Give your hygienist permission to talk about other areas of the patient's mouth than just the gums. They spend a lot of time talking to and evaluating the patient; if they don't, be sure to give them enough time to do that. They educate the patient, and the patients usually listen to the hygienist since a lot of times they think that when the doctor recommends something it is because they have a car payment coming up.

Hygienists have the clinical knowledge and the ability to evaluate restorations. Get them to start the dialogue with the patient when they see a large defective restoration. The patient needs to be aware of the situation and they need to "own" the problem. Have your hygienist talk about the benefits of all-ceramic restorations, and of the single-visit all-ceramic CEREC restoration versus a large "plastic" filling that will usually have a short clinical life. Let them plant the seed in the patient's mind so when you come in and make the recommendation to the patient, they accept that they have a problem and it needs to be addressed. Hand this committed patient off to the scheduling person so they can be put in the book promptly. A delay can give the impression to the patient that it may not be as important as the hygienist and the doctor made it seem.