A Bit on the Inside

Want to know how a dentist lost 4 patients in 5 mins?

Well here’s a story to make your eyes water……………

A couple of weeks ago my husband Robert paid a visit to the dentist to have a filling replaced.

Sitting in the chair, head tilted back and staring at a ceiling poster of Egyptian rugs designed to distract patients from the work going on in their mouths, he was suddenly jolted back to reality.

“Whoops” said the dentist “Whatever you do don’t swallow” and with that the drill bit which had come loose and fallen into my husbands mouth slid right down the back of his throat and started on a journey through his insides.

“Well that’s never happened before” said the dentist. We’ll have to get you to the hospital and get you x-rayed to make sure that it doesn’t cause any damage.

At the hospital my husband saw the doctor where upon he was informed that there was a real risk that the drill bit might puncture or perforate his intestines on it’s way through and that he should return immediately on feeling any sharp pain or unwell in any way. GULP!

My husband returned to his office having cancelled all his morning appointments, shaken and angry.

He was NOT angry that it happened, and he was NOT angry that his morning was wasted, BUT he was angry that the dentist didn’t seem to care!

She DIDN’T apologise or acknowledge the inconvenience, risk and pain that my husband was experiencing. She DIDN’T follow-up and enquire how the hospital visit went. She DIDN’T check-in later to see if all was well.

She DID however leave her bill on the front desk for my husband to collect on his way to the hospital.

Now if you were the dentist how would you react in this situation? Would you react out of LOVE or FEAR?

My husband’s dentist reacted out of fear. Fear of the consequences of her mistake and possibly of being sued caused her to simply ignore the human dynamics of the situation.

- The result is that she lost 4 patients – our entire family will find another dentist

BUT what if she had reacted out of love? What if she had reached out to my husband and acknowledged the situation that HE was in rather than fearing the situation that SHE was in?

- Then we would have stayed

And all the research shows that patients and clients are far less likely to sue a doctor or other professional that they like and have a good relationship with.

When patients or client feel that they don’t matter and that you don’t care, they will vote with their feet and go elsewhere.