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For
a successful career in dentistry, it is important to have enhanced soft skills.
It starts from the dental receptionist greeting the patients, attending the
phone calls, managing dental appointments to the dental assistants in ushering
the patients in, providing comfort to patients and assisting the dentist
effectively and extends to the dentists in providing efficient dental treatment
and solving any concerns the patient might have on their oral healthcare. The
role of an entire team in communication, patient management, problem-solving
ability, financial management, understanding workplace dynamics, and continued
professional development are important in achieving effective success in
running a dental practice. Let’s look at the above-mentioned core soft skills
essential in dentistry and how it is used in everyday dental clinical settings.
It
begins by greeting the patient with a warm smile which communicates a positive
attitude and makes patients feel comfortable. Respect all the patients with
various backgrounds. As we know Malaysia is multicultural with various races
and it should be preferable to have a person who is multilingual to welcome the
patients. The dentist assistant or a receptionist should have good phone skills
and should speak more clearly and politely. For example for patients who
request to speak with a dentist, the receptionist can answer “How may I help
you? The doctor is currently consulting with a patient” and obtain the patient's
name, contact number, the message for the dentist. They should also practice
etiquette and courtesy like hanging up the phone after the patient, and attend
phone calls in the first three rings among others. Good patient relationship with their dentist depends
on how they are treated on the phone,
the way they are greeted, how
efficiently the staff manages their visit, effective time management, and their
experience in the clinic.
Effective
communication with patients is very important in dentistry, the more effective
the communication the more the dentist can understand the socio-economic
background of the patients, their concerns, their medical history such as the history
of diabetes, etc, and provide the adequate dental treatment needed for the
patients based on their needs. The dentist can practice open-ended questions to
obtain more details and practice active listening skills.
The
dental team can use effective words such as discomfort instead of pain,
anesthetic instead of shot or inject, remove instead of pull, and reception
area instead of waiting room among others. This is done to alleviate the patient's
dental anxiety and being courteous to the patients needs. Patient's needs can
also be improved with a positive clinical atmosphere, organizing the treatment
efficiently, respecting patient’s time, resolving patient complaints
efficiently, and respecting patient confidentiality. This in turn increases
patient satisfaction thus they are more likely to stay with the practice, accept the treatment
presented to them, pay promptly and also refer other patients to the practice.
The dental clinics at MAHSA University practice soft
skills and it provide its dentists and support staff with continued
professional development thus increasing patient satisfaction. Furthermore, all
the students in dental programs like DT, DDSA, and DDS are taught dental soft
skills in their early academic semesters and put into practice during their
final clinical semesters in university. Thus they can utilize these valuable
skills in their future dental practice.