The financial aspects of dental treatment can often be a deciding factor. Here’s an account of a personal experience that emphasises how a rough price estimate given to your patient ahead of time can help improve the chances of treatment commitment.

Identifying the Issue

For many people, the costs of their dental treatment is often the most important aspect. Dental work can be quite expensive, and can add up quickly.

Unfortunately, confusion about cost can cause the patient to avoid commiting to treatment, which may lead to the progression of their condition and may cause the need for more extensive work in the future.

Though the conversation of treatment cost is not the favorite of many dentists, it is an important one to have. Discussing treatment costs with your patient while they are in the chair is a great way to show that you are involved with every aspect of their treatment and dedicated to ensuring that they are able to have it completed.



Hearing the costs of treatment and the importance of completing said treatment straight from the dentist will help the patient develop a full understanding of what is being presented to them. It also gives the patient a strong sense of support and importance from their dentist; for many people, it’s incredibly important to know that the dentist is supportive and involved.

In-Office Experience

When I worked as the head dental assistant of a bustling dental office, I learned many things that helped me fully understand the importance of providing the patient with the information they need to encourage treatment commitment.

There was one instance in which an elderly patient came into the office to discuss his options for having the remaining teeth in the mouth extracted and receiving dentures. He was quite hesitant about coming in (as most patients are), and was worried about the cost of treatment more than anything else.

Together, my dentist and I took the time to explain the man’s treatment plan to him, being sure to explain how implant dentures could be beneficial to him, as well. The patient dismissed the idea of pursuing implants as he knew they were more expensive, and was concerned with saving money on his treatment. Because the patient was so immediately dismissive, we did not break down the options or costs for implant dentures, and he went forward with traditional full dentures.

The patient soon returned, complaining that he did not like using dental adhesive; he asked if he could upgrade to a type of denture that did not need adhesive. We decided to take another approach and sat with him to discuss how implants could benefit him in the long run, as well as the estimated price for treatment.

We made sure to point out that while implants did require a larger initial investment, they provided a stable solution for his dentures that would help preserve his bone over the years. Upon learning more about how beneficial the implant dentures could be for him and getting a firm idea of what he could expect for costs, he chose to move forward with the treatment.

He shared that he had originally thought the implants would be more expensive, and was grateful that we took the time to explain the costs to him.

If we had DentiCalc to provide the man with informative videos and diagrams to better explain his treatment, it is quite possible that the patient would have moved forward with implant dentures the first time around.


DentiCalc’s price estimating feature would undoubtedly have come in handy, as well; it would have allowed us to give a rough estimate on prices while we gave our patient a thorough treatment plan presentation.

For more information about how DentiCalc can help enhance your treatment plan presentations, click here.

For more informational dental blog posts, click here.