Opportunities for dental assistants are increasing as scientists learn more about the importance of oral health. Preventive care has a profound impact on patients’ wellness, and dental assistants are needed to teach patients of all ages how to keep their teeth clean. Patient education is among a dental assistants’ most challenging and meaningful responsibilities. Let’s take a closer look at their role as educators.
What Does a Dental Assistant Do?
Dental assistants perform clinical and administrative tasks in an oral care practice. They are a second pair of hands for the dentist during exams, minor surgery and other dental procedures. Their responsibilities include:
- Answering calls
- Managing the schedule
- Taking x-rays
- Chairside assisting
- Performing coronal polishing and fluoride treatments
- Cleaning dental appliances
- Taking impressions and making molds
- Sterilizing instruments
- Filing records
- Billing and payment processing
- Filling out insurance forms
- Ordering supplies
- Maintaining dental records
- Handling referrals
- Patient education
How Do Dental Assistants Educate Patients on Proper Teeth Cleaning?
The American Dental Association recommends cleaning your teeth twice daily with a soft-bristled brush and fluoride toothpaste. Most patients are familiar with these recommendations and understand the importance of good oral hygiene, but most are surprised to learn that there’s a right and wrong way to brush your teeth.
What’s worse is that they hesitate to ask about it for fear of appearing ignorant, and that’s where dental assistants come in. Every interaction with a patient is an opportunity to educate them using these proven approaches.
Build Rapport
Discussing sensitive health issues is difficult for some patients. At least half of adult patients have some level of dental phobia, and it takes more than one encounter for them to trust their oral care providers.
The ability to connect with others emotionally and intellectually is built on trust, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Dental hygienists should get to know their patients, building rapport over time and establishing themselves as a trusted source of dental information.
Be Honest
Being honest with patients is challenging. It can be upsetting for them to hear they’re not doing a good job brushing, but it’s even more disturbing for them to need their third filling in a year and not know why. It’s a dental assistant’s obligation to share what they know about home hygiene and its role in preventing tooth decay. Knowledge is power, and it’s necessary to reverse bad habits.
Pinpoint the Problem
The only way to solve a problem is to correctly identify it. Many factors contribute to poor oral hygiene. Some patients brush daily, but their technique is flawed. Others may be making simple mistakes, like using the wrong toothbrush. Asking questions is the best way to figure out where patients are going wrong, so you can focus your teaching efforts where it matters most.
Make It Real
Poor brushing habits lead to tooth decay, but it evolves slowly over time. Problems that are out of sight are out of mind for most patients until they get bad news about their dental x-rays.
After a treatment is an ideal time to troubleshoot their teeth cleaning practices. People are more receptive to learning when the effects of their behavior are tangible. Timing is everything with education.
Use Visual Aids
Everyone has a unique learning style. Visual and hands-on learners don’t benefit much from verbal or written instructions. People process images much faster than words, making video presentations and demonstrations ideal teaching tools. Using a model of the mouth, dental assistants can demonstrate the proper angle for holding a toothbrush, how to get into tight areas and other proper brushing techniques. Combine teaching approaches for the best results.
Give Them the Right Tools
It’s not unusual for dental practices to give patients a complimentary toothbrush or sample-sized toothpaste as a thank you for their loyalty. Taken a step further, however, these perks are a powerful way to get patients more involved in their care. If patients have the right tools, they’re more likely to use them.
Tips for Parents Teaching Kids how to Properly Clean Teeth
A child’s early experiences can make or break their oral hygiene habits. These tips will help parents encourage proper brushing.
Start Early
Whether it’s eating their vegetables or cleaning their teeth, children will embrace healthy habits if they learn them early. Kids aren’t coordinated enough to manage a toothbrush until they’re five or six years old, but no age is too early to start. Parents can help until they’re ready to be independent.
Do It Together
Kids like to imitate adults, so even if they’re not quite ready to go it alone, let them learn by example, make brushing a parent-child activity.
Choose the Right Products
The minty toothpaste parents like taste terrible to kids. Flavors from bubble gum to cherry are more suited to a child’s palate, making brushing less objectionable.
Hard adult toothbrushes are too large for their mouths and can be harsh on their sensitive gums. Purchase a soft child’s toothbrush in a color they like. Letting kids choose their own gives them a sense of ownership over the process, serving as both encouragement and a reward for a job well done.
Build in Fun
Kids naturally gravitate toward fun activities, so why not make oral care a game? Dance to their favorite tune while you brush, sing a song or read them a story. It’s more engaging and sets the stage for a lifetime of good habits.
Consider Incentives
Good dental health should be its own reward, but kids are too far removed from the consequences of not brushing to understand how valuable it is. Instead, offer small but meaningful incentives for cleaning their teeth without complaint. Sticker charts are good tools for monitoring daily progress and rewards should be chosen based on age and interests.
There’s an App for That
There’s no better way to motivate the electronics generation to brush their teeth than with an app. There are several available for children of all ages that both entertain and serve as timers, ensuring that kids brush for two full minutes each time.
Education Skills for Dental Assistants
It’s one thing to know something, it’s another to teach it to others. Vocational schools understand the importance of patient education and include training for the role. Graduates are well-prepared, having learned skills for success including:
Approachability
Being approachable means being friendly and easy to deal with. When patients are comfortable coming to you for advice, they’re more likely to ask questions, even if they seem silly. They’re not worried about being judged or lectured to. Approachable people invite interaction by being warm and personable, conveying their concern for others by expressing interest in what they have to say.
Patience
Patience is critical when working with children and adults with dental phobia. Patients under stress may not respond positively to teaching. Some must be coaxed over time as you gain their trust, others may be too consumed with fear to hear what you have to say. Don’t give up. Instead, rethink your strategy and be patient, overcoming barriers one at a time until patients feel more comfortable.
Enthusiasm
The best teachers are passionate about what they do. When you care about something, it shows.
Patients are more likely to respond to your recommendations if they believe you have their best interest at heart. Enthusiasm is contagious, and it inspires confidence.
Imagination
A large part of teaching is seeing your message through your audience’s eyes. Is it engaging? Does it sound credible? Does it make sense to a layperson? Educators have to be imaginative, coming up with inventive ways to teach difficult concepts in ways people understand.
Communication Skills
Dental assistants work with patients of all ages. Whether speaking to patients in person or over the phone, the ability to express ideas clearly is critical. Students in vocational school programs learn the principles of therapeutic communication, from asking open-ended questions to active listening, and can use them to tailor their communications to each individual.
Persuasion
Persuasion is a form of salesmanship, a way of challenging patients to improve their oral care. But since emotional appeals are more successful than facts at winning arguments, understanding what motivates people is critical to changing their behavior.
It’s not manipulative, it just addresses the reality that most decisions are made with the heart and not the head. Telling teenagers, they’ll need dentures in thirty years if they don’t brush won’t get their attention, suggesting their teeth will be whiter for prom photographs will.
Compromise
Compromise is often described as accepting standards that are less than ideal. But framed another way, it means something is better than nothing.
There are dozens of reasons, from fear to finances, why patients may not accept dental recommendations. But if they’re at your dental practice to begin with, chances are they care enough about their oral health to do what they can to keep their mouths healthy.
A patient who hates to floss manually, for example, may be willing to try a water flosser. Any effort is a step in the right direction, so don’t be afraid to negotiate. Good oral care is a collaborative team effort.
Professionalism
Professionals are experts in their fields. It’s expected that they’ll be knowledgeable, demonstrating competency and commitment to the highest performance standards.
No patient will take dental advice from someone they don’t trust, so as the dentist’s representative, dental assistants should strive to project the same level of professionalism in dress, demeanor and attitude as licensed staff. It’s foundational for building rapport.
Open-mindedness
It’s a small world. Today’s dental assistants will serve patients from diverse backgrounds and cultures, many of whom won’t share conventional ideas about oral health care. Some may have never been exposed to it because it’s not a priority in every culture. It’s vital for dental assistants to teach patients what they know about good dental hygiene, but never to judge or ridicule their beliefs.
Final Thoughts
Only a dentist can extract teeth, but you can help patients hang on to theirs longer by teaching them how to clean their teeth at home. As a dental assistant, you’ll wear dozens of hats and manage many responsibilities, but education is your superpower.
Interested in learning more about educating patients on proper oral hygiene? Are you ready to learn more about becoming a dental assistant? The Dental Assistant training program at Meridian College provides extensive hands-on training including a school externship at a dental office where you will assist the dentist in treating actual patients.
Contact Meridian College today to learn more about becoming a dental assistant.