Dental

When I was growing up, like most kids I did not look forward to going to the dentist. My dentist was nice — that was not the problem. The receptionist was friendly. And his waiting room was pleasant. I remember it was stocked with loads of fun magazines for kids that I enjoyed. I actually really liked reading Highlights magazine there. I did not have that magazine at home (until one day I bought a lot of back issues at a community book sale). There was also a box of toys for young kids to play with, although I was past that stage. None of those things were the problem.

My concerns were impending pain and discomfort and imminent boredom. The dread of pain and discomfort are certainly understandable and obvious. Most dental visits involve at least some discomfort and a little bit of pain, particularly when the dentist and dental hygienist poke at the teeth with that metal hook and also prod at or near the gum line. That is the worst it gets, that is if there are not cavities to fill or more awful procedures such as the dreaded root canal! Yes, the pain and discomfort element, while a good dentist can minimize it, is always there at some point while one is sitting in the dentist’s chair with one’s mouth open, with a bright light shining into it.

But the thing I actually dreaded nearly as much as the pain and discomfort was the boredom of sitting in the dentist’s chair, having my teeth examined and worked on. In those days there were not the television screens hanging overhead, with someone asking what channel I would like to watch while sitting in the chair. No, there was only piped-in easy listening music and the banter of the dentist, which, while at times amusing, did little to diminish my boredom. In the chair there was nothing interesting to see and very little of interest to hear. There was only the bright light above me, the sound of dental instruments on my teeth, the occasional water spraying into my mouth and the subsequent request to spit into the sink next to the chair. The dental experience has been much improved with a simple television screen to dispel boredom and to keep one’s mind off of the dental work being performed. My child’s dentist has screens above each chair playing a popular child’s movie and when I visit the dentist there is TV with cable and a choice of hundreds of channels to amuse and distract me.

Key Solution: The Flat Screen

With the steadily decreasing cost of light flat-screen televisions, this electronic addition to the dental exam room is within the reach of most every dental practice in the United States and the rest of the developed world. It is an investment that yields sizable ongoing benefit to one’s patients and may even keep them coming back to your practice more often. And the dialogue and sound emanating from the television may even make the time pass more pleasantly for you, the hard-working dentist, than the old standby, easy listening.

Dentists across the globe can make the patient experience more comfortable with the simple device called the flat screen television as has our Bakersfield dentist and dentist in Salinas.