Just old news?

In the world we live in today, education is no longer confined to an authoritative figure addressing an individual. It’s not just about the doctor telling his patient; it’s more than teachers simply dictating from textbooks. Education is now a fully interactive experience available at the click of a button. To ensure oral health improvements mirror their technological counterparts, the information we give to patients must be clearer than ever.

Research shows that patients forget as much as 80 per cent of what they are told as soon as they leave the surgery, while only half of the information recalled is correct. The use of medical terminology, poor short term memory or feelings of anxiety can all result in the patient failing to correctly recall the information that was given to them. Patients should not be expected to understand medical jargon and dental professionals must consider carefully how effective their communication is verbally, online and in print.