Amanda Sheehan explores the role of educational demonstration tools.
As dental health professionals, we are familiar with the cycle of trying to teach and help our patients to acquire and develop techniques that can improve their dental health, but sometimes observing little in the way of positive improvement at their next visit to the surgery. Whatever steps we can carry out to help make the information ‘stick’ and improve compliance, has got to be an advantage to both parties.
Whatever our prior level of knowledge or experience, whenever we are trying to develop new skills or techniques we can acquire these more quickly when we receive a practical demonstration, rather than a set of written or verbal instructions. Surely, we should use the same approach when educating our patients on the best techniques to achieve good oral health.
Some studies have pointed towards higher levels of information retention when participants are engaged with visual or practical demonstrations. Where the information was only spoken, about 10-20 per cent of information was retained, but if this was accompanied by visual illustration or demonstration, the study suggested this rose to around 65 per cent.
If we are going to be providing practical demonstrations of new or adapted techniques or explaining the impact of certain conditions on our dental health, the aim has to be to give our patients a clear, unhindered view of the subject matter. In certain circumstances, the specific, personal nature of the information means that the demonstration needs to take place in the patient’s mouth. For instance, specific sizing and technique of interdental brushes should ideally be demonstrated in the patient’s mouth directly, so as to be sure of the correct use. However, providing the patient with a clear view of this, whilst also carrying out the demonstration, can be a challenge in itself.
Demonstrator models can be an incredibly useful tool to provide patients a clearer view and offer many advantages in terms of flexibility. In a recent survey of dental health professionals, we found that 76 per cent said that demonstrator models were “very useful” or “useful” for chairside education.
To be of use, any demonstrator models need to clearly show common conditions, and how they would actually appear in the mouth. For instance, the TePe Demonstrator model is anatomically correct, and includes features such as:
- Crowding
- Mesially inclined molar
- Missing tooth
- Furcation grade III
- Rotated, lingually inclined premolar
- Partially erupted third molar
Clear, visually appealing instruction is undoubtedly an effective way of communicating with our patients. As well as being instructional, we should also try and be motivational, and give the patients all the encouragement we can muster to set them firmly on the path to better dental health.
Currently, when we may have less face-to-face contact with patients than we have previously enjoyed, it’s more important than ever that patients are motivated and empowered to undertake effective oral hygiene routines at home. This will require ambition and innovation.
We may want to appeal to their intellect, and to engage their curiosity and interests. If we convey how their treatment will work and the ways it will benefit them by improving their oral health, their motivational levels will naturally rise.
Using a script pad to show patients what colour interdental brushes to use and where to use them can also be a good motivational tool. It conveys all the necessary information in an accessible and comprehensive format and is so much more memorable than verbal instructions alone.
In order to be truly effective, we need this information to become embedded with the patient, and to be reflected in changes to regular activity. In short, we want patients to adopt good habits. Habit formation can ultimately be quite simple – we “repeat an action consistently in the same context”. As Gardner, Lally and Wardle put it, “Habit-formation advice can be delivered briefly, it is simple for the patient to implement, and it has realistic potential for long-term impact. It offers health professionals a useful tool for incorporating evidence-based health promotion into encounters with patients.”
If we make our advice and instructions interesting and memorable the more the patient will learn, and hopefully change their behaviours and create better ones. The more enthusiastic and inspiring we are, the more involved and engaged our patients will become.