Dawson Quick Tip: Elements of a Great Case Presentation

Hi. I’m Scott Finlay with a Dawson Quick Tip on case presentations. When you approach a case and try to educate your patients, there are a couple of things that you may want to consider.

First, you need to find your own voice.

You certainly can glean some pearls from other clinicians in how they present cases. But being true and honest when you present your case to a patient, being their best advocate, is going to help them understand things.

Also, you need to try to simplify things.

We sometimes get in our own way as dentists and get a little over-complicated with our explanations. And if you can boil it down and simplify it for patients, that’s very effective. 

A couple of things that I use when I do my case presentations are three primary aspects.

The first is the diagnostic wax up in more comprehensive cases.

But beyond that, we’ll take the diagnostic wax up to what we call a presentation wax up. We’ll take the teeth and wax them in a shade of white that is similar to normal tooth structure. We use pink wax to simulate the tissue so that the patient has maybe a preview of the future of what the potential of their smile may be.

The second aspect of my case presentation is creating a PowerPoint.

That PowerPoint brings them through the curve of helping them understand what our goals are. Also letting them know what normal is. What is the evidence that exists in their mouth that maybe suggests that treatment is needed? And then maybe a vision of what the progress and the sequence of treatment may be.

I think it’s important to follow each of those aspects along with some pre and post-op situations or cases of cases that you’ve completed.

It’s a great way to be able to help the patient make the decision in the best way to get great case acceptance.