BUILDING THE DENTIST-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP TOWARDS HOLISTIC DENTAL CARE

PART ONE: Communication:

When was the last time we sat with our patients and understood where they are coming from? With
the appointment register at the back of our minds, the clock ticking, the root canals that need to be
completed and the pending bills that we have to pay, do we ever look beyond our patients’ mouths ?

Have you ever wondered why the dentist next door seems to be retaining his patients and you
don’t? Or why your patients do not seem to accept your treatment plans and opt for the easy way
out?

It all comes down to communication.

Effective communication is important to build any kind of relationship. The dentist patient
relationship is one such fragile relationship that requires effective communication right from when
the patient walks in to even after the patient leaves.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION:

1. Listen attentively:
What is the patient’s chief complaint? What about the patients life in general? Pay attention
to your patient as a whole. Encourage your patients to ventilate their feelings, thoughts,
worries and fears in relation to treatment and its outcome, There are several underlying
factors that we tend to miss out and that make our treatments fail because we failed to
listen to our patients.

2. Provide information in simple terms, avoiding medical jargon:

Practice speaking to your patient in simple , layman terms. Use drawings, pictures , and
models to pass information.
Have a clear well thought out explanation for common treatments in your practice so that
you are able to discuss with ease.

3. Ask if you have been understood: The most important yet often left out part of
communication is obtaining feedback. Did the patient understand the treatment options,
the post-operative instructions or any basic information that you provided?
Research has found that patients who do not comply with treatment plans or follow post-
operative instructions simply did not understand, and did not ask for further clarifications.

Spend extra time building the relationship with your patient and they will be your patients for life.

Remember dentistry is 80% communication and 20% clinical skills!

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PART TWO: EMPATHY:
What is empathy?

It is the capacity to put one’s self in another’s shoes and feel what that person is going
through and share their emotions and feelings. It is the recognition and validation of a
patient’s fear, anxiety, pain, and worry,

What is a lack of empathy?

It is an indifference to others feelings.

Can a dentist fully experience the suffering of each and every patient?
As a dentist you may have experienced a tooth ache, some dental problems here and there but it is
impossible for you to have suffered from each and every dental condition out there. Then how can
you be empathic?

A leading group from the Society for General Internal Medicine defines empathy as “the act of
correctly acknowledging the emotional state of another without experiencing that state oneself’

Therefore: To have empathy, you need to use your imagination!

What empathy is Not?

Feeling sorry for the patient or pity for the patient is not empathy.

How can we develop and show empathy?

As clinicians we need to

• listen to our patients’ without interrupting them and maintain a natural curiosity about your
patient’s lives,
• Tell them or communicate to them acknowledging their experiences,
• and finally help them in a manner that is centered towards them , taking into account their
experiences.

Why is empathy beneficial?

Empathy is shown to lead :

• improved communication
• Negotiated treatment plans
• Treatment adherence
• Increased patient satisfaction
• Reduced dental anxiety.

CONCLUSION:

Empathy has been shown to be important in improving the dentist-patient relationship and should
be practiced in our interactions with our patients.

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REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:

Gleichgerrcht, E., & Decety, J. (2013). Empathy in Clinical Practice: How Individual Dispositions,
Gender, and Experience Moderate Empathic Concern, Burnout, and Emotional Distress in
Physicians. PLoS ONE, 8(4), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061526
Jones, L. M., & Huggins, T. J. (2014). Empathy in the dentist-patient relationship: Review and
application. New Zealand Dental Journal, 110(3), 98–104.
Kadanakuppe, S. (2015). Effective Communication and Empathy Skills in Dentistry for Better Dentist-
Patient Relationships. Journal of Dental Problems and Solutions, 2, 058–059.
https://doi.org/10.17352/2394-8418.000020
Victoroff, K. Z., Ph, D., & Boyatzis, R. E. (2012). Intelligence and Dental Student Clinical. Journal of
Dental Education, 77(4), 416–426.