Dr. Bruce Ward president@cda-adc.ca Building Lasting Relationships with Patients Our calling is to care for people, and it is our patients who sustain both our practices and profession. Staffing, training and equipment are all essential, but they serve their purpose only when they help us forge strong relationships with the people we care for. The real measure of our work is the trust our patients have in us and the loyalty that comes with it. In many urban areas across Canada, the ratio of patients to dentists has dropped below 1,000:1. That means every new patient who walks through your door has likely left another practice to do so. And if a patient leaves your practice, they are likely headed into the care of a colleague down the street. Patients rarely judge us by our technical skills alone. Most cannot distinguish between a perfectly contoured filling and one that is merely adequate. But what they do notice is if the procedure was comfortable, if they felt listened to, and if their concerns were taken seriously. The patient’s experience is shaped far more by how we make them feel than by the precision of our work. Of course, technical skills matter, especially when something goes wrong. If a restoration fails within days, or a filling makes a tooth sensitive, patients will understandably be upset. Yet even in those moments, what determines the quality of the dentist/patient relationship is not the complication itself, but how we handle it. Dismissing discomfort or delaying an appointment erodes trust. But responding quickly, taking ownership, and showing genuine concern reinforces the patient’s belief that they are in good hands. I’ve seen patients on the weekend or after hours because they were in pain or had urgent needs. I’ve squeezed them in over my lunch hour because that’s what I would want from my own dentist. Although dentistry is often framed as a technical profession, it is fundamentally relational. Simple gestures—recalling a name, asking about a recent trip—create personal connections that keep patients returning for years. A quick phone call or message the day after an extraction, even if it lasts less than a minute, can make a profound impression. And it’s not only the dentist who builds these bonds. A long-term, stable team at your practice amplifies the sense of familiarity and comfort. When patients are greeted by name and welcomed into a familiar environment, the dental office begins to feel like a community space. We are entrusted with the privilege and responsibility of guiding our patients’ oral health. That responsibility means ensuring that every treatment plan we recommend is designed with our patient’s best interests at heart—not our own. By recommending treatments that are optimal for each patient, we strengthen the relationship that lies at the heart of everything we do. Not every patient is easy to care for. Some arrive with dental fear rooted in trauma, others with personalities that challenge even the most patient practitioner. And yet, working through those difficulties often yields the strongest advocates if you take the time to treat those patients with patience and compassion. The lifetime value of a single patient to a dental practice can be extraordinary due to the ripple effect. A patient who feels cared for becomes an advocate, sending family and friends, and speaking positively about your office in the community. By contrast, a patient who departs takes more than their own file with them. They may share their dissatisfaction with others, leaving not just a vacancy in your schedule, but also a mark on your reputation. At the end of the day, dentistry is about showing up as human beings for other human beings. If we focus not just on the technical aspects of what we do, but on how we make people feel, we can build practices that thrive due to the strength of our relationships. From the President 7 Issue 5 | 2025 | CDA at Work
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