The
Chicago Dental Society reportedly
announced that more than four out of five, or eighty percent, respondent dentists surveyed revealed that patients send and receive text messages on their cell phones while receiving dental care.
Even more alarming, the society said that at least 32 percent of dentists clearly indicated that such practices were strictly prohibited during sessions via prominent notices put up in their waiting rooms and reception area.
"We have signs up in the waiting room and directly in front of where the patient sits stating that they need to turn off their phones but most simply ignore them," said one respondent dentist in statement.
"Many times the patient sits up during treatment to answer a call or text," another respondent said, who added that texting – SMS or Twitter - or answering calls can be a real barrier to delivering care.
Officials of the medical society said that the survey revealed younger patients appear easier to deal with, mostly have pretty decent manners during visits, and follow printed instructions well.
"This may surprise people, but most of my younger patients are very polite about using their cell phones in the chair," said Dr. Cissy Furusho, a pediatric dentist in Chicago, in a statement. "The kids never answer their phone while getting treatment."
The society said that Dr. Alice Boghosian, a dentist from Niles, Illinois, was upset about total lack of consideration by a fair number of patients during sessions and cited examples of a youngster telling her to freeze activities while he attended an incoming call or message, and of a clergy man politely answering all incoming calls during a session even though he admitted that these were really not serious matters.
"I'm not militant about it because I know that there are parents with kids in school who need to be in touch with their kids at times," Boghosian said in a statement. "However, one young patient of mine had to interrupt me when his phone was buzzing in his pocket. When patients insist on answering their phone or sending a text message, it does interrupt dental care."
The society said that these same sentiments were echoed by a majority of the respondent dentists, and quoted one as saying, "It's more difficult to communicate with a patient about recommendations."
The Chicago Dental Society has made these suggestions for those who must socially network via texting or talking on their cell phone while in the dental chair: If a dentist has a written policy against texting, then respect it for the sake of your own oral health; If no policy exists and patients must socially network via mobile technology, they should request prior permission from the dentist. In addition, patients should arrange to have an agreed-upon signal with the dentist if they must respond to texts.
Another tip is to keep temptation at bay by leaving phones with the receptionist for safekeeping, or by activating the silent mode prior to a session. These tips will allow people attend to logged, missed and stored alerts after the session.
This trend of compulsive mobile social networking even during dental sessions indicates the depth to which social networking practises have penetrated, and unfortunately highlights
the growing consumer trend which indicates that a high percentage of people turn to social networks to communicate, recommend and seek advice for all sorts of stuff. Incidentally, there are also specific Web sites that leverage social networking recommendations for the hospitality industry, travel industry, shopping industry, parent-teacher-student study sync up, company marketing strategy, landing venture caps and angelic investors, and for pubs.
The Chicago Dental Society said that the survey was conducted between July 16 and July 25 via e-mail and among dentists in the society's Facebook Fan page.
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Vivek Naik is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Vivek's articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by
Amy Tierney
