The link between dental health and overall health: Healthcare is a business. A business that involves educating prospective patients on why your practice is better than your competitors. It also involves educating patients on regular check-ups being better than waiting for an emergency, or a severe problem. Now, to most dentists this is obvious. A… The post Educating Patients In A Dental Practice appeared first on Locums, Inc..

The link between dental health and overall health:

Healthcare is a business. A business that involves educating prospective patients on why your practice is better than your competitors. It also involves educating patients on regular check-ups being better than waiting for an emergency, or a severe problem.

Now, to most dentists this is obvious. A six-monthly check-up is clearly the better option for a patient because it can prevent serious problems from occurring.

However, most people don’t know this. They are of the mindset that if it doesn’t hurt, then nothing’s wrong.

Patient education will grow your practice:

Does your dental practice actively engage with the community? Does your website explain the benefits of check-ups and how gum disease has been linked to health concerns such as heart attacks, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and even cancer? Or why teeth whitening from a dentist is better than over-the-counter whitening products. After all, those whitening strips don’t actually whiten teeth they just dehydrate them to give the appearance of whiter teeth.

Dentists know this, but patients don’t.

Bridging that education gap between a dentist’s knowledge and patient’s is an important part of getting a person’s trust and turning that person into one of your patients.

Taking patient education to another level

American dentists, more than anywhere else in the world, are moving towards overall health education for the patients. Some even consulting with dieticians and nutritionists to help their patients understand the importance of diet for their dental and overall health and well-being.
The biggest reason for this is many people don’t understand how the mouth—teeth, gums, jaws, bite—can affect the rest of the body. Tell a patient their headaches are caused by a misaligned bite and they may look at you funny.

Or, how about that neck pain is caused by TMD? Or, that a patient grinds their teeth in their sleep because they’re stressed out at work.
Then there’s sleep apnea. Who knew dentists could treat snoring and airway problems?
Most people don’t.

Education widens a dentist’s patient base

The prevailing concept of a dentist is still: a person who treats teeth and makes teeth look good. Except dentists are so much more than that these days. And patients don’t know it.

The role of the dentist has changed as diets, lifestyles and attitudes towards health have changed. It’s now the role of the dentist to ensure people in their community understand the relation of dental health to overall health, and the importance of prevention.

Think about it like this: the more patients know, the more reason they have for attending regular dental check-ups.

Patient education will lead to practice growth if couched in terms of education and the benefit of seeing a dentist regularly in order save thousands of dollars by maintaining good oral health.

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