How should the dental staff address patients?

I recently visited a doctors office affiliated with NYU. I was surprised by how the staff's attitude toward the patients. The waiting room was filled with patients who for the most part were over sixty years of age, patently waiting for their name to be called. I walked in and went to the front desk to check in. After a very brief discussion with the receptionist, I "signed in" and she  politely dismissed me with you can sit down now "sweetie"....

I have always asked my staff to address patients older than themselves as "Mr., Mrs, Ms or what ever tittle seems appropriate. Meeting them for the first time and calling them by their first name or a diminutive term of endearment (hunny, sweetie, or dear) can clearly be seen as disrespectful by an elderly patient.

If my patient is a "regular", we may address some of them by their first name, but "sweetie" seems inappropriate and to my mind is dismissive. Maybe it's a generational thing, but my generation was taught to address my friends  parents as Mr and Mrs., unless they expressly gave us permission to use their first names. I think this was a good idea and should be used by all medical and dental staffs, who tend to be much younger than many of their patients.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2017/11/how-should-dental-staff-address-patients.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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