Gaining trust from patients in your clinical recommendations is a daily occurrence. With dental procedures becoming more of a discretionary expenditure in today's tough economic times, being able to influence patients to accept necessary treatment is becoming tougher. Fluorescence technology in intra oral cameras goes one step further, helping dentists tell the story of what is happening in the patient's mouth and helps facilitate patient education and case acceptance in your practice.

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Some Australian dental practices
are experiencing an
unprecedented decline in
overall business. It has been
reported that many practices are facing
up to a 40% decline in patient flow. This,
in some cases, is enough for practices to
limit trading days, and even permanently
close their doors.
But why is this happening, and how
can practices turn this around? There are
many external factors including the influx
of new dentists, the rise of corporate and
health fund operated surgeries and
increased cost of living expenses to the
Australian public.
This has lead to the cut in what is
perceived to be non-essential spending
by Australians. Unfortunately, dental
treatment falls into this category for
many. With this decline in patient flow,
the first consultation has become even
more important. Not just for identifying
dental pathologies to treat (it is thought
that as many as 50% of carious lesions
are missed when using mirror and
probe), but importantly influencing the
patient to accept the necessary
treatment.
More often than not, the first
consultation is the only consultation.
Why? The patient for the most part
simply doesn’t understand what the
dentist is telling them and feels detached
from the process.
The use of intraoral cameras goes a
long way to reversing this effect. Patients
treat what they can see, and understand.
This builds trust in the dentist by making
the patient active participants in their
own treatment. It is best summed up in
this way:
“Tell me, and I will forget,
Show me and I may remember,
Involve me and I will understand”
Q People only remember 11% of what
hear but remember 83% of what
they see.1
QA study conducted by the Wharton
School of Business revealed that
audiences found visual presentations
to be 70% more persuasive.2
QIt’s estimated the 90% of all case
treatment plans that go untreated are a
direct result of the patient’s lack of
understanding. 3
Q Approximately 87% of all significant
financial and health decisions are
made at home with loved ones.
Dentists can now send emails of
intraoral images to the patient while
they’re still in the chair. This allows
them to discuss the treatment options
with loved ones at home.4
Fluorescence technology in cameras
such as ACTEON’s SoproCARE and
SoproLIFE go that one step further in
helping the dentist tell the story of what is
happening in their patient’s mouth. It’s
possible to see carious lesions in a
regular daylight image, but to be sure
you will probably need to probe the area
or take X-rays. This and other pathologies
may be apparent to the dentist/hygienist,
but we must stop thinking like a clinician
and start thinking like a patient if they are
to understand. The use of colours
representing plaque, calculus, gingival
inflammation and caries, make it easy for
the patient understand. With SoproCARE
and SoproLIFE you have co-discovery.
The patient sees what you see!
This goes a long way to building the
confidence and trust in the dentist
that is required by the patient to accept
treatment.
Even with the current decline in patient
flow and overall business for dental
practices across Australia, the use of
fluorescence in intraoral cameras with
their compelling visual benefits ensures
that the rate of treatment acceptance for
a practice will continue to rise.
And it’s a known fact that the use of
cameras with fluorescence technology
has that added ‘wow’ factor attached and
patients will tell their friends and family,
leading to referrals to your practice at the
expense of others who fail to connect
with patients on this level.
Which begs the question: Can you
really afford not to be using the latest
intraoral camera technology to facilitate
patient education and case acceptance
in your practice?
For further information or to arrange
an in-surgery demonstration of a
Sopro intraoral camera, contact
1800 225 010 for your local A-dec Territory
Manager or Authorised A-dec Dealer.
36
Intraoral camera product guide
Earning patient trust to
increase treatment acceptance
By Eric Kroegel, Product Manager Acteon Australia New Zealand
1. Paul Martin Lester, “Syntactic Theory of Visual Communication,” California State University at Fullerton, 1994–1996.
2. ”Effectiveness of Visual Language Presentations,” MacroVU, Inc.
3. The National Survey of Adult oral Health: South Australia. Cat. No. DEN 179 Dental Statistics and Research Series no.43. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
4. Sergio Chrisopoulos, Jane Harfordm “Oral health and dental care in Australia Key facts and figures 2012”, University of Adelaide

2. ACTIVATE
INNOVATION
Show your patients you
PERIO mode CARIO mode
Detect plaque gingival
inflamation
Detect occlusal caries
DIAGNOSTIC mode
Detects carious lesions in
enamel structure
Bring your treatment plans to
TREATMENT mode
Differentiates between
healthy versus diseased
tissue in dentine
Discover Macrovision
115x Magnification
DAYLIGHT mode
Compares images under
white light
DAYLIGHT mode
Compares images under
white light
Masterpiece
Optimised ergonomics
FREE
DOCK
WITH PURCHASED
CAMERA
EVERY
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*Contact your A-dec Territory Manager or A-dec Dealer for further information. Offer ends 31 December 2014