Master P was a patient at a general dental clinic, though his family were somewhat irregular attenders, and had not been in for their regular maintenance for some time. Unfortunately, Master P lost a filling one weekend and his father subsequently booked an emergency appointment at the clinic to have this addressed.
When Master P arrived at his appointment, Ms L conducted a thorough clinical assessment to assist in formulating a plan on how to address the lost filling and broken tooth. Ms L’s examination revealed a significantly broken down deciduous tooth that had lost the previously placed restoration, as well as additional tooth structure. The resultant cavity was subgingival in areas, as well as close to the nerve. In light of the significant breakdown of the tooth, Ms L recommended the two options of either extraction, or a restoration that would allow the tooth to stay in place. This would maintain the space until such a time as the area could be assessed for the long-term options available for Master P.
Ms L explained the findings and options available to Master P and his father. Master P indicated that he would prefer not to have an extraction and alternatively they elected to place a temporary restoration, to maintain the tooth for as long as possible. This treatment was completed without incident and Master P departed his appointment in good spirits.
Unfortunately, subsequent to this appointment, Master P began to experience issues with food packing and on inspection of his mouth his mother noted that the tooth that had been restored was not the same shape or height as the surrounding teeth. Mrs P was understandably troubled by this in light of the issues Master P was now experiencing, and clearly having not had the information regarding the limitations of treatment for this tooth relayed, proceeded to email a complaint to the practice regarding her concerns on the appropriateness of the treatment Master P had been provided.
The practice received Mrs P’s complaint and forwarded this on to Ms L for her to review and respond. Ms L was somewhat surprised by the receipt of this complaint considering the discussions that had taken place and, feeling somewhat hurt in what she perceived as a slight on her clinical skills, responded to Mrs P’s complaint with a somewhat brusque email with equal parts “I told your husband this already” and “if only you all came regularly this may not have happened”.
As you may likely anticipate, this response did not achieve the resultant de-escalation that Ms L had anticipated, with further upset emails arriving from Mrs P. Consequently, Ms L decided it may be an opportune time to get some advice on how best to proceed and called Dental Protection to discuss their concerns.
Dental Protection assisted Ms L with a further response to Mrs P. In this email, Ms L took the time to explain the situation and the options available in a non-defensive way and in terms that Mrs P understood. Ms L also took the time to convey her genuine concern for the patient and the situation they now found themselves in, and offered a heartfelt apology, as well as a suggested resolution. In this case an offer of a refund for the temporary restoration was made to enable Mrs P to have Master P’s treatment addressed with another practitioner, should they wish to do so.
Ms L was genuinely surprised by Mrs P’s response to this letter, which acknowledged the time Ms L had taken to respond a second time, which Mrs P was not anticipating, and politely declined the offered refund. Mrs P advised that what had meant the most to her was that Ms L had not just ”fobbed off” her concerns and had taken the time to explain the situation in an open and honest way. Mrs P continued to attend the practice, along with her husband and Master P for their dental care.
Learning points
- Communication matters – not only the content of our communication but also the tone. Though at times difficult, communication with our patients should be genuine, sincere and heartfelt. This lends itself to a more open and meaningful experience that is more inclined to address the heart of the matter and prevent unnecessary escalation.
- Dental Protection can offer advice and support on effective communication with our patients. Please do take the time to access helpful resources on our online learning platform, Prism.
For a more in-depth discussion with Ms Kristin Trafford-Wiezel and Dr Annalene Weston on this topic, listen to our podcast episode “Communication counts, but why does it matter?” available now.