Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the IDS. It was a great experience. I had the opportunity to see an incredible number of different booth areas with many, many products. Sometimes, I would ask for a demo. When that was the case, I was asked what language I spoke and then had someone who spoke English explain the product to me. Most of the time, English was not their first language. They would take their time explaining, making sure I understood and were constantly apologizing for their English. I told them their English was MUCH better than what I could speak to them in their native language. This experience got me thinking about what goes on in our offices.

We as dentists speak a foreign language - dentalese. A lot of times we just blow through our conversations with patients and they have no clue what we are talking about. We should make a concerted effort to make sure we explain ourselves well, ask questions and ask them to feedback to us what they heard so we know our message is coming across clearly. Maybe even bring in someone else to talk with them like an auxiliary who speaks the patients' language better than we do.

Communication is key to everything we do. Take the time to do it well!