Dental health: aligning patient goals with best practices

When a patient and dentist meet at the appointed hour, do they have the same goals?

The individual who goes dental school has chosen a rigorous profession dealing with the health of gums and teeth, apparatus the rest of us take for granted. As a group, dentists are practical and science-oriented. But they also place high value on ethics, and genuinely care about their patients.

Most patients, on the other hand, prefer not to think beyond the toothbrush, not to mention the floss. Most of the time, only two things motivate a patient to visit the dentist: pain (or its avoidance) and the desire for an attractive smile.

As it happens, achieving both goals depends on good health. Although patients tend to think of their mouth as separate from other health issues, a single bad tooth can cause serious illness if left untreated.

Naturally patients prefer compassionate and personable dentists, and there’s also evidence that a good relationship with the dentist encourages patients to practice better treatment adherence. Since good oral care is one area where patients can have a huge influence on a successful outcome, dentists and patients both win when patients take a more proactive role.

The

Trust in the Dentist-Patient Relationship – a review (Journal of Young Investigators, June 2005) By Jeremy Jacquot, UCLA (Chapple et al. 2003, and Schouten et al. 2003)

Dr. Dena Robinson understands her patients’ concern with an attractive smile, but she says her true motivation came from her grandmother, who had oral cancer and died without teeth.

“It was difficult to watch,” Dr. Robinson says. “I want to educate people and get them up to speed with what I see going on in their mouth. It might be decay, or missing teeth, or a funny lesion on the tongue.”

She says one of her pet peeves is when patients who saw their parents use dentures believe they are destined for the same fate.

“That’s just not true,” says Dr. Robinson. “I want people to keep their teeth and chew their food.”

If there is more than one potential treatment plan available, many dentists explain the pros and cons of each to allow the patient to make an informed decision.

“I like to gather all the information I need and educate patients as to what disease may be present,” says Dr. Brent Fleming of Richardson Dentistry.

Sometimes a dentist can see a problem developing before it becomes painful or uncomfortable.

“I like to sit down and show them the X-rays and show them what I’m seeing.”

As part of his practice, Dr. Fleming uses an intra-oral camera that takes pictures and video of the surface inside the mouth to find hidden problems.

“Then I explain where we can go and what we can offer at our practice to take care of those issues,” says Dr. Fleming. “It’s ultimately the patient that drives any treatment.”

Dentists know that trust is the cornerstone of their relationship with patients. Dr. Ashly Cothern believes it’s imperative that patients trust their medical providers.

“Our objective is to build the relationship based on trust and integrity, on honesty and communication. It’s our job to tell patients what we see and recommend, and it’s the patient’s prerogative to accept all of it, some of it, or none of it.

“Ultimately, the acceptance of treatment comes if they trust us and reciprocate in that relationship,” Dr. Cothern says.

That level of collaboration requires two-way communication between patient and doctor.

Sometimes people who exercise and choose healthy diets still find reasons to put off a visit to the dentist. The reality is that if we hope to live long, we should be making plans to keep our teeth.

Dr. Dena Robinson puts it this way: “At the end of the day, we all want to really enjoy our food and be able to chew it. It’s the nutrition we need to sustain our lives.” HCA

Dena T. Robinson D.D.S., F.A.G.D. Fellow in the Academy of General Dentistry

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