Working in dentistry can be tough. Patients have fears and anxieties that make our jobs difficult – but they don’t have to be. Try these tiny tips to ease anxiety and increase patient comfort.
Tiny Tip #4 - GIVE THE PATIENT SUNGLASSES OR DIM THE LIGHTS
I wear loupes and I have a wonderful light attached. While this provides me with a great view, it can be very annoying to the patient. Often my path crosses right over their face and they are blinded by my light. Since my patient needs eye protection anyway, I started offering fun sunglasses.
Patients love it for so many reasons. They can close their eyes and not feel like they are ignoring me, they feel as though they are shielded from the appointment and, best of all, I don’t blind them with my bright light.
Every so often I get a female patient who complains about the glasses hitting her eyelashes, so I stick a cotton roll vertical right at the bridge of her nose. WORKS EVERY TIME!
If you don’t have sunglasses available and don’t want to spend money buying some, I suggest dimming the lights for the anxious patient. It has a calming effect and the patient may even close their eyes and drift off, especially if you are doing non-surgical periodontal therapy and they are anesthetized.
Tune in next week for another tiny tip!