Fifty-six per cent of respondents had experienced aggressive demands for treatment, 48 per cent had received verbal abuse, and a further 39 per cent experienced violent or aggressive behaviour.
Challenging interactions were found to impact on 88 per cent of respondents’ practice working environment with 94 per cent believing it causes stress and anxiety amongst the dental team, 73 per cent feel it causes a fear of complaints and claims, and 67 per cent reported it leads to delays in appointments.
The majority of respondents (85 per cent) told us that they believe patient expectations are higher than they were five years ago and 50 per cent believe unmet patient expectations to be the most common reason for challenging encounters. Other top factors behind included the patient’s aggressive temperament (43 per cent), a breakdown in communication between the dentist and patient (37 per cent) and the patient’s anxiety about dental treatment (35 per cent).
Dental Protection Director, Kevin Lewis said: "We understand that patients may be anxious when visiting the dentist and these emotions can be overwhelming, however, no dentist should have to be on the receiving end of aggressive behaviour as a result.
Dealing with challenging patients understandably impacts on the dental team’s stress levels, morale and fear of litigation, which can in turn affect patient care.”
To ease the situation, dentists advocated communication training (44 per cent), clear information about eligibility for care (42 per cent), and a marketing campaign to boost patient awareness of the role of dentists (40 per cent).
Kevin Lewis continued: “It is important that dentists are well equipped to deal with such challenges. It is heartening that one in three felt well trained to do so, but 12 per cent believed training was limited and left them unprepared, and 13 per cent responded that training was inadequate.
“Challenging interactions are an inevitable feature of healthcare, however we believe practices should establish robust policies to address this issue. Our team of 60 dento-legal advisers are also on hand to offer support and advice, as well as resources and tailored workshops to help members deal with difficult interactions and improve communication skills.”