What exactly do you do when you are in the dental clinic? Normally a person visits a dentist when in pain or for a regular check-up. At that time they just simply go and sit on the dental chair and get their treatment started because that is how it used to be like always.
But have you ever felt the need of knowing about your dentist and the treatment and other details necessary? There are various things which are important to know about your dentist and the dental clinic you are visiting. It is for your own safety and hygiene.
Go with the mantra ‘Talk to your Dentist’ and ask your dentist the following things while you are there on the dental chair. It is very important to have a better knowledge of the entire process as the dental surgeries are something which is connected to your mouth and your mouth is the primary source of something entering in your body.
Ask your dentist about the following:
1. How are they maintaining Clinic Sterilization?
Your Dental Surgeon is the one who is responsible for having something in your mouth, who places the highest priority to the surgery hygiene and asepsis, perfect sterilization of dental instruments. Make sure that you ask your dentist that clinic is autoclaving all instruments, preferably in a B-class autoclave using a vacuum for effective sterilization. After all, it is your health, and you have to be bold and not hesitant when it comes to ascertaining the facts.
The most important thing for all of you is to look around and be satisfied that dental clinic has a culture of maintaining asepsis in surgery by the dentist and his assistant in all procedures, no matter how trivial. You can consider dental centre for more information.
2. About Hard Surface Disinfection
Most potent route for the spread of disease is through the body fluids, and there is no doubt that almost all diseases are communicated through blood and saliva. Every patient who sits in the dental chair is a potential source of infection for others because the smallest dental procedure also involves exposure to blood and saliva. Also, cross-contamination through contact to the hard surfaces of the clinic areas, pose a serious threat which cannot be ignored and will need appropriate measures.
It will be prudent on the part of the dentist that complete asepsis and disinfection protocol is carried out by him before inviting the next patient inside the surgery to sit on the chair.
3. How do they regulate Radiation in Dental Surgery?
Dental procedures require multiple x-rays which create different risks for the patients says this dentist. Often the x-ray units are old and maybe leaking excessive radiations causing a grave risk for the patient or sometimes the radiation dosage for shooting the x-rays are much more than normal, thereby resulting in excessive radiation load in the clinic. Ask your dentist if he is adopting adequate measures for radiation safety in the surgery. Ensure that he is draping you with Lead Apron before he takes an x-ray. No doubt that the digital radiography is much safer than conventional film radiography, however, suitable precautions will have to be taken for your safety.
4. Are they using Genuine Materials?
Dental materials form the backbone of all treatments/procedures and one has to be sure that you are getting what you are paying for. Most often, duplicate or cheap Chinese dental materials are finding a place in many clinics which lack consistency in results and have suboptimal properties.
There is a need to ask your dentist for a GST paid receipt, if you are opting for high priced product; for example, if 3M Orthodontic Bracket systems or an Implant System by name is being paid for, it is worthwhile to ask for the original purchase receipt by your dentist before you settle for payment.
5. Are they Transparent in Pricing?
Most dental surgeons resort to ‘charging a patient based on face value’. Generally, with most dentists, there is no written price list of the treatment and therefore the mistrust is common.
Dentistry is a highly competitive market, and every neighborhood dentist can bring down price slightly, however, you must choose to depend upon the strong fundamentals. One common advice in the case of choosing your dentist is – Cheap is Bad. Never choose the cheapest dentist as maintaining a proper surgery which meets all safety standards comes at a price and it is better to pay the price than to pay a much bigger price in the form of your health.
6. How are they taking care of Disease Prevention?
Many dental surgeons don’t find this very lucrative to educate about your disease and how you could have avoided them.
A good dentist will be too happy to discuss essentials of brushing, flossing and cultivating good habits. And it is absolutely important for the kids as they are most vulnerable to dental disease especially with high sugar sticky diets and hardly any time with parents for proper looking after.
Mere search on Dentist near me is not okay, you have to look for the above pointers as well. The best dental clinic will be following all the policies important for maintaining patient safety.
Punit 
Krishan Jangir