How to Serve Patients Who Put Off a Visit to the Dentist Because of Fear

Gary Takacs: This is The Thriving Dentist Show with Gary Takacs, where we help you develop your ideal dental practice, one that provides personal, professional, and financial satisfaction.

Gary Takacs: Welcome to another episode of The Thriving Dentist Show. I’m Gary Takis, the Thriving Dentist Show podcast founder and co-host, and we have a great episode, for you today. today’s episode is titled How to Serve Patients Who Put Off A Visit to the Dentist because of Fear. this is gonna be a wonderful discussion with lots of useful information that you can apply in your practice. I’m excited about sharing this with you. but before we do, we have two quick announcements to make. the first announcement is that you probably know that we regularly at Thriving Dentist do, live virtual events. So these are events that you can attend from the comfort of your home or office. And, we have a Thriving Dentist webinar coming up in June. So, one hour webinar, it’s on June 30th, and the webinar is titled, when Digital Dentistry Increases Production and Profit.

Gary Takacs: We’re gonna talk about 3D printing same day restorations and cloud-based systems. come join us for that webinar again. It’s, June 30th. It’s six to 7:00 PM Eastern Time, one hour webinar. You’ll get one hour of ce. by the way, there’s no tuition for that You can attend as our guest. it’s our way to say thank you for being a listener to the Thriving Dentist Show. Invite your colleagues to come join with you. You do have to register for the event, though there’s no tuition, but you do need to register an event. Go to thriving dentist.com/events, and you’ll see that event, grab your seat for it and register. And, we’ll look forward to seeing you on, June 30th, 6:00 PM Eastern Time. So if I do the time translation, that’ll be, 3:00 PM Pacific, 4:00 PM Mountain, 5:00 PM Central, and 6:00 PM Eastern time. Now, the second announcement I have is we have a returning guest, Dr. Darryl Burke. And, he is gonna share some great information, with you regarding dental implants. and the title of his tip is Get Implant Diameter, right With Simple Math and Biology. Again, get implant diameter Right, very important detail with simple math and biology. No further ado. Here’s Dr. Darryl Burke with that Thriving dentist clinical tip.

Dr. Darryl Burke: One non-negotiable step in implant placement is choosing the correct implant diameter. And honestly, it’s simple math. Start with the size of the missing tooth. If a molar measures 10 millimeters, divide by two, you’re looking at a five millimeter implant. If it’s an eight millimeter tooth, a four millimeter implant, that becomes your foundation. From there, evaluate the biology. What is the residual ridge width as the opposing tooth super erupted? Have adjacent teeth shifted or tilted? Are you setting yourself up for food traps? If orthodontics is necessary, it should be completed before any implant placement. If everything checks out, now confirm your bone. Take your proposed implant diameter and add at least four millimeters. That is looking from a buccolingual aspect. Why? Because while literature shows that one millimeter bone around an implant and be sufficient, having two millimeters or more, especially on the facial, provides long-term stability and predictability. Remember, sufficient connective tissue as to protect that too. Here’s the reality. When you teach an inch, someone will try to take a mile. As you gain experience, you’ll learn where you can safely push boundaries, but you also need to be ready to manage to complications. When you do, patients do not care about theory. They want a tooth and they don’t want problems. Stick to sound, biological principles and your implant success will follow.

Naren Arulrajah: Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Thriving Dentist Podcast. This is Naren, your co-host. Hope you enjoyed that clinical tip. If you have any questions for Dr. Burke, hey, come to the website thrivingdentist.com and contact us, and we’ll definitely pass it along. In the meantime, I hope to see you in the event that Gary talked about, go to thriving dentist.com/events. We have tons of events coming up, so definitely you should bookmark this. And if this is of interest, please do attend. Gary, today’s topic is specifically important to me because it’s something that I’ve seen a lot of, as many of I’ve been helping practices on the marketing side for 19 years, and you have been doing this for four to six years, Gary, and how to serve patients who put off a visit to the dentist because of fear is something I can’t count the number of times that comes up in the work that we do for our clients.

Naren Arulrajah: And I also can empathize as a patient because I used to be one of those people, at least for a while when I was, in my early twenties, I didn’t take going to the dentist seriously. For some reason I thought, I don’t need it. I’m in great help. Why do I need to go to the dentist? I don’t know where I got that idea from, but for a while it was in my head. So I see lots of reasons people don’t go to the dentist. I know we are gonna focus specifically on fear theists, I think ultimately the number one reason, but then it piggybacks with other reasons. Like, for example, in my case, I do think I was not happy about going to the dentist because I had some terrible experiences in early in my dental life, so to speak.

Naren Arulrajah: And I think subconsciously I was like avoiding it as much as possible. And then of course, you just justify it with, oh, you are healthy, you don’t need it. ? So it’s like a combination of things that happen and then it becomes a habit. And then by the time you do go to the do, you do go to the dentist. And that is like, oh man, you have been ignoring lots of things and there’s a huge list of things, and you even get more afraid and some show up to the first visit, get that emergency done and never come back again. So it’s kind of interesting dynamic. Is this consistent with your experience, Gary? Just, like having done this for a long time, what do see?

Gary Takacs: Very much so, we’re gonna talk a little bit about the data that shows what percent of the general population has some level of anxiety. We’re gonna talk about that. But, it’s way more common, than you think. And we have to, remember that, there’s this, issue of, being proximate. Being proximate. anyone listen to this. We’re all into dentistry, right? so we start assuming that everyone thinks like us, that’s a reality, in, just human behavior. you project you assume people are like us. So, you know, most people in dentistry, it’s very comfortable to be in a dental environment. You start thinking that’s, that’s true for everybody. And in fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth. It couldn’t be further from the truth, right?

Gary Takacs: That the incident of it is very large, and there’s just tremendous opportunity. And, I’ve, I’ve, our listeners have heard me say, I think dentistry rocks. And the reason I think dentistry rocks, I believe that with every ounce of my DNA is because we have the ability to change people’s lives every day. And it could be something you do clinically, but it could also be suit something you do behaviorally, which fits in this topic. Because if you can interact with a patient that used to be tremendously fearful and they would literally, put off in some cases years and years and years of going to the dentist, and you can help that patient overcome their fear and become a comfortable regular patient, you have radically improved their life. ? And think about how that has, a reverb, a reverb effect.

Gary Takacs: maybe that patient is, a mom and now because she’s comfortable going to the dentist, that’s the value system that gets, conveyed to her kids. And so you’re making generational changes there, as well. So I think there’s a very important topic, and we’re gonna unpack this one and share lots of information that all of our listeners can apply in their practice. But, yeah, the incident of it is much larger than we might expect. Because, if we don’t have those fears, you can project that and assume other people don’t. But in fact, that’s not the case.

Naren Arulrajah: Right? Let’s jump right in. So, I wanna start with data. You kind of alluded to it in your introductory remarks, but can you share with me, like, I’m sure you’ve looked at lots of studies, Gary, and of course you have a lot of experience. Can you share with me some data about how many patients, percentage of patients avoid or put off a visit? and again, is it all fear or is it fear is one of the many reasons. Just curious. Like what kind of data? No, the

Gary Takacs: Data relates specifically to fear or anxiety, fear. Okay, we’re using those terms kind of interchangeably, right? So here’s what the data sets, the data says. And this is, I know we have a worldwide audience, we have listeners in 188 countries, but the thriving right? Show, so we have a worldwide audience. My data comes from the us. so this might change, your mileage may vary in your country, although we’re talking about human behavior, so I would suggest that it probably doesn’t change too much.

Naren Arulrajah: I agree. But

Gary Takacs: The data says, that 42% of, Americans will put off a visit to the dentist because of fear or anxiety. 42% will put off a visit, right? 22% won’t go at all. It’s paralyzing fear. 22% won’t go at all. So let’s look at that. So let’s look at the 42% that put off a visit. think about that. N that it’s a minority. It’s, it’s a minority number. It’s less than 50%, but, it’s, it’s more than two out of three, right? it’s, it’s, it’s a significant, it’s, no, it’s less than two outta three, but it’s, it’s a significant number that put off a visit and think about the 22% that won’t go at all. They won’t go, they’re, they’re excluding themself from receiving dental care because they’re so afraid. It’s paralyzing fear.

Gary Takacs: Those numbers ought to get your attention, because think about the opportunity that you, opportunity you have to serve those people. some of them could be in your practice, there could be fearful people in your practice, right? But they don’t, they basically only come when something hurts, because they’re finally motivated to get in. What if we could get that patient on a more regular, schedule of visits to the practice? But of course, it can also allow us to attract patients, to your practice that are in that subset of people that, are paralyzed with fear. So the data’s compelling.

Naren Arulrajah: Gary, this is bugging me, so I’m gonna ask it even though it’s not something, I think it is a little bit outta the topic of fear only. Like we know half of Americans do not have insurance, right? And some of them are well off, and others, can’t afford healthcare. I’m being blunt, right? At least dentistry, how much of that, or how many people do you think are not coming because of cost? At least I know that’s not data, because I guess nobody’s studying it. Maybe they should. Well,

Gary Takacs: Actually we do have data on that

Naren Arulrajah: There. Oh, we do have data. Okay. Let,

Gary Takacs: Lemme share it with you. Okay? I think your thinking makes sense,

Naren Arulrajah: Right?

Gary Takacs: It may, it’s logical what you’re saying. However, the data doesn’t prove that the data actually proves the opposite. Let me back it up now,

Naren Arulrajah: Right?

Gary Takacs: There is such a thing as, American  association on dental plan executives, an association of dental plannings. how, professional organizations have their own association, right? We have our a DA American Dental Association, we do have a Canadian Dental Association, right? Correct. Well, un until recently, I didn’t realize this, but it makes perfect sense. There is an association of dental insurance plan executives. Hmm. And they recently reported that of the patients that have dental insurance, of the patients that have dental insurance, only 2.8% of the people that have dental insurance use their annual maximum. So think about they Now, how does that ans how does that prove what I’m trying to, the point that I’m trying to make, right? The half of the people that have insurance,

Naren Arulrajah: Right?

Gary Takacs: and that’s about what it is. Now, in data, that half that has insurance only, 2.8, only 2.8% of them use their maximum. So it, they, there’s no need for the insurance companies to raise the maximums because, you know, the maximums haven’t changed. In some cases since insurance was introduced to the 1960s, back in the 1960s, an annual insurance award was a thousand dollars. Mm-hmm . And if you go back to the sixties, let’s go to 1968, ’cause that’s the year I had the data from, a krem cost, 150, the average crown in 1968 in percent. So insurance paid 75, patient paid 75. How many crowns could they get Naren for their a thousand dollars a year benefit?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah. 75. So let’s say, 12.

Gary Takacs: It’s, it’s between 13 and 14, right?

Naren Arulrajah: You get

Gary Takacs: 13 point something, crowns something. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, now that’s not a full mouth reconstruction,

Naren Arulrajah: Right?

Gary Takacs: If you did some of those crowns in, November and December in one year. Yeah. And then the next year, you could get another 13 crown. You could, you could do, they could get significant benefits mm-hmm . Covered by their insurance. Now, fast forward to today, there are many insurance plans that still have the thousand dollars annual award.

Naren Arulrajah: Right? People

Gary Takacs: Won’t even get one crown. Well, it might get one crown, but it wouldn’t cover it. If you also need a root canal, root canal and buildup, it’s not gonna not gonna cover it. So what used to cover, you know, 13 crowns in a year, and now this many years later, it’s, it’s not hardly even covering a single tooth. Right? But the fact that they have insurance isn’t changing the fact that they’re using their benefits, you know, only 2.8%. Now, there are plans today that have more than a thousand years. 1200 is not uncommon. 1500 is not uncommon. Again, that doesn’t change this discussion much compared to the way the fees have gone up, since then. So, in insurance initially was bought, it was created by Dennis Forex. If you think about that, it’s kind of crazy to think about today because it’s deviated so far away from that today. But one of the things that people thought was, if we can help people get insurance, it’ll bring more people into the dentist. Yeah. And that really hasn’t proven out. That really hasn’t been proven out Good. A noble idea.

Naren Arulrajah: Right?

Gary Takacs: A no noble concept. And perhaps fear is one of the contributing because the fact they have insurance doesn’t change their fear. that doesn’t might change their fear of money. the fear of having to pay for it

Naren Arulrajah: Yes. Yes.

Gary Takacs: But it doesn’t change the sub context of the tremendous anxiety a lot of people have around gonna the dentist.

Naren Arulrajah: Fair enough. Yeah, I think it’s, yeah, I just wanted to kind of, get it off the back of my mind so I don’t have to like, think about it , because I know, I know. yeah. A lot of people don’t have insurance. I just wanted to kind of cover ’em as well. why do so many patients avoid a postponed dental care because of fear?

Gary Takacs: I think there’s, I don’t think there’s a single answer to that, Naren. Mm-hmm . I think, there are many, possible reasons, one of which you did mention yourself, and that is that, many times patients have had, a tough experience early in their life that imprints them, right? Often as a child. and it kind of imprints them. and, technology has changed radically. and, there are still, you know, I have tremendous regard for our listeners, who are, who are a pediatric dentists, and treat kids. but we can start kids off today, with a really cool first experience in the dental office. And hopefully what that’ll create is a lifetime of positive mindset around going to the dentist instead of the negative mindset that, you know, so many people were introduced to.

Gary Takacs: when we’ve asked, patients, and my clients have asked, we, you get to know your patients pretty well, tell me a little bit more about your concerns and your anxiety around dental care. And very often the story that they tell is, I have a vivid memory of a very bad first experience that’s not unusual. I, and I believe some of it might be, relative to the time period when that happened. but today, we have tech technique, technology, and just more awareness, as healthcare providers on things we can do to make visits comfortable, for people. many patients are tremendously apprehensive around getting a shot. So if you wanna know a great practice builder, this is not the topic of this episode, but we’ll throw it in there.

Gary Takacs: Learn how to get painless objections, right? you can give conventional injections painlessly. There’s also technology that can help you with that, in terms of the wand and other types of technology. But learn how to give painless injections. And it’s so cool when a patient turns to your assistant, you’ve given an injection, you’ve left the room, and later the patient turns to your assistant and says, I didn’t even realize the doctor gave me a shot. That’s what we want. because sometimes it was a bad experience around getting an injection that kind of amplified that fear. and now that fear the acronym, I like to think of fear sometimes as an acronym. FEAR, false evidence appearing real. So the fear around an injection is it’s gonna hurt like heck. and, you know, doctors, assess step back and test your self-awareness, test your self-awareness.

Gary Takacs: if your patients are grabbing onto the chair like a death grip and they’ve been patients in your practice, maybe you’re not giving painless injections. And maybe there’s something you could learn about that clinically. there is technique. There’s, there’s, there’s a great topical that you can use. There’s technique with the needle size and the way you administered, anesthetic that, can be, can be painless. but there’s a lot of reasons why, people postpone ’em is, Dennis, because of fear. And then what happens is it’s a snowball rolling downhill because they’re avoiding going whatever problems they’re having become more complicated. Something that could have been taken care of very simply now becomes something that’s a lot more complicated. And then it is literally advanced into something that, we need some, way to help patients deal with that, because it now has become a big concern,

Naren Arulrajah: Right? Yeah. I’m gonna wear my influence hat, not marketing hat, but influence hat and share a couple of ideas and want your feedback on it. Kelly. One is, we all know social proof, right? Imagine like, I go to a practice and lots of people talk about, Hey, I used to be afraid to go to a dentist, and this doctor is amazing. You know, I’ve never been to a better dentist. So I start seeing other people saying, how you are the person for those who are afraid of going to a dentist, number one. So that, I want your feedback on that idea. Like, oh, yeah. Is that something you would pursue?

Gary Takacs: Yeah. In my example, when the, patient turns to the assistant and says, oh my gosh, I didn’t even realize the doctor gave me a shot. Right? In most cases, that ends up being a missed opportunity. Mm-hmm . And what by a missed opportunity is the assistant says something like, oh, and that’s it. , right? But the assistant could say, what, Carol, let’s say the patient’s name’s Carol, later today, I’m gonna share that with doctor. I’ll share what you said. It will make his day. It will make his day. ’cause he really takes pride in giving painless injections. So I’m gonna let him know that, I’d like to ask your help. we love seeing our existing patients like you in the practice, but we’d also love seeing new patients. We always make room for new patients.

Gary Takacs: And one reason that a lot of people don’t go to the dentist is because of fear of the shock. Later today, when you get a chance, would you be kind enough to write us a Google review? And we’ll, we’ll, we’ll hand her a business card that has the QR code on the back, you know? Right. for the, Google My Business page, Carol, later today, when you get a chance, would you be kind enough to write us a Google review and maybe say something similar like you just told me? Because that might help those people that are afraid of going to a dentist realize that a visit to the dentist could be comfortable, and you’ll be helping more people obtain better health. Hey, thanks in advance. Right. And now it’s become a cause for her. It isn’t just bragging about your practice. Mm-hmm. But if this is a person that has the helper, Jean, they wanna help people, that resonates very well with those people that like to help others. And now all of a sudden, the idea of writing a review becomes a social cause, I wanna help other people, and I’m just gonna tell my experience. Right. And you don’t need too many of those reviews where you could, imagine you could pull those reviews and put those on a landing page that talked about comfortable dentistry.

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah, exactly. this is an excellent

Gary Takacs: Expectation.

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah. This is excellent. I love, the tie in with Google reviews and marketing. The other question is, a little personal to me. Like, for example, as a 20-year-old, I never appreciated the importance of taking care of my oral health. Let’s be honest. fear was one of it. That’s what cost me not wanting to go to a dentist, but really I’m like, I’m making money, but I want to go travel. I want to save, I wanna do other things with the money. For some reason I didn’t, didn’t connect in my stupid brain that, stitching time saves. I’m going to a dentist, two times a year and doing your thing properly, like makes my life so much better. Right. And finally, I don’t remember who, but somebody sat down with me and helped me shift the way I was thinking about dentistry and oral health. And the minute I got it, I’m like, okay, this is going up in my list. It’s no longer like, bottom of my list of what’s important in my life, but rather important. I think, I think probably like, I think the shift happened in my thirties. I can’t remember now, but so how would you Well, good

Gary Takacs: News is the shift happened, ? Yes. It happened. It didn’t wait until you’re in your sixties, it

Naren Arulrajah: . Yes. And I have to give the credit to the dentist. I mean, it didn’t happen because I’m a genius. It happened because of some good soul who like convinced me, of what I was doing wrong.

Gary Takacs: Let me come back to that question. There’s, there’s another occurrence that happens in many dental practices that, create, a fearful response. And that’s the loss of control. Okay. The loss of control. When you’re in the chair, many people feel very vulnerable. Think about that for a minute. When you’re in, you’re in the treatment chair mm-hmm . There’s a feeling of vulnerability not

Naren Arulrajah: Being in control. Not

Gary Takacs: Being in control, right.

Naren Arulrajah: And we hate that feeling. I think everyone hates that feeling.

Gary Takacs: Well, some people more than others,

Naren Arulrajah: Right.

Gary Takacs: Folks that own businesses absolutely hate not having control . Right?

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Like the type is, you talk about, achieves,

Gary Takacs: yeah. You wanna be in control. yeah. and having lack of control creates a lot of anxiety. It’s a different level of anxiety, but it’s anxiety.

Naren Arulrajah: Right? Right.

Gary Takacs: It’s not necessarily a fear like, fear of the shot or failure. Right. It’s, it’s the anxiety of not having control. Right. And especially if you’re involving a procedure that has a rubber dam and different, feelings of, restriction or, claustrophobia, right. And so some behavioral skills, there’s some great courses that you can take on how to manage patient behavior. Like something as simple as letting the patient know, Rin, I’ll use you as an example. Let’s say I’m the doctor, right? I might say, Rin, I’m about to start our procedure. If at any time you would like to me to stop, simply raise your left hand and I’ll stop. Because you might need to take a breath, might need to rinse. That’s perfectly okay. And now what have I done with control by doing that? What done?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah. I’m giving you control. giving you the patient, the

Gary Takacs: Control and the psychological benefit Yeah. Of you having control.

Naren Arulrajah: Yes. Yes.

Gary Takacs: I feel like you’re back in control. You may never need to raise your hand, but you can’t. Right.

Naren Arulrajah: That’s a good point. I remember anytime I go into a serious painful thing, my doctor kind of gets me ready for it. It’s almost like this could hurt, but, anytime it ha it does just raise your hand. So like, I’m gonna immediately stop. So like, fe and that kind of puts me at ease, ? Yeah. Especially those

Gary Takacs: And that, and that can be a very simple technique there, to do that. just, raise your hand. yeah. And that’ll be my signal to, stop, when my w sit up. and a lot of times just the act of knowing they can do that solves that anxiety. Yeah. Because they that in control.

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly. And some people are like, afraid to speak up. Right. Especially for those people. Like, they’ll be like, oh, should I raise my hands?

Gary Takacs: They don’t wanna tell the doctor what to do. They don’t want to.

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah, exactly.

Gary Takacs: they don’t want to, affect how the procedure might go.

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly.

Gary Takacs: So that’s another, and there’s courses, that talk about these different things that can be done.

Naren Arulrajah: Let me go to question number three, Gary. Let’s discuss the different sedation options that dentists can incorporate to become better prepared to attract and treat fearful patients. What have you experienced with your clients?

Gary Takacs: Well, I can, really add some cool information here. I’m a big fan of, taking advanced courses that allow you to deal with patients that are, that are fearful. and sedation, is, obviously one of those ways we could help patients feel more comfortable visiting the dentist. And in some cases, your interests might go all the way to IV sedation becoming iv, sedation certified. where in other words, the patient will essentially be, asleep. now again, that isn’t, something that you do casually. You’ll have to take a lot of advanced courses. You’ll need some equipment, you’ll need some training. you’ll need to, become credentialed in that states vary on their level of, training that’s required. I think anytime we’re dealing with airway, we should take as much education as we possibly can, to never stop studying about that.

Gary Takacs: But if you’re, orientation is, maybe you have, as a general dentist want to do, a lot of, placing and restoring implants, and you wanna get to the point where you can do anything in dental implants. There’s a lot of patients who wouldn’t wanna have an implant procedure done without being under IV sedation. and so you might want to go all the way to become IV certified. then again, there’s other options too. if you decide that you, don’t really have the interest in going all the way to IV sedation, then we could use, oral conscious sedation. oral conscious sedation is, another form of sleep dentistry. We talk about sleep dentistry. As treating obstructive sleep apnea is another form of sleep dentistry. This is a different form of sleep dentistry. So we can use oral conscious sedation, where the patient is in a twilight zone, they’re conscious, they respond to your commands turn left, turn right open wide.

Gary Takacs: For me. They respond, they do need to have someone, drive them home from the dental appointment because they aren’t in a position to drive home yet. but oral conscious sedation that might be as far as you wanna go with sedation. And then on those implant cases that need IV sedation, you might refer those to an oral surgeon or a paradox, that you work with. and you could go all the way with that education yourself, you to be able to do iv sedation. But all kinds of sedation is something I think every one of our listeners should do. Absolutely. Everyone. And there’s great training. I’m gonna give them a, we have no affiliation, but I want to give them credit. The docs or organization, DOCS, it stands for Dental Organization for Conscious Sedation.

Gary Takacs: Dr. Michael Silverman founded that organization many years ago. and it is a fantastic program that you can go through different levels of training to take your oral conscious sedation to whatever level you want. You may just choose to do level one anxiolysis. and it’s, it’s done with triazolam, which is a benzo di it’s in the Benzodiazepine family. It operates a lot like Valium, but with a lot better qualities. For example, one of the better qualities, it has very quick half-life. It leaves the system very quickly, unlike Valium, which will kind of leave in a foggy effect for a while. but Trilon leaves you very, you return to normal very quickly. but it makes the visit perfectly comfortable for the patient. They won’t remember any of it. it’s an amnesiac, type of drug where they won’t remember anything.

Gary Takacs: but, go to just Google Dental Docs. Their entire program is available when live courses. it’s also available online. And I’d highly recommend, training through docs. And that might be as far as you wanna go, or if you want to go more advanced and become IIV certified, there’s a bunch of different ways you can proceed to get IV certified, if that was your interest. but, docs is something that could be applied in every practice, and it’s something that you can use as a practice builder for sure.

Naren Arulrajah: Gary, I have a question. maybe you could offer this to our clients so we could do a podcast or a webinar around it. are there any courses or content around the behavioral side? In other words, it’s fear, right? It’s not real, but it’s just in the, for the person, it’s real, or anxiety. It’s not real for the person, it’s real. I have personal experience with it, so I know exactly, you know, what you’re talking about. But is there anybody who really focuses on that side, like the psychology and how to deal with that? Not only with the patient, with the team, like everybody working together, like, is there anything for that?

Gary Takacs: There are, resources. right now, I’m drawing a blank. the people I used for that years ago have retired. Okay. However, I would, I would just, I’m a Claude fan, I’m an AI Claude fan, so I would go to Claude and right. I would Google, training for dentists and team members, behavioral training to help people deal with anxiety and see what comes up. but those courses are available, at conferences, they are available and there are, people with expertise in that area and that strongly recommend that those would be good addition to whatever training you do in terms of sedation. Absolutely. absolutely. Naren, lemme flip it and ask you a question. Is it okay if I do that?

Naren Arulrajah: Go for it, Gary.

Gary Takacs: Alright. It relates to marketing. So Naren, what are some specific marketing strategies that Ekwa your marketing company uses for your clients, your Ekwa clients, to grow their practice by attracting patients who experience dental anxiety?

Naren Arulrajah: That’s an excellent question, Gary. I have been helping practice owners for 19 years. we currently work with 400 dental practice owners. And I have to say that this group of patients, the people who are afraid of going to the dentist is massive. You’re looking at 20% of your new patient base, and many of our clients have taken a lot,

Gary Takacs: Maybe 42 if they’re putting off a visit indefinitely.

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly. Yeah, I agree. So minimum 20, and it could be as high as 42. And I’m gonna give you like a prescription on how you should think about this. So step one is when those people are, maybe they have a toothache or they read an article about gum disease and they’re worried because, you know, maybe there aren’t gut dementia recently. And they’re like, oh man, if I don’t go to the dentist and I don’t take care of this is going to come back and, I’m gonna end up getting dementia, right? Because maybe they heard somebody in dinner conversation saying, oh, she got a dementia because she didn’t take care of her teeth, and now they’re like stressed out. So there are these triggers that are happening in their life, even though they’re afraid of going to the dentist. And what do they do? They go to Google and start doing research. And step one is when they’re researching for a kind of a pain-free dentist, that could be a, phrase. They, you could use sedation dentist. I’m sure many people have heard of sedation, as another example, a dentist, a dental anxiety. They might be typing that in, like, if that’s what they’re experiencing,

Gary Takacs: They might just type in, I’m afraid of going to the dentist.

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly. I’m afraid of going to the dentist. ? So, and they might type it into ai. They might type it into Google. Google still is 95% of the market, but it doesn’t matter where they type it in. The question is how are you showing up? So, this whole, like, we said on the upper limit could be 40%, the lower limit is 20%. So that’s a huge chunk of dental patients. So there are at least 30, 40, 50 different keywords. And, I use Google Analytics because Google will tell you exactly what phrases people are typing in your neighborhood. And so you can literally pick the top 30, 40 keywords in terms of how popular they are in your neighborhood, and just see if you are showing up near the top of Google results. When people type it in. It’s kind of like, some people are like, I want to get into a particular program, but they never apply to that program.

Naren Arulrajah: because they’re afraid or whatever the case might be. Same thing here, like if you want to attract those patients, step one is they have to know that you exist when they’re looking for someone like you. So that’s given, so you have to dominate at least 30, 40 keywords related to, or phrases or sentences, whatever you wanna call it, that are the most popular related to this whole group of people. So that’s step number one. And what by dominate, meaning you have to show up at the very top of Google, ideally in the top three, but no less than the page one itself. Why nobody goes to page two. And if they start seeing you again and again in their subconscious mind, they’re gonna start thinking, you must be good. Because for some reason, your name is the only one that keeps popping up anytime I’m looking for this.

Naren Arulrajah: And second, we kind of alluded to, is now they need proof that you are for real. Yes, Google showed it to you, but what if you’re not who you say you are? So perhaps, you, we touched on it, Gary, those reviews, aggregating those reviews where people specifically talk about, Hey, I have, I was so afraid to go to a dentist, and this person is a life changer now. I love him and, her, and now I bring all my family because they’re amazing. They just make me feel comfortable. All those wonderful reviews, highlight them. again, show the Google logo. If the reviews on Google go, you know, that way people know it’s not you saying it’s real. Patients of your practice have gone to Google and written the reviews. So that’s one thing. So have a wonderful landing page.

Naren Arulrajah: It could be one, two multiple pages depending on the different keywords, and make sure that’s proof. Even like simple, welcoming, video. I would put that on that page. Hey, I’m, I’m Dr. So and so, I’ve been helping patients who are afraid to go to the dentist and like connect with them. And again, we can send you some samples and examples, short videos, layman’s terms, 45 seconds, making them feel like you hear them, making them feel like you understand them. And the most simple, you keep it no jargon, no buzzwords, the more they’re gonna relate to you. Right? so that’s the other tip I would share. And last but not least, I would also look at Google reviews. So like, make getting those 10 to 15 Google reviews a month part of your practice.

Naren Arulrajah: So, like you said that example, get aware, patient compliments, oh, I didn’t feel the shot. And we lose that opportunity. So like, really make your team champions of getting those people to write those reviews. And of course, your patients champions of sharing their experience so that others like them can benefit. So those are the components of the strategy, Gary. But it’s very hard for me to give you specific advice. I think this came from one of our listeners. Maybe book a marketing strategy meeting. That way we can get into like, what is your weakest link? Is it a CEO? Is it landing pages, is it videos? Is it a, in a combination? and the link for that is ekwa.com/td. ekwa.com/td.

Gary Takacs: Let me, let me share something with you, Naren, that might come as a surprise to you. You and I have never talked about this, right? Naren, you might be a little bit surprised to know that there are many dentists who once experienced dental anxiety in their own life.

Naren Arulrajah: Oh, interesting.

Gary Takacs: Many. and I’ve encountered them. I’ve, I’ve physically been in over 2200 practices in those 46 years as a coach, right? And I’ve encountered many dentists when I start talking about sedation, where they say, I was one of those, and actually I ended up having a great experience, with a dentist, that helped me overcome this. And that’s part of what led me on this path to become a dentist myself. So if you were that dentist, imagine the video that you could do. I wouldn’t suggest fabricating this, of course, sure. Tell the truth. But if you were that dentist that experienced anxiety, say, Hey, I was one of those people and I learned that, a visit to the dentist could be comfortable. and it’s something that we take great pride in our practice.

Gary Takacs: So if you’re someone that experiences some anxiety or fear, please know, you would be absolutely welcome. and, would, love to help you get on a path to great oral health, by having comfortable, dental visits. Imagine the power of that message. Now, I’m gonna take this a little further near you talk about marketing to attract new people to your practice. Yes. But there’s a bonus marketing tip right here that relates to our topic of anxiety and fear in many practices. in fact, I have, I have anecdotal data on this. In our client base and in our client base, typically there are more women that, more women as patients in the practice than men, typically. Sometimes it’s a close relationship, of the, of the ratio. it might be 54% female, 46% male, and sometimes it’s more pronounced, it might be, 65% female, 35% male.

Gary Takacs: But one of the things any of you could do, if you wanna see more new patients in your practice, you want to grow. I’m a big fan of growth. You wanna grow. You can look in your records every day. And if we know your patient is married, but we’re not seeing their spouse or partner, that happens all the time. Mm-hmm . So let’s say, the patient’s name is Linda, and we know her husband’s name is Dave. that was in the intake form. we know that the husband, but we’re not seeing Dave. we might ask Linda, Hey Linda, I noticed that we don’t see your husband date. Does he have a dentist now? She wants to say. Yeah. He goes to a dentist by his work. It’s very convenient for him. He is right next to his work. Oh, okay. Good. I’m glad he is going to the dentist. But very often, guess what they say, Marin, he’s

Naren Arulrajah: Afraid of, afraid the dentist.

Gary Takacs: Yeah. I love the guy, but he’s a knucklehead. He won’t go to the dentist ’cause he’s afraid.

Naren Arulrajah: Right?

Gary Takacs: And then we can say to her, Linda, we have, lots of options to make every visit comfortable. For example, we have sedation where his visit can be completely comfortable and she’ll say, oh my gosh, if he knew that, then, he would call to make an appointment, have him call. and we’d love to see Dave. it’s important that Dave either comes here or somewhere, because if he’s not taking care of his mouth, that can end up affecting your oral health. Right? We usually don’t have to draw pictures to explain that Naren. but the patient kind of figures that out, right? And then they’re like, oh my gosh, you’re right. I’m gonna make sure he calls today. Now, here’s what typically happens. Dave hasn’t been to the dentist for 15 years. Why? Why?

Naren Arulrajah: Good question. I dunno, he’s afraid. Oh, right. Of course, of course. Yes. He’s afraid. Yes. Yes.

Gary Takacs: What does his mouth look like?

Naren Arulrajah: Oh, like a ?

Gary Takacs: Yes. The train wreck.

Naren Arulrajah: Yes.

Gary Takacs: Yeah. And you very, I, we have this in our client base where they do oral conscious sedation. recently we did some research around this in the client base. And the average value of an oral conscious sedation patient was about $6,200 of that treatment. It’s not exotic treatment. It’s everyday generalness. It’s filling root canals and crowns, right? Depending on your technology and your pr, if you’re a CEREC office, that could be one visit. If you’re sending the crown out to a lab, it’d be two visits. But the value of that dentistry per hour is extremely good. And look at what you’re doing to help the patient. And all of that was cultivated by just identifying if we’re seeing their spouse or partner, ask the question. I noticed we don’t see your partner, does, it could be go the, does he or she have a dentist? And it’ll come out. And then it’s a perfect opportunity to let ’em know why we need to get that patient, their partner in, because it’ll improve their health as well.

Naren Arulrajah: Gary, this is so fascinating, Gary. I just used Google AI and asked the question, are men more afraid of going to the dentist? And this is what it told me. And you just, it’s amazing. First thing it says is, while more women report anxiety about dental visits, men are more likely to avoid them entirely. So women talk about it, but men actually just don’t go. But

Gary Takacs: The women feel it, but they overcome their fear to come anyway.

Naren Arulrajah: That’s true. Exactly.

Gary Takacs: That’s really, that’s really well, and, maybe this is, maybe this is genetically imprinted Mary, mm-hmm . I’m pretty convinced that if there was somehow physiologically for men to have babies, we would have population growth effort, right? Women are sturdy,

Naren Arulrajah: , I know, like men are like chicken. They, the taco came, but really, like

Gary Takacs: women are sturdy. So maybe women also have the anxiety, but it’s like, no, I gotta get this taken care of. I’m overcoming that. I’m going, but , the male sidelines.

Naren Arulrajah: And the second thing it says is, why men avoid the dentist? Number one, fear of pain, feeling invincible, lack of time and embarrassment about the state of their teeth. So once they let it go south, they don’t want to like, be embarrassed by it. So they don’t want to go. And of course, some men avoid the dentist to avoid appearing vulnerable. It’s almost like macho, why should I go to a dentist? I know it’s stupid, but I guess it seems to be a reason. I don’t know. It’s interesting. Yeah. So it’s kind of so interesting, right? So when you dive into the behavioral side of this, I guess there are a lot of nuances on how to, work with women, how to work with men. it’s a fascinating topic. There’s

Gary Takacs: An easy takeaway for any of our listeners. Start that tomorrow. Start looking in your records. Are we seeing spouse or partner? if it’s yes, then, congratulate the day. Oh, I’m, I’m glad he’s, he’s, he’s got a relationship with the dentist. It’s important. but if it’s not, then roll the red carpet out and let her know that we’d love to see your husband. We’ve got great ways of making every visit comfortable. and once they know that, it’s like, oh my gosh, I’ll make sure he gets in a cool way to grow your practice.

Naren Arulrajah: Thank you, Gary. I’m gonna put a ribbon on this by asking one last question. Can being known for gentle care really become a growth strategy? I think I know what you’re gonna say, but I want to hear from you again. I,

Gary Takacs: my one word answer is absolutely

Naren Arulrajah: Right.

Gary Takacs: we want, it’s gone as far as, we’ve all seen practices with the name. it’s kind of a play on words, general dentistry is the term we use, but gentle dentistry, right? we’ve seen practices with the name gentle in their, in their names. To some degree it’s been overused, right? But being known for that. In other words, when someone thinks about your practice and they think about you being , yeah, your

Naren Arulrajah: SCO, your Google reviews, your landing pages, all of that, like talking to that group of people, your,

Gary Takacs: Your credibility goes up geometrically when you’re known for being gentle and caring. Right? It comes up. It’s, it’s what everybody wants. You’re what everybody wants. And so, absolutely being known for general care,

Naren Arulrajah: Especially in dentistry, I don’t know if this is true for your family doctor, but definitely for dentistry, I think being known for gentle makes a huge difference.

Gary Takacs: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. this has been a fun episode. Naren, our listeners have heard me, say many times that, dentistry rocks. and I believe that with every ounce of my DNA, we do have the ability to change lives every day. Could it could be, clinical, it could be behavioral, and, you know, helping patients with dental anxiety, become more comfortable visiting the dentist is changing, is life changing, and it can be generationally changing because of what happens in the family. So these patients often become our best referral sources, because of the way you and your team members have made such a positive impact on their lives. And there’s no better way to build your practice than making a difference in the lives of your patients. Well, on that note, a quick, recircle back to the top.

Gary Takacs: Come join us, for our, thriving Dentist webinar on technology, digital technology, 3D printing, same day restorations, cloud systems that’s happening on June 30th. go to thriving dentist.com/events and grab your seat for that. if you haven’t already done so, I’d encourage you to set up a marketing strategy meeting with, Naren and his team, at Ekwa. if you’d like to grow and see more patients, it can absolutely help you do that. And if you’d like, help, developing your practice to full potential, developing a practice that, truly, meets your desire to have a practice that, provides personal, professional and financial satisfaction, then set up a coaching strategy meeting with me. you can go to thrivingdentist.com/csm. On that note, thank all of our listeners for, the courtesy of your time and, Naren and I look forward to connecting with you on the next Thriving Dentist Show.