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I think that it is time to re-visit something that I blogged about before but the subject arises frequently and it is important that I address the issue again.
Most of my initial contact with someone who is deciding to become my patient is by email. People go to my website and either tell me about the problems that they are having with their mouth or smile or they want to know the answer to an insurance related question. Just as often, however, a person asks if I would do a cosmetic consultation for FREE.
I try to be as polite as I can when someone asks me that question. My first gut reaction always is: "What would you say if your boss asked YOU to come to work for FREE?" but of course, I do not say that.
My fee for a consultation is $125 and most of the time, the materials used in the direct resin mockup cost $75. Our office does NOT earn any income from our consultations and, in fact, the overhead costs per hour to run a modern dental practice is far in excess of the $125 that we charge for the consult.
I also explain to a prospective patient that if we did not charge for a consultation that thousands of people would ask for a consult with only a handfull of people actually deciding to have treatment. The bottom line is that if someone is offended by paying for a consultation, that they will then be offended by the fees for our dentistry.
This is America and in America we pay for what we want. Is this a new concept? I don't think so.
