Treatment Plan Presentation

---
name: treatment-plan-presentation
description: "Present a dental treatment plan the patient actually understands and accepts — sequenced by clinical priority, costed with their coverage applied, and explained in the order that answers what-is-wrong before what-it-costs. Use when asked to present a treatment plan, improve case acceptance, explain treatment to a patient, or handle a patient who says they want to think about it. Produces the phased plan, the plain-language explanation per phase, the cost and coverage breakdown, the consequences-of-delay framing, and responses to the four common objections. Clinical decisions remain the treating clinician's; this shapes the conversation, not the diagnosis."
---

# Dental Treatment Plan Presentation

Case acceptance is usually lost in the explanation, not the dentistry. The plan is clinically sound, the patient hears a number before they understand a problem, and they leave to think about it. This sequences the conversation the way people actually decide: what is happening in my mouth, what happens if I do nothing, what are my options, and only then what it costs — with the phasing that makes a large plan affordable rather than abandoned.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The phased plan** — treatment grouped into urgent, functional, and elective phases with the clinical reason each phase exists
- **A plain-language explanation per phase** — what the problem is, in words a patient repeats correctly to their partner that evening
- **The cost and coverage breakdown** — fee per phase, what the plan covers, what the patient pays, and when
- **Consequences of delay** — what specifically gets worse, and roughly over what horizon, stated without scare tactics
- **Options at each phase** — including the do-the-minimum option, because a patient who feels railroaded declines everything
- **Objection responses** — for the four that account for most declines: cost, time, fear, and 'it does not hurt'
- **The follow-up plan** — what happens if they leave undecided, and who calls when

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The clinical findings** — the diagnosis, charting, radiographic findings, and the treating clinician's recommended sequence
- **The patient** — what they came in for, what they said they want, their dental history and anxiety level
- **The financials** — practice fees, the patient's insurance or plan, annual maximum remaining, and any payment options offered
- **The constraint** — what is actually driving the decision: money, time off work, fear, or a past bad experience

## Framework: Problem Before Price, Phase Before Total

1. **Lead with what they can see or feel.** Start at the complaint that brought them in, or the finding you can show them on an image. A patient who has not yet agreed there is a problem will not agree to a solution.
2. **Name the consequence, not the catastrophe.** What specifically progresses, and over what horizon. Accurate and calm beats dramatic — patients discount fear and remember specifics.
3. **Phase it.** Urgent (pain, infection, active disease) · functional (restoring what is compromised) · elective (aesthetics, optimisation). Most abandoned plans are abandoned because the total was presented before the phases.
4. **Give the honest minimum.** State what happens if they do only phase one. A patient who is told the floor trusts the ceiling.
5. **Then the money.** Per phase, with coverage applied and the remaining balance stated as a number, not a range.
6. **Ask for the decision on phase one only.** The commitment that fits in one appointment is the one that gets made.

## Output Format

### Treatment plan: [patient] · [date] · presented by [clinician]

**Chief concern in their words:** [what they said, quoted]

**What we found**
| Finding | Where | What it means | If untreated |
|---|---|---|---|
| [finding] | [tooth/quadrant] | [plain language] | [specific progression, horizon] |

**Phase 1 — Urgent** · [clinical reason]
- Treatment: [procedures] · Visits: [n] · Fee: [amount] · Covered: [amount] · **You pay: [amount]**

**Phase 2 — Functional** · [clinical reason]
- Treatment: [procedures] · Visits: [n] · Fee: [amount] · Covered: [amount] · **You pay: [amount]**

**Phase 3 — Elective** · [clinical reason]
- Treatment: [procedures] · Fee: [amount] · **You pay: [amount]**

**If you do only Phase 1:** [honest description of the resulting state and what it defers]

**Options discussed:** [alternatives offered, including no treatment, and why each was or was not recommended]

**Decision today:** [Phase 1 accepted / declined / deferred] · **Follow-up:** [who calls, when]

> Records the conversation, not the diagnosis. Clinical decisions, treatment sequencing, and any statement about a specific patient's condition remain the treating clinician's. Fees, coverage, and consequence horizons must be verified against the actual plan and chart before presenting.

## Quality Checks
- [ ] Opens at the patient's chief concern, not at the largest finding
- [ ] Every finding has a plain-language meaning and a specific untreated consequence
- [ ] Phases are ordered by clinical priority, and the reason each phase exists is stated
- [ ] The patient's out-of-pocket number is stated per phase, not just the total
- [ ] The do-the-minimum option is presented honestly rather than as a strawman
- [ ] Asks for a decision on phase one only
- [ ] Defers all clinical determinations to the treating clinician

## Anti-Patterns
- **Leading with the total.** The number arrives before the problem is understood and the plan is dead on the desk.
- **Presenting the ideal plan only.** No stated minimum reads as an upsell, and the patient declines all of it.
- **Consequence inflation.** 'You could lose all your teeth' for early caries destroys trust that a real warning will later need.
- **Treating a deferral as a close attempt.** 'I want to think about it' usually means an unasked question about money or fear; find it instead of re-pitching.
- **Quoting coverage from memory.** A wrong estimate becomes a billing dispute and costs more than the case.
- **Talking in codes and tooth numbers.** The patient cannot consent to what they cannot restate.

## Example Trigger Phrases
- "Help me present this treatment plan so the patient actually accepts it"
- "Our case acceptance is low — how should I explain this plan?"
- "How do I phase a large treatment plan for someone who cannot afford it all?"
- "The patient said they want to think about it — what do I do?"
- "How do I explain why this crown cannot wait?"