Dealing with our patients, staff and ourselves compassionately

Our patients are often traumatised by their loss of teeth and dignity. This can mean they react in hostile ways towards us as they may be communicating through their reactive and unsophisticated part of the brain sometimes known as the “lizard brain”, “chimp” or “child brain”. In doing so they can trigger defensive systems in our own brains, meaning that we feel hostile in return. I find it helpful to recognize these feelings both in my brain and body, as well as in my patients, acknowledging these feelings with compassion.

Developing a compassionate mind towards our patients, our staff and ourselves helps me treat them better and produces a much-improved treatment outcome. There is good research to back this up and I have found this book very useful in the process: The Compassionate Mind by Paul Gilbert.

Denture Blog 38

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