Sometimes, your patients seek oral health information online. Unfortunately, much of the information patients find is misleading, wrong, and, in some cases, dangerous.
So, what should you do about it? Following is our guide for handling patient’s dental opinions downloaded directly from the internet.
Where patients get dental information
Patients get dental information in a few ways. Googling sometimes pushes them to health sites like WebMD or one of its cousins, Cleveland or Mayo Clinic. Some might hear it through word-of-mouth, which could be secondhand relays of content from the above. Others find information on social media through scrolling or targeted paid ads.
Harmful dental information that has gained popularity on the Internet
The harmful information patients encounter might surprise you. Influencers on various platforms have videos on everything from whitening your teeth using an abrasive melamine foam sponge meant for cleaning sinks to filing chipped incisal edges with a nail file.
Delta Dental identified a few additional trends from a popular social media site a few years ago, which include:
- DIY Ortho: A woman uses elastic hair ties wrapped around her teeth to close a diastema.
- Art-Supply Prosthetics: Another woman demonstrates how to make a prosthetic tooth from polyester thermoplastic beads used for art projects.
- Tooth Filing Prep for Prosthetics: Several posts show people filing their teeth into pegs for crown placement or veneers.
- Super Gluing Vampire Fangs to Teeth: Some users use cyanoacrylate adhesive (super glue or nail adhesive) to fasten vampire fangs to their natural teeth.
- Whitening with Hydrogen Peroxide: These videos show people directly applying three percent hydrogen peroxide to their teeth.
- Flossing with human hair: Yes, you read that right.
Unfortunately, that isn’t all. Newsweek recently covered a few other troubling social media trends. One platform showed people doing DIY fillings using at-home kits or non-dental supplies without sterilization or application experience. It also had videos of people oil pulling or swishing oil to reduce bacteria and improve saliva production, misleading viewers into thinking it substitutes for routine home hygiene. Savannah Magazine describes one showing a mom self-applying veneers and using an electric sanding tool to straighten the edges.
Sometimes, the problem with patient dental opinions isn’t misinformation; it’s having no information. For example, many patients don’t ask their dentist for sports mouthguards because they don’t know that the dentist offers them. Instead, patients use the boil-and-bite generics that neither fit nor protect, as well as a mouthguard from a dental professional.
This situation also occurs with clear aligners. Patients might choose an online or remote option for correcting their smile because they didn’t know clear aligners were available at their dental home.
How to handle false dental information
When patients ask about something they saw online, we have a few suggestions for handling it.
First, view it as a positive thing. Searching for solutions online signals patients are interested in learning more about treatments to improve their smiles or oral health.
Second, establish rapport to replace their online searching with conversations with you. Start by listening to what they were searching or watching. Rather than criticizing the content, lead with empathy. Harvard Medical School says research shows empathy enhances patient satisfaction, boosts treatment adherence, and leads to better clinical outcomes. Patients who feel understood are more likely to follow their treatment plans and practice self-care. Additionally, empathetic relationships can reduce disputes and improve patient experience scores, ultimately leading to better reimbursement. Most importantly, empathy allows healthcare providers to connect with patients on a deeper, more human level.
Sharing science-backed evidence to counter misinformation can help, too. The team can assemble information sheets based on the reasoning behind your opinion. Also, photos can help show what happens if patients follow your advice—or when they don’t.
What you don’t want to do is talk down to patients or use too much medical jargon. Per Cleveland Clinic, using simple, clear language in healthcare communication helps patients make better decisions and avoid misunderstandings. Additionally, be sure to take your time; rushed communication can frustrate patients, erode trust, and make them feel disrespected. What’s worse, confused patients may turn to unreliable information sources, potentially harming their health.
Building trust for the future with patients
Becoming a trusted resource is essential to combating misinformation in your patient base. When you have a relationship, patients will come to you with their questions and concerns. Making yourself more available for these types of questions is critical to building trust for the future. Having an open-door policy on patient questions and having time in your schedule for free consults goes a long way to building rapport with patients. It would also be great if patients have a way to forward you content they see online or can email you questions.
Additionally, you have to know what is out there. So, monitor online content and coach staff on the new harmful trends your patients might encounter. Your team and you can then agree on a consistent message about it as a practice. A proactive, myth-busting approach on your social media will also help.
How you position the information you post is essential. Fondation Descartes published a literature review that gave excellent recommendations on how to frame that content:
- State the correct information to replace the false information
- Avoid repeating the false information at all
- Keep the correct information short and simple, and, in particular, shorter and simpler than the misinformation.
- Create content that reflects the patient’s ideals and values whenever possible
Publish this reframed content and messaging on your patient portal so patients can access it whenever they need or want it. Per the journal JAMIA Open, patient portals are emerging as a valuable tool for patient education and engagement.
Another proactive strategy to combat misinformation could be to email your patients about new harmful trends as they emerge with a catchy subject line like, “Don’t Fall for Slick Content: Why Oil Pulling is Dangerous to Your Oral Health.” Additionally, explain why skepticism is critical when encountering unusual oral health information online; the motivations of the content creator might not be the same as those of a healthcare professional.
Affordable Clear Aligners for your patients with Dandy
Your patients are online more than ever before and the demand for straighter smiles increases with every scroll. So, why not serve your patients with affordable Clear Aligner options supplied by Dandy? Dandy helps general dentists offer Clear Aligners that are more effective than direct-to-consumer brands on TikTok and Instagram and more affordable than other leading brands. Book a demo with Dandy to see how we can help your patients today.
Sources
7 dangerous dental trends from TikTok (2021) Delta Dental. Available at: https://www1.deltadentalins.com/dentists/fyi-online/2021/dental-tiktok-trends.html (Accessed: 14 August 2024).
Dewan, P. Dentist warns of six ‘dangerous’ TikTok trends you should never try at home (2024), Newsweek. Available at: https://www.newsweek.com/dentist-warns-dangerous-tiktok-trends-teeth-1921268 (Accessed: 15 August 2024).
Sanders, A. A. (2024) When Teeth Become Trendy, Savannah Magazine. Available at: https://savannahmagazine.com/health/when-teeth-become-trendy/ (Accessed: 15 August 2024).
James, T. A. (2023) Building Empathy into the Structure of Health Care, Building Empathy into the Structure of Health Care | HMS Postgraduate Education. Available at: https://postgraduateeducation.hms.harvard.edu/trends-medicine/building-empathy-structure-health-care (Accessed: 16 August 2024).
Avoiding Medical Jargon to Improve Communication, Reduce Ambiguity (2024). Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/avoiding-medical-jargon-to-improve-communication-reduce-ambiguity (Accessed: 16 August 2024).
Lewandowski, S. et al. Correcting a misinformation (2020) Fondation Descartes. Available at: https://www.fondationdescartes.org/en/2020/07/how-to-effectively-correct-misinformation/ (Accessed: 19 August 2024).
Johnson AM, Brimhall AS, Johnson ET, et al. A systematic review of the effectiveness of patient education through patient portals. JAMIA Open. 2023;6(1):ooac085. Published 2023 Jan 18. doi:10.1093/jamiaopen/ooac085
