Healthy Mouth Baseline: What Every Patient Should Expect From Their Dentist
What sets dental practices apart? They do what the average practice does not–center their practice around servicing the patient.
A patient should expect the following from their dentist and hygienist:
- A world-class environment
- Healthy mouth baseline (HMB) agreement
- Soft tissue and hard tissue standards of care
- Indepth education
- Follow up
Let’s examine each point individually.
A world-class environment comes from the dental office’s commitment to a higher standard of patient service. These offices model themselves from the great services companies, not just in dentistry, but also in other industries. Companies that top dental offices model are The Ritz Carlton, Bloomingdales, Hotel Spas, and so on.
A health-mouth baseline (HMB) agreement is the commitment of a dental office to work with their patient ensuring that before treatment is suggested, a exhaustive assessment of the patient’s mouth is performed to prevent any future problems or issues. An example of not establishing HMB would be placing a crown without dealing with internal decay.
Building on HMB, the dentist and hygienist should examine both your soft and hard tissue (gums) to establish the proper standard of care. If for some reason your gums are not healthy, they should insist on treating any issues to bring you up to a health mouth basline.
Dentists and hygienists know a lot about dentistry, but that does not necessarily mean you do. A top dental office will explain and educate you your mouth and the different options for treatment. We even wrote a free dental guide. Feel free to download one below this post or here.
Lastly, you should expect a follow up. Does your dentist or his/her assistant call you after treatment? Do they schedule your next visit right away? Do you get praise or rewards when you refer?
To learn more about the Health Mouth Baseline, these source may be helpful.
