Reflections on Sensory Friendly Dentistry

In this episode of the Sensory Friendly Dentistry Audio Conference join Stephanie London and Chelsea Bloom, occupational therapy students, as they reflect on their audio conference experience. 

Wrap up your audio conference experience with occupational therapy students Chelsea Bloom and Stephanie London as they summarize the most important lessons learned and take "back to your dental practice" messages.

Epsiode Guide:
0:00 - Welcome & Host Introductions
0:25 - Maureen Bennie Conversation Reflection
2:34 - Megan Gallant & Cindy Green Conversation Reflection
3:50 - Laura Swinburne Conversation Reflection
4:54 - Dr. Peter Halford Conversation Refection
5:15 - Dr. Rachel Korman Conversation Reflection
6:15 - Final Thoughts

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Transcript

Chelsea Bloom: [00:00:01] Welcome to the sensory friendly dentistry audio conference brought to you by sensory friendly solutions, where we have important conversations on sensory friendliness in the dentistry environment. I'm your host, Chelsea Bloom,

Stephanie London: [00:00:13] And I'm your host, Stephanie London. Join us in our last episode as we reflect back on our previous conversations and discuss highlights and themes that emerged through the making of this audio conference.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:00:25] Let's start with Maureen Bennie.

Stephanie London: [00:00:27] Yeah, the creator of the Autism Awareness Center.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:00:30] She was the first guest that we spoke to about sensory friendly dentistry.

Stephanie London: [00:00:34] Exactly. And we learned so many strategies from her. She spoke about the sensory toolbox and her experience as a parent with two young adults with autism.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:00:43] I really liked when she brought up the idea of a sensory toolbox and how beneficial it can be in changing the way that patients feel about going to the dentist and making it easier for them to receive care. It provides a bunch of different tools and resources so that each person, no matter their sensory sensitivity, can find something that will make the experience a little less overwhelming. It's definitely a great idea that dental clinics should look into and consider. Maureen also discussed using a graded approach.

Stephanie London: [00:01:10] And I love the idea of breaking down a task and doing somewhat of a task analysis where you split things up, such as procedures or even appointments into smaller steps and grade as you go. By doing this, you slowly introduce the patient to the profession and get them more comfortable with it. Or when she spoke about taking the mystery out of going to the dentist, and whether you're a parent or a dental specialist, always letting the person know what to expect before it happens to avoid that Built-Up anxiety. She really provided us with a success story of both of her children being able to go to the dentist because of these strategies put into place. I loved her car analogy when she said “a car mechanic just doesn't have this one set of tools for one type of car. Right. They have to have a wide variety of tools because not every wrench is going to fit”.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:01:57] Me, too. I think that this snippet really described client-centeredness perfectly. It touches on the idea that every patient is different and should be treated individually, even if they may have the same diagnosis. They're not all the same. So we need to remember that not every strategy or trick will work for all patients. Dental clinics need to be equipped with multiple resources in order to provide each patient with the care that they need. It involves creating an accommodating environment. But at the end of the day, as Maureen said, it's all about providing predictability and forming trusting relationships with their clients, something we discuss with Cindy and Megan. Speaking about them. What did you think about that conversation?

Stephanie London: [00:02:38] I think for me, I saw a lot of the resources and strategies that were put into place to help Maureen's children. But with Megan, she showed us that there's still a lot of work to do and lots of children are still not able to go to the dentist because of the lack of sensory friendliness as demonstrated through one of Megan's children, never having gone to the dentist.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:02:58] Yes, definitely. And it was interesting to see that Megan was quickly able to identify the barriers, but also propose a variety of specific solutions that would help get her child to the dentist and improve her child's overall experience. This really demonstrates how parents know their children best. And having open communication between the parent and the dentist is essential. It allowed us to reflect on how important collaborative effort between the dentists, hygienists, assistants, secretaries, parents and the child is and how it can influence the overall experience. Exactly.

Stephanie London: [00:03:34] Exactly. And making these changes and offering these resources will be benefiting so many people and not just people with autism. Like Cindy said, even neurotypical individuals still require accommodations in the dental environment. Everyone has their sensory challenges. What about our conversation with Laura?

Chelsea Bloom: [00:03:52] So with Laura, I loved listening to all of the strategies that she uses in the clinic as a dental hygienist with her patients. And she uses so many.

Stephanie London: [00:04:02] Yeah. And, you know, I was really blown away by all of the accommodations she makes, which really goes a long way with clients. I loved when she spoke about choice and letting her younger patients do some of the tasks with her to include them in the process. That really goes a long way in forming those trusting relationships.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:04:20] I also liked how she spoke about offering a reward at the end of the visit, because for a lot of patients, it takes a lot of energy to come to the dentist and acknowledging that goes a long way with some patients. But then again, what works for one patient, such as a reward may not work for another patient. So it's good to figure out as a dental hygienist or a specialist what each patient needs to feel comfortable in order to have a positive experience.

Stephanie London: [00:04:44] And I love that! It's all about creating those positive experiences. Oral health can be fun!

Chelsea Bloom: [00:04:51] And sensory friendly.

Stephanie London: [00:04:52] Yes. So what about our conversation with Dr. Peter Halford?

Chelsea Bloom: [00:04:57] I really appreciated when he spoke about breaking up appointment times for a patient who may not be able to handle longer procedures.

Stephanie London: [00:05:04] Yeah, and when he spoke about having a consultation before the procedure to let the patient know what to expect. I think that goes hand in hand with what Maureen meant when she said taking the mystery out of it. Now, what about Dr Rachel Korman?

Chelsea Bloom: [00:05:17] I loved her conversation about prevention and how oral health and education does not just start in the dental clinic. It starts with our diet and our oral care at home. And dentists have a big role in this department, as Dr. Korman was explaining.

Stephanie London: [00:05:31] I was surprised when she brought up that you might not actually need the polish or prophy paste during a routine cleaning appointment. And if that's the case, I think that would go a long way with patients who are sensitive to touch and have a hard time with the texture of that polish. What did you think when she spoke about utilizing technology, such as using an iPhone to take pictures to send to dentists to avoid a surprise visit when possible?

Chelsea Bloom: [00:05:54] I love that idea because it may be hard for some patients to go to the dentist without any advance notice, especially if they're anxious. So to avoid that as much as possible and try to keep that routine and consistency is important. So it's a great option to prevent any unnecessary visits that may lead to negative or nerve wracking dental experiences.

Stephanie London: [00:06:15] Yes, exactly. Overall, I really appreciated all of these conversations and coming from a place where I started this journey with minimal knowledge on the topic, I am just so grateful that there are people out there who acknowledge this problem and who are advocating for a solution that is sensory friendly dentistry.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:06:32] And I hope that dental clinics everywhere can gain something from this audio conference and begin their sensory friendly journey to help make going to the dentist a more positive, accommodating and accessible experience for all patients.

Stephanie London: [00:06:45] That was beautifully stated, Chelsea. And sadly, I must say, that's the end of our audio conference. Thank you so much to our listeners.

Chelsea Bloom: [00:06:53] We hope that you enjoyed listening to our conversations and as always, have a sensory friendly day.

Stephanie London: [00:06:59] You can find more information about creating a sensory friendly dental practice on our website. Sensoryfriendly.net.