Dishonesty During Dental Visit: Important Aspects of Patients Behavior

Communication with a patient is one of the crucial factors of successful treatment. Still, its quality depends not only on dentists' skills but also on the patient's psychology. Recent research from Risas Dental and Braces company, among other things, revealed interesting features of dental cabinet visitors – they often exaggerate their oral hygiene habits during the conversation with the doctor.

That tendency is still poorly studied at the moment. Still, Risas provided some exciting data that may be used to revise existing communicative approaches and patient behavior.

What exactly does the study show?

Risas surveyed about 2000 consumers, and a group of questions are related to US patients' oral health habits.

As it turned out, only 63% of Americans brush their teeth twice a day, while the other 37% – less regularly. Flossing is even less popular among patients – 42% of them floss their teeth daily, 24% – less frequently, and others do not use dental floss at all.

In both cases, women care more about their dental health than men.

This pattern also remains in the next part of the survey, which was related to dishonesty during dental visits. Researchers revealed that 77% of all participants (80% of males and 74% of females) think that patients exaggerate information about their dental health habits. The study does not specify the exact cause of that behavior, but Dr. Nicolas Walton – co-founder of Risas Dental – highlights that this tendency, in some cases, may significantly impact treatment outcomes.

According to Dr. Walton, it's crucial to explain to patients that honesty during the visit – is an essential factor for their health because misinformation about dental habits may confuse clinicians, forcing them to make redundant tests and spend time on unnecessary steps in treatment plans.

Additionally, the dentist must be able to see whether the patient is lying now. For instance, adults may hide their eyes, and kids, in that case, will glance at their parents – knowing these factors will help you to build effective communication, allowing you to gather all necessary information.

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