What kinds of problems or complaints have you had with your dental office?

Question

My office has a monthly staff meeting and we discuse issues in our office and problems that we have had. I try to give my opinion from a third party point of view, meaning how a patient views things. I get alot of my information on how patients see things and problems/complaints they have from Yahoo Answers, just so I can show my dentist and coworkers how patients view things.
In dentistry, it is easy for us to see things from a dental point of view, but it is harder to see how a patient might view things.

What are some problems/complaints that you have had with your dental office?

I would prefer not to hear about treatment specific problems, such as a filling that remained sensitive for a week or a crown that came off after a year, because those are case specific to each patient, and not necessarily an overall office problem.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I love this question, but it probably does not apply to your office. I once made an appointment with a cosmetic dentist for a general cleaning. I had seen the dentist before, had a lot of confidence in him and was planning to get a lot of costly cosmetic work done. The day of my appointment I arrived 8 minutes late due to a funeral and unexpected construction. When I walked in, I was told they gave my appointment away that day simply bc they called and left several messages on my cell phone to confirm my appointment (none of which I received) and I never called back. They never once called to tell me not to come to my appointment and that they decided to give it away. Well, 2 things can be said about that. One is I was using t-mobile at the time and sometimes I do not get messages until days later which is what happened in this case. Also when I listened to the messages they just sounded like common courtesy calls. Needless to say I do not go to this dentist anymore and have told several people about my experience including my boyfriend that also was planning to get a lot of dental work done. This dentist had no control over his staff, never apologized and he and his wife hid in the back room during the entire ordeal. I am not one to make an appointment and not show up. Even though he is a good dentist I will never go back. They need to have better communication with their patients. Also, one of the receptionists was curt and just plain nasty to talk with on the phone. I hated making appointments there bc I never knew if it was going to be Ms. Nasty answering or Ms Nice.



I am sorry for the long story, but I guess what I do not like is:



1. When office staff decides to cancel your appointment without telling you and without good reason.

2. Why do i have to call back to confirm? It is more of an annoyance. Can't i just call to cancel if something comes up?

3. I like to see a dentist that is in charge of his staff, knows whats going on and makes his presence known.

4. This particular dentist passed out roses with each appointment. That kind of freaked me out and made me very uncomfortable. It is not my birthday. I am there to get some professional work done.

5. This dentist also passed out cookie recipes on the appointment reminder cards. I found that to also be kind of "ooky." Eat these sugar cookies and then come in to my office to get your cavities fixed.

6. mean receptionists with no people skills



Anyway, that is all I can think of for now. I am sure this is not the majority of dentist offices, but I hoped this has helped.



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ok-i totally understand some patients may make an appointment and never show up, but if the dentist requires a confirmation call back, then this policy should be made very clear to the patient making the appointment. this was not done in my case. i also still find it a nuisance as a patient to do this and wonder if there is another way such as charging a $25 fee for failure to show up or attempt to cancel appointment. my general dentist that i go to now does not require confirmations. they will usually call to remind you 2 days before the appointment and ask you to call if you are unable to come but NEVER require it. i have been with him for a long time so there is a lot of trust... i personally would be more apt to go to a dentist that does not require constant phone calls. for one of my appointments at the other dentist requiring phone calls, i can recall calling back once (bc I actually did receive a phone call asking me too) and it was just very awkward. i was on the phone forever. they had to look me up in the system. the receptionist did not understand why i was calling and quite honestly i did not even understand why i was calling. it was just crazy.

Answer 2

OK..I'll keep it short and to a point. (1) Most offices are not attuned to most patients concern about cost. You may not be able to alter your fee enough and the person explaining the fee may be to "matter of fact"....Your talking to a person not a profit ledger. (2) To many offices don't offer enough options for dealing with the patients dental needs...while there will be times when there is no alternative treatment, if there is, you owe it to the patient to allow them to choose. (3) Office staff leaves their personal problems at home. Patients don't need to be subjected to staff that looks like they are in pain or mad.(4) "Do NOT let a patient sit in the waiting room more than 15 minutes past their appointment schedule...To do otherwise is a matter of poor scheduling or poor treatment planning or both. Think of it as though the patient had a cab in the parking lot waiting for them with the meter running.....Their time is as important as yours....and (5) Keep you office cheery and "CLEAN"...you would be surprised at how dirty and dingy some health related offices are, faded paint on walls, dusty chair bases, worn carpet or dull tile floors...make your office look like how you want your patient to "feel" while their, and when they leave...(6) Anticipate the patient may not be happy about something and let them know your interested in dealing with it, don't wait until they complain, they may end up providing adverse advertising about you to everyone they meet after they leave.....I had a research company survey my patients and the result was that my patient satisfaction rate over a 20 year period of time was 96%....Oh Yes, my health information form ask the patient for permission to be contacted at some future time for that purpose only....Good luck and have a great day.

Answer 3

Comprehensive Oral Evaluation and Adult Prophylaxis= a cleaning only in complicated dental and insurance terms! They can't just call it a cleaning they have to give it some complicated name just like doctors have "medical" terms for everything. Also, about the x-rays, it really is a very standard procedure taken 1 time per year. It is very common for a new patient coming into an office to have x-rays taken just so the dentist can be sure to do an thorough exam. Hope this helps!