Patient Comfort
By Dr. Linda Niessen -- Baylor College of Dentistry STORY: PATIENT COMFORT SCRIPT #505 SHOOT: 3/4/05 AIRDATE: Monday, April 21, 2003
Monday, April 21, 2003
Dentists offering 'comfort menu' to lower patient anxiety
Susan Hancz hates to go to the dentist.
“Putting off appointments because I don’t want to face that. So I went a long time without coming to the dentist because I didn’t want to have to go through that.” Many dentists not only try to make treatment pain free. But they also want to help the patient enjoy being at the dentist. In this office, the dentists offer patients a comfort list. From music to pillows, electric massagers to aromatherapy, Dr. Anna Willison puts patient comforts first. “The most popular one is the headphone sets,” Willison said. “We have a wide variety of CDs that they can choose from. What that does is helps them concentrate on something else, takes them a little bit somewhere else.” A special Yellow pages advertisement says “we baby chickens.” “And you wouldn’t believe how many patients we get from that ad. They say, ‘I saw this thing, your ad that says we baby chickens. Is that true?’” Willison said. For the very fearful patient, many dental offices now offer prescription medication that can be taken before a dental visit. Patients can sleep through an appointment. Susan has conquered her fear of dentistry. So now, she will not pass down that phobia to her children — triplets — who love to come to the dentist with their mother. “Each time I come in, they give me the comfort list, we pick what is going to help me get through that visit,” Hancz said. If you are a chicken when it comes to the dentist, start searching for an office that will do their best to make you feel comfortable, so that you won’t put off your next appointment. 
“Just the thought of it starts to get me nervous. The day I have to come, I come in with sweaty palms, my heart racing,” Susan Hancz of Carrollton said.
Dr. Linda Niessen, clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences and the Office of Communications and Development at Baylor College of Dentistry, hosts Dental Health Check, the only weekly dental feature shot on location in the nation.
