Hi everybody. It is Anne Duffy and you are here with us today at the Just DeW It podcast. Thanks for joining us. I have a lovely guest today and I just met her recently. And so when we started to jump on our zoom for this podcast recording, I realized I don't know anything about her except that she's absolutely gorgeous.
Anne: And she's married to a dentist and she is a psychologist. So I'm going to ask our guest today, Mrs. Jessica Martin to tell us a little bit about herself so that you can get to know her before we dig deep and dive in. Jessica, welcome. Thank you, Anne. It's so great to
Jessica: be here with you. So great to have you.
so yes, I am a school psychologist by trade and married to a dentist, as you mentioned.
And I kind of got thrown into our dental office probably about nine years ago now. Out of necessity, he needed some help with the front office. And so came to dive right in. And I loved, meeting our patients and getting to know the business side of things, but then quickly realized that my expertise as a psychologist could really come in handy with so many patients that have had traumatic experiences, or they just don't like sitting in the dental chair and aren't really sure why.
my background really lended well to understanding the sensory components that we all, know, deal with in the sensory system is an amazing thing that can help us enjoy life and really experience things fully, but also can be. It can be negative when things are, negative sensory wise, it makes us.
Make that decision that it's not a good thing, something that we don't want to experience, and so that's really where I realized that I could have an impact on dentistry is that we can make it more positive from that sensory approach and really help patients. enjoy, you know, coming to their appointments and, that helps with case acceptance and maintenance and, people being attracted to your office.
And so that's how I got into it and kind of where I fell in love with dentistry. And now I enjoy really helping other practices to understand the huge importance that, the patient's mental health how they feel about dental experience has on their practice and their bottom line.
Anne: Wow. and, uh, welcome COVID then, right? And we hit COVID and you lay that on top of, so nine years in, and then you, all of a sudden, this is happening. So it's heightened everyone's anxiety and fear, and is it safe and all of those things. So it sounds like some of the, tools that you've used have served your office as well, and they can rely on them for the enormity of what's happening in the world today.
Jessica: Oh, exactly. People are more anxious than ever about receiving care, going in public everything. And so if we can give them some calming techniques and strategies, you're going to just stand out in the crowd. Absolutely. And that's what, dentists can do to differentiate is to really create an environment that's not typical.
And that can really be. more enjoyable for patients. I
Anne: wonder why we've held back so much on that. and I just finished know, my 45 year of career in dental hygiene, but a lot of it is like, snap out of it. and I, when I do the strengths, I not real high on my list I sometimes don't.
give the person a break for being anxious and nervous and not opening well and that's not a great attribute for our profession is it because we're really it is a real thing being anxious about going to the dentist.
Jessica: Oh, absolutely. I think, people that are working in the dental field, we get desensitized, we don't smell that icky smell anymore because you live it every day and the instruments don't look, we're scary. You're used to seeing pokey instruments and needles and things, you know, you just get desensitized and you don't realize that your patient doesn't, come in every day and see those things and hear those sounds and they're in a really vulnerable situation.
sitting in that chair and opening an orifice of their mouth to you. And, so if you don't think about it from that patient perspective, especially for people that have been traumatized, in some way, shape or form, whether it was from dentistry or from something else, they're going to be especially vulnerable.
And so I mean, they say over 68 percent of the population are anxious on some level. And so it's pretty significant. And even patients That don't give you a hard time that just sit there and grin and bear it. they can do better as well when you can understand how to help them feel better and enjoy it more.
Anne: Yeah. And looking for some tools because I think sometimes we think it's so big. like, you've got to have this feng shui and you've got to have the music and the smells. I mean, that's all lovely. I think baby steps
Jessica: works, right? Get started. No, absolutely. I love it to hear when offices are trying little things because I really think it is the little things that matter.
It's the details. And for every patient, it's going to be a little bit different. And that's what I love about teaching teams, how to quickly assess where the patient's at and help cater the experience to that patient. Because not every patient is going to want a heated neck wrap.
That patient might be sweating bullets, right? So that patient might need something cooled and something different, You know, if you can have a number of items in your repertoire that are really simple, that are really cost effective, can really hit most of the population with a conjunction of some of the things.
and I love too, that, when I teach teams how to, put these strategies in place and understand dental anxiety is that the patient, today might present differently than they will next week when they come in for something different. And so it's great to have those options to be able to help people to make those decisions about what's going to help them through the appointment on any given day.
Anne: Yeah. And especially right out of the shoot, Your first appointment. first impressions. You've got nine seconds to get a first impression. So how great would it be to use some of those things? And then they come back for the next appointment and they're a smidge happier or smidge less nervous.
And then, you know, eventually they just can't wait to see you because, you've presented them with some yummy, don't know if it's activities or just, the way your office works, it's got to be great for not just the profession, but. the world and people that need dentistry because it's such a big part of our, overall health and people are afraid to come.
Jessica: No, exactly. I just think it's almost like, if you could perform a surgery on someone and you could either do it in a painful way. Or you could do it in a not painful way. I mean, this is taking it to the extreme, right? But that's almost how I see it. Like, why wouldn't we do it in the non painful way?
Like, it's almost, silly that we would just make them grin and bear it. Why not make it better and make it feel More enjoyable.
Anne: it doesn't make sense. And you know, and honestly we can and being in the clinical side and I'm sure your husband hears this. I hate going to the dentist.
It's the worst. I'd rather go to the, OBGYN than go to the dentist. And this is my least favorite place in the world. I mean, like we hear that all the time. They say that, that's one of the reasons the suicide rate for dentists is high is because you hear that over and over. But tell me a few of the things that you do, like if you're doing a workshop and you're going in what are some of your tricks of the trade to calm someone down?
And especially the kids. You start young. tell us some of your protocols.
Jessica: Yeah, no, I love that because not that we can't help adults, and I love helping adults through it, but I would love to create a generation of people that isn't scared of the dentist, that it has a different mindset about it.
the biggest thing I think initially is just really giving teams the opportunity to tool to inquire about the patient, right? To ask those questions. And usually it's on an intake form because we don't have time to sit and have a lengthy conversation about all this stuff with every single patient.
But it's important questions on intake about different triggers there might be for the patient, whether it's sound, whether it's seeing instruments, whether their teeth are sensitive, what are those triggers for the patient? They can quickly identify what those are. The patient now feels understood, right?
They've been able to say, wow, they asked me these questions that aren't typically asked they understand me a little bit better. That feels mindset wise, a lot better as a patient coming in than just, I'm going to have to maybe tell them I'm scared. will I have the courage to tell them or will they be able to tell?
So I think that's the first step. And then in terms of, I call them amenities, I don't have a better word for it, but it's kind of like, it's kind of what they are. Yeah. the favorites are heated neck wrap. It's got a little bit of weight to it, which can help sensory wise, but also that heat component for a lot of people is calming.
We also can put those neck wraps in the cooler. So they are cooled for people that are tend to run a little more. Hot when they come in blankets, love blankets, even if it's just something just to help you feel less vulnerable, Imagine sitting in somewhere in your swimming suit. I know that, you know, you wouldn't go to the dentist in your swimming suit, but that's kind of how you feel.
Like you're sitting there and you're, anxious and you're vulnerable, so having that cover of your body just feels a little better and weighted blankets. have been a huge hit for many of the offices I work with. Just that extra weight and as a hygienist, you've probably had people tell you to leave the x ray, bib on.
Yeah. It just that apron feels good. So a weighted blanket can serve as that, nice Grounded feeling for patients. And then obviously making sure they're comfortable in the dental chair. So there's the knee pillows and the neck pillows. I'm extremely short. typical dental chair doesn't fit me.
And if anyone's extremely tall, same thing, just making sure they're comfortable, if they're going to sit there for an hour, two hours, three hours, they don't want a crooked neck and they don't want back issues. Right. So. Those are really simple things, but then I love to even get deeper and, teach teams how to do like a mini massage and, a cool dye mask.
And it was really upping that pampered feel of that experience to help patients just go, wow, this is so great. Or a hot towel at the end, right? Just that elevated. Feel that they're not expecting because, you know, it's always great to blow them out of the water with what you can provide.
Anne: Well, it's kind of like being in a nice hotel. There's nothing like having a nice hotel and the concierge come up and, give you a, the cookies, like in the reception area or whatever. you know, And that's simple, It's a lot about kindness.
And understanding people, which would come from your psychology background of kindness being in the schools with the kids and starting them off on the right foot. It's a beautiful, simple thing that we can do across the board. And, love that you're starting to speak on this, Jessica, because I met you at jumpstart.
Yeah. And I haven't seen this from the front of the room much. So I think that it's something that you can bring with your gravitas of your degree and actually working in the office and then working with other, practices that can take on these, different amenities, just as you say, and verbiage too.
So I think some of that, can go a long way. you haven't changed the new patient form in your practice?
Jessica: I actually, I like to just add, I call it a comfort form. I like to just add a form in there. I know it's like patients are, Oh, I love that a
Anne: comfort form.
Jessica: Yeah. So that's basically that. form where patients can disclose, how they had a bad experience in the past, or are they completely comfortable? And then for kiddos, like you had mentioned, there are some other things to think about with kiddos because they tend to be a little more sensory sensitive.
So things like different textures can really bother them. The different tastes of things can be off putting for a lot of little ones. And then just all of the things that are happening around them, They don't understand, why are you have to wear gloves and why are you wearing that silly thing over your face?
what is this big machine coming at me? That's going to take this picture of my tooth, right? So they're more aware because it's probably a new atmosphere for them. So definitely asking pointed questions on that comfort form about what the history is and then what are those triggers?
What are those things that, just seeing something laying on a tray is going to just put that person off the chair and feeling anxious and, just. that patient feeling understood, even if they don't do anything different, even if there's no items that can make them feel comfortable and pampered, just knowing that the providers care is a huge thing.
Anne: Yeah,
Jessica: I love that.
Anne: That's why I like the name of the comfort form because it's like, oh, I never thought I would be comfortable in the dental office. This is really lovely. I've never heard of that. So I think that's just another little simple thing that people can do for their offices. So when you go into an office, are you expanding it?
Talking about the comfort and the anxiety and the, and how to make it a great experience. What else do you talk about when you go into an office to consult?
Jessica: Yeah, so I definitely like to educate the team about dental anxiety. You know, how to look for it because our patients are pretty good at hiding it sometimes.
So teaching them some nonverbals, teaching them ways to ask open-ended questions about how the patient's feeling. And then, you know, encouraging teams To be more compassionate, right? And to be more open. So to not say like, Oh, you're going to be okay. The person isn't going to be okay. Just like the little kid that skins their knee and they're crying and the mom says, you're okay.
giving them the language to acknowledge the person isn't okay, but you're going to do everything you can to help them. You're going to do a great job of giving them comfort. giving teams that language and understanding of, their words have power, every interaction has power.
And so if we're, asking patients to choose between our office or the one down the street, how are you going to stand out? And how, how do you want them to leave feeling? Because we all make buying decisions based on how we feel. And if we can help people feel better, then we can help them feel better.
We've solved so many of the issues that there are for the practice. And so just empowering each team member to understand their power, you know, in the patient interaction.
Anne: Yes. That's so beautiful. I could really see this, especially working in the pediatric offices. I just would love that because my granddaughters just went to the dentist and they loved it.
I was surprised. So I don't know what their office doing. So right. They probably had you come in and consult with them because they seem to really like what they were doing, but the heightened anxiety right now with sound and smell and all of those things, just begs us to not sweep that under the rug, but to bring it out, into the light and get to know the true patient and what's really happening we like to say is, dentist and hygienist and the dental professional, we are treating the whole patient as well, not to treat the mindset of the patient really
Jessica: underserves them, doesn't it? Exactly. and really, What I didn't realize would come from this because I'm not a clinician was really cool that what we realized that once we were able to help patients feel understood, help them be more comfortable.
They're actually easier to work on. it's like full circle, a calm patient is going to be more expansive. They're going to be able to open wider. They're not going to be as frantic. They're not going to have as many questions, right when their mind and their body is at ease, they're easier to perform dentistry on and so everybody wins.
It's just a matter of understanding it and how to provide this experience to help solve all those issues for the patient really when we can help the patient feel better. It feels better to be that provider to you and to be the clinician.
Anne: Yeah. And as a provider, that is the truth. there's some tools that I probably didn't have that I would have loved to have met you earlier, that I would have the same patient come in being very anxious.
And I would be like, oh God, there comes Joe again. That's going to be one of those appointments. I'm not going to be able to do my best work, you know, because he's fidgeting all over the, the chair. And you know, it's interesting. I just had a crown done recently and I hadn't had one for a long time.
And I thought, Oh, gosh, every dental professional needs to go in and get a crown because it is not all that comfortable, no matter how good you are. And wasn't even afraid or. I knew the tools. I love the people. That's my, old team and everything. I was like, I had nothing to be afraid about, but some point when they were doing that, it was like, how much longer are they going to, spend on this, yanking my, cheek out.
Those are all things that the normal person, lay person out there has absolutely no clue what they're doing. Right. And. I was a little anxious. I'm not going to lie. I was a little anxious in the whole two hour procedure.
And my crown is fabulous and it's beautiful and it's perfect. If you're doing the job, right. you need to
Jessica: take that time. Your head knew what was happening, right. And you knew it was good for you and all those things, but your body was telling you otherwise. Your body was saying, I want to be out of this chair.
This is uncomfortable. I, you know, we don't have any control over that the crown is going to take what it's going to take, we don't have any control that there's decay there and we have to get at it with the drill. But we do have control over those little things that we can do to make the body feel better, to help.
Anne feel more comfortable when she's getting that crown done. Right. And not be trying to get out of the chair. that's exactly it.
Anne: I'm just thinking back on it too, Jessica, this is so awesome because even the noise, I know what a drill sounds like, but when it's by your ear and it's on your number of.
15. I think it was, it was loud and it was like, there's a lot that we can do to settle a patient and let them know this is going to be loud. Don't worry about it, it's going to take a little bit of time just to walk them through some of those things.
Because. As a clinician, we care a little bit more, it's not about just, tapping it out, getting it done onto the next person. It's really about representing our profession and we should all represent it with more compassion and more real talk with the patient that's in the chair and you understand them.
beautiful that you're bringing that to light, not just about, the collections and butts in seats, but how do we take care of them?
Jessica: And really we didn't realize it, but by tuning into this, it has grown our practice substantially because. Like I said, case acceptance is much higher.
People aren't as apt to cancel or fail because they're nervous. They're like, I can do this. They're going to help me through this, And loyalty. Loyalty is huge because, our patients can't get that anywhere else. And so they're, you know, insurance changes, they move, they're like, You got me for life. I can go nowhere else. You spoiled them, right? Because we're doing it just a little bit better and making it so much better. So it does really help production and collections and all those other things. That's what I love about it. And honestly like, had no idea it would really solve all these pain points.
I just came at it from like, I'm a psychologist. I want to help people and they're nervous. Like, What can we do? So, I truly believe that when we do right by people, it comes back to us. And so, so, no, absolutely. And, And I'm a business owner too. Like we, run a very successful practice and I totally get that the numbers have to be there.
It's a business. that's why I worked really hard to find things that are really affordable from the provider standpoint and very efficient to put into place. Because I understand the schedule is the schedule we have to adhere to that. We have to be profitable and all those things can still really be a part of the picture.
It's just that. Patients aren't feeling that they're feeling a different side of it, which is great.
Anne: Oh, I love it. I love it. It's so simple. It's so simple. sometimes they might say it's not that easy, but it really is easy. Made it sound easy. You made it sound delightful. So I would love to go to your practice.
What a great marketing tool, for somebody and also just a fun talk to come in help a practice, be able to do something that's so simple and so good for the people that, we love and serve in our practice. And, that's going to really, up your word of mouth, Word of mouth is the best advertising. I love my dentist. I know Travis used to have that little, I love my dentist, but I'm sure everyone loves your husband and the dental practice that you're in. And how can people find you if they want to have you come into their, practice and help them or get you on the speaking, tour or on their conference, tell us how we can get ahold of you.
Jessica: Yes. So my business name is Martin management. So I do have a website. It's martinmanagementllc. com and I'm still small enough that I'll respond directly to
email. So Jessica at martinmanagementllc. I would love to chat about your office.
I'd love to speak. I love to just share the word and let's take the stigma out of dentistry. Let's make it better for everyone.
Anne: I love it. And I think together we can do that. So thank you so much, Jessica, for joining us today. You are a bright light in our dental world, and we look forward to seeing you on a stage or in an office soon.
Thanks everybody for joining us for another Just Do It podcast. This is Anne Duffy signing off, and remember, keep doing you. Thanks guys. Bye bye.
