The Top 5 Mistakes Dentists Make When Presenting Treatment (And How to Avoid Them)

Improving case acceptance can be a game changer.  

It’s not just how it affects collections and your bottom line (which it does — directly), It also impacts your day-to-day enjoyment of dentistry. Instead of just doing “what insurance covers,” you’re doing a lot of full treatment plans – the dentistry your patients actually need—the kind you like doing. You get better clinical outcomes. Your patients become healthier. You can finally afford to pay your staff more, upgrade that outdated equipment, or do that marketing campaign you’ve been putting off. 

It’s truly a win-win-win. And it’s why we address case acceptance so early in a client’s program at the MGE Communication and Sales Seminars.  

And the good news? Once you learn workable communication techniques, the size of the case doesn’t matter all that much. The same principles apply whether you’re presenting four-crowns or a full-arch case. The only real difference being maybe a little more time is spent on the presentation or more work is involved on the qualification side for these bigger cases. But the core approach—how you communicate, how you lead the conversation—stays the same.

After 30 years in this business, working with thousands of practices, we’ve seen it all (I know – cliché right). Nonetheless it’s true. We know what works when it comes to presenting treatment. And we’re also very familiar with what doesn’t work—the common mistakes that cost doctors tens or hundreds of thousands each year. 

So with that in mind, let’s look at the five biggest treatment presentation mistakes dentists make—and more importantly, how to avoid them. 

Mistake #1: Not Assessing the Patient’s Frame of Mind 

This one is huge. Too often, dentists jump straight from diagnosis to presenting treatment without understanding where the patient is mentally. 

Let me paint a picture. 

You’ve got a new patient in your chair. They seem nice. You do your exam, and clinically, it’s a mess. They need a lot of work. But you didn’t ask any questions about how they feel about their oral health or what they expected from today’s visit. You don’t know that they think  “everything’s fine!” and their last dentist told them they were in pretty good shape. In their mind, they just came in today to get their “teeth cleaned.”  

And now you drop the bomb.  A $10,000 treatment plan. It’s completely contradicts their expectations. 

What happens? 

• They get defensive. 

• They feel blindsided. 

• They think you’re trying to sell them something they don’t need. 

• They leave—and sometimes leave a one-star review for good measure. 

We’ve seen this exact scenario play out again and again. And again… 

The fix? You have to find out “where they are at,” before you present anything. 

Beyond the usual “get to know you,” questions, or others you might ask – “how can I help you today? or “Do you have any pain or sensitivity?” et. al. You might ask questions like: 

• “Is there anything (or any problems) you want me to look at in particular?”  

• “When was your last dental visit and how was that experience?” 

• “Is there anything you’d like to change about your teeth/smile?” 

And if the patient’s answers paint a picture of someone who thinks they’re in great shape—but you’re seeing otherwise—you can start gently pointing things out during the exam. 

You might you an intraoral camera to show then what you’re seeing.  And instead of just pointing out the problem – ask questions about it:  

• “Have you ever noticed this cusp is missing here?” 

• “Do you see this dark spot at the bottom of your tooth?”   

• And so on.  

You’re “foreshadowing.” You don’t need to explain the diagnosis right there – you’re still in the middle of the exam. But you are getting them to see that maybe everything isn’t perfect—before you hit them with the full treatment plan. It softens the blow when you do discuss what’s really going on and it also gives them the concept that maybe not “all is well.” 

This subtle shift alone can prevent untold upsets, bad reviews, miscommunications, etc. It can also increase your acceptance rate!  

 Mistake #2: Using Heavy Dental Terminology 

You know what I’m talking about: 

• “You have distal decay on #14 with periapical radiolucency.” 

• You have an abscess in your gum on number 3.  

• “You have caries on the mesial of 19,”  

Your patient hears: “Blah blah blah… $3,000.” 

Look, it’s not that you can’t use technical terms, just don’t do it if you don’t have to. Instead of abscess, just say infection. Show them how “There’s a cavity between these two back teeth. See this dark spot on the X-ray?” 

And don’t use tooth numbers – or surfaces, etc. Unless it’s integral to what you’re explaining. The lesson – use language your patients actually understand.  If you  have to  use dental terms, make sure you explain them – well. 

And when you can, show them: 

• Intraoral photos 

• Before-and-after models 

• Physical examples of things like a crown or implant 

Sometimes just letting a patient hold a real implant—seeing it’s size, the feel of it—makes a big difference.  

When a patient understands the problem, and the solution feels tangible, acceptance goes way up. 

Mistake #3: Not Scheduling Time for Sales 

This might be the biggest systemic issue in most practices. We allocate time to treat. We allocate time to diagnose. But almost no one allocates time to sell. 

That’s a huge miss. 

Let’s say you’ve got a new patient booked for a one-hour appointment through hygiene. The hygienist does perio charting, X-rays, scans, etc., and you hop in for the last 20 minutes to do your exam. After the “get to know you,” questions and your exam, you see that the patient needs $8,000 in treatment.  Well, how much time do you really have – after all of this – to: 

• Explain what’s wrong 

• Explain how to fix it 

• Explain what happens if they do nothing 

• Answer questions 

• Discuss fees.  

That 5 minutes you have left in this appointment just isn’t going to cut it.  

The same problem happens with recall exams. They needed work 6 months ago, they said no, and now you’re revisiting it. But how much time do you have to re-present it? Not enough.

Fix: Build consult time into your schedule. 

Options: 

• Two 20-minute consult slots first thing in the morning 

• One after lunch 

• Friday mornings if you don’t normally see patients 

You can use this time to bring patients back who you didn’t have time to properly present to  during their initial visit. 

Bonus: If you lose a production appointment to a last-minute cancellation, you’ve got a consult already in the books. You might close it and be able to start treatment right away and fill that opening.  

One more point here: If you can present same day, do it. The only time you bring them back should be if you don’t have time to do it properly. 

And one way to help with that? When they are scheduled during the initial phone call!  

Train your receptionist to ask questions during the initial call to determine whether this patient might need extensive work. Obviously you’re not going to know for sure until they show up.  But if it looks like they might, schedule 90 minutes instead of an hour which gives you time to present.  

A patient with three missing teeth and pain on the lower right is not the same as a 22-year-old with no issues who just moved to town. The 22 year old gets an hour, the other patient with three missing teeth and pain? An hour and a half Treat their time differently.

Mistake #4: Avoiding the Fee Discussion 

The doctor should discuss fees.  

I’ll get pushback on this – but I can’t adequately explain (without you seeing it for yourself), the difference it makes.   

You don’t need to explain every line item. You don’t need to review the insurance breakdown. That’s what your treatment coordinator is for. But at minimum, you should be the one to say: 

“The total cost for this treatment plan is $10,700.  We expect $1,500 your insurance, which would leave your portion at $9,200.” 

That’s the minimum? I’d advise you take it further – but that’s a discussion for another day.   

Why? Well, a few reasons. As your staff who a patient is most likely to listen to in the practice? Uniformly you’re going to hear “the doctor.”  Why? Well, the doctor’s words carry weight. So, when you say the fee, it lands. It means something. I’ve seen collections and acceptance go up with just this alone.  

If you feel awkward, practice it. Literally rehearse it. Do it to the mirror. Have your assistant or OM pretend to be a patient and do it.  

Now, one last thing: Before giving a patient the fee.  Ask these questions: 

• “Do you understand the treatment plan? Do you have any questions?” (And answer these of course – remembering that one of these questions might be “How much is this going to cost?” and  

• “Do you want to do this/move forward?” (however you like to ask it).  

If yes? Great give the patient the fee and pass to your Treatment Coordinator. Again, you should be doing more here – but that’s for another day. This would be the bare minimum.  

If the answer is no? See mistake #5… 

Mistake #5: Discussing Fees with a Patient Who Doesn’t Want the Treatment 

Here’s the final piece of the puzzle. 

Let’s say you present the fee, and the patient says: 

• “That’s too expensive.” 

• “I can’t afford it.” 

• “Can you just do what insurance covers?” 

Before you try to solve that, stop and ask: “Do you want to do this treatment?” 

If the answer is anything less than a solid yes, back up. Discuss the treatment. Make sure they understand the value, the urgency, and the consequences of waiting. 

There’s no point negotiating finances if they don’t want the service in the first place. Why talk money about something they don’t even want!  

If they do want it? Then figure out a way to make it work.

Final Thoughts 

Improving treatment presentation isn’t about manipulation or pressure. It’s about clarity, leadership, and communication. 

Master these five areas, and case acceptance becomes a whole lot easier: 

1. Understand where your patient’s head is at. 

1. Speak their language, not yours. 

1. Give yourself time to explain. 

1. Don’t shy away from the number. 

1. Confirm they want it before you talk money. 

That’s how you help more patients. That’s how you grow. And that’s how you build a practice you actually enjoy. 

And if you really want to learn how to blast your treatment acceptance into a whole new range – check out the MGE Communication and Sales Seminars! I hope to meet you there!