Q: What made you want to try NuCalm? What was your initial reaction to seeing it and what was your reaction after using it for the first time (either on self or on patient)?
A: When I ask patients “What is holding you back from finishing your treatment?”, the two most common reasons I hear from patients are money and fear. So I provided solutions within my practice to accommodate those patients. We started working with a company that provided 3rd party financing, and we started offering oral conscious sedation to our patients. However, we always have those patients that are hesitant about taking medications, or don’t have someone to drive them to the appointment, or just cannot take a full day off of work. If you would have told me then that there is a way to relax my patients without using drugs and the extra time and expense it takes to train the team, I wouldn’t have believed you. Then I learned about NuCalm during a dental conference. Long and busy days, late nights, and way too little sleep! Out of curiosity, I decided to try it. I experienced a NuCalm nap and I was shocked at how much better I felt after just 30 minutes - I knew this was a must-have for my practice!
Q: Tell us a cool story about using this product with a patient that before using NuCalm, would not have sat in your chair or elected to have treatment done?
A: I have several of those! One of the great things about having a well trained team is that often they are the ones who help patients to understand the urgency of care. By spending just a few minutes explaining NuCalm to one particular patient, my hygienist was able to schedule a relatively easy one-hour appointment that this patient had been dreading and delaying for over a year. We scheduled her an extra thirty minutes to NuCalm prior to the procedure. We’ve all had those patients that are pacing around the operatory, silently refusing to sit in the chair because they are overcome with anxiety about what’s about to take place. But when she finally sat down and expressed how much she “hates coming to the dentist,” we set up the NuCalm and left the operatory. Before getting started, I always gently pull back the headphones to let the patient know that I’m about to get started. She barely moved, but acknowledged that I was there. With NuCalm she was able to lay calm and still with their mouth open and cooperate and answer questions and had an exceptional visit. She almost never moved and stayed in a relaxed position with her palms facing up, almost in a meditative position – and with NuCalm they didn’t even remember how long the appointment actually took! Such a powerful tool to answer such a common barricade to treatment.
Q: What has NuCalm done for your practice's bottom line and workflow?
A: NuCalm has been powerful in several ways. Because one of the biggest issues with people moving forward to treatment is their dental anxiety, our team now informs all of our patients that we have a tool that quickly and effectively mitigates that anxiety. My patients are not only calm and relaxed, but they are completely cooperative and easy to work on. When the patient’s anxiety disappears, everyone is able to be more on point and effective and we can finish treatment faster and execute better.
This allows for more case acceptance. It’s important to let every member of the team try it, so they can relay the experience to the patients. My team can also confidently tell patients this will be simple and easy for them to get completed and because they have seen it happen so many times with other patients, their confidence shines through to the patient.
We also use NuCalm in all of our avenues of marketing including, our website, blogs, and Facebook. You would be surprised by the number of people that ask about it. If it seems like I am implying that NuCalm makes being a dentist easier and more profitable, it’s because I am!