While it is extremely important to educate yourself and your dental staff on dental sleep medicine and TMD, it is even more important to make sure you are educating your patients. A patient that is “in the know” with important information will be able to properly care for themselves and reach out to your office when a problem arises.
What is Patient Education?
Patient education is when you provide your patients with verbal or written material on a specific topic or area of interest. For your dental office, you would be providing your patients with valuable information on sleep apnea, TMD, craniofacial pain or other areas of Dental Sleep Medicine. These materials are used to help improve patient understanding and prevent complications.
Your educational material should offer patients an increased understanding of dental sleep medicine, the process and instructions about activities and treatments to help assist the patient. Providing educational material for your dental office can result in improved long-term outcomes, which ultimately lead to better coping and decision-making skills.
The Benefits for Patients
An informed and educated patient can actively participate in his or her own treatment at your dental office. They can also improve outcomes, and help to identify problems before they occur. Some other benefits of educating your patients include:
- Increasing your patient’s ability to cope with and manage their health.
- Empowering patients to make important decisions in relation to their care.
- Helping patients learn how to improve their health.
- Increasing patient confidence in his or her care.
- Decreasing treatment complications.
How Can Your Office Benefit?
While your patients will greatly benefit from education, your dental office can also benefit greatly. By providing targeted and appropriate patient education, your office can experience the following benefits:
- Increased patient satisfaction
- Compliance with regulatory standards
- Improved efficiency through cost-effective care
Knowledge is power, which means patient education is powerful for the patient and your office. To learn more about incorporating Dental Sleep Medicine into your practice and providing education to your patients, Dr. Mayoor Patel offers Consulting services to help each step of the way. Contact Dr. Patel today for more information.
