Unnerving letter from local dental practice

Nemi

I've received a somewhat unnerving letter from my local dental practice. It was taken over by new people a couple of years ago. They've invested a lot in new equipment. Then, as we know, the ass falls out of the economy and the PRSI changes, and presumably things are getting a bit quiet.

The letter reads like a blatant attempt to drum up business. Its starts with how they are into 'prevention prevention prevention' (yes, they repeat the word three times, because if they only said it once we might not think they really mean it), and offer a free consultation. Then they go on to tell me how they've the latest laser-guided crowns and fillings (or something) should the need arise.

I'm not sure if they know how this reads from the client perspective. Because the message I read out of it is "We're up to our oxters in debt from all this new kit we put in. Please come into us in the hope that we can find something, anything, wrong with you. And if there's so much as a hint of decay, we'll stitch you up with one of our laser-guided fillings because we're so into prevention that we can't help saying it thrice."

Is this kind of thing common at present? Because I'm thinking of moving to a different practice.

Big_G

I'm sorry that you think this letter is unnerving. I think a lot of practices will be sending out these letters. I know the practice I work in has. It is not because of debt but because we have seen a spectacular fall off in the numbers of people attending for their six monthly check ups due to the loss of one or other of the publicly funded schemes for dentistry.

When people put off the check ups that is when small problems turn in to big ones and that is where prevention comes in to play. We don't want to see people having to get significant amounts of work done at significant cost even though it might be good for business. Eventually that means, especially in the current climate, that people are just going to have teeth pulled. A simple filling now could be a root canal or extraction in a year or 18 months time, with possible pain and suffering.

I think it is a uniquely Irish attitude to automatically be distrustful of something like this and try to see the worst possible in a letter that is likely aimed at helping someone by encouraging them to keep up good health practices.

Nemi

I appreciate what you are saying, and the letter may be no more than that. If I was to try to pin it down, its actually ironically the offer of a free consultation that bothers me. If the letter was along the lines of 'look, a consultation costs less than you'd think, and saves you down the line', I'd actually be a lot more comfortable.

I don't know if that makes sense. If preventative action saves trouble later (and I'm sure it does), they should have enough confidence to charge something for it.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

not into free consultations myself. Nothing free has any worth. If you are consulting for free in order to find thing to make money on you will find them. It reminds me of one recient thread where a patient was offered 4 fillings for the price of 3. A good consultation with X-rays possibly, cleaning etc takes time and should cost a certain ammount of money.

Unfortunatly this is the result of what posters on here has been asking for for years. As the market is more competitive, prices drop but also a proportion of dentists will start this type of advertising which can sometimes somewhat cheapen the profession. On the plus side prices have fallen dramatically to the point where the value to be had for most proceesures is excellent.

georgieporgy

When a new dentist takes over the practice of a retiring colleague it is the usual thing to redecorate and requip. Such makeovers are necessary every 10-15 years anyway and are part of the normal overheads in running a dental office.

new management's attempts to introduce themselves to longstanding clients of the practice are also normal procedure and I suppose in this case the idea of offering a free initial exam is a response to the public's demands
for reduced prices in our new recessionary environment. PRSI and med card pays the dentist to provide one exam per year for patients so I would guess that that would cover a lot of those people .

day dreamer

I would not be a fan of the free consultation myself. A thorough exam and diagnosis takes time. It is the longest appointment I offer and although i charge for it, I still loose money.

Having said that, prevention is important and new practices tend to do a make-over with new equipment. This is important to keep up to date.

All practices are suffering due to the recesion and more importantly, the removal of the government or state funded schemes. I dont think the pratice is trying to pull the woll over your eyes. This is what many punters want, lok at some older threads but personally I wouldnt go for that route.