I came home the other night to my wife saying how great the new dentist was that she took our children to, who are 7 and 5 years old. He was so friendly, she said, and had a great manner with them, was smiling, welcoming and they got a sticker and a little tube of toothpaste at the end of their visit.
Five minutes later my children, Zara and Joel, came running up to me saying how much fun their visit to the dentist was. He had cool pictures of Toy Story characters on the wall and in the waiting room they were showing one of the latest films on a large TV screen which was only recently released at the movies in Melbourne (possibly from a staff member’s recent visit to Thailand!) The staffs were happy, asked them about their day at school, the dental assistant came to collect them with a beaming ‘Hi 5’ smile and they all virtually skipped to the dentist’s chair to put on even cooler sunglasses.
So how good was this dentist? Well actually I don’t know. He was certainly friendly and smiling which is a good start. Was he actually any good at dentistry itself, after all the reason they visited was to get their teeth checked, not watch a film!
I remember going to the dentist as a child (I’m 42 years old now). It was a sterile environment, not quite as friendly as a doctor’s surgery but with less people coughing. There were hundreds of paper files on display in open cabinets behind the reception desk and about 6 receptionists and administration clerks which even then seemed too many. I would sit and wait there looking at people thumb through old copies of Woman’s Own and Reader’s Digest magazines. Everyone in silence, all managing their fears in their own way.
Eventually, my name would be called and I would have to sit in another smaller area upstairs consisting of other patients in varying forms of distress. Some would have had injections already for filling or tooth extractions and be sitting outside waiting until the point they couldn’t feel their lip anymore and the surgery could begin.
Every now and then I would hear a scream and sometimes someone would walk out in tears. This probably wasn’t helped by the fact my mother hated going to the dentist and seemed to know every hearsay story from a friend of a friend who knew someone who was knocked out to have a filling and never came back to life. These stories were never substantiated.
My dentist wasn’t smiley. He certainly wasn’t happy, not with young children coming in for a check-up where I’m sure he didn’t get paid as much to see us compared to an adult. A few prods here and a few grunts there and a 5 minute visit felt like an eternity. I would sit there with my fingers crossed that no work was required (something I still do to this day).The relief of the visit being over was always tempered by the despair when the reminder letter appeared in the post 6 months later stating it was time to return for another check-up, which for us always meant going in school holidays – my mum didn’t believe in taking time off from school to get your teeth checked. And so it continued into adulthood.
It turns out our new children’s dentist came highly recommended as well but I’m still not sure if it’s due to his mannerisms of his dental ability and in some ways it doesn’t matter as it got our children to like going to the dentist and surely that is half the battle.
Like all industries these days, dentistry is a highly competitive business. In our small suburb alone we have the option of at least 10 dentists to visit, all within a 5 minute drive.
Have a look at your practice. Is it child friendly? Would you want to visit as your 5 year old self? After all, these are your customers in years to come and a good experience now can gain you a customer for life, and their children etc. And not least of all, it could be a good excuse to visit Thailand and purchase some new release DVD’s!
The Changing Face of Dentistry