THE EDITOR'S CORNER

More parents make referrals to your office than patients do. If you do not court the parents and pay close attention to your dentist-parent relationships, you are missing one of your best bets for new patient referrals. It is certainly true that satisfied patients transmit some of this to their parents who, in turn, may make referrals to your office. Nevertheless, these two relationships are, in some respects, mutually exclusive. Both are of the highest importance to the growth of a practice and it is folly to neglect either one of them.

Yet, we have experienced a trend toward cutting down on the initial build-up to case presentation. There has been a certain efficiency in obtaining acceptance of treatment and fee at the first visit. Some virtually eliminated case presentation. Some delegated this to auxiliaries. In my opinion, this streamlining of diagnosis, case and fee presentation has dulled the enthusiasm that many parents might otherwise have for orthodontics and for their orthodontist. They feel neglected, left out, and while they may reassure themselves that treatment is going well, and while the orthodontist may have in-treatment communication, that initial slur remains and there is little or no rapport between the orthodontist and the parents. Indeed, many an orthodontist will say--"If everything is going all right in treatment, you will never hear from me again. If something is not going well, you will hear from me pronto". This is extremely negative input into a human relationship and can be killing to a potential referrer.

There are a great many things that can be done to try to stimulate practice growth, even at a time of economic recession and decrease in the number of potential patients per orthodontist. One of the most important is to begin each new relationship in a way that will maximize a bond between the orthodontist and the parents. This does not mean to neglect the child. The fact is that the dentist-patient relationship is more complicated when one is dealing with children, because there is a dual relationship--one with the child patient and one with the parents. You want to build a relationship with the patient to promote his cooperation in treatment. You also want to build a relationship with parents to promote their cooperation in treatment, but also--importantly--to make them referrers to your of ice. The existence of parents is an opportunity to establish a public relations program and, through them, to reach other parents of the same age and economic level in the community. Is it not foolhardy to sabotage such an effort before it starts? Yet, that is exactly what is being done every day in orthodontic practices throughout the country by orthodontists who have a concept in practice administration that has become outdated, if ever it was valid.

There are orthodontists who have recognized the benefits of public relations programs for parents which give them an understanding and appreciation of what orthodontics is and what it accomplishes, and make it possible for them to speak intelligently about orthodontics among their friends in the community and make referrals to their orthodontist.

So they begin at the beginning of the relationship. After the initial appointment is made, communications start going out to the parents to thank them for the call, to welcome them into the practice, to explain something about orthodontics. These orthodontists avoid the negative, punitive approach that outlines the patient's and parents' obligations from the start and begins to lay the blame for failure at their door. Rather they use the positive approach, that this is a team effort and that the whole office is dedicated to achieving success, with the help of the patient and parents. They follow this with a consultation which need not be lengthy, but which is a getting acquainted time. This is an opportunity to make the patient and parents feel that they are embarking on a course of treatment with friends who will help them in a competent and effective and kindly way to accomplish a worthwhile treatment. The orthodontist is finding out about them because they are important to him. They are finding out about him, and a mutual bond begins to form. This is strengthened when they understand that this orthodontist is thorough. He conducts a full examination before he makes a decision about how he will treat the problem. He explains what the problem is and how he plans to correct it and why he plans to do it in that way. He presents a fee that can be justified on the basis of the time and appliances and complexity of the problem. He promises to keep in touch with the parents throughout treatment, and he follows through. He is especially glad to send good reports periodically, rather than limit his communications with parents to lack of cooperation. He has a positive approach to his patient, their parents, and his entire practice, rather than a negative, neglectful one. The parents in his practice will be enthusiastic referrers.