In modern days, dentistry has become more affordable and accessible than ever before. A growing number of people, their wealth, and emerging of thousands of new clinics across the world logically increase the number of restoration operations, including implants, crowns, and other dentures. For now, about 10-15% of the world population wears them.
Teeth loss and denture wearing are often accompanied by patient stress, considering how important a healthy smile is in modern society.
Recently, a group of British scientists and dentists from the University of Sheffield and the School of Clinical Dentistry released research revealing the patients' experience during such operations. Also, they described the harmful effects of patients' stress during dental restorative procedures.
Patient's Journey
As it turned out, all patients experienced almost the same feelings during dental operations:
- Tooth loss - the stage during which the patient physically feels lost of teeth.
- The Emotional Tunnel - realization of the tooth loss. It may be accomplished with feelings of shame, depression, anger, etc.
- Prosthetic Hope - here, patients started to realize and accept their new dentures and experience hope about their renewed smile or eat normally, without discomfort.
- Prosthetic Compromise - accepting of the dentures and physiological adaptation to a new unit in the body. At this stage, patients start to learn how to live, chew, speak, and smile with dentures.
You may notice that this list is quite similar to the so-called Stages of Grief (denial - anger - bargaining - depression - acceptance). As psychologists, dentists also can manage such feelings, improving the patient's outcomes during and after restorative therapy.
How to Fix It?
Patients' feelings after the denture implantation play a key role in human comfort of living. The same research has also shown that many patients can experience worries about the implants even long after the operation, considering them as a hidden disability.
To help the patients accept their new dentures, dentists should educate them through dialogue or some visualization software (such as Dentaverse in Remedico APP). Once your patients get to know more about the operation and its consequences, they can prepare for procedures and accept the loss of a tooth more easily.
A dentist's main goal as a specialist - is to explain to the client that dentures are usual and common medical practice and they will not affect routine life activities significantly.
