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You see it on the social media pics, the dazzling before and after “new patient smiles,” the expensive equipment blinding the viewer into jaw dropping speechlessness, the slo’ ‘mo panning to patient nodding at the clinician and then they both laugh. But. …. wait up….what is this? There beside the beaming patient is the dentist, mask around chin, luxury Formula One-esque watch on wrist flanked by his equally smiling dental assistant who wears a long-sleeved top under a scrub top.
In this moment, some of the audience (well, those of us from a clinical background) will tut loudly and go, “Ooooh not good, not good at all!”
Most of the audience, unfortunately, will not see it.
Pan to another social post where a dentist is being filmed working on a patient……who is…. whaaaat? not wearing protective glasses as the dentist works. We don’t even get to see the part where the patient says, “Oh boy, what a fashion statement these are!” as they are handed the clunky dark specs.
Again, only a few will truly see it, but the idea that it is ok to work on a patient without protective glasses for the sake of aesthetics in the socials is slightly disquieting.
On another beautifully crafted social there is a glimmering halo around a dental assistant holding a “Newly Arrived from Planet Zwoosh” tooth whitening kit, the beautiful hands with their exquisite French Polish acrylic nails holding the take home pack up for full effect. Wait.…. what? Do you see those nails they’re beautiful? Sorry, I forgot it was a dental product advert……
Even without Page 18 of “Guidelines for Infection Prevention and Control” 4th Edition ADA 2021 which states that all dental teams should be “Bare Below the elbows” is it not glaringly obvious that these behaviours are less than desirable?
Bare below the elbows” as dental professionals should be aware, includes, no long sleeves, no wrist or finger jewellery and no artificial nails or nail polish. It also makes detailed mention of full PPE for clinicians, clinical staff, and patients.
So, my question is, what is going on? I struggle to believe that dentists (and their teams) are completely oblivious of their duty. Why would a Dental Health Care worker knowingly create an imperfect IC environment? Would they honestly enjoy a little “something on the Infection Control side” with their lunchtime serve of Café Style Avocado Smash on Toast? Really? Could they be missing what’s going on?
Has the need for bedazzling with technology and impressing our audience with instant crowns outflanked the fundamental need to care about the safety of patients and family? Should dentists be giving specialised training for social media teams or are said dentists too busy to monitor that as well as everything else they are doing? I would hope that the remit for dental social media teams would be that they run a pre-post edit past the eyes of someone with Dental IC and Safety understanding at the very least? Or is the race to the bottom to become the biggest flashiest, most consistent socials poster the main goal?
More blog on my website www.accredident.com.au.