Community Dental Services CIC excelling with acclimatisation visits for anxious patients
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 8th March 2023
Community Dental Services CIC treat many very anxious patients and has different techniques to help people accept treatment.
CDS-CIC is a referral only service and aims to successfully treat patients in the surgery to avoid treatment under General Anaesthetic. CDS works hard to reduce patient’s anxieties about having treatment in a dental clinic, feeling this is important in helping patients have a positive experience attending the dentist.
Priti Songra is a Dental Therapist in CDS’s Bedfordshire service and explains how she and Dental Nurse Michelle Day have helped a recent patient to feel more comfortable and accept treatment:
“The patient had previously been uncomfortable when I used an ultrasonic scaler, so at the next appointment, I only attempted to scale a few anterior teeth. Show and tell is an established technique, so I showed the patient the instrument I would be using and demonstrated what I would be doing.
First, I polished the teeth to allow the patient time to get used to all the different noises and to make sure they felt comfortable and confident to accept more treatment. While the patient was still nervous, they did feel able to continue. I explained to the patient that they were in control and only needed to raise their hand and I would stop immediately. To reassure the patient even more, I went extremely slowly, counting to five for each part of the treatment and stopped for short breaks to check the patient was happy for me to continue.
We knew that the patient would be having treatment under IS sedation at a subsequent appointment, so we were keen to take the opportunity to familiarise them with the process. We explained what would happen and let the patient choose the nasal hood flavour – strawberry or orange and demonstrated all the equipment so they would know what to expect on the day and feel less nervous. We also used the fast hand piece in the patient’s mouth without any bur or drill, just so they could get used to the noise and sensation. All the time, we chatted to the patient, finding out that he liked to talk about football and the premier league.
When he came for the actual appointment, we were ready to talk football and put him at ease. I had also bought some Premier League stickers and gave them to the patient once we had completed the treatment. He was really pleased with this and happy that he had been able to have the treatment.”
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