What Dr. Sasha Rutnam talks about

Building Trust With Anxious Patients: language and chairside behaviour in dentistry

Most patients do not arrive at the dentist feeling neutral; they often arrive anxious, defensive, embarrassed, or expecting to be told off. Sasha’s insight is that dentists are often working against…

Clinical Communication Under Anxiety: lessons from dentistry for practitioners explaining complex care

Dentistry is an intense test of communication because patients are often anxious, uncomfortable, and being asked to make decisions about treatment they do not fully understand. Sasha’s frameworks…

Patient Communication as Practice Strategy: case acceptance, loyalty and referrals in dentistry

Dentists are often told to grow by improving their marketing, upgrading their technology, or offering more services. Sasha argues that many practices are leaking opportunity inside the consultation…

What Patients Decide Before the Treatment Plan: Why the opening minutes of an appointment shape case acceptance

Sasha Rutnam has practised dentistry for more than three decades, and she can tell inside a minute whether the patient in her chair is braced for bad news. Most dentists treat the treatment…

Trust Before the Treatment Plan: how the first minutes shape case acceptance

Many dentists think case acceptance happens when they present the treatment and fee, but Sasha’s experience shows the patient has already started deciding whether they feel safe with the clinician.…

Why Patients Decline Treatment: plain language and pacing in the consultation

Dentists often hear “I’ll think about it” and assume the patient is objecting to the treatment, the fee, or the urgency. Sasha reframes that moment as a communication breakdown: many patients decline…