The results are in and have been reviewed by our outside consultant. Your responses were most interesting and very helpful to us in our planning to make your future visits an even better, more pleasant experience. So let me say “THANK YOU!” for responding to our survey.
We would like to share with you a little bit about what you told us.
Most of you (65%) came to us by referrals from friends and neighbors. That was something we enjoyed hearing, as advertising via ‘word of mouth’ is the best kind of advertising. Others found us in the phone book or by passing by our office.
Most of you (64%) of you visit us every six months for their periodic cleanings. This tells us that you take your oral hygiene and dental care seriously and we’re happy to report that most of you were able to book that appointment within a week.
When asked if you were involved as much as you wanted to be in the decisions about your dental care and treatment, almost 95% answered either “yes, completely” (76.32%) or “yes, to some extent” (18.42%). You also seemed to find that the dentist explained the reasons for treatment in a way that you found easy to understand as 70.27% said “yes, completely” and 27.03% “yes, to some extent” while only 2.7% said no. We’ll work at getting better at explaining. Please feel free to ask questions when you do not understand fully.
Most importantly, when asked if your main reason for the visit was satisfactory 74.36% of you said ‘yes’ and 25.65% answered ‘yes to some extent’ for a total of 100%.
In keeping with your earlier responses, 82.50% wanted us to notify you when it is time for a 6-month check-up. While a majority (55.56%) preferred mail as the way to notify you, a significant number preferred email (26.67%). At 17.78%, telephone calls were definitely less popular. You were split pretty evenly between yes and no about having us call back after two weeks if you had not made an appointment.
You were also pretty split in terms of your payment preferences with 34.04% of you favoring payment to be due within 30 days. 17.02% answered that they would prefer to pay at the time of care by cash or check while 19.15% preferred to pay by credit card. The option of a monthly payment plan at 1.5% interest was favored by 17.02% of you.
Finally, your written comments were also quite helpful. When we asked what you like best about your visits to Triangle Family Dental, examples of the most common themes include:
“Nice, comfortable, clean office, all employees are very nice and kind.”
“Staff is polite! Friendly office is comfortable. Alternative treatments to supplement traditional care, water globes massaged on face w/ Novocain, hand massages prior to dental work are WONDERFUL. Dr. K is so bright and caring.”
“All members of the staff are caring, professional and makes visits positive. Dr. K does a great job of being aggressive and using latest equipment.”
“I like the way the dentist made me feel at ease and was also focused on the care of my teeth. I felt my problem in my mouth was taken care of with thought. I also like the way the office relaxes you before you sit in the dental chair.”
“The music! The spa treatments!! The open feeling/layout of the office, the light, the décor, all add to a pleasant experience. Also everyone is very friendly.”
You also suggested ways to improve our services at Triangle Family Dental. These responses ranged form ‘Nothing, it’s great!’ to specific concerns about our statements not being easy to understand. More general suggestions focused primarily around the question of cost of dental care and the ambiance of the office such as:
“Low intervention vs. full intervention options presented at the time of treatment.”
“Make patients aware of different payment options from the beginning.”
“Either accept more variety of insurances or offer one that is accepted to help with dental costs. If not, a budget plan/payment plan helps.”
“Low lighting in office overall, quieter music, maybe none at all!”
“The music is often too loud/distraction. Sometimes a gentler touch is needed.”
It is our intention to carefully consider each of your suggestions for improvements. Some things (music, lighting, etc.) will always elicit suggestions for change no matter what we do. Other suggestions such as those requesting more insurance plans will require some research over time before we make any changes.
We invite you to please check out our website - www.trianglefamilydental.com - for more comments and results from the survey. Please be patient with us however as we are in the process of updating and redesigning the site.
Once again, THANK YOU, for your thoughtful comments and for being our patients. We hope to continue to provide you with the best care possible in the most enjoyable surrounding we can create.
Sincerely,
Dr. K and the Staff of Triangle Family Dental
