Years ago when I began working in a dental office, my
assignment was to develop a patient education program to teach patients the
basics of an oral hygiene regimen for themselves and their children. The program included homecare instructions,
facts about infant oral health for patients with young children,
caries-preventive dietary information, an occasional explanation of proposed
treatment to clarify a case presentation, and a good measure of schmoozing with
patients to increase the sense of superb service and extra care they
experienced at each visit.
The efforts paid off handsomely as the program evolved into
an excellent marketing effort, raising the profile of the practice with which I
worked. I began to get requests from
community agencies and organizations, health care facilities, schools, and even
other dental offices to present programs focusing on education about oral
health for children and adults, the specifics of dental hygiene, infant oral
health, and dental needs of the elderly.
I was surprised to find that the seminars and training sessions were
particularly well accepted at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Staff members at these facilities were trying
diligently to meet their residents’ need for oral hygiene because many of the
residents were infirm or had physical limitations that prevented
self-care. Additionally, many had a
critical need for dental treatment. As
interest spread about care needed by this patient population, efforts to
provide the care gradually increased.
Fast forward 15 to 20 years to the June 1, 2015 issue of our
local newspaper which carries a syndicated series, DEAR ABBY, a personal advice column. The title of that day’s column caught my eye---“Dental care in nursing homes can be
difficult to arrange.” A reader in West Virginia whose mother is an
Alzheimer’s patient in a care facility wrote Abby to explain that although her
mother cannot speak, she had indicated great pain from untreated dental disease
by groaning and gnashing her teeth. Upon
inquiry the writer/daughter was told that it would be at least six weeks before
a dentist would visit the home to provide treatment. The daughter was horrified to think of the
pain her mother will have to endure while waiting for treatment.
The writer wrote to urge readers with elderly relatives or
friends in nursing homes to learn to help with daily oral hygiene tasks and to
take the elderly person to a dental office for regular checkups and on-going
care before dental problems progress to the point of chronic pain. Abby’s response began, “As you noted, people
are keeping their teeth longer. We now
know that a healthy mouth is important for good overall health, no matter what
your age.” Abby mentioned that in some
states dental hygienists can provide hygiene services in nursing homes as well
as in facilities housing special-needs patients, and they will refer a patient
to a dentist for further treatment if necessary. She continued by urging readers who have
responsibility for a nursing or care facility resident to seek more information
and follow the writer’s advice.
Think about the facilities housing elderly people and other
compromised patients in your community.
How can you and your staff help these residents? What can you do? Upon asking himself that question, one long
term dental client of mine decided that he and several staff members would volunteer
to work one day quarterly in a nursing home or assisted living facility. That’s just one example of community service that
marks a practice committed to providing quality dental care regardless of a
patient’s personal living conditions. In
addition to the sense of professional fulfillment a dentist and team members will
reap from helping members of this population, the obvious “We care!” reputation
community-wide will be a dynamic marketing tool for his/her practice---a
sure-fire new patient generator. Though
not begun as a marketing program, such commitment to patient care results in
practice growth.
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