How To Produce Fast Without It Feeling Rushed

 The fastest way to lose a patient’s trust isn’t a clinical mistake, it’s a rushed vibe. We’ve all had a “nearly perfect” experience where the ending spoiled it, and that same psychology shows up every day in dentistry. Patients don’t have a spreadsheet in their head measuring cost per minute. They’re measuring whether they felt heard, safe, and cared for, and they’ll decide your value based on that feeling.

We walk through how to move fast clinically without making your dentistry feel cheap. Efficiency is a gift when it’s intentional, built through systems, repetition, team calibration, technology, and smart block scheduling. But speed paired with frantic energy can trigger doubt: Did they really take their time? Did they miss something? The fix is simple and powerful: slow down at the beginning, stay focused and efficient in the middle, then slow down again at the end and let the patient decide when the visit is over.

You’ll get a practical chairside framework for premium patient experience, including what to say before you lean them back, how to avoid distracting side conversations during treatment, and a clear closing flow that boosts case acceptance, referrals, reviews, and patient loyalty. We also flag the areas where looking fast will always hurt you, especially exams and cleanings, because patients need to feel thoroughness there.

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Transcript

The Beginning And Ending Effect

The Oil Change Speed Paradox

Calmness Creates Perceived Value

Slow Start Then Efficient Dentistry

A Simple High Value Closing Flow

Case Acceptance And Loyalty Gains

When Fast Always Backfires

Coaching Offer And Next Steps

Final Reminder And Sign Off

Paul Etchison 1:22

Have you ever had an experience that was like almost perfect? And then the tiniest minuscule thing at the end just ruined it. Now I had this happen at a restaurant probably about two years ago. And I remember this dinner for a few reasons. One of which is that the bus boys at this restaurant and the bus people, they had like these carts that were on casters. So like these like two-tiered carts, they would go around and get like the dishes and stuff, and they would set it on that and then they would wheel it in. I guess it's more fancier looking than having like a bus tub, sir, perhaps. I don't know. But somebody was having a conversation with their table, and this guy got up while he was still talking and he backed into one of these carts and literally tipped the whole thing like crash. Everything in the restaurant stopped and it got really quiet. And he just looked like he looked horrified for a second, but then he waved and he took a bow and everybody started clapping. And then he walked to the bathroom. I think he said sorry to the person that had to clean it up. But it was like a lot of broken glass, and it could have been a really embarrassing moment, but he nailed it. So, like now I know, and now you know, if you ever have that happen, that's what you do. But that's not the point of my story. So we're at this restaurant with another two couples and we're having a great time. The food was awesome, steaks were great, vibe was good, the service was great. And after we ate, we decided not to have dessert, but we did order another round of drinks. And right after the server brought it, she was like, Okay, can I get you closed out? And we were like, No, not quite yet. So then she left. And then she came back maybe like five minutes later and was like, Do you guys need anything else? And then, like five minutes later, we flagged her down because we wanted to order another drink. Somebody with us wanted to order another drink. And then when she brought it, she was like, Okay, is there anything else I can get you? And it was like this almost the sound like, okay, do you want us to leave? We're we're picking up on this vibe that it's time for us to go. Now it was busy, it was like a Friday or Saturday night. I get it. They want to turn the table, but we just spent a ton of money. We did appetizers, we bought a ton of drinks, and I just didn't feel like we were overstaying our welcome quite yet, like past our dinner. But nonetheless, we closed our check and we left. And what's funny is I will think about that place. I will probably return to it, but it was like the whole experience was kind of just ruined by that thing at the end. And it sucked. You know, it was such a great meal. The steaks were awesome. Everything nailed it, except for that little part at the end that probably shooed us off maybe five, 10 minutes earlier than we might have left on our own. So here's the lesson from that is that a lot of times when we're experiencing something from what I call a service brand, which we are in the dental industry, we are a service brand. When we're experiencing something, we often forget the middle of the experience. We tend to remember how they begin and how they end. And the same thing happens in your practice. And that's what we're talking about today. Now you're listening to the Dental Practice Heroes Podcast, the podcast for practice owners who want to work fewer clinical days, increase profits, and build a team-driven practice that runs without them being the bottleneck. I am your host, Dr. Paul Etchison. I'm a dentist, I'm a business coach, and the author of two books on dental practice management, and I'm the owner of a large group practice in the south suburbs of Chicago. If you are wanting to be the owner of a dental practice that serves as the foundation of you living an absolutely awesome life, you are at the right podcast. And today we are talking about something that affects your case acceptance, your referrals, and your patient loyalty way more than you think. We're talking about how to move fast clinically without making our services feel cheap. Now, let me give you an analogy that explains this concept. Let's picture you're going to get an oil change. Now, I just got one of those electric harmers. I don't even know if I have to change the oil in that. I bet you do have to. Does it have oil? Man, I don't know anything about cars. Anyway, you're going to get an oil change. All right. So you go, you pull in, you go sit in the little waiting area, they do the little dance where they come show you how dirty your air filter is and ask you if you want to replace it. You're like, no, no, don't want to replace it, even though yeah, they show you how dirty it is. Anyway, so it takes like maybe five, six, seven minutes, and all of a sudden you're on your way. And they make it easy for you to pay before. So it's the quickest damn oil change you done ever got. And you're like, dear lord, this was amazing. How can I tell everyone I know about this? And the thing is, is there is a zero part of you that was like, that oil change wasn't sufficient. It was too fast. It was way too quick. They didn't do a good job. No, you're like, thank you. I'm so glad that it was quick. Now, had that oil change been quick and the person came to check you out and they were being really short and fast with you and trying to rush, rush, and take your payment, get you out of here and give you the receipt, and then they run back to get the next car really fast. You would be like, huh. I wonder if they even gave that enough time for all the oil to drain. Maybe only drained half of it and then they refilled it. The whole experience could be positive or negative based on how that ending is. The thing is, is that clients and as well as our patients, we subconsciously equate calmness versus hurriedness with value. So we need to manage the perception of how much we're in a hurry. And in a dental office, that's a dangerous spot for us because let's face it, a lot of dentists run behind, and a lot of dentists operate their entire day with a lot of hurry. And if that's you operating every day with hurry and you need some scheduling protocols and you want someone to teach you and your team how to schedule efficiently for production as well as time, hey man, reach out to us, dentalpracticeheroes.com slash strategy. Get on a strategy call with me. Happy to talk that through with you and let you know what coaching options we have. All right, let's move on. The first point is that patients will judge value. It's emotionally, it's not logically. They're not running spreadsheets in their head and calculating the cost per minute and stuff like that. They're asking themselves, did I feel like I was heard? Did I feel like I was rushed? Did I feel like they cared? Did I feel safe and taken care of? So if you in your dental office, like you run in the op really fast, you're leaning them back while you're saying hello to them, and you just start prepping and you finish your procedure, and then you just run out, give them a quick post-op instructions and run out of there. Even if the dentistry is absolutely perfect and excellent, if you never slowed down for that relational part at the beginning, at the end, it will feel like they were processed. And this is when somebody will describe your office as I'm putting up my quotes because I know you've heard this herding cattle. They're just herding cattle through that place. So it's really not about the speed of itself, it's about the energy of that, that whole process, the energy that comes with it, the relational part. So you might be thinking, yeah, this is why I don't rush through my procedures. And I'm not saying you should be rushing, but I'm saying that efficiency, your patients will appreciate that you get through the procedure fast. They will appreciate the efficiency. They won't see it as a shortcut. And this is why you should engineer your efficiency at your office. You should be investing in block scheduling. You should be calibrating your team, you should be building the systems, you should have the technology and you should have the repetition and the rehearsals under your belt so that you can get through things quickly. The reason that the procedures in my office go so smoothly and fast, it isn't luck. It's by design. And that efficiency is truly, I think, a gift to our patients. And people would say that all the time with me and my assistant, my assistant Lauren, my assistant Jacqueline, they would always comment, oh my gosh, you guys are like a pit crew. I can't believe how fast you guys are moving. And I would always say the same thing. I would never say that we're fast, even though we are fast. But I would say, hey, I'm like, thanks for noticing that. We have practiced literally every element of that procedure so many times so that when we do it on a patient, we can do it as efficiently as possible. Because I want them to know it was intentional. But here's the key you have to slow down at the beginning, you have to slow down at the end. So slow at the beginning, efficient in the middle, present, and slow at the end. And let the patient decide when that visit is over. They are the ones who decide they have no more questions and it's time to go. So let's talk about the beginning. You're going to sit down, you're going to look your patient in the eye. You're probably going to make a little bit of small talk. You don't have to go very deep on the small talk. It's not like the new patient visit where we're trying to get to know them, but we do want to, you know, have that little dental foreplay going on. Got to go slow. So sitting down, making eye contact, being calm, explaining what you're about to do, set the expectations, see if they have any questions, and then ask for permission to lean them back. Now, when you're in the middle, when you're in the procedure, be efficient, be focused. Do not be talking to your assistant. Some people feel like it's entertaining, like the patients appreciate listening to the witty banter between the doctor and the assistant. They don't. They want to know that you're focused on them. So, like the other thing is like if you've got other team members going into the operatory and talking to you about things, you either need to stop that procedure and answer the question, or they need to not do that. So that's a big deal in my office. I don't want the patient to ever get the perception that anything I am doing is more important than what's sitting right between my hands, which is their head attached to their teeth. And then at the end, we're gonna slow down. Here's my gem here for you. Are you ready? Get ready. Get those pens out. Now, if you're driving, first thing we're gonna do, we're gonna recap what we got done today. The second thing we're gonna do, we're gonna reassure them that everything went great, no matter what. Now, you hear me say that I always warn about the negative possibilities, the worst case scenarios. For example, I will always tell somebody if we do a crown. Now, for a certain percentage of these teeth we put crowns on, they end up needing root canals because the nerve doesn't respond well. Now, this could be your tooth. It could be two months from now, it could be 25 years from now, it could be never. We don't know. We just cross our fingers and we hope the nerve responds the best. But I think everything went great. I don't foresee that happening with your tooth, but just know it is always a possibility that we can't control. So I still warned them, but I reassured them that I thought everything went great. Now, the next thing is we're going to talk about, we're gonna explain what we accomplished as a full treatment plan. This is what we did. We're gonna make sure that we're letting them know how far they're that they're making progress in their treatment plan. There's a little bit more to do. Then we're gonna talk about what's next, what their next visit is. Always need to talk about the what's next. It needs to come from the doctor, not from the assistant. We need to let them know hey, your next visit is this. I want you to schedule this. Don't say your next thing is this. When you're ready to schedule, let us know. Hey, your next visit will be doing this. I want you to schedule that today before you leave. That's just a little slight nudge to keep people on your schedule. When you do little things like this, this is what keeps your schedule more busy. This and the million other things that we teach in phase four of our omni practice program are all these little things that make a big difference. They just synergistically work. This is what we're doing with our coaching clients. Now, the next step is just letting them decide if they're done with you. So at this point, I will always say, okay, let me know. Did I want to make sure everything's all good? Did you have any questions? Now, you've heard me say power questions. I often say, tell me what questions you have. I say that at new patient exams because I want to hear objections. In this specific situation, what I'm asking the patient is like, Are you done with me? I'm done with you. Are you done with me? This is how we do this politely. Okay, I just explained all that stuff. Hey, let me know. I want to make sure you understand everything. Did you have any questions about anything? And if they say no, then I'm going to say, okay, great. It was so good to see you. Thank you so much for coming in. We'll see you next time. Give a little tap on the shoulder, and I'm on my way. And that is the ending that they will remember. And I assure you, the way that you provide your dentistry, whether it's the best dentistry in the world or it's the worst dentistry in the world, it looks like it came from some other country. I could give the beginning part of your appointment and I could give the postoperative instructions, and I guarantee I could make that patient feel like it was the greatest thing that just happened. It was the greatest dentistry they've ever experienced. That's how much that ending matters. The thing is, is they're not judging our dentistry. They have no way of judging it. So they're gonna judge us on the way that we make them feel, and they're gonna judge us on how the teeth feel. So that's another thing that you've got to ask your patients. How does it feel? Run your tongue up there. Does everything feel smooth? Because if you leave a rough spot, if you leave some cement, maybe you didn't polish off some of the bond that got on an adjacent tooth, they're gonna see that is something screwed up. So I always want to ask them, does that feel smooth? And because then it's on them. If they say everything feels smooth and feels good, and then they get home, they're like, oh, I do feel something kind of weird, they're not as upset with me because they're like, Well, he did ask, and I did tell him everything felt good. Kind of my fault. I should have spent more time feeling around. So there's a big difference between fast hands and fast energy in the procedure. It's okay to have fast hands, but the energy needs to be slow and focused at the beginning and at the end. And you can move quickly and still be calm and have calm energy. Because think about it, during the procedure, there's no like interpersonal thing happening. We're just performing a procedure. But at the beginning and the end, we're giving someone our time. There's an interpersonal part to it. So when that's fast and rushed, it feels disrespectful. It can feel like we don't care and it can feel like we did a crappy job. So it's all about that energy. We can be efficient and still have it feel premium. But if they feel rushed, they're gonna interpret that speed, that rushing, as a cheap product, as a poor experience. And it's not because of the time, it's because of that emotional presence that we give to the patient. So make sure you're focusing on that. Now, why does this matter to your practice? Well, this is gonna matter because when the patients feel heard and cared for and not rushed, they don't question that fee as much. They're not equating the minutes to money. They're not measuring like, did they get their money's worth? They're equating that experience, what they've experienced to the value. And that's gonna improve your trust levels, which is gonna improve your case acceptance, which is gonna improve how many people they refer to your office, how your reviews are, your long-term loyalty of your patients. Premium is not being slow, it's about being intentional and making the client feel special. Now, there are a few situations in the office where being fast will always kill you in the procedure. That is going to be exams. Okay, you've got to take the time and look. I touch every tooth with the Explorer. I don't poke, I don't scratch, but I do touch. I want them to have some tactile touch that I looked at every single tooth. And we've got to do different parts. We'll explain the different things we're looking for. Hey, we're checking for cavities. Hey, we're checking your gums out. Hey, we're checking for oral cancer, we're looking at your airway, we're checking the way the teeth line up, things like that. So we're letting them know that we're going through that process. And the other part is profis. I mean, I tell this to my hygienist all the time. We know people come in with really clean teeth and they do not require a 45-minute profi. Nonetheless, we've got to do the dance. We've got to have them feel that every tooth got its time, that everything was clean. They're gonna feel like their teeth are smooth when they leave anyway. But if we don't spend a lot of time doing it, they're gonna relate that to, well, I don't feel like I got a very good cleaning. So, all right, we should be fast with our patients, right? We want to move through our procedures fast. We want to see more procedures during the day. And you've always heard me say it's not about rushing. This type of efficiency, when you can work on this and you practice it with your team, this feels good. It feels good to move through procedures fast and not have to ask your assistant for a damn thing because everything's ready and you know the steps and you know how to move quickly. I don't want you to artificially slow down any of your procedures, but I do want you to control the emotional parts of the procedure, which are going to be the beginning of the procedure and the post-operative instructions because the patients don't want to be there. They're not gonna resist and complain about the efficiency during the procedure. They're going to resent if they feel like you're pushing them out the door, just like I felt like at that restaurant. So get intentional about all that stuff, master that balance, and you can build a practice that can deliver high-value care with high efficiency, and it can be highly profitable and still at its core be deeply human. Now, if you're listening to this and you're saying, you know what, it's time for me to level up my practice and my intentionality at my practice. If you're looking for someone to help you go through the seven-phase omnipractice program, which is our seven phase system to systematize your practice, create the best culture possible, and to create a team that runs your practice so you are no longer the bottleneck, reach out to us at dentalpracticeheroes.com/slash strategy, and I will jump on a free call with you, talk about what's possible, and let you know if I think we can help you. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope you have a great day at the office, and we will talk to you next time.