Dental Fears

When I first went into business for myself I had to meet with a lot of different service providers in order to get everything set up; people from banking, legal services, insurance providers, suppliers, and so on.  I can’t say the meetings were all that fun, but they went smoothly enough and I learned a lot as the process went on.  It wasn’t until I was in business for a short while that I got in touch with an accountant to help with the bookkeeping and taxes.  This is something I should have done right away, but I will admit it was the one I was least looking forward to.

Why would this be?  It’s just tracking expenses and balancing columns, right?  The truth is the accounting end of the business was the part that I knew the least about.  I had taken some accounting classes in college, but it was all debits and credits and no practical application.  Socrates once said “The one thing I know is that I know nothing.”*  Ever the master of paradox he was, but I guess that would have described my situation pretty well, even if somewhat generously.

The meeting went more or less as I had expected, there were some things I knew, some things I didn’t, and a lot of things I didn’t know I didn’t know, and that’s probably what frightened me the most.  It’s hard to admit you don’t know something, and then to ask for help from an expert.  Doing so can leave one feeling vulnerable and at risk of being judged.  It is this aversion to judgment that I believe is the number one fear of dental patients; more than pain, more than expense.

I remember an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ where a sign outside the Springfield dental clinic reads “No matter how you’re flossing you’re doing it wrong.”  It’s classic ‘Simpsons’ humor, and as with any successful comedy, the jokes all have a grain of truth to them.  There probably is a significant portion of the population that views dental teams as bossy and lecturing, but heaven forbid we’re viewed as judgmental.  Even if only a small percentage of dental offices are belittling patients with a judgmental tone, I see it as a black eye on the profession and the rest of us have to work that much harder to change the perception.

Let’s leave the judging to those who are highly trained to do so: judges.  For the rest of us, an approach of respect and professionalism is the right way to go.  As for my accountant and me, we’ve become good friends and he is now a patient in the practice.

* Historians now believe this quote has been mistakenly attributed to Socrates by his pupil, Plato.

The number two dental fear patients have is pretty obvious, but may surprise some people that it’s not number one.  I see it on the faces of many adult patients, but only the kids will actually blurt it out: “Is this going to hurt?”

At this point I’d like to relate a story about a survey I first heard about maybe 25 years ago.  The survey asked people what their greatest fears are.  Twenty five years ago the number one response was public speaking, not a big surprise there.  Number two was going to the dentist.  Out of curiosity I looked up the same survey recently and found that public speaking was still number one, but going to the dentist was not even in the top ten!  Why is that?  What caused this dramatic change in public perception over the last two and a half decades?

Quite simply, I think people have shed the idea of dentistry as a “necessary evil” and embraced the idea that dental care is an important part of their overall health and appearance.  Instead of begrudingly showing up for their cleaning or fillings, people actually seek out dental care now.  How has the dental profession participated in this paradigm shift in patients’ attitudes?  By embracing new technology and new techniques that has made today’s patient experience vastly superior than even a generation ago.  But the bottom line for most people is: the dental injection.

People know needles aren’t fun.  But here’s the good news: by putting our focus on the best materials and techniques, we’ve been able to make the whole experience nearly or even completely pain free for most people.  And here’s the better news: technology is still advancing at a rapid pace, and I expect the patient experience will continue to improve by leaps and bounds.  I’m looking forward to treating a generation of patients who have never feared their dental visit, and I believe that generation is now upon us.

As far as the fear of public speaking, I don’t see that going away anytime soon.*

Dr. McGann

* Here’s my trick when speaking to an audience, don’t look at the whole audience, look at one person in the audience, as if you’re talking only to her or him.  Finish your sentence, move to someone else and speak directly to that person.  Speaking to an individual is much less intimidating than speaking to a group.

Throughout my years of practice I’ve always had the mindset of constant improvement: learning new procedures, improving on the procedures I already perform, adding new technology when it can improve outcomes, and many other avenues.  While all of these are important to help achieve better clinical results, perhaps the most important skill I can seek to master is my ability to communicate with and understand my patients.

The fact that there’s still a great many people who have dental fear and anxiety is not going to surprise anybody.  Everybody who sits in my chair has had a dental experience before (well, almost everyone), which means they also have feelings about it; good, bad or otherwise.  Throughout my years of listening to what my patients liked and didn’t like I’ve been able to identify what I believe are the three main causes of dental fear and anxiety.  If dental anxiety is something you’ve ever experienced, I encourage you to read on and see if any of these resonate.  I’ll start with the third-most common.

Fear number three: Financial cost

I’m going to come right out and say it: dentistry can be expensive.  And unless you just won the lottery, we know that the financial considerations of getting your dental work done will play a role in the treatment planning.  I encourage you to check out our page on affordability where I outline the various services, discounts, and financing options we offer to make your dental care more manageable.

Beyond the immediate financial concerns of dental care there is another money-related concern many patients have;  it’s what I call the “doctor-knows-best” experience, and it’s even more insidious and disconcerting.  I can’t tell you how many times a patient has told me about an experience where their dentist said something like: “This tooth needs a crown, let’s get it scheduled in two weeks.  See you soon!”  And that represents the beginning, middle and end of the conversation.  What the patient hears is “I don’t care about your thoughts on the matter” and “I just want to do the most expensive treatment.”  While that approach may have been the norm for previous generations, today it’s as archaic as wooden dentures.  It blocks communication and erodes trust, the two most important pieces of the dentist-patient relationship.

Our treatment plans are not a one-way communication, they are a discussion about what is right and what is recommended for treatment.  They are a discussion of options, with nothing absolute, only the pros and cons of each choice.  And there is one choice that is always an option but rarely mentioned, the choice of doing nothing.  You are the final decision maker for your dental care, our job is to present findings, have a discussion on what is going on, make recommendations for treatment, and present the pros and cons of each choice.  We will never presume to know what’s best for you and make your treatment decisions for you.  In fact, I only want to proceed with treatment when you fully understand why we’re doing it and you request that it be done.

Money is a difficult topic to discuss.  Trust us to walk you through the process in an understanding and professional manner.  Coming up next: the number two dental fear.  You may be surprised it’s not number one!