Do you need to 'brush up' on your communication skills?

The team at Flame Health Dentistry would like to know the thoughts from Dental professionals about the recent advice from the Dental Defence Union.
They are advising you to ‘brush up’ – no pun intended, your communications skills to help avoid complaints.
Complaints have mostly arisen from private practice. The Dental Complaints Service stated that this was up 17% or 1,800 complaints in the year to April 2012.
The most frequent complaints by patients were:

• Not being made aware of the prognosis of treatment or alternative treatment options
• That the information they were given was unclear and being ignored when they raised concerns.
• The report also found that the most common complaints were about fillings, root
canals, crowns and dentures, with many cases resulting in an apology, a refund
or offer of remedial treatment.

As a dental professional, what are your thoughts on this?