Being a Dental Surgeon/ Doctor is a tough job and what’s the most toughest aspect about it ?
Its none other than your patients 😀
Each patient who visits your clinic is an individual with his own unique characters and experiences about life. Each patient has his way of dealing with a dental surgeon !
Some patients are very easy to manage and they make you also more relaxed.
Then there are some patients who can drive you CRAZY !!!
In this post, we will see some of the types of patient that we all encounter in our career as a Dentist 😀
Let’s start – with our list
Meet the Best Type Of Patient You Will Ever Have as a Doctor
The Most Ideal Patient – Happy and Co-Operative
They are the dream patients for any Doctor.
They are attentive and respectful.
They have trust in what you say and don’t question you just to show off.
They keep all their appointments and most importantly they don’t act miserly or cheap while paying.
They expect a good work from you and once you have delivered a good treatment, they respect the treatment you provided as a doctor and pay you without acting cheesy !
Such patients also stay in touch with you for future appointments and occasionally call you just to say a hi.
Well after the most ideal patient like in the pic above, comes a list of patients who will test all the levels of your patience and anger management !
See Next – The most irritating group of patient
The Bargaining Types of Patients
The Bargaining Types of Patients
They are the most irritating group of patients.
Their attitude towards the dental treatment is as if they are shopping for vegetables. They move from clinic to clinic not based on where they feel they can have a better treatment but based on where they can get the cheapest treatment !
In a country like India the root Canal Treatment costs Indian Rupees 5000 to 2500. That’s roughly 😯 $.
Extraction is around INR 500 i.e 10 $
Dental Implant is on average around 250 – 300 $
And once the treatment is done they start the bargaining technique. The doctor is also forced to bargain with such patients. Even if the patient pays it will be after a lot of unnecessary bantering.
At the end of it – A doctor is exhausted and irritated spoiling the rest of the day.
See Next Types of Patients
The Google Patients
The Google Patients
Google has become a necessity. No doubt.
But in many cases it is becoming a problem for the doctor.
Let me explain it.
Patients have all the information now a days at a click of their fingertips. They can access all the basic information on treatments by searching for it on the internet. In a way its good for patients as it makes them more aware.
As they say ” A little knowledge is a Dangerous thing”. Some patients start acting like a doctor after reading a little about the treatment on the internet. They act cocky and whenever you try to explain things to them – they are like ” Oh ! We already know that !!!
Its a real pain to deal with such patients !
See Next Slide
The Patient Type every Doctor is Afraid of
The Paranoid Patients
The Paranoid & Unsatisfied Patients
As doctors we all are always scared about a group of patients called
” The Paranoid Patients “
This particular type of patients can make the work of doctor extremely difficult and stressful.
Being a little nervous is actually good. It keeps you alert. But being paranoid & unsatisfied makes the things much more difficult for the doctor. The patient gathers some little information from various sources and starts building up possible problems in their imagination.
Will extraction tooth cause hearing loss ?
Is this restoration get infected in the future ?
Will I faint during the procedure ?
Will it pain even after giving local anesthesia ?
These type of patients are so scared that even a little movement by the doctor makes them shout, scream and kick !
Some times it gets difficult to know real pain from this type overreaction and shouting.
All this makes the work of a doctor extremely stressful.
See Next –
Extremely Poor Oral Hygiene Type Of Patients
Poor Oral Hygiene Type Of Patients
Yes as Dental Surgeons we are the care takers of a healthy oral cavity.
But some times it gets very difficult when a patient visits to your clinic with a mouth full to tobacco stains and asks you clean it up. You ask him to quit the habit. Some times before visiting the clinic the patient don’t feel odd to have a heavy meal full of Garlic + Onion !!!!
It becomes extremely difficult and annoying for the doctor !
See Next –
The Final Pleasing Type Of Patients –
The Paying Patients
The Happily Paying Patients
Doctors/Dental Surgeons work hard to deliver quality treatment to patients using the best of tools and materials.
They also have a lot of expenditures to take care of – Cost of running a clinic, keeping it updated with latest equipments.
They also have social and family commitments. In short they also need money like every body else.
So, it feels really happy when the patient acknowledges a doctor’s hard work and pays promptly with a satisfied smile
That ends the list of the some of the most common types of patients that a doctor encounters in his practice. So sit back and have a plan how to tackle them 😀
