Being a professional in the healthcare field requires constant updating.
Aligning professional practice with patient demands is a daily challenge.
And for the dentist, it’s still a big challenge to learn to deal with the tension and fear that patients often bring to the office.
Currently, many of these professionals seek to expand their strategies with the support of some techniques and tools imported from psychology, such as hypnosis.
In this article, you will better understand the various benefits that hypnosis offers in the practice of the dentist.
Take a look at what you will find below:
- Why use hypnosis in the office
- Main benefits of hypnosis in the professional practice of the dentist
- How to qualify to learn hypnosis
WHY USE HYPNOSIS IN THE OFFICE
Well, how many times have you encountered a patient who, upon entering your office, already started sweating, becoming agitated, and having a racing heart?!
Some start feeling this anxiety with the simple sound of the drill being turned on, right?!
When these situations occur, you already know you have a challenge ahead because these behaviors greatly affect the outcome of your work.
With stress, the person may feel more pain, have more bleeding, delay procedures, use more materials (anesthesia and analgesia), among other disadvantages.
“Everything that stress can worsen, hypnosis can help.”
With hypnosis, it is possible to more practically access the patient and their emotions.
You can provide anything from a state of relaxation to the reframing of traumatic experiences, which indeed results in a reduction of the patient’s fear of your work.
Hypnosis will be your ally to work with your patient in a calmer and more comfortable manner.
MAIN BENEFITS OF HYPNOSIS IN THE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE OF THE DENTIST
As explained earlier, hypnosis is a tool that can be used lightly and objectively, meaning it is very simple to apply, you just need to master it to use it in various situations.
In other words, hypnosis can be applied in the most different fields of dentistry.
You won’t need to buy any additional materials or instruments to apply it, and furthermore, it can be used from the patient’s arrival to their departure.
You can use it for:
- Stress reduction
- As an alternative to anesthesia application
- Patient habit changes
- Higher treatment adherence/return rate
In short, there are endless applications of hypnosis as a resource within the office, you just need to allow yourself to use it within your clinical management repertoire, and of course, always respecting the limits of your professional field.
HOW TO QUALIFY TO LEARN HYPNOSIS
Hypnosis is currently recognized by various professional councils, and the Federal Council of Dentistry is one of them.
In Brazil, the Federal Council of Dentistry was the first representative body of a professional category to recognize hypnosis as a clinical tool.
In the resolution of the Federal Council of Dentistry, the following is described:
Art. 20. The responsibilities of the Hypnologist in Dentistry are:
I – To treat and/or control anxieties, fears, and phobias related to dental procedures and/or psychosomatic conditions related to Dentistry;
II – To condition the patient for the adoption of hygiene habits, adaptation to treatment, use of medications, dietary re-education, parafunctional habits, among others;
III – To treat and control neuromuscular disorders and intervene on autonomic reflexes;
IV – To prepare patients for surgeries, contributing to the improvement of the patient’s condition;
V – To prepare patients to be attended by other professionals;
VI – To act in adaptation and motivation directed to dental treatment;
VII – To use hypnotic anesthesia in pertinent cases; and,
VIII – To use Hypnosis in other processes/situations related to the field of activity of the dentist.
Furthermore, within the required duties, the Federal Council of Dentistry demonstrates in its resolution that professionals must be qualified and have completed qualification courses with a minimum duration of 180 hours between theory and practice.
This is necessary because unfortunately, there are many courses on the market with questionable training that do not satisfactorily qualify professionals.
It is important for you to know that there are currently several studies testing the applicability and effectiveness of hypnosis, so it is a serious tool that needs to be used correctly.
Many false promises of cures with hypnosis are offered on the market, so an institution that values science and ethical commitment is extremely necessary.
All these guidelines serve as a guide for you to know how to evaluate which institution you will qualify with.
The Brazilian Society of Hypnosis has the following Quality Policy:
“To train, guide, and represent professionals who work with hypnosis, making the SBH a reference in science and profession concerning hypnosis, fulfilling all applicable legal requirements and good management practices, and continuously improving our quality management system with objectives that value our professional society.”
So, if you are in the field of dentistry and want to learn more about hypnosis, take one of our courses!
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