Educating patients about elective dentistry

In my opinion, diagnosis and treatment planning are completely different from what they were several decades ago. It used to be obvious when a certain treatment was necessary. Now the difference between mandatory and elective dentistry is less clear. I contend that dentists and members of the dental staff must educate patients rapidly and completely about all aspects of oral therapy and what is potentially can accomplish. I have long supported assigning patient education to dental hygienists and dental assistants. In the type of treatment planning I am advocating here, the education about all treatment possibilities is provident on the patient's first appointment in the office. Several media are used, including the following:

• Panoramic radiographs
• Diagnostic casts
• Projections of intraoral images onto a television screen
• Playing educational videotapes or digital video disks on an in-operatory overhead  television
• Videotapes and digital video disks
• Pamphlets
• Books
• Models
• Photographs and slides
• Telephone testimonials from previously treated patients

In about 30 to 50 minutes, the new patient is educated about the aspects of dentistry relating to his or her needs or wants, and he or she should have the opportunity to discuss treatment possibilities with qualified staff members or the dentist. With this thorough education, the distinction between which therapy is mandatory and which is elective should be very clear.

Informing the patient about mandatory vs. elective treatment possibilities

I suggest that treatment plan presentations should divide therapy into two categories. One of those should encompass the mandatory care. The patient will have no difficulty in observing the need for such treatment and accepting the therapy. The other should include treatment of an elective nature. Elective treatment requires for more patient education to achieve acceptance than mandatory care. Elective oral treatment competes with every discretionary consumer expense, and patients must make a choice between spending discretionary funds on oral treatment or on other items such as a television, a vacation or an automobile. They must be educated to the level that their desire for the oral therapy is higher than the desire for thousands of other consumer goods and services. A patient's ability to pay for mandatory treatment can be very different from his or her ability to pay for elective therapy.

• Elective Vs. Mandatory Dentistry
• Paying for oral therapy, mandatory and elective