By Dr. Presley-Nelson
The other day, when I was finishing a procedure on a patient and she took her headphones off and went on about how she had enjoyed the visit because the comedian she listened to had relaxed her and intrigued her sense of humor. I then mentioned that the visit had been easy for me too, as her cheek and tongue had relaxed and fallen still, and with the distraction of the entertainment, her saliva had dried up and had quit trying to flood me and “digest” me. We both laughed and enjoyed a few minutes of visiting about the power of the mind and how it helped the dental process to be mentally distracted. She confessed that her gag reflex had been forgotten, her fears and anxieties quelled. She shared that her breathing had been easy and regular, and she had been worried about being able to breathe with all the water and things in her mouth, yet there had been no problem.
She thanked me for talking her out of using her Ipod because something totally different, and surprising is needed during a dental appointment, not music or the regular stuff she is used to listening to. I thanked HER for giving up the Ipod because I don’t get the same effect with it and I can’t lift the headphones to talk to the patient if they are the type imbedded deep in the ears.
I was unaware that the next patient had been seated and could overhear me when I mentioned that I had to really fight with, and struggle with some folks to get them to listen to something besides the drill, and how if they would just heed my pleading, that it would help me SO MUCH in doing the procedure. I went on to say that my field of vision was improved when someone listened to humor or stories, because the tilt of the head became better for me, and the moving about, out of the range of my light quit happening, as the patient became more still and easy to position. I reiterated that the saliva dried up with distraction. Then I mentioned again that music didn’t work well, but with humor, the endorphins begin to be released, aiding anesthesia, therefore, making the patient more comfortable. Lastly, I told about how happy it made the whole office to hear a patient laugh OUT LOUD while we worked on them, and that the whole tone of the office became upbeat with the sound, and how the sound of a patient chuckling during drilling reduced my stress as an operator, enabling me to work better and longer. I mentioned that we are trained to work on squirmy children, so a good hearty laugh was no problem in our accuracy, but rather an all around aid. And that one of our daily goals was to get patients laughing out loud during procedures.
About that time the patient who was waiting in the other operatory piped up and yelled, “OK, OK, I hear you. I always resist listening to a comedian but I KNOW YOU ARE TRYING TO CONVINCE ME!! I SUCCUMB!”
I was surprised to hear that a patient was listening next door, but we all had a good laugh about his shouting-out. We picked a comedian from our large collection for him, and he and I had a great dental appointment together…as he listened to some good distracting humor.