Dr. Bob’s Ideal Patient
My ideal patient is generally someone who’s really concerned about their overall health and wants to take that first step. Whether it’s somebody who’s been away from the dentist for a long time or somebody who comes in all the time and just really wants to either better the way they look or the way they feel.
Specifically the ones that I enjoy the most are the ones that have a lot of fear issues, they’ve been afraid, they’ve been away from the dentist, they have bigger needs generally, they’re scared so just the initial phone call to our office is a big hurdle that they have to overcome. When they come in, the reason I like seeing these people is because you do sort of have to win them over and let them know that you’re here to help, that you’re not going to be judgmental about what’s happened. There are some awful stories that you hear in this profession about the way people are treated either at a younger age or even as adults, and so helping them get through that fear and then taking that next step to try to get them better and healthy just so they can smile, so they can eat and just have a regular life and not have to be concerned about the way they look or anything.
That’s my ideal patient but also my favorite part about the profession actually too. When I have a patient come in and do those sort of things for themselves it really makes it a joy to come to work and think about going to work.