648: Treating People, Not Patients - Dr. Micheal Sonick

Treating People, Not Patients

Episode #648 with Dr. Michael Sonick

Are you treating people, or just their teeth? To help you do both, Kirk Behrendt brings in Dr. Michael Sonick, author of Treating People, Not Patients, with ways to be hospitable, present, and empathetic for the people who choose your chair. Improve the way you connect with patients! To learn how to provide the Four Seasons experience in your dental office, listen to Episode 648 of The Best Practices Show!

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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Register for Dr. Sonick’s course, The Art and Science of Exceptional Dentistry: Periodontal Mastery (November 1-3, 2023)

Read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Learn more about Culture Index

Main Takeaways:

Find mentors who can teach you “soft” skills.

Make patients feel safe and comfortable in your office.

Connect with the person in front of you — it doesn't take a lot.

Your patients are coming for great experiences, not great dentistry.

Quotes:

“Most dentists are not taught how to treat people in dental school. What are we taught? We're taught how to do crown lengthening, extractions, orthodontics, veneers, bonding. We even have requirements. You have to do 30 of these restorations. I had to make four dentures. I had to do six periodontal surgeries. I didn't have to be nice to anybody. I wasn't taught how to be nice to any of the people in my practice. They didn't teach us integrity. They didn't teach us transformational powers over patients. They didn't teach us neurolinguistic programming. They didn't teach us the most important thing that we can do for a patient — and that is to make them feel safe and comfortable in our environment.” (3:05—3:43)

“When a patient comes into a dental office, it's not the Four Seasons hotel. They come into our office, and we're not giving them a great experience. We're giving them an anesthetic. We're jabbing them. We have more knowledge than they do. We make them feel inferior. They already feel terrible because their mouths are in bad shape. They feel guilty. They come in with so much baggage and preconceived notions of what's going to happen to them when they're in our office. So, the first thing that I need to know about that patient is, what are they worried about? Let me take that away immediately. I try to find that out.” (4:38—5:09)

“For me, the restaurant became the model for running a good dental practice — except the restaurant is a little different. They don't serve dentistry, they serve food.” (7:03—7:11)

“You can't treat someone well just because you think they're worthy of being treated well.” (11:46—11:52)

“Have you ever been to a m