Column


Word of mouth Rebranding


with Dr Paul O’Dwyer Dent stry D


entistry in Ireland is changing. Even before the catastrophic recession hit, the way dentistry was viewed by the public was changing.


As remarked on these pages before, the patient is also a consumer. To the patient’s mind, there is no distinction. To our clinical view, there is a significant distinction. The recession has brought into sharp focus our view of ourselves as a profession and also the view the public has of us too. Let’s take a look at a couple of old chestnuts in this regard. In the current absence of a unified dental


preventative message, it is left to each individual practitioner to establish and reinforce the benefits of good oral hygiene. When we contrast this with the


successful vaccination programmes for children our medical colleagues run, the difference is significant. The preventative message is often an uphill battle in dental surgery. With the majority of patients attending


for a specific issue – usually pain related – these are what my old principal back in Nottingham called “Fire Brigade Attenders”. Once the pain is gone, the patient often vanishes – not to be seen again until the next Bank Holiday weekend. The patients themselves have become


more critical and demanding over the past number of years. The idea of a “service provider” and “customer support” has become so entrenched into the public psyche that dentistry as a profession seems a little outmoded and old-fashioned. Opening times, accessibility and


transparent fees have done much to improve how we, as dentists, are at the forefront of responding to these changes. However, this is all still scratching at the surface.


If we look deeper, and understand that


dental health is part of general health, we begin to see what is required to really change attitudes. As health providers, we have a role


(if not a duty) to observe and guide our patients in such areas as obesity, smoking cessation and diabetes. We gather a lot of pertinent information in our initial examination and medical history. This information could be used to


further assist with the patient’s overall systemic health – not just dental health. If we see ourselves as part of the overall bigger picture of the patient’s general wellbeing, we can change the conversation in dentistry. This will help to consolidate our profession’s position into one of general health – a position we somehow mistakenly vacated a long time ago. Though it may sound flippant,


it is time we looked at rebranding dentistry itself. Gone are the days of “…if I have a problem I’ll call…” – we should usher in a new era of “…I’m attending for a routine check up that will help prevent problems…” This won’t happen overnight. At the recent Stakeholder’s


Day in Thomond Park, where the new Oral Health Policy proposals were discussed, there was a lot of informed discussion on this


“The preventative message is often an uphill battle in dental surgery”


Ireland’s Dental magazine 17


topic. Looking at the ageing population of Ireland, with a doubling of the over-60s in a projected 30 years, we can see that geriodontology will become a leading area of concern and treatment in time to come. If we can change the mindset of the


population to understand that prevention is better than cure, and incentivise this group (now in their 30s) to attend regularly, then their maintenance in the coming decades should prove easier, more predictable and less costly. This will also go a long way towards helping to cement the rebranding of the profession as an allied, valuable and critical component of general systemic health.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52