Transform Your Hygiene Op with 4 Simple Strategies

Over time, hygiene visits can start to feel routine, making it important to continually reinforce the value they bring to long-term health. When that happens, patients are more inclined to cancel, delay, or push back on treatment, so it’s up to you to transform the hygiene experience. When you do, your hygiene op becomes a place where patients feel educated, cared for, and motivated — these are all part of the recipe that will bring you more trust, case acceptance, loyalty, referrals, and ultimately, profitability.

You have the power to reinvent your hygiene op, so get started today with these strategies!

1. Set Clear Expectations First

We use the equation Expectations Minus Reality Equals Conflict (or E-R=C) often with coaching clients, because it truly helps to understand the root of conflict in your practice. Kirk often says that conflict arises when there’s a gap between expectations and reality, so making sure to set those expectations is critical. If you begin every visit by asking the patient what their expectations are for the visit, then you can manage their expectations, create a roadmap for the visit, and help them understand what to expect, ultimately elevating the experience.

2. Use Your Monitors for Patient Education

I know a lot of dentists love to use their patient monitors to broadcast a constant stream of HGTV or the news, but it can be harmful to the overall patient experience, because it’s a distraction and it minimizes the impact of the visit. This is a healthcare visit, after all. Just think — you would be concerned if, during a cardiologist visit, they put on an episode of House Hunters for you to watch instead of letting you be a part of the evaluation. What I suggest is to instead let your patients be part of the discovery process by using the monitor to show intraoral images and X-rays in real time.

3. Maximize Your Technology Usage

We use technology every day to make our lives easier, both in and out of the office. It’s truly a powerful tool that will take your hygiene to the next level. Some of my favorite forms of technology to use in hygiene are:

• Using your PMS perio chart options to explain disease data transparently to patients.
• Using saliva testing and caries risk tools to provide measurable, science-backed insights.
• Improving patient education with an AI overlay such as Pearl.
• Letting intra-oral and extra-oral cameras and scanners do the explaining for you. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!

4. Celebrate Wins and Validate Concerns

Patients are often nervous at the dentist’s office, so it’s more important than ever to build connections and make your operatory a place of trust and safety. You can do so by celebrating any improvement they make — no matter how small — and by acknowledging their curiosity whenever they ask a question. This validation is especially important when they have a concern. Instead of jumping in to tell the patient what they should do, you must resist that righting reflex and instead use open-ended questions to encourage the patient to be an active participant in developing the next steps. 

With the right mindset, hygiene can be more than a mere cleaning — it can be a gateway to improved patient trust and better treatment acceptance. The amazing thing is that this is a transformation you can make without much effort; it just requires small changes in how you use your space, technology, and communication. You can even get started today! Pick one of these strategies to focus on, implement it this week, and watch your hygiene ops go to the next level! 

To take it further and learn how to create a 6-star patient experience, join the Best Practices Association and use this exercise in your hygiene op!

To learn more about ACT and how we can help you build a Better Practice and a Better Life, reach out to Courtney!

Tune in next time and learn how to handle any overdue accounts you have!