Your role in your patients’ happiness

Mark Allen explains how dentistry plays an important part in wider general health and wellbeing.

In the months to come, you could notice a change in the demand for certain services. Once any backlog of routine appointments has been smoothed out and normal scheduling is back in place, you may see people are placing a higher value on their oral health than ever before.

The focus on prevention has been around for a while – the issue is that most patients don’t read the dental journals! You will have been doing what you can to deliver the message, often with limited resources (including time), but obstacles have remained. For example, if your practice provides the bulk of its services to an elderly population, they will have a background of little or no preventive education. That’s not to say you won’t see any older patients with beautifully looked-after teeth and gums, but truly understanding the value of prevention may require a shift in mindset for many. It’s also fair to say that for every age group the overlap between good oral health and general health is often underappreciated. Again, the limited amount of time you have with patients can hinder a discussion about how something as simple as brushing their teeth properly can help them to avoid, or reduce the risk of, developing serious systemic diseases in the future.