Compliance Tips

Good patient instruction can make all the difference in the success of a case. Here are some tips on how to help your patients achieve their whitest smiles.

Safety
Let the patient know the procedure is safe and review all safety issues. Explain to the patient this is similar to the hydrogen peroxide with which they wash out their mouth. Let them know that carbamide peroxide has been used to professionally whiten teeth for over a decade and has been proven safe and effective. Talk to the patient about soft tissue exposure and the importance of following instructions to prevent overfilling the tray.

Establish Expectations
Let the patients know what to expect during the process of whitening. Talk to the patients about blotching/hypocalcification and how it will whiten out as they continue the regimen.

Routine
Talk to the patients about making whitening routine by fitting regular daily treatment times into other daily activities such as showering, during a commute, or while watching a favorite daily program.

Demonstrate
Show the patients specifically how to open and close the seal-syringe. It's important to stress to the patients how important it is to use only 1/4 cc of material. During the demonstration, make the drop into each indentation very small and show the patient how little it takes to whiten without overfilling the tray.

Document
Take and file a before picture. Record the initial vita-shade number on your patients' charts. No matter how fast the whitening is, some patients will have trouble perceiving the difference.

Recall
Bring the patient back in a week. By that time, the patient should be seeing results (almost complete) and any issues can be addressed during this visit.

You see them almost every time you surf the channels on the TV - infomercial selling whitening materials at that unbelievable low price (and if you order now). Whitening strips adorn the shelves of your local drug store for under $50. Has one of those mall whitening kiosks that have been sweeping the country opened in your area yet? Think how many junk emails you’ve deleted for whitening material "just like that offered by your dentist." How about all the internet sites offering cheap whitening? So, how are you to compete with all this?

In a word, you can offer a strategy for success whitening based on patient COMPLIANCE. Compliance is the key. What value does a whitening kit have at any price if the patient does not complete the regimen? It’s not inexpensive if it doesn’t work and it cannot work if the patient doesn’t complete the treatments.

Road to Professional Whitening
Think of all the other whitening choices as the long path to you. Most consumers will fail after 10 days using the other options and be ready to see a professional to achieve success. Here is a common scenario - a patient is sitting in your chair and says, "oh yes, I tried the strips. But after a week or so I got busy, life happened - I hope to try again." Okay, your response, "You can try the same approach and hope that life won’t interrupt again. OR, I can set you up with a true professional treatment that is easy to do and you will be done in 7 to 10 days. You can continue to pay for failure multiple times or pay for success with me just once."

Success Competes Best
By offering your patient At-Home 30% Carbamide Peroxide, you offer them the best chance of whitening success. The short treatment time means it is easy to fit the treatments into the busy schedules of real people. The super low sensitivity means painless whitening. Fast, predictable results means your patients will see the difference, receive the complements from family and friends, and simply be done in 7 to 10 days. Others may claim these results but the simple truth is, you know nothing can whiten at-home faster than 30% carbamide peroxide. Once you’ve tried it and seen for yourself that nothing is faster or has lower sensitivity, you will be confident you can compete against any other option - professional or consumer. There’s nothing that sells better than the confidence of knowing you’re offering a much greater value.