Be the Gift: Giving Patients a Future Brighter Than Their Past

What Do You Really Do?

What do you do for a living? Are you a dentist, a physician, a waiter, a landscaper, or an architect? That’s what you do. But what do you actually do?

If you’re really good at what you do, you give people hope. You give them a gift.

Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon Cosmetics, once said, “We don’t sell cosmetics, we sell hope.” I thought that was brilliant. Revson not only founded a cosmetics empire, but he also helped launch the supermodel era. Lauren Hutton—the woman with the gap tooth—was his model and became the first million-dollar-a-year supermodel.

He elevated cosmetics to an extremely high level. In fact, more is spent on cosmetics each year than on dentistry. And cosmetics don’t even make people healthier—they just make them look good.

We in dentistry are fortunate. We not only restore people to health and function, but we also help them look better.

The Three Promises I Make to Every Patient

At every first visit, I tell patients three things:

1. You are in the right place.

2. We’re going to improve your health.

3. We’re going to improve your function and your aesthetics.

What does this do for a patient at their first visit? Most patients walk in filled with fear and anxiety. They’re afraid we’re going to hurt them. They don’t know how much we know, how much it’s going to cost, or even if we’re good at what we do.

Even if family and friends recommend us, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we will be great for them that day.

Overcoming Patient Fears

Patients often ask me, “Are you in a good mood today? Did you sleep well?”

And I tell them, “It shouldn’t matter if I slept well or not. I only have one opportunity to do this procedure for you, and I need to be consistent every time.”

But patients don’t know that. It’s our responsibility to give them hope, make them feel comfortable, relaxed, and free of fear. That’s not easy, but it’s essential.

Creating a Positive Future

I also want to give patients a future more positive than their past. Benjamin Hardy, the author of Your Future Self Now, wrote about imagining a better future and then living into it.

I started practicing this myself—whether it’s running a marathon, preparing a lecture, or building a new relationship, I imagine myself achieving it before it happens. It’s a mindfulness exercise that makes the future more real.

Patients don’t usually practice this. They come in scared, uncertain, and often resistant. That’s why it’s our job to guide them down the path that’s in their best interest.

Selling Hope, Not Dentistry

At that initial visit, I don’t sell dentistry—I sell hope. I give patients hope for a brighter future, hope that they are in the right place, and hope that everything will work out well.

So, the next time someone asks you, “What do you do for a living?” don’t just say dentist, physician, lawyer, or architect. Instead, say: “I give people a brighter future.”

It’s a whole different way of looking at what we do every day.

Be the Gift

Every day I go to work, I think about improving the future of the people I serve. I do this first by giving them hope, and then by providing excellent, competent care.

Most of us are skilled at the technical side of dentistry. But many of us struggle with having the important conversations that truly change lives. Early in my career, I focused on myself and the procedures. But patients don’t care about that.

What they care about is a healthier, brighter future—with good function, great aesthetics, and, ideally, a pain-free experience.

That is the gift we give every day.

Be the gift. Give people hope. And have a great day.