I am a fairly fresh dentist and I have been trying to find a way to inform patients of consequences in an effective way. It seemed like a very insurmountable task. Trying to build my own data base of photos and organize and assemble was too time consuming. I had considered using a patient education software and if it weren't for the plethora of other things demanding my capitol I would probably have made the purchase. It seemed I was going to need to spend more time at the office, but I like wrestling with my 2 year old son before he goes to bed. Needless to say I needed a quick fix to improve my review of findings.

Recently I started to do what I guess you would call a Google consult. I present my findings and engage the patient in dental conversation. When the patient begins to ask questions I have started to consult Google for examples of similar problems.

For example the other day I had a young man in my chair who has wear on his anterior teeth. While not so obvious to him it is very apparent to me. After presenting the findings he asked what could be done about this when given some solutions he stated “Ya but what will happen if I don’t do anything?”

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I told him I was going to pull up some photos and similar case while I leaned over to the computer. I selected the images options and typed into the search bar anterior tooth wear. An abundance of photos came up on the screen. I had tried this out beforehand and I was familiar the photos that would come up. I quickly navigated to the photos I knew would show the progression of wear and reviewed these consequences with the patient.

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I am wondering what everyone else using in their discussions with patients. Does anyone use a data base of their own photos? Are there any Guru users out there? What other patient educators / motivators do you use?

Paul