Adapting Your Dental Practice While Improving the Patient Experience

March 30, 2022

Most of the time, change comes about gradually. But, every now and then, a force outside of what is predicted, known as a “black swan event,” comes about that causes sudden, drastic change to societies, life, and industry. The recent public health crisis is such a black swan event, and the tendrils that have impacted societies and industries were far-reaching. Yet, when those types of events occur, they can be perceived as either negative or opportunistic.

Take dentistry as an example of an industry that saw the issues and embraced the need for change quickly. Thanks to various emerging technologies and advancements in dentistry and improved customer service (forced about by social and public health procedures), dentistry as a practice is seeing a bit of a renaissance.

Some of the emerging technologies, such as 3D imaging and printing, allow the local dentist to mold, prepare, and print prosthetics onsite during the patient visit. The speed and convenience of utilizing 3D printing technology mean less time between the molding and implementing the prosthetic, creating a better fit in the mouth, and eliminating wait times and extra visits.

Additionally, the prevalence and use of “Artificial Intelligence” - or AI - in all aspects of society is becoming more and more interconnected every day. The advantages to utilizing AI in dentistry include the convenience of scheduling, following up with patient care, check-in time and discharge processes,  record keeping, and improved quality of care.

Undoubtedly, dentistry is one of the most intimate of personal services, and overcoming some of the fears and stigma of dentistry has been a challenge forever. Add to it the social anxiety and fears that have become the norm over the past couple of years, and dentistry has had to become much more flexible and adaptive.

How Some Dentists Adapted During Public Health Concerns

• Using AI For All Traditional Patient Interactions: During the public health crisis of the past few years, dentists have adapted to offering AI for most administrative work, record keeping, as well as telehealth for answering basic dental concerns. By removing the time spent in the waiting room, patient care is addressed more efficiently, conveniently, and safely. In addition, patient experience and satisfaction improve as the patient spends less time sitting around waiting for examinations, care, and administrative processes.

• Limited Capacity: Corresponding to utilizing remote check-in and administrative tasks, many dentists have limited the number of patients allowed in the waiting room at any given time, with time between patients allowed inside included. Gone are the days with patients, kids, and parents with a full waiting room. Instead, now it’s more likely to be one patient in the room just before admittance at a given time.

Limiting the office and waiting room capacity also lowers the risk of exposure, making the visit less stressful and anxious-ridden for patients who may already be experiencing hesitancy and concerns about their upcoming dental examinations. Lower stress for the patients makes it much more palatable of a process, improving the patient experience.

• Increased Use Of Shields And Protective Barriers: Adapting the administrative office has included plastic barriers to separate the staff from patients. Additionally, the implementation of high-quality HEPA air filters to help purify the air throughout the office has become the norm. Keeping dentists and oral hygienists safe during routine care is crucial for their well-being and the patient's confidence in the quality of care they are receiving.

• Increase In Use Of Personal Protective Gear: As the dentist and oral hygienist are exposed to the patient's open mouth, dentists have adapted by utilizing many surgical-level health procedures from face shields, masks, gloves, and hand-washing between every interaction.

• Moving Outdoors: Some practices adapted by moving their care outdoors for routine examinations and minor procedures. These practices utilized standard sterilization procedures for dental tools, still implemented the use of personal protective gear, and to protect the patient (and doctor) during the examination, provided a medical tent, heating or cooling, as needed.

The reality is that the modern dentist practice has changed. Some changes have been incremental, while others were more sudden. Offering practical adaptations to both the patient needs and the patient experience has the added benefit of improving the perception of dental care.

Comments