 Hello everybody, Andrea Mayesty here with Dental Oil Tutoring, a day in the life let's say of a dental professional because not necessarily a dental hygienist, not necessarily dental assistant, but this could happen to anybody working in the dental office. So I think that this will be a great thing to talk about and this happened to me today so that's why I'm talking about it. So I have patient who was extremely nervous and this could go for any age. They could be 18, they could be 40, they could be 80, it doesn't matter. But you might be wondering well what's the best way to handle a patient or to talk to a patient who's extremely nervous. Now I don't, you know, it's not nice to deal with those patients because I feel like I'm put on the spot more, you know, you don't want to say the wrong thing, you don't want to do the wrong thing, you want them to be happy, you don't want them to be like holding the chair like this for a whole hour, you know. So there are right things to say and there's wrong things to say too. So I'm going to go back and forth on this a little bit but so let's say you have a patient who comes in and they pretty much tell you right away like hi I'm really nervous, it's my first appointment here, I haven't been to the dentist in like five years because I had a bad experience, I don't like it, I had a mean one before, I just, I'm not happy to be here, you know. So let's say they're coming in for their cleaning, okay, so let's just say it's their first cleaning, right. So you haven't even looked inside their mouth, you don't know how the oral hygiene is, it could be horrible, the cleaning could be painful, you know, who knows, right. But so this applies to everybody, so what you need to do is say to them, I totally understand, you know, we see a lot of nervous patients, we totally understand, thank you for letting me know, you know, but I can happily say that you have come to the right place, if you have any questions at any time please let me know because I am here to help. I do completely understand, so do not be afraid to say that, talk with them, not at them, you know, say to them, you know, things like, you know, I totally understand, even when I was a kid, I hated the dentist because he was mean and I was terrified for years. I saw a patient the other day who was 45 and said that they hadn't been in 10 years because they were terrified, but the good news is after they saw us or me or whatever, they were like, oh my god, that was a huge weight off my shoulders, that wasn't so bad, you know, so do not be afraid to be personal with them, okay, so I always, always do that first, always, because it does not help if you say to them, oh, you'll be fine, that doesn't help them, you guys, because they're thinking, are you even listening to me, like I'll be, I'll be fine, like what do you mean I'll be fine, I'm not fine, you know, I am nervous when I go to the doctors, I don't know why, I don't like having my blood taken, I don't like that, I'm nervous, you know, I am, so I totally understand just some patients are nervous, so do not say to them, oh, you'll be fine, and then just continue doing what you normally would, talk to them, so I find that if you talk to them about what you're doing, that helps so much, so I will send them down, as I said before, I will say to them, you know, I totally understand, if you have any questions about anything, please let me know, but I will also say to them, do you have any questions for me now, you know, even before we get started, do you have any questions, they might go, no, I'm okay, or they might say, well, actually I do, answer their questions, take your time, do not be in a rush, and then say to them, do you have any sort sort of teeth that I should know about, because typically pain and fear comes from being sore, not always, but they might be terrified that you will touch their one tooth that has been hurting for months, who knows, right, so if they say to you, well, my tooth here is really sore, I can't even touch it, then I will say to them, oh okay, thank you for letting me know, I will stay away from that tooth, and then that might just make them feel better entirely, they might go, oh, okay, well, thank you, or if they have a question, sorry guys, I think I just heard something, no one's there, and it got blurry, can you guys see me, okay, good, and then they might have the question, like, I do have a question, is the cleaning going to hurt, because it's been five years, I know my tooth are really, really bad, is it going to hurt, that's a common, you know, question, right, so I am completely honest with them, I say no, it should not hurt, yes, it's been five years, so it does depend on them the amount of plaque and tartar you have, if you have a lot there, then yes, I do have to push a little bit harder, but it doesn't have to be painful, if it is, let me know, because there's always things we could do, I say, we have a topical anesthetic that I can apply around the gums if needed, we have a local anesthetic also, so if you're in pain, which you shouldn't be, but if you're sore, let me know, because I can have the dentist come in and give you a local anesthetic, so I actually show them like this, I don't know why, but that's what I do, and that will help to numb everything, so you don't even feel anything, but that's for the more extreme cases, I'm not saying you need that, but I know so many patients that love it, you know, and then I try to be a little bit funny, and I'll say, you know, I don't know how people love to get the needle, you know, but I have so many patients that love it, and that's the only way that they will get their teeth cleaned if we do a local anesthetic first, so sure, so you know what, because they might go, oh, I didn't even know you had offered that, I think I'd like that, it does happen, or some say, oh gosh, no, I don't want the needle, I'll be fine, you know, so it just depends on the person, but I do, I take things slow, I am not going to go in there and start digging, okay, even if I have to, I'm not going to do that, because they're anxious, they are nervous, they're like, what are you gonna do, right, so I do you guys, I take things slow, often for a nervous patient, if I haven't seen them ever, or if it's been a long time, I can't clean the whole teeth, I can't, even if they have light plaque, I take things slow, and I will probably clean about three teeth first, like, all watch them and see how they're doing, if they're like this, I can tell they're uncomfortable, so I will stop, and I will say, oh, I can tell this is uncomfortable for you, would you like that topical anesthetic, try that first, if they're still like this, they need local anesthetic, okay, seriously, if they're like this the whole time, that's pretty stressful for me, okay, so I will say them, hey, it is fine, how about we do the local anesthetic for half of the milk today, you know, see how you do, you might love it, and say, wow, that was awesome, we have to do that from now on, so let's do half of the milk today, try it and see how you do, if they go, I don't know if I want the local, but they're sitting like this, they need the local, okay, then you could say to them, okay, well, how about I try a different area and see if that's a sensitive for you, but if they're still like this, okay, seriously, you guys, they need the local, and tell them, say it doesn't have to be painful, say I can't clean your teeth because I can tell you're nervous, and I don't want you to be sore, so how about we try the local, let's do half of the milk today, that's it, and then you tell me afterwards if you loved it or if you hated it, it's totally up to you, they love to have that option, so that is an option, but as I said before, I do explain everything to them, like I will say things to them, like okay, so I'll start on the upper right-hand side first, I'll clean it with three teeth, okay, to just kind of see how you are, so after I clean three teeth, I do stop, and say, so how is everything so far, is it tender, painful, anything, hopefully they say, no, that's actually pretty good, okay, then I will move on, but I will also say to them, but please stop me anytime, if you need anything, just lift up your left hand and I will stop, them knowing that they are in control, I think helps, so even as I'm cleaning, you know, I will talk to them, you know, say okay on this tube, there's a little bit more plaque here, but this one, there's like no plaque there, how is that even possible, so I try to mix it with the good and the bad, even if their mouth is horrible, okay, seriously, horrible, I won't say that to them, I will say there's a lot of plaque here, there's a lot of stain especially on the inside of all of your teeth, so that is something that we have to work on, but the funny thing is this one too, there's no plaque on it, so are you brushing that to differently or something, you know, so I still try to be nice and I try to be nice and I try to make them feel comfortable, and I will also say, so if I have to use either the piezo or the cabotron, then I will say to them, because I can be anxious for some people too, right, because there's a lot of water and it makes noise, so I'll say to them, okay, I'm going to use an instrument now that sprays out some water, it is excellent, like your teeth will feel amazing afterwards, it does spray a little bit of water even though it's a lot, but I say a little bit, and it kind of makes an interesting noise too, but same thing with this, I'll clean three teeth, let me know how you are. As I'm cleaning with the piezo and the cabotron, I say, wow, that state is coming off a lot quicker than I thought, so they hear me say that and then they go, oh okay, so this is a good instrument, right, so even if they're a little bit like, oh I don't like that so much, they will like it more if I say, oh wow, it looks amazing, I don't know, it's just something that I do, if they're uncomfortable though and that's painful for them, they probably need local, okay, if you need to use the piezo or the cabotron, do it, but they might need local, that's all, so I say that to them, so I talk to them the whole time, at the end of the appointment, I do say to them, so as I was cleaning the top or the bottom, anything sore, tender, painful, anything, hopefully they say, no, that was actually okay, it was easier than I thought, I say to them, well it took, you haven't been in for five years, so next time will be so much easier, if you can come in every four months, that would be amazing, we'd be done in probably an hour, that's it, and you would love it honestly, so if you thought today was pretty good, next time will be a piece of cake, so I do say that to them, and I say any questions about anything, plus I like to know, so I do also say, now how was your appointment today, because I know that you were pretty nervous, is there anything that I could have improved on, how did everything feel, did you like the instrument that sprays out some water, yes or no, so I do ask them, so they always feel like they're in control, that's huge you guys, the worst thing you can do to a nervous patient is just treat them the same, say hey, any changes in your health history, no okay, awesome, and you don't talk to them, you don't explain things to them, you aren't sympathetic, those are the worst things you can possibly do, if you're cleaning their teeth, go hey, Susan can you come here, I would like to do a probe, no, you should never do that anyway, but especially for nervous patients, you need to think about these things, you need to think about it, the whole staff should be aware that your patient's nervous, so then that way they don't come in like, hey Andrea, can I help you with anything, because that might make them nervous, I don't know, because they'll be like, oh my god, okay who's in the room, what's happening, why is somebody else here, you never know, do not have other staff members come in, hey can I help you with a probe, because if a lot of patients don't like the word probe, so if you say that it's just no fun, sorry guys, I'm just going to stop this for one sec, there I just had some weird things pop up, but I closed them and it's fine now, so just have all of the staff be aware, try to be on time for an anxious patient, because if they're sitting there waiting for their appointment, they're not going to be happy, if they've never seen you before, talk about yourself a little bit as you're cleaning, you know, my name's Andrea, I've been here for this long, I've been in the dental profession for this long, I've seen a lot of nervous patients, I don't know, something like that, just talk to them and make them feel at ease, so sorry guys, this was a longer video than I thought, but thank you for watching, if you guys want me to talk about a certain appointment, a certain patient, let's, you know, talk about it, give me some ideas, I'd be so happy to help, thank you guys for watching and I'll see you in the next one.