Research on decision-making has shown that when people are emotional and under duress it can be even harder to make a rational decision. When a patient is not aware of the severity of their dental condition, compassion and professionalism help ensure better emotional and clinical management.

In this Spear Study Club module, Dr. Ricardo Mitrani introduces study club members to Mary Jo, who comes to him for a simple loose crown. However, through his examination, Dr. Mitrani discovers a host of shocking issues with the patient's failing reconstruction.

But his first dilemma is how to treat the emotional aspect of the case, since Mary Jo is unaware of the full extent of her condition and becomes troubled when she realizes her full mouth must be redone - including losing her remaining teeth.

"It is so easy to be critical of failing previous dental work that was not done by us, that sometimes it is almost hard to hold back," Dr. Mitrani said. "But my advice is to be extremely careful when describing the previous restorations and refer to them as potential ‘room for improvement.'"

After viewing "Mary Jo: Emotional and Clinical Crisis Management," study club members will discuss how to manage both the clinical and emotional aspects of a case, how to phase treatment and how to think through solutions to problems like, keeping or removing existing implants, utilizing immediate loading or conventional delayed loading protocols and choosing from different restorative solutions.

This module will leave club members more confident in their ability to:

  • Manage a failing, ill-conceived, full-mouth restoration
  • Review different treatment planning solutions
  • Discuss one possible treatment sequence

As the baby boomer generation ages, learning how to manage expectations and communicate effectively will help all study club members increase case acceptance, which leads to a greater quality and quantity of referrals.


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