It goes without saying that this is an isolated case and the vast majority of dental practices are compliant with the strict infection control regulations - the CQC itself recently reported dentistry to be “low risk”. But will the average patient understand that? Has the mainstream media portrayal been fair? Will the high profile case be seen as representative of the profession or just one ‘bad egg’ in an otherwise trustworthy bunch? After all, the saying goes: “It only takes one bad egg to ruin an omelette.”
Of course quoting statistics or pointing to your practice’s own record of CQC compliance are logical and rational ways of trying to reassure patients of their safety… but is that the best way to get your point across? When the topic comes up with patients, and it will, of course you want to reassure patients, but using coldly logical arguments and pointing to statistics could appear cold and lacking empathy. When it comes to trust, how you say something can sometimes be equally as important as what you say (for example the idiom in the above paragraph regarding omelettes might make a point that patients will remember, even though it could misrepresent the truth). That is the power of language. On the theme of linguistics, on page 15-16 of this issue, Michael Sultan explores the use of euphemisms in dentistry – asking whether they are tools used to keep patients calm, or to excuse the profession’s failings.
Before the Nottingham recall story broke the major talking point in terms of health crises was the threat of Ebola (Professor Crispian Scully looks at the virus in some detail for us on page 30-32). I have heard people, whilst expressing sympathy for those involved, question whether the importance the media has attached to the Ebola outbreak is warranted. This view does not come from an ignorance or lack of respect for the suffering involved in West Africa, instead it comes from an emphasis of that geographic location: how does what is going on in another continent affect us? To some the very question will seem flippant, but to others it will be of prime importance.
Whilst Ebola can seem a proverbial world away from life in UK general dental practice, there has unquestionably a growth in globalisation of the past generation. Economies are intrinsically entwined and with an increase in immigration
and foreign travel the international community is an ever closer-knit one. Healthcare provides should be used to this
concept though, after all nowhere is internationalism more obvious than in health where viruses and cures equally care nothing of man-made borders.
It is in the spirit of global learning that we have teamed up with Eschmann to commission a number of articles looking at dental practices from around the world, exploring all the different working practices and philosophies. We begin in the USA on page 42-44 of this issue.