The barriers and enablers to implementing trauma-informed care in dental settings

Rates of psychological trauma are increasing and psychological trauma symptoms can prevent patients from undergoing or accessing routine dental treatment. Psychological trauma is a response to a distressing event that overwhelms a person's capacity to cope with it emotionally. This is important in relation to dentistry as people who have experienced trauma may be triggered by this in the unfamiliar dental environment, influencing how they experience oral health care. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the potential barriers and enablers to implementing trauma-informed care in dentistry to provide person-centred dental care and improve patient outcomes. Along with maintaining effective leadership, resources and staff training on the impact of trauma, dedicated time and facilitating a trauma-informed culture through approaches such as the Sanctuary Model - an evidence-based approach to delivering trauma-informed care in organisations - are essential to sustain change.