Lynn Carlisle DDS

Ron Smith a long time friend, study group member and classmate of mine says the easiest sell in dentistry is a second opinion.

The patient is unsatisfied with the previous dentist for some reason; for example - treatment rendered, what he suggested, what friends have told the patient, what they read in the newspaper etc.

They will agree to almost anything you recommend. They listen to what you say with elephant ears.

I think he is right.

However, there are some potential landmines in second opinions if the patient is upset with the previous dentist. I have had a couple blow up in my face when another dentist made disparaging comments about the treatment I had rendered. The second dentist did not call me for background on the case.

They ended up in two lawsuits against me about 10 years apart. I felt like sewing these dentist’s offices with landmines. It was the worst experience of my professional life and haunted me for years.

They could have easily been avoided if the dentists had called me for background on the patient and why I did what I did or did not.

You have the professional life of a dentist in your hands when you give second opinions. Remain neutral in your comments when responding to the patients questions. Call the dentist that the patient last saw, request copies of the charts, treatment rendered and records before making judgments and making statements.

If you feel the dentist was negligent and rendered treatment that was below the standard of care, call the dentist in your dental society or state that handles peer review and discuss the case with them. Ask them for advice on how to proceed.

Encourage the patient to use the peer review process. When a patient ends up in a lawyer's office the adversarial, shark infested legal process starts. No one wins when this happens except the lawyers.

Think about how you would want a dentist to act if they were seeing your upset patient for a second opinion.

Do the same for others when you are giving second opinions.