Kill Your Television - Dental Warranty

Rachel Wall serves the dental community as a hygiene consultant and speaker. We asked her if she could share some advice with doctors, so she sent us this article. This is a small but effective way to help increase case acceptance just by removing TV from your ops (if it’s there).

Enter Rachel.....

Here’s the perfect use for a monitor in the operatory. The team is using their monitor to educate their patient with her radiograph.

Sometimes, the team (including doctors) gets distracted and decides to use the monitor for patient entertainment and ugh…cable television.

If you lived in a college town in the 90s like I did, you may remember the bumper sticker ‘Kill Your Television’.

I’m reminded of it every time I walk into a dental practice and see a TV on in the operatory. Notice I said TV, not monitor. There’s a big difference.

Having traveled all across the country, I’ve seen a lot when it comes to what’s being broadcast in some dental offices. From depressing commentary on the local economy to trashy talk shows to HGTV to graphic images of murder victims, I’ve seen each and every one of these shows blaring in dental operatories occupied by patients who came there to be cared for.

I know, I’m getting preachy here but I just can’t help it. Recently when I visited a lovely client whose ops are completely equipped with digital x-rays and intra-oral cameras I saw this in play. I cringed every time I heard the hygienists giving it their all to engage the patients in the hygiene exam only to see the patient’s gaze locked not on their caregiver but rather on the local morning show.

If you’ve experienced this (or you know someone who has) here are some tips to rip yourself from the grips of TV in your office:

Discuss as a team and get EVERYONE on board to end the TV programs
Replace the programs immediately with x-rays and intra-oral photos on the monitor - this way patients won’t have to look at a blank screen
Agree to gently keep each other accountable - everyone has to be on board
See your enrollment success dramatically increase

Meet Rachel

Rachel Wall, RDH, BS coaches dental teams to build highly productive
hygiene departments by implementing systems for high quality periodontal care,
enrolling restorative care through hygiene, letting go of negative mindsets
and old beliefs while managing the logistics of a high performance hygiene department.

As owner of Inspired Hygiene,
Rachel and the Inspired Hygiene team assist dentists to tap into their hygiene profit potential.
Drawing from her 20-plus years of experience as a hygienist and practice administrator,
Rachel delivers to-the-point clinical speaking presentations around the country.
Her interactive teaching style coupled with a workshop environment creates a learning
space where dentists and team members are compelled to get to the heart of what’s held
them back and are inspired to reach for more for themselves and their practices.