Dental Practice Management – How To Reduce Dental Phobia And Manage Patients In Dental Clinic
FOUR of the most important aspect that can decide the success of your professional dental set up are:
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- How Effectively are you able to reduce the phobia of visiting a dentist in your patients?
- How effectively are you able to do the treatment without inducing any more pain in your patient?
- How is the overall experience of your patient after they complete their treatment and go home?
- How do patients recall the experience in your dental practice?
In this article, we will discuss how can we reduce thePhobias of the patients related to Dental Visits
Telling a patient not to panic inside a dentist’s clinic is a challenging feat because a large number of people grew up with the belief that dentistry without fear is not possible.
People’s phobia or fear of the dental clinic may have stemmed from different reasons. Some may have had tragic experiences with dentists before, or they have heard stories about unpleasant dental visits from friends or relatives.
If you start analyzing why people are afraid of dentists. then that itself is a whole article in itself. But this knowledge is essential. So we have written an article detailing why patients are afraid of dentists. You can read the article below before we proceed further in this article – How we can Reduce this Fear of Dentists?
You may like to read: Why Patients are Afraid of Dentists
DENTAL PHOBIA : 10 REASONS WHY PEOPLE ARE SCARED OF DENTISTS ?
PHOBIA : It means some thing an Individual is afraid of. And we as Dental Surgeons need to tackle on phobia in particular that is in direct conflict with our profession. That phobia is image Credits : imgur.com So in this post we will decode the most common reasons as to why so many people fear dentists ?
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There are so many types of phobia associated with a visit to a dentist. In this article we will discuss how can we tackle such phobias and improve the dental experience for our patients.
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To Know how to Tackle the #1 Patient phobia
Fear of Pain/Needle/Drills
How to Tackle Patient Fear of
Pain & Needles & Drills
As a dentist, you have to admit that ” The three most common reasons why patients are afraid of Dentists are ” – Pain, Needles & Drills
How to reduce this fear?
Make the atmosphere of your clinic as relaxing as possible. Everything about your clinic, before even the treatment starts should be soothing to the patient.
- Take care that everything – instruments, medicines, towels, masks & gloves are arranged and packed neatly. A disorderly environment adds to the already phobias of the patient.
- Make the environment of your clinic as comfortable as possible. Install a good Air Conditioner. A cool environment instantly relaxes a patient. Nothing more stressful than undergoing a dental treatment in a hot and humid environment.
- Make the seating lobby comfortable. If a patient has to wait for some time when you are managing another patient, make sure that its comfortable for hm/her. Uncomfortable waiting increases the stress and fear in patients.
- Keep playing a soothing music in your operative area and waiting lobby. Slow soothing music has a very relaxing effect on the patients, whether they are waiting or on the dental chair.
- One of the effect that adds to the stress/fear of patients is the distinctive smell in the dental clinic. Make sure that your dental clinic is well maintained and clean. Avoid clogging of water and blood. Make use of automatic room freshener to automatically keep a nice fragrance in your dental clinic.
- If the patients are too scared of the drill sound then you can use a Music Headphone that will drown out the irritating sound of the burr drill with soothing music. This technique is very effective and is being more and more used by dentists while performing cavity preparation or root canal treatment.
- Instruct your clinic staffs to deal and talk with patients calmly with care and respect. Remember they are the 1st line of people with whom the patients will interact. Instruct them to dress well. Good speaking and well-dressed staffs appeal to the visual sense of the patients. It gives them the initial positive vibes about your dental practice.
All the 7 points mentioned above play a very important role in soothing the three senses of every patient
Sight, Touch & Smell
All these make the patients calm before you start administering dental treatment. That’s an advantage for you.
Once the patient’s turn comes – explain him/her quietly and calmly the procedure. Explain to them that you are following all the steps of sterilization. Give them the assurance that proper anesthesia will make the procedure painless. Use proper suction method.
Keep in mind the patient will have fear and you have to continuously keep assuring that the treatment is going on well.
Ultimately the aim to control the fear of Pain, Needles & Drills. By using the 7 points mentioned above you will be able to manage patient’s senses thereby making the dental treatment experience comfortable for him/her and easy for you.
See Next Slide
How to Correctly Talk & Explain the Patients
How To Correctly Counsel the Patients to Remove their Anxiety
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One of the most important aspects of clinical practice is
Counseling the Patients
Counseling means explaining the patient about the treatment, motivating him/her for the treatment and reducing any anxiety or fear the patient might have.
But many times, dentists tend to get carried away and end up over-explaining the patient.
Remember such unnecessary talking, rather than reducing the patient anxiety, ends up adding to it.
Any patient when talking with a dentist is concerned with 3 facts – Reducing the pain, getting the treatment quickly and the cost of the treatment.
Also, many patients before visiting your clinic, do research on the internet and come prepared with most of the basic information that they can understand.
So before starting to explain – remember these points and talk accordingly.
- Talk to the point. Don’t keep blabbering just because you know.
- Listen and respond first to the chief complaint of the patient.
- Listen completely with nodding to what the patient has to say.
- Be more caring in your behavior for Kids and Elderly persons.
- Listen carefully and at the same time keep studying the behavior of the patient. It is very crucial that you judge the state of the patient. In your mind divide the patient as apprehensive, calm, over talking, show off, bargaining type etc. and then talk accordingly with the patient.
It’s an art decoding the patient and it’s essential to have an idea about various types of patients that you might encounter in your dental practice.
So we have written an article explaining various types of patients that you will face in your clinic.
You may like to read: Types of patients you will face in your clinic.
MANAGING PATIENTS IN YOUR CLINIC
Being a Dental Surgeon/ Doctor is a tough job and what’s the most toughest aspect about it ? Its none other than your patients 😀 Each patient who visits your clinic is an individual with his own unique characters and experiences about life. Each patient has his way of dealing with a dental surgeon !
- Even if some patient is being unreasonable and in few cases rude, don’t lose you cool. Never get into argument or fight with the patients in your dental clinic.
- Always put a CCTV camera in your clinic (workspace, reception, discussion room) and let the patient see that cameras are installed. That keeps a check on few patients who otherwise won’t hesitate to create an unnecessary scene at your dental practice.
- During the discussion, if you judge that the patient is way too nervous, anxious and pushy (No amount of your talking is able to calm them down) then it is better not to start the treatment. You can postpone the treatment to another day. Remember a successful treatment is possible only when the patient listens to you.
- But, such cases are not very frequent. You will also encounter patients who are cooperative and responsive to your treatment plan. Be very courteous and caring to those patients as they are ones who will spread the good word for you if you do a good work.
Always keep in mind, you cannot make everyone happy.
Always talk, explain and decide on a patient depending on your skills and the facilities you have.
Never Overstate Treatment outcomes and Never try to be a HERO!
These points will help you a great deal in calming down patients and get a good name for your dental practice.
Also, in the end, you may like to read About the 10 most common mistakes that you must avoid as a Dentist
You may like to read: The 10 Most Common Mistakes that you must avoid as a Dentist
10 MISTAKES YOU MUST NEVER DO IN YOUR DENTAL CLINIC
Yes, having our clinic is a moment of pride, joy and happiness. It does feel like owning a piece of the world. But it’s also a fact that by 2015 dental profession has become too much competitive due to over saturation.
