The monthly charm quotient

It has long been considered that dentists need to be good communicators with an ability to be empathic towards their patients, and it has also long been considered that dentistry is a stressful occupation. A recent publication,¹ from the British Dental Association, with almost 3,000 respondents, has reinforced this view, with 55% of respondents indicating that they were currently experiencing high job stress, with general dentists reporting the highest levels. The greatest source of stress was the threat of complaints/litigation, closely followed by dissatisfied patients, the risk of making a mistake and red tape/bureaucracy. Compared with previous studies on the same topic, fears about litigation, dissatisfied patients and regulatory issues now feature more highly, while ‘running behind schedule’ was no longer the primary source of concern. Another theme arising from the study was the feeling of persecution.

Why? Readers will be aware of the increased opportunities for patients to complain about their dentist. Social media is now a powerful source of comment (good and bad) and a look at the NHS Choices website reveals how patients (or supposed patients) can write anything that they wish about a particular dental practice or dentist. And they don't even have to be honourable enough to put their name to a particular comment. While the majority of comments that I read in a quick scan of Birmingham dental practices on the NHS Choices website were positive, I was amazed at the forthrightness of some of the adverse comments: for example: