DirectorsMessage052711

May 24, 2011
Rather than always asking, “Why cannot they just floss?” or ‘Why can’t they keep their appointments?” I suggest reframing the question to “How can I better understand why Mrs. Jones is not changing?” A way to start is to consciously ask more questions of the patient vs. “education or telling.”

How many times during a day are we asked for advice, guidance, and direction? As hygienists, our clinical expertise is constantly placed in the roles of “educator, teller, and director.” We can easily find our self-esteem rise as we embrace the feeling of being needed, and, of course, it is an ego booster knowing all the answers.

Yet, placing ourselves on top of the oral hygiene “throne” can be a precarious situation. Yes, through education and licensure we do have the ability to “tell” patients what toothbrush to purchase and use, to “tell” patients when they should and should not come back in for services, and to “tell” other team member this or that about the periodontal disease process.

It all feeds the ego. Yet the stumbling block is when you discover that “telling’ someone to do something, even though it may be the best advice ever and grounded in evidence, does not always elicit the behavior desired as a result of our advice. If “telling” or “educating” people on the benefits of brushing, keeping regular preventive appointments, and completing untreated restorative work is all that it took to get people to change, then our lives would be simple.

When hygienists place themselves on the “thrones” of prevention and get in the habit of “telling” their proverbial subjects (patients) what they should do and not do, they are actually driving patient care with the brakes fully engaged.

The brakes in this scenario are our unconscious realization that “telling” or even education may not elicit positive and healthy behavioral changes.

A place to start is with the negative labeling of our “non-compliant patients.” Instead, cultivate deep empathy and a nonjudgmental view. Being respectful, in front of and once a patient leaves the office, will allow us to accept our patients where they are in their oral health process.

Rather than always asking, “Why don't they just floss?” or ‘Why can’t they keep their appointments?” I suggest reframing the question to “How can I better understand why Mrs. Jones is not changing?” A way to start is to consciously ask more questions vs. “education or telling.”

So the next time you feel that high of being on the “hygiene throne,” ask yourself: “Is being on the throne helping my patients or myself?”

Question: What’s the best way not to get dethroned?

Answer: Don’t sit in the chair.

Kristine A. Hodsdon RDH, BS
Director, RDH eVillage