Optimism and uncertainty – ensure your team has everything it needs

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Posted by: Dental Design 10th October 2021

If this year has hopefully been better than the last, your practice may still be operating very differently to how it did at the beginning of 2020. By now, you will have learned to embrace the positives – longer appointments giving you more time with patients, for example – but the pressure on dental teams to deliver has never been greater.

Patients want stable, successful, yet also prompt care. Many practices have seen a rise in demand for certain treatments and have had to recruit accordingly.[i] Routine consultations have also resumed; the impact of limited access on the oral health of the population has been significant and the repercussions are set to last for years.

There is much to do, and although the bigger picture looks more positive than it did 12 months ago, with millions in the UK now fully vaccinated, worries about what winter could do to infection rates won’t be far from anyone’s mind.

Pressures on workforces

Dentistry has always been an intense environment to work in and plenty was written about stress and burnout pre-Covid-19. There is anecdotal evidence that the unique circumstances created by the pandemic, and the increased strain they placed on dental workforces, meant many professionals chose not to return, or do not expect to be practising in a year’s time.[ii] Maybe this happened in your team, perhaps triggered by concerns over safety, or the financial fallout from changes to schedules. Over half of DCPs surveyed by the GDC said they expected their personal income to reduce significantly over the next 12 months.[iii]

So, how to keep motivation high, in order to deliver exceptional treatment and care, in a climate where optimism keeps being threatened by uncertainty?

Work together to stay together

Good teamworking begins with communication. Interaction should be encouraged; accept that some will be more sociable than others, but people must feel supported, included, respected and seen. Work has been a tonic for plenty of us – offering structure, as well as a distraction – but many have felt overwhelmed by having to keep performing.

Action regular team meetings to share the good and bad of the past week, situations that went well, or that could have been managed better. You could be bold and block off one afternoon every month with no patients, and arrange to do an activity together, where no one talks about work. Be gentle though, as enforced bonding can be a source of anxiety in itself. When kindness, empathy and understanding are offered, you’ll get the best out of everyone.

Delivering dental treatment is physically demanding, especially on the hands, neck and back, and the required donning of enhanced PPE is likely to have made discomfort worse, particularly for lengthy, complex procedures. An open, communicative environment will encourage people to speak up if they are feeling sore or stiff, rather than suffer in silence. Perhaps your practice will maintain a slower pace and continue to offer fewer appointments per day, to support both the mental and physical wellbeing of the team.

Ensure that everyone is clear about not only their role, but everyone else’s. This will minimise tension and conflict because people will have clarity and a focus. Opportunities for continued professional learning and development must be available; this might not even about skills, but broadening knowledge so patients’ queries can be dealt with promptly and accurately. Some job descriptions may have altered slightly – are people still happy with taking on extra work (or less)?

Ensure everyone has the right equipment, tools and materials to – this is what every successful, productive dental team deserves. If you’re not happy with what you’re using, try some alternatives. Workflows must be smooth in order to provide patients with the gold-standard of care and also to mitigate stress between the team. For example, with additional PPE continuing to impede communication, your impression material must be one that everyone enjoys working with, because it is predictable and easy to handle. AFFINIS™ impression materials, from COLTENE, are recommended by dentists for being high-quality and accurate as well as great to handle – the dental nurse can get on and mix, saving time and supporting efficiency, meaning that you’re well prepared for every patient.

Some days you might feel your glass is half full; on others, half empty. This is a symptom of the times we are in, when we have come so far since the early days of the pandemic yet uncertainty about the future still remains. Taking care of everyone in the dental team, so that you can maintain a happy, productive practice that delivers successful clinical outcomes is a priority. Dentistry has long been a stressful environment to work in, and now there is a new layer of complexity. Anything that supports good teamworking – from better communication to materials – must be invested in, to keep optimism high and manage any challenges ahead.

Nicolas Coomber

COLTENE National Account & Marketing Manager