You finish what felt like a productive appointment with a patient, but as you watch them walk out the door, you have a sinking feeling in your stomach. Did they really understand the action plan you described to them? Were they just nodding along, or did you explain it well enough? 

If this experience sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Oral health literacy is an issue that all dental practices face, but it doesn’t have to be. With Dental Intelligence’s 2-Way Communication, you can chat with your patients directly and encourage oral health literacy. Knowing what roadblocks stand in the way of your patient’s oral health literacy and how to overcome them sets your practice up for success.

What Is Oral Health Literacy?

Dentistry is about providing quality oral health care, but explaining oral health care to your patients is equally important. After all, it’s their health that’s at stake. 

Oral health literacy is more than just the patient’s ability to read the information you give them. It’s how they hear, comprehend, and utilize the information you give them — both verbally and in the form of written materials. 

Patients who struggle with reading are already at a higher risk for low oral health literacy. However, they aren’t the only patients who deserve attention. Many patients don’t understand medical jargon or struggle to process information in large quantities.

Improving oral health literacy means considering the background and abilities of your patient when sharing information with them. 

Why Is Oral Health Literacy Important? 

While improving oral health literacy is important during dental visits, it’s even more essential that patients utilize oral health literacy outside of your office. People with different lives, backgrounds, and education levels walk into your office every day. It makes sense that their understanding of oral health will vary, too.

Poor oral health can result from a simple lack of information, so take the time to explain proper practices and treatments to your patients — especially parents. They are responsible for their children’s oral health, too. Without improved oral health literacy, their kids can face severe dental damage. 

With the right approach, we can help patients and their parents make the best oral health decisions. 

How To Improve Oral Health Literacy

With the following tips, you can zero in on common issues preventing patients from absorbing the information you provide and address them to improve oral health literacy at your practice.

1. Use Visuals 

Information is easier to process when it uses visuals. Taking pictures of your patients’ mouths to point out areas of concern or explain a treatment could be helpful.

2. Use Resources and Speak Clearly

If you’re working with a patient whose primary language is different than your own, use an interpreter. This can help reduce the difficulty a language barrier causes.

Regardless of the language you’re speaking, speak carefully and clearly. Don’t speak too fast or rush through things. Let patients sit with the new information.

3. Ask Questions

Some patients may feel afraid to ask questions. They might not know what to ask or be worried about not looking smart. The best remedy for this is to ask them questions.

You can also use questions to gauge your patients’ familiarity with oral health. For example, you can ask if they’ve heard of a certain procedure or treatment. This should help them feel more comfortable to ask questions, too. 

4. Consider the Information Carefully

Before you can properly explain oral health concepts, you need to fully understand them yourself. Understand the context of the information you’re sharing, and ask yourself these questions:

• Does the information thoughtfully consider the culture, background, and practices of the patient or their parents?
• Is this information the patient needs to know?
• Does the patient have the capacity to obtain, process, and act on the information?
• What is the simplest way you can explain the information?
• Are there other materials to share? 

5. Check In

After you’ve shared information, check in with your patient. You can ask them more questions or even ask them to repeat the information back to you. Find a method of ensuring the patient has understood the oral health information you’re giving them. This way, you never have to worry about miscommunications.

Improved Communication Means Improved Patient Care

By improving oral health literacy through better communication, your patients are more likely to comply with your recommendations. Dental patient compliance is rarely an act of deliberate defiance — sometimes, it is just a lack of understanding. 

Schedule a demo with Dental Intelligence today to find out more about how you can transform communication at your dental practice.