PAGD Keystone Explorer Winter 2020

Keystone Explorer | Winter 2020 3 president’s message | in my ability to gain trust and educate patients, but also to increase treatment acceptance. We all know if we had just one dollar for every time we heard, “but it doesn’t hurt” or “it doesn’t bother me,” we would not need to work the daily grind as we do. The mentality of humans needing to “see it for yourself” is satisfied here as we have accomplished the ability to eliminate a patient’s need to imagine what we try to explain. This has been critical in patient’s realization of their conditions and need for treatment. I recall learning in an oral pathology lecture in dental school that a good clinical note documenting a lesion or abnormality would allow someone else to know exactly what your findings were without leaving any questions unanswered or anything to the imagination. Intraoral photography and digital radiographs have helped with the visual aspect of this task in documentation just as they have assisted with the explanation when it comes to our patient education. Our improved imaging techniques have not only helped us to become better at diagnosing but have also helped us to communicate and document better as providers, even to insurance companies. Just like our imaging, our images as dental professionals are something that have certainly transformed over time and tools such as these have helped that transition. Patient perception is everything, and we have worked so hard as individuals and as a profession to deliver positive experiences and to build relationships with our patients that change the image dentists once held. We have gone from the idea and public perception that dentists are not “real” doctors to becoming professionals who care and advocate for the oral health and oral-systemic relationships of our patients. So whether the photos are those taken prior to a hygiene visit to document the crud on a patient’s teeth when they swear their home care is meticulous, to record a concerning lesion that you would like to reevaluate, or to demonstrate to a patient the fracture in their tooth that from your angle will soon look like the Grand Canyon, an intraoral camera is a must if you do not already use one in your daily practice. It’s the holiday season and you have been good this year, so I encourage you to treat yourself and add this tool to your toolbox. Just don’t forget to let the pictures speak for you. Leigh Jacopetti-Kondraski, DMD President, PAGD