Tiffany Owens – Clips & Samples

Comfortably Numb: How Dentists Are Easing Your Fears

Publication:  MSN.com Health channel | May 2005

Date Published: 11/5/2006

Photographs: No

Content

**online feature no longer available on MSN.com -- original text appears below**

By Tiffany Owens

Not long ago, during a particularly rigorous root canal, I was forced to endure back-to-back features of Sting and Annie Lennox live in concert (that’s right, my dentist’s favorites). To this day, I’m still not sure which experience was more agonizing. Another time, I overheard my dentist explaining to another patient that the two most common side-effects of the procedure he was about to perform were “pain and suffering.” Sure, these stories seem funnier now than when they happened, but both times, it took everything I had to stay in – and ever return to – the dentist’s chair.

Let’s face it, the universal dread that precedes a dental visit has existed as long as the whining tooth drill and giant Novocaine needle. Dentists realize that a visit to their office – sometimes even just for a simple cleaning – strikes fear into the hearts of many patients and are, therefore, making great efforts to improve the experience. "In the last 20 years, dentists have been focusing more and more on the needs of the patients attached to the teeth," claims American Dental Association spokesperson, Dr. Kimberly Harms.

Harms confesses that, like many of her patients, she's "chicken" when it comes to getting her own teeth worked on. Consequently, she and her husband have incorporated various patient perks into their Minnesota dental practice over the last decade and were among the first to offer movie-watching via virtual reality goggles, which is rapidly becoming standard practice in offices nationwide.

In fact, about half of the 427 dentists in a 2003 ADA survey said they currently offered headphones, neck rests, warm towels, drinks and snacks to patients. Another five percent were taking things even further with massages, facials, manicures and pedicures, a trend now coined as the “dental spa.”

Dr. Lorin Berland, the self-proclaimed “founder of spa dentistry,” says that this move toward making his patients feel more relaxed began in 1996 with the addition of a massage therapist to his staff. The whole therapeutic concept took off from there. “At first, they thought I was crazy,” he says. “Now, many of those people that were making fun of me want to open beauty salons – with a dental practice on the side.”

Today, in addition to their wide range of dental services, Berland’s Dallas Dental Spa offers lunchtime microdermabrasion skin peels, aromatherapy, music headphones and movie goggles, complimentary chair massages and a massage therapist on hand to assist in treating the stress associated with dental procedures.

Dr. Bruce Hartley of the Peninsula Center of Cosmetic Dentistry in Los Altos, CA, has also utilized spa amenities in his practice for the last decade. “In our world that has become more automated with less personal care, so much doesn’t have the human touch anymore and I think our society suffers from that,” Hartley explains. “We have patients come in that have had trouble with previous dental care situations, but at the end of their visit, will smile and hug us – it makes it all worth it. The spa treatments are not for everyone, but for those that want it, the news spreads like wildfire.” Hartley asserts that the amenities are not just for women – a surprising number of men also request the complimentary neck pillows, eye sachets, massages and paraffin hand wax treatments.

At their 21st Century Dental office in Irving, TX, Drs. Kent Smith and Jeff Roy have adopted the assumption that everyone "hates to go to the dentist, so we make the patient feel like they are anywhere but the dental office." Their patients receive Ibuprofen, lip balm, a hot towel and a double-duty Baskin Robbins milkshake at the end of their treatment to alleviate any mouth discomfort and allow the anesthetic effects of Novocaine to wear off faster. “If patients are returning to work, the shake is often the<