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Today in Brief

Last week, we shared some uncomfortable stats: more and more patients now consult AI before seeing you. And many of them trust that answer more than they trust their dentist.

The response was overwhelming. Many of you wrote back asking the same thing:

"Okay, but what do we actually do about it?"

Fair. So here's a first step.

Here's something simple you can do before your next patient.

(TL;DR at the end)

See What They Saw

2 minutes to understand what your patient already believes

A few weeks ago, at a practice we work with, something strange happened.

A patient came in for a consultation. Before the dentist even finished the exam, the patient said:

"It's probably pulpitis, right? Maybe irreversible. I might need a root canal."

The dentist paused. Looked at the X-ray. Looked back at the patient.

He was right.

Not a dentist. Not in healthcare. Just a guy with a toothache and a ChatGPT subscription.

Does this seem familiar? It’s happening more and more.

Let's be clear: we don't believe ChatGPT is always right. It's not. It hallucinates, it misses context, it can't see an X-ray.

But your patients don't know that, nor they care really. To them, it sounds authoritative. And now, whatever you say might be doubted, even when you're completely right.

So here's the exercise.

Before your next patient, open ChatGPT and type something like this:

"I'm experiencing [symptom, e.g. pain in my lower back molar when I bite down]. I have an appointment with my dentist tomorrow for [treatment, e.g. a possible root canal]. What should I expect? What questions should I ask? Is this treatment really necessary?"

 “I'm [age] years old. I've been having [symptom] for about [duration]. It gets worse when I [trigger]. I looked in the mirror and I can see [what they noticed]. I'm scared it might be [their fear]. What could this be? Do I need to see a dentist urgently or can it wait?"

Copy one of it. Paste it. Fill in the blanks with what your actual patient is coming in for.

Then read the answer.

What you'll notice:

How confident and "complete" it sounds, even without any real information
How it lists questions your patient might now ask you
How it subtly plants doubt ("make sure to ask if there are alternatives")

This isn't about learning something new. You already know more than any chatbot about dentistry.

It's about seeing what your patient saw.

So when they walk in with that look, the one that says "I've done my research", you're not caught off guard.

You already know what story is in their head. And you can complete it instead of fighting it.

One more thing.

We're actively reviewing the AI tools out there for dental practices, trying to find one that's actually reliable enough to trust clinically.

We haven't found it yet. Actually we don’t think it exists yet.

Until then, the best move is to understand what your patients are using anyway. At least you won't be surprised.

And you, as a dental professional?

Did this already happened to you ?

We'd love to hear your thoughts !

In an upcoming newsletter, we'll go deeper: how to handle these moments in the chair, what to say, and how to turn that "ChatGPT told me..." into a trust-building opportunity.

Stay tuned.

TL;DR :

Patients increasingly come in with a "diagnosis" from ChatGPT, confident and detailed
They often trust AI more than dentists (it feels neutral, no revenue motive)
ChatGPT isn't always right, but your patients don't know that
The exercise: Before your next patient, paste this prompt in ChatGPT: "I'm experiencing [symptom]. I have an appointment for [treatment]. What should I expect? What questions should I ask? Is this really necessary?"
You'll see exactly what they saw, and you won't be caught off guard
We're reviewing AI tools for dental practices. Haven't found a trustworthy one yet.
Next newsletter: how to handle these moments in the chair