A better way to inform patients about procedures.

1. A better way(?) of keeping patients informed

2. The importance of keeping patients
informed cannot be overemphasised
Mis-communication, or a lack of communication
is the biggest cause of formal complaints by
patients
Source is the Dental Cases Panel, which deals
with all the things gone wrong.

3. Current methods of patient
communication/information
acquisition (in order of priority)
1. At time of consultation (pros/cons/opinion)- pictures,
videos, and pamphlets
2. During treatment (keeping them informed about what is
going on e.g. decay is in the nerve, I am going to now
blah blah)
3. Post treatment e.g exo instructions
4. TLC by your admin staff or yourself

4. 5. Patients who think they know what you know
because they’ve studied it on wikipedia/webmd

5. At the time of consultation
1. Information overload- imagine trying to talk
to a patient about all the things associated
with caries, large fillings/crowns, bruxism,
etc in one appointment.
2. Patients only take in a fraction of information
you give them, and retain a fraction of that
fraction.

6. You see them at their 6 month
recall....
And because it was all so much, they ignore
the problem(s), and you repeat everything
again (the most annoying part of my life)

7. To create an interactive, credible, evidence-
based, ‘’drip-feed’’ system of patient education
and awareness, whether it is general
information, or about a procedure, or about
post operative instructions.
The Idea:

8. In the real world, you will have
to take teeth out, and explain
the post operative information
to them. This is a lot for
patients to take in:
You could regurgitate healing
of an extraction socket like
Saturday Night’s Tequila on
Sunday, but they will
understand it as clearly as the
regurgitate looks.

10. Benefit to Students
1.You convert your book knowledge into clinical and patient centric material
2.You get your names published in a document that will be seen and felt (sic)
by dentists and patients
3.You contribute to knowledge, and have the opportunity to continue doing so
after you graduate (rather than the usual masters degree or pHD.
4.You will learn about marketing, business, management, creativity, turning
ideas into reality. All these will assist you in your career, but in all the other
aspects of your life.

11. Benefit to Patients
1. They receive information in small chunks that are easier
to swallow
2. They are empowered by this information, and can make
a decision regarding treatment outside the daunting
dental surgery.
3. They start to feel like someone is looking after their
health even when they are not in direct contact with the
dentist!

12. Benefit to dentist
1. Patients are more informed
2. Better acceptance of treatment plans
3. Up to date information on procedures (trust me after
you leave uni, you cannot update your knowledge on
every facet of dentistry)
4. The system we create is interactive, so patient can be
engaged outside the dental surgery. i.e. it is a value
added service to the patient

13. What we need from you:
1. Commitment
2. A bit of elbow grease
3. A bit of faith in us and the idea
What we will do:
1. Create a framework, and timelines for the project
2. Split you into groups
3. Come up with a list of topics
4. Come up with a list of supervisors who know their shit in that particular topic,
and are also approachable
What next?

14. Feedback?
Amit Gurbuxani (Might be a bit busy so
maybe approach his slaves below)
amit.gurbuxani@uwa.edu.au
Hemal Ruparelia hemal@mediref.com.au
0405 982 105
Anish Shah anish@mediref.com.au
0423 840 804