With my newsletter, stay up to date with news, special promotions, and additional practices. Each month, you'll receive supplemental tips and techniques to help you. Welcome to a community of support.
Anxiety-Free Packet
By simply submitting your name and email address, jump-start your journey to having the practice of your dreams.
The Well-Referred Dentist is a breakthrough text on how to handle our apprehensive patients. Dr. Saleh breaks it down in such a way that it is easy to understand, and more importantly, easy to implement into our everyday practices. With options ranging from 4-minute stress reduction techniques, to full-on therapy, there are well laid out strategies for every practitioner. A MUST Read!
~ Dennis Cufone, DDS
“The Well-Referred Dentist should be required reading for all dentistry students as well as practicing dentists. Dr. Saleh offers a wealth of information never addressed before, namely the fear and anxiety of a dental patient and how to address it head on.
She offers step-by-step guideline on the importance of building a relationship with the patient so s/he can develop trust and confidence in the dental care being provided. Her deep passion for dentistry and ability to offer exceptional service is evident in the many experiences she has shared in this book. The content of this book is a treasure trove for any dentist that is ready to take his or her practice to the ’next’ level.”
~ Zahra Dowlatabadi
“Thank you for the wonderful book. Whenever women enter professions previously dominated by men in large numbers, they change it for the better. Your book is a prime example of this.
My first experience with a dentist was when I was five or six years old and had a toothache. My mom decided she was too busy to take me to a dentist herself, so she asked a woman who worked in my dad’s office to take me. The choice of dentist was left to the woman too. As soon as we got there, it was decided that a tooth extraction was necessary. The first thing the dentist did was to lock the door and ask the woman to hold me down. I don’t remember the pain but I do remember the terror I felt clearly to this day.
Afterwards, there was bleeding for some two weeks. This was not fluid but sheets of blood that came out. I remember it was the New Years and I was trying on new clothes. My mom saw the blood on my hands and yelled to be careful not to soil the clothes. After that, I kept the continued bleeding secret as if it was due to some failure on my part. Thank god it finally stopped without any need of further intervention on anyone’s part.
I am so very happy that you address such circumstances in your book. This is not just helpful for the patients but also to those dentists who genuinely hate to see the fear and suffering in others. Congratulations on your very well written book.”
~ Roya Ghazi, JD
“I have been reading The Well-Referred Dentist, and I cannot wait to finish reading the rest of the book! I really wish that this fantastic resource had existed during the early years of my career, or even before I completed dental school.
One of the fantastic things about this book is that Dr. Saleh addresses the psychology of a practicing dentist, not just the psychology of our patients. When I left dental school and began my career, I was not prepared for the feelings of inadequacy and defeat that I encountered regularly with too many of my patients. I ultimately had to figure out how to recognize and address those feelings on my own. I now realize how much grief I would have been spared if I had read this book prior to joining the ranks of practicing dentists.
I very strongly recommend Dr. Saleh's book, The Well-Referred Dentist to anyone who is involved in the business of dentistry. I absolutely see value in all members of the dental team reading this book and using it as a resource for a better understanding of our patients, in addition to a better understanding of themselves as they assist us in all phases of providing high quality care and service to our patients.
Thank you, Dr. Saleh for making a significant contribution to the dental profession, and the sacrifices that it must have taken to write such a valuable resource, The Well-Referred Dentist.”
~ Tom Gibson, DDS
“I have always dreaded going to my dentist for any type of procedure, from simple cleanings to root canals. The anticipation of sitting in the dentist chair, the high pitch sound of the drill, water gushing all over and “Mr. Thirsty” sucking all evidence of blood and fragments down the drain brings back memories that I prefer to forget. I know I will be offered a warm blanket to hide my clenched fists, and the TV remote, but it is not going to work. It has never worked before and it will not work this time. Then I have that familiar liberating thought: “Just call and cancel the appointment and deal with it later.” So I do and the problem is solved - at least for that day.
Then I read The Well-Referred Dentist.
As an accomplished, successful dentist and energy psychology practitioner, Dr. Saleh focuses on the vicious cycle of dental fear and anxiety, perceived as the norm experienced by both patients and dentists. She dives deep into the red flags and provides a detailed and clear roadmap for dentists to overcome the obstacles and reach their ultimate goal and desire to help their patients and truly create a profitable and anxiety free practice.
Dr. Saleh defines and details energy psychology methods to reduce the many ways that patients suffer from dental fear and anxiety. As a patient, I can relate to her subjects’ fears as she empathically explains the case studies presented in her book.
It is refreshing to read that fears, anxieties, and frustrations experienced by patients is also felt by their doctors. Dentists may have the latest and best equipment in their practice, but they need the skills in The Well-Referred Dentist to establish trust with their patients. Dr. Saleh provides the formula for success and a clear roadmap to achieve this.”
~ Nader Golgolab, MBA
“Dr. Saleh’s book is a must read for clinicians and physicians across disciplines. As a clinical health psychologist, I found the “roadmap” that Dr. Saleh created to be logical and easy to follow.
She explains how doctors can create an empathetic relationship with patients, using listening and “gaining permission” chapter 5, while recognizing the patient’s non-verbal and verbal cues through “applied kinesiology,” chapter 7. These techniques are often used in therapy to get the buy in of a patient to later follow what you need them to do in between visits. Through the chapters Dr. Saleh describes an easy road map to creating a holistic treatment plan, using methods such as centering and creating anchors, which can be used each time when working with new and returning patients.
Dr. Saleh also addresses profitability and efficiency as it relates to the patient experience.
The four-minute protocol discussed in chapter 14, not only addresses the field of dentistry, it transcends beyond this field and can be used to address the white coat hypertension syndrome present in many practices including surgery and other medical settings.
In the last chapters Dr. Saleh addresses the possible “obstacles” and through case study and ethical guidelines summarizes her book the way she started with empathy and genuine positive regard for the patient. I look forward to Dr. Saleh’s next ventures and I will share this book not only with my dentist but with other providers in our practice.”
~ Dr. Maryam Hafezi, Clinical Health Psychologist, Department of Surgery. Kaiser Permanente, Fremont CA
“It was a privilege to read The Well-Referred Dentist written by Bita Saleh, DDS. It struck home with me, both as an experienced designer, and a nervous dental patient.
She takes a user-centered approach to address the real fears that patients have when going to a dentist. It is clear that her experiences as a student, dentist and empath have shaped her holistic approach and methodology. I found a great many insights into my own fears, resistance, and avoiding behavior in this book. So, while it is written for the benefit of the dental community, it is illuminating for others too.
I dare say that one could and should equally apply Dr. Saleh’s principles to other types of medical practice. At their core is the key to any good business. It is the establishment of the trust and confidence of its clients. Bravo Dr. Saleh!”
~ Mona Lentz, Lentz Creative
“So I just came back from a spin studio, having spent the morning on a stationary bike forcing my legs to move as fast as possible. My spin instructor kept blurting out, “Move your feet faster! Remember to breathe! Give it your all.” After we were done, I felt so good and re-energized. I felt very satisfied and productive. This is exactly how I felt after having read Dr. Bita Saleh’s book, The Well-Referred Dentist: The Essential Hidden Steps to a Profitable and Anxiety-Free Practice.
As dentists, I feel we have a stressful job. The dentistry itself is not stressful but dealing with a human being who has a history of compound fear and anxiety from past experiences is stressful. I have learned to put up a wall and not let their negative energy penetrate my psyche. It’s a defense mechanism that I have skillfully developed in order to preserve my well-being. But after reading The Well-Referred Dentist, I have learned that I am not helping my patients deal with their fears and anxieties…and that I might also be contributing and strengthening their negative dental experiences.
I remember in dental school we were taught mostly techniques to restore teeth and make the gums healthier. We were taught how to carve fillings and how to equilibrate our patient’s occlusion. We were taught how to set up teeth for dentures and how to remove a nerve from a tooth. There was not enough time in dental school to learn behavioral science in greater depth. We were given maybe a one-day lecture on how to detect when a patient has fears and past negative experiences. But we were not taught at length how to deal with them. Thus, as dentists, we put up walls and barriers, so that we could perform our dentistry and move on to the next patient.
Dr. Saleh’s book will introduce energy psychology methods, which can be done in the dental office by the dentist and or team members. You will learn how to use meridian sequence of tapping, which helps find the original cause of the patient’s fear as well as alleviating the charge caused by the fear. You will learn seven main steps to help transform a patient’s resistance created by fear and anxiety into full patient compliance and health.
This book is a “must-read” for dentists and any dental team members who have direct contact with patients. If you want a satisfying career where you will not have to take home the stresses and frustrations of your patients, then learn from Dr. Saleh’s book and allow her to help you help your patients. It’s a win-win for everyone. I wish I had learned these techniques early in my career."
~ Bernie Villadiego, DDS
“Dr. Saleh addresses the missing factors essential to patient compliance in dental treatment by identifying and resolving their “triad of obstacles” – their fears, anxieties, and limiting beliefs. Included also is her own protocol for significantly reducing or eliminating dental anxiety ----- in four minutes.
But this is more than just recognizing and resolving patients’ fears and anxieties. Dr. Saleh discusses the importance of building a relationship with patients so they can develop trust and confidence. Being a competent and skillful dentist is not enough; equally as important are the human skills of attuning to and managing people’s needs and feelings ---- which is not normally taught in dental school.
The Well-Referred Dentist is must reading for all dentists, dental staff and other medical professionals who aspire to a higher level of care and greater satisfaction for their patients and themselves.”
