March Dental Holidays

March is a big month for dental-related observances, as both Dental Assistants Recognition Week and Patient Safety Awareness Week happen during the month. Both are equally important holidays that your orthodontist near Elmhurst celebrates. Dental Assistants Recognition Week occurs during the week of March 3-9 this year, while Patient Safety Awareness Week is observed from March 10-16. It is important to unpack the significance of both and discuss how they contribute to your orthodontist near Elmhurst’s ability to maintain a safe and efficient practice.

Patient Safety

Dental patient safety is not discussed as often as patient safety in other medical fields and there are a few reasons for this. The harm produced by dental procedures is generally less severe, patients are ambulatory – which makes it more difficult to follow-up on issues, it is difficult to collect accurate data based on the large dispersion of care, and finally because there is a lack of a generalized culture of patient safety in dental fields. While patient safety applies to many professions, observing this week especially helps in dental professions – so that common issues can be brought to light and improved safety measures can be enacted. Some common issues include, but are not limited to:

• Extracting the wrong teeth
• Sedation complications
• Swallowing crowns, teeth, instruments, etc.
• Nerve injuries
• TMJ damage
• Staff injuries
• Radiology issues

These injuries can be serious and, with the proper attention given to each and every patient, are avoidable. Oakbrook Orthodontics works diligently to give our patients the highest level of treatment in order to avoid the aforementioned issues.

Recognizing Our Dental Assistants

A big reason we are able to give our patients such a safe and personalized experience is thanks to our amazing dental assistants. Our practice would not be what it is without our them, plain and simple. Our dental assistants do everything from providing patients with the highest level of care, taking x-rays and blood pressure, assisting with procedures and surgeries, keeping on top of patient records, providing post-surgery dental care instructions, and much more. They afford us the ability to cater to as many people as we do. Their skillsets range from technical to administrative to people, and all are core to the success of our practice! The theme for this year’s appreciation week is “Polished, Poised, and Professional” and we cannot think of a better way to describe our orthodontist near Elmhurst’s assistants.

 

Sources: Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety, American Dental Assistants Association