Three: Making Time To Connect

Dental World Second Supplement

Making Time To Connect, or The Clinical Value of Weather, Hobbies, Jobs and Kids

All we’ve done is greet the patient, and already we’ve put some solid thought and effort into doing what it takes to make them feel comfortable for the whole visit.

Now we’re set to build up our communication loop. That begins with small talk.

Warmly and generously offering up neutral topics allow you and the patient to observe and interact with each other until your rhythms can sync up and more natural communication can happen. It also helps the patient stay in the moment with you, and out of their imagination.

That’s the point of the small talk.

Without that in mind, small talk might seem like an empty pleasantry. But it has a purpose, and that’s why it makes a difference when you make time to connect.

The more chances you and the patient have to interact with each other in a warm, human, sincere way, no matter how brief or simple, the more the patient will have have confidence in understanding you and in being understood by you. This is required for them to have trust in your concern for their care and comfort.

That’s because everyone implicitly understands, though they may not have words for it, that to be cared about, you first need to be seen and heard.

In their compromised and vulnerable position in the Dental World, patients only feel comfortable when they know they have a concerned and competent guide.

You will need to give them a chance to feel seen and heard, and, in the time you have to do everything, you are better off supplying those chances than waiting for them.

So go ahead, ask how the patient is doing today. Make a positive comment on the weather outside. Gauge their mood, their responsiveness, and more from their response.

Use your observations to guide your interactions, and remain warm and pleasant. Keep the threads of small talk going throughout treatment.

Looking at the function of small talk, and seeing its role in the all-important process of connecting to the patient makes it easy to see its value as a functional part of the treatment process, and not a pleasant additional service.

When it comes to establishing and reinforcing an open line of communication, you have to make time to connect.