Self Concepts With Shilpa – Being A Dentist

Self Concepts With Shilpa – Being A Dentist

Dentistry is an extremely demanding job, both physically as well as emotionally. We have the unique ability of bringing out the best behaviour and at the same time the worst behaviour of people. We are the one who can reduce a 6 foot big strong man to tears. ….which I don’t enjoy but this makes me value the individual reactions objectively.

Being a dentist almost gets us to be seen as a freak with horns sticking out of our head….

Coming from India it took me a while to understand the culture and more over the patient psychology. When I started working here in the UK , for first few weeks in my settling down period, I noticed a common comment by the majority of the people as soon they walked in the room,. “I hate dentist …….by the way, nothing personal” To this comment, I’m always supposed to smile and say  “It’s okay I understand!” . …now tell me at least one profession where they would tolerate such a negative comment!

But now with experience I understand how vulnerable people feel in a dentists chair. So it’s in this moment of sheer exposed and charged up emotions,  I get to meet the real person hidden underneath all that bravado!.  And once we have crossed over the bridge and established a rapport , I get to interact with a wonderful human being. We all are same in one way or another.

I have been lucky to experience working in a dental practice in India and then here in the UK. People are same all over the world it’s just the way they react or respond to certain situations differs in form of their verbal communication . Human nature is almost same give or take few characteristics. Our circumstances determine the way we react or respond to certain situations. Dental practices are the best testimony to this.

I am passionate about what I do but more than that I genuinely enjoy meeting people and connecting to them. In my professional terms this is one of the most important part of building a rapport.

Building a good rapport is an integral part of getting a loyal customer base. Our practice has grown largely because our patient base has grown because of word of mouth. This reflects that the time I invest in the patients genuinely getting to know them has worked.

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Dr Shilpa Chitnis is the Practice Principal and Owner of Dental Concepts and also speaks on public forums on behaviour management and profiling. You can reach out to her on [email protected]. She will be talking about various aspects of human behaviour and relations which she has trained in professionally. Would really appreciate your feedback and comments regarding this section by Shilpa.