Dentists have prioritized drilling and billing over improving the patient experience. This has detrimental effects on the patient's dental health as it drives away many patients.
Dental care in America ought to be admired worldwide. Even though American dentists are among the best in the world, Americans don't visit them nearly frequently enough. According to the CDC, nearly half of US citizens suffer from gum disease, and one in four people have untreated dental decay. Nearly one in ten people also have severe gum disease, which can result in tooth loss.
Dental treatment can be expensive, like many other aspects of our healthcare system, and many Americans still do not have proper dental insurance. The uneven distribution of oral healthcare is due to a nationwide deficit of dentists and related medical professionals. Access to care is ultimately being hampered by this personnel deficit, particularly for people living in remote areas.
An unavoidable evil
Dental check-ups are, at best, a necessary evil for the majority of us. Everyone will never look forward to a root canal or cleaning below the gum line; thus, the numbing, scraping, and drilling are unavoidably a part of it. But if we're being completely honest, it's not the procedures that put us off; rather, the constant little annoyances and hassles that come along with even the most ordinary and insignificant dentist visit. Dentists have prioritized drilling and billing over-optimizing the patient experience, which is driving many of our patients away, with disastrous consequences for their dental health.
The importance of experience
This is a significant issue. The uninviting and unmotivated dental offices compel many Americans to turn to urgent treatment when dental issues become too serious to ignore, which not only results in people having lower dental health overall. Unplanned urgent dental care costs the nation's schools 34 million hours each year, and oral illness costs the economy $45 billion in lost productivity as people miss work to need immediate care.
Well, it starts with realizing that improving the patient experience is essential to promoting healthcare equity and better outcomes for our patients, not just a luxury. We should not be able to accept uncomfortable dental care experiences any more than we do hazy radiographs or loosened fillings.
Opportunities to enhance the patient experience can be found everywhere once we start placing a higher priority on convenience. For example, online appointment scheduling is possible through portals that give patients control over their calendars. Since offices are open after standard business hours, patients can select appointments that don't have them pick between their jobs and their oral health.
Additionally, by combining efforts as a dental service organization (DSO), practitioners can make sure that patients can schedule appointments immediately rather than wait weeks or months.
Convenience is not a privilege
It would be wonderful to make dental appointments more accessible, but should dental practices really be giving these kinds of investments top priority during these challenging times?
While not every clinic should prioritize patient convenience, there is undoubtedly a high demand among patients for more comfortable and convenient care. More patients will understand that dental care doesn't have to be difficult or unpleasant as more dental offices commit to serving their patients' needs. As a result, more patients will actively seek out dental offices that offer an easy, pleasant, low-friction patient experience.
Convenience is neither a pipe dream nor a luxury for today's dentistry enterprises; instead, it is an essential complement to high-quality care. Without convenience, we risk leaving people behind. The future of dentistry in America will require breakthrough treatments, but we also need to improve the patient experience and ensure that everyone can afford dental care.
