Undeniably, dentists who can provide informed pain management are highly sought after. Because pain is complex and specific to each person, there is no easy solution. Your goal is to create a sustainable and pleasant relationship with your patient through optimal care. We’ll see that many prejudices can hinder effective treatment, however, some new approaches can support you in your daily practice. Today, pain management is not only drug-based, it strongly involves the way you communicate.
Pain is a question of perception
Pain is a phenomenon produced by the brain, and there are as many ways to express pain as there are different people. Many factors contribute to pain’s variability: genetic inequality, gender, education, social background, culture, etc.
Since pain expression varies so much and depends on all of these components, empathy becomes trickier: people tend to only recognise pain they can identify with personally.
Practitioners need to overcome certain prejudices in order to avoid leaving a part of their patient base on the sidelines.
Pain experienced by women in particular is systematically underestimated and consequently, under-treated...
