Response to patients' death and bereavement in dental practice

Coping with patient deaths and family bereavement has received minimal attention in dental education and literature. This study was conducted to determine how frequently dentists experience patient deaths, how they cope with the knowledge of a patient's death, and if they demonstrate need for emphasis in the dental curricula in the areas of death and bereavement. A survey adapted from Chiodo and Tolle (1988) was sent to all 2091 dentists in the State of Kentucky. The response rate was 47.68% (997 returned surveys). Findings include: (1) General dentists (GDs) have a significantly higher number of patients who die each year than do specialists (S) (GD = 7, S = 1.5); (2) coping behaviors range from sending sympathy cards (63%) to attending the funeral (23%); (3) patient deaths cause stress, most stress occurring when patients die unexpectedly; (4) the greatest stress was encountered when talking with the patient's family; and (5) most dentists (58%) believed that bereavement education should occur in dental school. In conclusion, this research adds to the limited literature on appropriate coping behaviors by dentists when patients die and suggests that death and bereavement education should occur in the dental school setting to prepare practicing dentists for coping with patient loss due to death, and to provide family bereavement support mechanisms.