are worth a thousand words. Providing a highly detailed image of a patient’s mouth could help them understand their oral health situation and convince them to schedule a dental follow-up appointment.

Keep Your Schedule Open

If your office adheres to standard business hours, you could be missing out on patients with busy or unconventional schedules. Many patients don’t come in for follow-up care simply because they can’t find the time.

Consider offering extended hours at your practice for at least a few days out of the week. For example, instead of closing at 5 p.m., you might stay open until 7 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays. You could also open for a few hours on Saturdays to accommodate patients who can’t make it in during the week.

Train Staff on Follow-Up Communication

The best way to get patients to come in for follow-ups is to be proactive. Once a patient walks out the door, they’re unlikely to remember to call for a follow-up appointment without some prompting on your end.

To avoid problems, always schedule patients for their next appointment before they leave your office. Train staff to give each patient a detailed summary of necessary follow-up care and take care of appointment scheduling by making their next appointment before they leave or allowing them to schedule their own appointment online from home. Make sure staff have the correct email address or phone number for each patient so they can reach out with appointment reminders, too.

Check Out Our Practice Management Solutions for Dentists

Getting patients to stick to dental follow-up care can be challenging, but with our dental customer service solutions, it doesn’t have to be. To find out more about what Dental Intelligence can do for you, schedule a demo of our software today.

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