Is Seeing Believing?

Last night I heard a commercial for a cholesterol medication in which the person playing the doctor says, “I wish my patients could see what I see.” I believe there are two ways to look at that statement.
The commercial showed an image of animated artery walls clogging with particles of plaque clinging to one another making the opening of the artery smaller and smaller. This is a visual that is easy to understand.
The second, and more subtle way to take this statement, is the doctor wishing that patients could see what happens to patients over time with and without compliance to taking medication or changing their diet. If patients could only understand and use the vast experiences of the doctor to make better decisions for themselves, wouldn’t everyone choose to do all the “right” things for a better and healthier life? Conventional wisdom would say “yes” but reality says something different.
I have been photographing teeth for over 18 years. When I tell a patient that I am going to take a series of pictures of their teeth the response I often hear is, “I just had x-rays taken.” When I explain that they are pictures and not x-rays it is not uncommon for the patient to ask, “Why?”
I had a new patient in yesterday for a consultation who said these exact words. The patient then said something that I also hear frequently, “No one has ever done this before.” My response is that I take pictures of teeth for two reasons. The first is for my own documentation and the second is to be able to show the patient what is in their own mouth.
Showing a patient visual images of their own teeth is by far the most powerful tool I use in practice. How many times have you been to a dentist where treatment is explained and recommended but you can’t see it? A picture is truly worth a thousand words.
When I started displaying the images and giving the patient above a tour of her own mouth the patient said, “Wow, that doesn’t look good. I can’t believe that is in my mouth.” I hear that a lot too. After the “tour” I continued to explain why things look a certain way and what to expect in the future. I proposed both long and short-term plans for the patient to consider. Photographs are invaluable for this exercise and most patients appreciate being able to see what I see.
The next part of my consultation is to try to get the patient to look beyond the pictures and envision where they want to be 5, 10, 20+ years down the road. My goal is to bring my own experience of knowing, based on all the patients I have seen in practice, where the patient is headed and give them the opportunity to potentially change the course of their future.
This approach may be different for some people. It is easy to get overwhelmed by any new approach and I always encourage patients that this is the beginning of a relationship and decisions to do or not do something do not have to be made today. My new patient said, “I am X years old and I don’t know if I am even going to be around in 10 or 20 years.” Crystal ball or not, it still seems like a long time to me.
You, as a patient, should look beyond today and make choices for ANY aspect of your health based on where you want to be in the future. Take advantage of the knowledge you gain from all your experiences and make decisions that you feel are right for you.