As a dental professional, you have to communicate with several patients every day. It doesn’t matter if you’re a dental assistant, dentist, or dental hygienist, each role plays its part in patient care. To be frank, most patients aren’t ecstatic to go into the dentist’s office. They may not enjoy getting their teeth cleaned, or they’re worried about the pain from a procedure they need.

To help ease your patients’ worries, you need to be able to communicate with them effectively. Depending on what the patient needs, that may be difficult or a piece of cake. Regardless, follow these three tips to improve your communication with patients.

Be Personal

First and foremost, when you see a patient that you know, speak openly with them outside of dentistry. Ask the patients about school, work, family, and so on. With open conversation, your patients will feel more at ease at your practice. They will be more confident in asking questions or telling you any concerns they may have. Overall, personal conversation can open your patients up and set the stage for a successful patient visit.

Be Straightforward and Practical

When one of your patients has a procedure, let them know exactly what is going to happen. Your patients don’t want to have undergone a procedure or have a scan taking without knowing what will happen. Through honest communication, your patients will feel better about what’s to come as they will have nothing to fear.

At the same time, you need to be practical in what you tell them. Rather than use complex terminology, explain procedures in simple terms. Ditch the medical terminology and opt for words of common knowledge. For example, if you see a patient with caries, tell them you see a cavity.

Talk About the Speed or Ease of Procedures

If one of your patients has a procedure scheduled for the day, let them know what’s going to happen. At the same time, be sure to communicate all the positive aspects of the procedure. You can tell your patient how recently a filling has gone from taking 30 minutes to only 15 minutes.

By communicating positive thoughts and aspects of the patient’s visit, they will feel much better themselves.

Tips for Freelance Dental Professionals

Often, full-time dental professionals know most of their patient base which aids in communication. As a freelance professional, you may be lacking these personal connections. However, that shouldn’t stop you from having effective communication with the patients.

As a freelancer, talk openly with your patients about their visit and their patient. By communicating you know the patient’s history and what they need, they’ll feel comfortable with your professionalism. Ultimately, through positive, confident communication, your patients will feel better about their dental visit.

If you’re a freelance dental professional, join Stynt here. You’ll have access to thousands of dentist offices that need high-quality staff. You get the benefit of choosing between one-time jobs, longer contract jobs, and the specific practices themselves.