Once you’ve been to our practice for a free dental consultation, explaining our findings in a dispassionate way is not as straightforward as some might think.

I am supposed to explain what I am seeing, recommend different treatment options, explain the pros and cons of each option and then let the patient ask questions and make a choice.

I’m here to tell you… truth is, I still struggle. I’m not as good at delivering the bad news. I sometimes struggle because I do care more about the problem than the patient does. I think that’s because I understand the problem better.

The trick is that you can’t own the patient’s problem but the problem is that, as the Dentist, “you care more than the patient does” because you understand the problem better than the patient. The great majority of dental problems are not life and death but not straight forward either.

Tooth decay doesn’t hurt until the tooth is in real trouble. Gum disease is painless right up until the teeth get wiggly.

I see what’s going on in their mouth in HD. I use high powered loupes to see what’s going on and sometimes it’s hard for the patient to get as concerned about it as I do.

Some days I get really discouraged about it. I’ve got to let people know what I’m seeing.

Modern dentistry can do some amazing things, but getting people to choose that, is the difficult part, in my opinion.

Some days I get burned out. Sometimes I have patients with multiple and serious problems that have no clue and are not willing to listen. That is so hard for me. It’s times like those where I don’t even know where to start.

But I’m a Dentist. I owe my patients the truth. I have to be truthful to the best of my ability.

Patients need to understand that I don’t enjoy giving bad news any more than they enjoy hearing it…we’re in this together.

A patient will always have the choice to do nothing, but my duty as a Dentist is to let them know what’s going on and give them ideas on ways to treat it.

We’ll get through this and together help you to obtain Dentalhealthforlife…

Regards, Dr. Jannie Tromp

If you have any concerns over the health of your teeth, contact us (click here) to make an appointment for your FREE dental consultation.