From Volume 44, Issue 8, September 2017 | Pages 774-780
The aim of this paper is to review the evidence about communication within the context of the dental setting. The need for good communication generally is considered, as is its role in managing anxious patients and in avoiding misunderstanding. Ways in which communication skills can be assessed and updated are also discussed.
’The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place’ (misattributed to George Bernard Shaw but probably originating from William H Whyte (Quote Investigator).1
One comment that the author has often received in feedback from dental students is ‘Why do we have to learn about communication – what does it have to do with dentistry?’ Attempts to convince students that communication is a clinical skill and one that is well worth developing, can fall on deaf ears; similarly, evidence that a considerable part of dental litigation is concerned with miscommunication and misunderstandings rather than clinical malpractice2,3 may be met with scepticism.
In order to answer criticisms such as these, one ought to consider communication theory and the literature on communication in healthcare, as well as, perhaps, personal experience. If we stop, for a moment, to think about whether communication events are always successful and whether the intended message is always received or that misunderstandings are ‘never’ events, then the need for modification or improvement of communication skills may become apparent.
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