Dental/dental hygiene trainee discusses patient education. (2023)
My mom worked in healthcare, and she always reminded me that the average American reading level is that of a third-grader. So you have to keep that in mind with discussing any treatment or any access to care. That’s something that I commonly discuss with patients, and just trying to get them to understand things at their level. So I use a lot of diagrams of explaining disease processes, or how to correctly brush your teeth, floss your teeth, and everything. And I always check in when I give at least two to three points, I always say, “Okay, now let me know. Let’s go over by your point of view what you just understood from what we talked about.” So, it’s teach-back. And that’s what we try to use with all of our patients. So, then we’re releasing, if they understand information that we’re providing, to be able to gauge what we need to change in how we’re delivering information.