What Do You Want For Your Dental Future?
The dentist-patient relationship is interesting and complex. People often come with dental anxiety generated from difficult dental histories, problem dental experiences as well as practical issues such as time and cost needed for dental treatment. To get past this, one important factor is that the person understands what they want for their dental future. If a person with a dental problem(s) and issues about dealing with these problems can answer the following questions they and their dentist can become clearer about what they want for their dental health and start dealing with some of the concerns that causes the issues.
1. Review your previous dental experiences, good and bad.
2. Do you have anything you consider a dental problem(s)?
3. What is the mental side of having these dental problems?
Or …When you know that you have dental problems and that
it is difficult for you to deal with it, what thoughts come up?
4. What do you think will happen down the road if you don’t deal with these problems?
5. When you think about having dental care do any issues or difficulties come up?
6. Ideally, how would like your mouth to be?
7. What benefits can you imagine if you can have your mouth the way you want it?
8. On a scale of 0 - 10, how important is this in dealing with it?
9. What would you like to start with?
Presenting information to your dentist about your dental past, present and your wishes for your dental future should help your dentist in making the dental experience more successful for you.
Dr. Marvin Mansky is a Preventive and Restorative New York Upper West Side dentist who is long interested in understanding the dentist-patient relationship. He believes that by understanding what patients think, feel and want the resulting relationship can be rewarding to both dentist and patient. For more information about dental issues visit http:/www.personaldentistry.com
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