In our last blog post we wrote about Guilt Free Dentistry and the things that your dental staff can do to make your visits to the dentist as emotionally painless, affordable, and time efficient as possible. Today we’d like to expand on one of those topics and discuss what your dentist and dental staff can do to make your caring for your health as emotionally painless as possible—yes we’re going to discuss how to alleviate a patients’ fear of dentistry.
Many people experience a sense of fear because they perceive a lack of control. Creating a sense of active participation in the dental procedure process can help to calm those fears significantly. Patients should always be made to feel that they can pause the procedure whenever they wish, they can raise a finger to communicate that they need a break, and most importantly your dentist should be paying very close attention to your non-verbal communication regarding your level of comfort and checking in with you frequently, even pausing if she or he feels that you may be uncomfortable in any way. This kind of care and attention should be communicated to the patient from the minute they walk in the door so that by the time they are seated, they are already experiencing a feeling of calm, of equal participation in the process, and a feeling of care.
As we recently read and saw in the news coverage of Whoopie Goldberg’s battle with gum disease, tooth loss, and bone loss, a fear of dentistry can cause serious health problems and even kill you; and yet it is easily prevented. Your mouth is connected to your entire system. It is the gateway of health to your whole body. Dentists and dental staff need to reach out and educate people on the seriousness of good dental care. More importantly dentists and dental staff must create a warm, caring, empowering, and calming environment in which patients with dental fears can finally experience state of the art dental care with a passion for creating smiles from the inside out—and that is a passion for caring about people.
If you missed Whoopie Goldberg on The View and You Tube, you can click here to watch her video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLDL8NhNxWA
Have a great week and take care of your teeth.
Sincerely,
Dr. Laurie S. Litwin and
The Staff at Gramercy Dental Group
