The indispensable benefits of compassion in a dental setting

It’s always been assumed that compassion dispensed by health care provider is healing for a patient. And, yes, it has been shown to, among others, reduce anxiety and increase treatment compliance. This happens as a result of connection and communication within that relationship. Face to face interactions improve neuron mirroring, a phenomenon where we become capable of feeling what another is experiencing simply by watching them.  As important as patient-provider relationships are, general findings show that communication between dentist and patient is the weakest aspect in modern dentistry. Many studies have found a significant decline in empathy among dental students and residents as they gain knowledge and experience in the field. Armored with this information, we must act now to reconnect with those in our care and bring compassion as part of our every day armamentarium. As we do, we will discover, according to literature, that practicing compassion is life changing not just to those who receive it but especially to those who dispense it.The beauty of compassion and empathy truly comes full circle. As providers engage deeper with patients, as they carry them thru their struggles, as they listen to them and heal them, as they take that extra 40 seconds to show concern, they, also heal, they also thrive.

Objectives:

• Review an outdated, yet still practiced, role of a provider lacking compassion
• Examine an inverse relationship between length of education and compassion
• Explain the phenomenon of neuron mirroring as it applies to patient relationships
• Present scientific research in support of a changed dynamic within and its benefits for both the patient and provider. 
• Discuss how mental exhaustion can be prevented in providers with human to human connection