Clinical decision making--an art or a science? Part V: Patient preferences and their influence on decision making

Part IV of this series introduced the idea that the value a patient places on an outcome has an important influence on the decision making process. This article considers this concept further. It argues that dentists should assess a patient's preferences and consider these before deciding on a treatment option. The article explains that by enumerating all the treatment options and possible outcomes, it is possible to assess the value placed on each result. Similarly an assessment is crucial if the dentist aims to achieve the optimum treatment result--one which is regarded as the most favourable outcome by the patient.