#215 The Physical Side of Dentistry No One Talks About

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In this episode, we discuss dental ergonomics, posture, and injury prevention for dentists, hygienists, and dental professionals, including how to prevent back pain, neck pain, and wrist pain while practicing dentistry. Stephanie Botts shares the most important ergonomic habits, equipment recommendations, strength training tips, and operatory positioning strategies to help dental professionals extend their careers and avoid burnout and chronic pain. This conversation covers dental ergonomics training, posture for dentists, dental career longevity, and how to practice dentistry without pain.

✨ Timestamps ✨
00:00 – Why dentists must protect their bodies to sustain long careers
02:41 – The three most important ergonomic habits for dental professionals
07:19 – Sitting vs standing, strength training, and preventing long-term pain
12:03 – New ergonomic tools, equipment, and operatory setup improvements
13:50 – Patient communication, ergonomic assessments, and Stephanie’s story

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Website: https://www.polishedposture.net/

Connect with our Host, Gary Bird, Here ⤵️
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Dental Marketing Theory gives dentists real strategies to grow smarter and scale faster. Hosted by Gary Bird, founder of SMC — recently recognized as the best dental marketing company — the show features candid conversations with top dental leaders about marketing, operations, and what’s actually working in today’s practices. If you want predictable, profitable growth, this is your podcast.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

As dentists get older, if they don't take care of their bodies, no matter how much they've grown, they deal with these problems. It's like, cool, I made money, but I can't play with my kids or my grandkids. So it's super important that if you're gonna grow, that you take care of your bodies.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

You can't do that if you're just in chronic pains. So many of us are out in front in this forward head position, and that's what leads to like this hunchback and things that we don't want. That can actually translate to neck and back issues, even migraines and jaw issues. So we need to lighten our grip.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hey, welcome back to another episode of Dental Marketing Theory. I'm your host, Gary Bird. I'm the owner of SMC National, where we help offices just like yours level the playing field against the big guys out there. So you can grow the way that you want, but you can't grow if your body's breaking down on you. Today, my guest, Stephanie Botts, who's a registered dental hygienist and the owner and founder of Polished Posture, is going to be breaking down what you need to do to make sure your body holds up for the long run. I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter if you grow your business and make all kinds of money, but your body breaks down on you. That did you really get what you wanted out of this life? This is a super valuable episode. Not our normal content around growth, but I think it's crucial to know these things. Stephanie does a great job and she has a ton of great content out there. Stay tuned for this one. All right, we are live. And today I got a special guest, my friend Stephanie. She hosts a podcast that I've been on. Uh, and she's been on our podcast before. And I'm excited to talk with her today because recently I went to the dentist and the hygienist was cleaning my teeth. And as she's cleaning my teeth, she's cranking her neck super far sideways and was like getting in this really weird position. And in my head, Stephanie, I literally thought of you. And I'm like, okay, that's not the right position she's supposed to be in. Like, I know that. And then in my head, I'm like, okay, how can I do a better job of positioning myself to help her? And I'm not smart enough to do that. Um, but the reason I wanted to bring you on today was normally we talk about growth, but I really, the one thing that I've noticed is as dentists get older, if they don't take care of their bodies, no matter how much they've grown, they deal with these problems that are like, it's like, cool, I made money, but I can't play with my kids or my grandkids. And so it's it's super important that if you're gonna grow, that you take care of your body. So I I wanted to talk to you today about the three like most important things people should be thinking about, especially with their bodies, and if they're a dentist and you know, they're gonna be doing a lot of dentistry for the next X amount of years. What are the three things that they should really be thinking about?

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Yeah, um, and I'm happy to share that. Um, I do want to just acknowledge the fact that so many of us in dentistry, because I've been a hygienist for push in 20 years, and I used to not be focused on my ergonomics and and stuff, but we don't think about our health and things like ergonomics and posture like a growth tool. But that, I mean, if anything will enable us to practice for as long as we want to, it's our bodies, right? And it's not just when we get older, it's it's now in our younger years because so many clinicians are burnt out. They're in pain. They go home in pain at the end of the day and they can't enjoy things that they used to be able to enjoy, or maybe they want to boost their production and see more patients. You can't do that if you're just in chronic pain. So um ergonomics, at least the way I think of it, is so much more than just posture or equipment. It transcends to every aspect of health. Um, but going back to your question, you know, like I would love to give people just like blanket advice that works for everyone. Of course, there's a lot of nuance here. Um, but I would say one thing that's really important is learning what neutral posture is. That's pretty much the foundation of everything I teach and what I post about on social media. And so a tip for that is just focusing where your head is at. And this is for people working on computers and working on their cell phones too. But so many of us are like, I know it's it's tough. Um, so many of us are hunched over, right? Whether it's hunched over patients, our phones, laptops, whatever. But really, we want our ear, if you think of the ear and the shoulder, looking at someone from the side or yourself from the side, you want the ear vertically stacked on top of the shoulder. So many of us are out in front in this forward head position. And that's what leads to like this hunchback and things that we don't want to do.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

So over on we're over on top of our phones a lot of times. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah. And kids too. I I live um next to a school. And so I watch kids walk into school and they're just, I mean, 95% of them already are hunched over and they're young. It's just scary. But yeah, if we can just remind ourselves to keep our head up and back, to keep that ear vertically stacked on top of the shoulder. And there's different things that people can use in the arbitrary, like making sure they're using good loops and their lighting is good and their patient positioning is good. So I think that's probably the most important thing. Another thing, too, is our grip. If you think about when uh dentists or hygienists or assistants, whoever are working, we're holding on to stuff all day long. And a lot of us are having a lot of people. A lot of it's little.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

They're little, like their pencil size, you know.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Yeah. And the smaller that thing is, the more force we have to use to hold on to it. Um, but that you would think it's just a hand issue, but that can actually translate to neck and back issues, even migraines and jaw issues. So we need to lighten our grip. A lot of us can lighten the grip just a little bit. Um, and we don't need to be holding on to things as tightly.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

That's it, that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

Why don't they make the handles bigger?

SPEAKER_01 5:38

They do, but not everyone has those handles. So, like, um, I don't want to get on my soapbox, but um, I will.

SPEAKER_00 5:47

So a lot of that's why we have podcasts for it. It's literally a soapbox.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Okay. Um, so when I'm doing assessments on clinicians, like watching them practice and giving them coaching and stuff, they the instruments they're using, like if they're using a scalar or composite instrument, whatever, is a nice wide handle, but they are still using these skinny, heavy metal mirror handles. And I don't know why, other than it's just a legacy error, I think, or bad habit. Um, so if I could eliminate those for everyone, that would be amazing. And everyone use ergonomic mirrors. But yeah, we need a nice one.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

What's the ideal size that doesn't force you to grip like that?

SPEAKER_01 6:26

I don't know the actual size of it. Um, but if you compare like a skinny handled mirror versus an ergonomic one, like oh, I actually have one right here. So this, you want something at least this wide, if not a little bit wider. And I'm sorry, I don't know the actual like millimeters of that. Um, but the honesty is a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Basically the size of like a toothbrush or even bigger.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah. Yeah.

unknown 6:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

For for those listening. I know some people are listening and so you and and they're not able to see us. So yeah, that's about a about the size of a normal, just like manual toothbrush.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Yeah. Um, and if you compare your, let's say a scalar or composite instrument that does have one of those wider handles, just make sure your mirror is at least as wide as that.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Okay. Yeah. That's really good. So that that would be number two. So so know what neutral looks like. Yes. Pay attention to your grip. What would be the third thing?

SPEAKER_01 7:19

I would say incorporate standing more. Um, I I wouldn't say stand exclusively, but trying to mix up sitting and standing, it does so many beneficial things for our body. And a lot of clinicians are either they were told not to do that in school or they're just kind of they overthink it and make it more complicated than it really needs to be. But if we can alternate sitting and standing, that's going to improve blood flow. And when we talk about pain and injury, it's all likely because of a lack of blood flow. So we need to get the blood flowing in there.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

You know, that's interesting because obviously I'm not a dentist, so I don't deal with some of the same pains, but I do work, you know, in a certain position for long periods of time and it causes different problems, uh, nowhere near what a dentist or a hygienist would go through. But I used to exclusively sit. And one day I decided, oh, I'm just gonna stand. So my I'm standing right now and I don't, I don't sit. Like I do not sit. I in fact, I have two modes. I have standing and then walking. So right now we're in a we're the same, Gary. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so um, it solved so many problems. Now then, but then it started to create separate problems. So my I didn't know that your computer screen when you're sitting needs to be at a different height than when you're standing, because it's you're in a different position. And um, so I had to like figure out, you know, where's the top of the monitor need to be with my eyes? Once I figured all that out, because I started getting these weird back pains, like really weird. And it was because my I was just slightly tilted. Um, and so once I got the two monitors set up and and I can pivot to either side and I got the camera right in the middle, um, it it got rid of a ton of problems. And I can I could see that in dentistry. That would be the same way. The other thing, and if you have any thoughts on that, feel free. But the other thing that I um I I I knew a guy, a dentist, I met him on just Facebook chatting. He said that he had a pull-up bar in his office, and he said, every day I do a hundred pull-ups, which has a lot of pull-ups. Uh, pull-ups are hard. And he's like, My back's so strong that it just like solves all my ergonomic problems. I'm sure he worked on it in other ways too. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah, no, I think strength is a hugely under discussed aspect of ergonomics and health. Um, people stretch a lot and they think that stretching is all they need when they're in pain. But a lot of times we're in pain because those muscles, whatever it is, is just weak. It's super tight and it's super weak. And so we need to first loosen it up and then start strengthening it. But I think strength training should be like mandatory for any dental clinician. And it's only going to help us as we age too, right? Because of like muscle loss and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah. And I feel like a lot of females, at least the females I know, like they don't like weight training because they're like, I don't want to get big. But it's like, no, no, no, you can get strong without getting big. You can still be lean and you know, feminine looking. Um, but weight, like lifting weights is super good for you, like long term. And I do think that it helps with a lot of your posture because it forces your body as you lift that heavy weight to move in a way, if you're doing it properly, that um reinforces all the stuff that you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Yeah, I mean, it gives us more endurance, it gives us more stamina during the day. Um, but I agree. I'm I'm hoping that this whole it's a myth really that if women lift heavy, they're gonna bulk up because it takes a lot for women and men to get bigger, right? And especially for women, we don't have the natural levels of testosterone to get bulky. We'd have to be like juicing if we wanted to get really big.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Yeah, I think people see like one or two of these females that are online that are really big, but they don't realize like they're taking testosterone and they're lifting like ridiculously heavy weights that would make most guys blush. You know what I mean? Like you're just never a female is normally not gonna get that weight up.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

Right. And a lot of us want to be um what people call toned. And really, that's lower body fat and more muscle. That's what toned is. And so I'm I'm just hoping over time that that myth is gonna go away because it's just not true.

SPEAKER_00 11:25

I know, yeah, that's what I've seen as well. So, um, what are your thoughts? Like, is there anything new that's coming out that is gonna help people with this? Because I feel like ergonomics for a while there, especially in the office spaces, was very popular. People were buying very expensive chairs and certain keyboards and like all, and so it was like ergonomics got really popular like the 80s and 90s, and people were spending a ton of money on it, but then it kind of like, I don't know, and maybe it's because I'm out of the loop, like no one did anything with it after that. It's kind of died out from a tech or like a cutting-edge standpoint. Am I wrong on that? Or is there stuff going on and I'm just not seeing it?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

There's like, I don't think there's anything necessarily groundbreaking, you know, and I've been talking about this for years. So maybe I'm a little skewed. Um, but I think, you know, there's great loops that are out there. They're actual ergonomic loops that allow us to be in that neutral head position. Because a lot of the um, I don't know, old school loops. I used to have one too, that I would still have to hunch over my patient, which is not helpful. Um, so there's that. There's electric hand pieces for dentists. Those have come a long way. Those actually make a really big difference. They're lighter, they have less noise, which translates to less hearing damage for us. That's also a concern. Um, cordless hand pieces for hygienists are huge. Those wide handles, like I already talked about, um, saddle stools, I'm a huge handle.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

How do the cordless ones help with uh ergonomics? It just allows you to get in the proper positions.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Well, um, with the um the polishing hand pieces that hygienist user, who whoever's using it, have this really heavy cord on it. And so when we have that, that's extra weight that we're having to like fight against. So we're that also increases the grip. Um, if they could figure out how to do a cordless dental hand piece, that would be awesome. I just don't know how that would work with the water, but um, and then investing in a really good stool. Stools are something that is really overlooked in dental practices. Um, they're not one size fits all. There's no such thing as a universal stool. So we really need to make sure that we're um using the proper ones for us.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

It's like chairs, right? Like some I I've had people tell me these chairs are amazing. And I sit in them and I like, I can't work. I tried, I can't work in it. It's my lay because your legs have to be a certain height and your body has to be a certain height. So yeah, that's a good point. What do you think of um like at how much of ergonomics is communication with the patient to be able to get them into the right spot?

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Yeah, it's huge. Um, and that's that's another thing too. When I so I do ergonomic assessments and stuff, that's also something that's really useful just to kind of so that people can see where their blind spots are. Um, but we as dental clinicians, we're so empathetic and caring, and we just don't want to ask our patients to do anything.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

And so we're actually over and over and over again, right? Like you're like asking, hey, open up, open up, open up.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, but it's like you have to sometimes. Um, and patients aren't necessarily doing it to just be a pain in the butt. They just don't know. Um, so we have to be.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

I don't even know, like, I don't realize that my mouth shut or my tongue got in the way. Like, I don't I'm sitting there just like, don't think about dentistry, don't think about them doing whatever they're doing. You know what I mean? And so I have like a podcast in and I'm just trying not to think about the thing that they're doing. And my tongue is like over here doing its own thing and my mouth's doing another thing. So a lot of times for me as a patient, I don't even realize what I'm doing. Um, so yeah, I I but I I've obviously been to the dentist with different people. Some of them really communicate clearly, like, hey, I'm moving to this next section of your mouth. I'm gonna need you to tilt your head and open up like this.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

And I wouldn't, you know, I don't know what, you know, just pushing me a little bit. I don't know what you're looking for. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Yeah. And I think at dental clinicians too, we just get in our own way because we don't want to be like nagging our patient. Um, but we really have to just get over that and just start directing them. And when I'm seeing patients, I'm one of those, it's like, okay, turn your head to the right, left, tipping up and down. Um, and you're right, as time goes on, you as a patient lose awareness of what you're doing. And so we they just need reminders. But we as dental workers are just like, oh, I'll just, you know, go upside down here for a second and work on this area and not ask them. And it's um at the end of the day, that's why we feel pain.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Yeah. How like how did you decide to break into this uh and just do this as your job?

SPEAKER_01 15:43

It my own pain. I yeah, I was like, I think 11 years in and my low back, um, I had bulging discs. I had to um use a tens unit all day long on my back just to keep it somewhat from seizing up, which isn't good. That caused some other issues too. Yeah, yeah, that'll cause problems. Yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, I was just like, what? Like, I'm doing something wrong here in the operatory because that's when my pain was at its worst. And so I started relearning, relearning ergonomics, and I was just like, holy cow, this really does make a difference. So I just started my company and I've been off and running ever since.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

That's awesome. And then how can people check out your podcast?

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Yeah, it's called Straight Up with Stuff. Um, I'm happy to send you the link. And I know I've interviewed you, I've interviewed a lot of other dental people. I'm starting to branch out into more um diverse health topics, which has been really fun. But um the way I think of ergonomics, like I said, it's not just posture, it's really just health. And there's so many things that go into our health.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Yeah, yep, there sure is. You do a great job of that. And I love, I love all the different areas you're able to tie together. So thank you for uh coming on here. And again, I know this isn't our normal episode about growth, but I do believe that if you are growing and unhealthy, uh, you're kind of wasting your time. Your priorities are out of order. So I I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your knowledge with the audience.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Yes, thank you so much for having me, Gary. It's a pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Have a good one.