How can we provide person-centred dental care?

Area of Science:

• Dental Clinical Practice
• Healthcare Delivery
• Patient-Centred Care Models

Background:

• Patient-centred care is a dominant paradigm in healthcare, but its specific application and understanding in dentistry remain unclear.
• Existing models for person-centred care in clinical dentistry require further development for practical implementation.
• Dentistry faces challenges in aligning clinical practice with the increasing expectations of patients for personalized care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a structured person-centred dental clinical approach.
• To define the core principles and processes for implementing person-centred care in dentistry.
• To provide dentists with a framework for refining their clinical practice to better meet patient expectations.

Main Methods:

• Building upon a previously proposed person-centred model in clinical dentistry.
• Defining three guiding principles: humility, hospitality, and mindfulness.
• Integrating these principles into the key processes of the dental clinical encounter: connecting, examining, sharing, and intervening.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive person-centred dental clinical approach is presented.
• The approach integrates humility, hospitality, and mindfulness into the dental encounter.
• Key clinical processes (connecting, examining, sharing, intervening) are influenced by these principles.

Conclusions:

• The presented person-centred dental clinical approach offers a practical framework for dentists.
• Implementing humility, hospitality, and mindfulness can enhance the dental clinical encounter.
• This approach empowers dentists to adapt their practice to meet contemporary patient expectations.