Common Craft Blog
What A New Dentist Taught Me About Explanation
By leelefever on December 07, 2008 - 3:26pm
Over my life as a dental patient, dentists have told me to pay close attention to brushing the back of my bottom front teeth. Unfortunately, this piece of professional advice had a hard time getting into my daily routine. That changed recently - I'm now much more likely to brush these teeth - and it's because a new dentist took an extra 30 seconds to explain something important - why.
There I sat, with a small liquid vacuum cleaner hanging off my jaw, waiting for the dentist to check in on the work of the hygienist. After some poking around, he said "you need to take some extra time to brush the back of your front teeth and the outside of your upper molars." Yeah, yeah, I'd heard it before... brush better whatever. He then said "Do you know why that needs extra care?" Hmm. No. "It's because those teeth are positioned near your saliva glands, which are constantly pushing saliva on them, causing them to decay more quickly." Whoa. I had no idea.
It was like a new world of dentistry opened before my eyes. It only took a couple of sentences to change the way I think about how my mouth is built and become motivated to prevent my own anatomy from working against me. The dentist didn't just give me some abstract command to be a better tooth-brusher, he made sense of it - he gave me a way to see why.
Better Oral Health
It's funny you should mention that, my dentist mentioned that to me some time back as well.
I'm pretty good with dental health, brush, floss, etc, but build up in some people is common because according to my dentist, the mineral content of saliva is different between people and those that have a higher mineral content in their saliva tend to build up more plaque in those areas.
When my dentist was telling me this, the hygienist was there listening and mentioned she has the same issue. Her solution...not only does she brush after every meal, she flosses after each meal as well. Of course, when she smiled, you could tell she had healthy teeth and gums.
Mike.
This is a great philosophy
This is a great philosophy to incorporate into your daily life.
Especially when dealing with customers and clients. You should always have a reason available for them. If you're going to command them to do something then you should tell them why. Like when you were a kid and you got that dreaded "I told you so" answer. It was never good enough. Remember the ease you felt when you were old enough to get a better explanation than just "because." We want a reason because we deserve one, and clients are no different.
Great post!
It was quite some time ago,
It was quite some time ago, but it was explained to me that I opened my mouth too wide when brushing so I wasn't actually reaching back there well enough. "Close your mouth a bit." Five words that have gone a long way and I have since shared the same advice with my children since they started brushing their own teeth.
Health is a mosto value factor as human been
very good artical for every body who are more interest about teeth. thils adviec could sheare with all family
Always need the context.
I've been a good boy recently and started flossing brushing and rinsing my way to a better smile. Being British though I doubt I'll ever acheive the same standard as you guys over in the US!
It's interesting that all it takes to get a more positive response from someone is to give them some context. I've started to try and do this during every conversation.
If I'm asking someone to do something I'll take the time to explain why (Could you...because...). When I'm explaining risks I use a classic if/then approach (if...you do that...then your fingers will fall off)
People still say no but my percentage of yes answers is increasing.
But the Why needs to be compelling
The great thing about what your dentist told you is that it's clear, concise and gives you motivation.
However, if the why was less compelling, the explanation would fall short.
I recently read a post (but don't remember from where unfortunately) where both of a man's parents explained the why to him differently when he was a boy. At a banquet/wedding he would go for a second plate when he shouldn't. His mom told him it was bad manners to do so and his dad explained it this way: How do you think they plan these things? They have a certain number of people and they ensure they have that amount of plates. When you eat more than your share, someone goes without.
Now, I've simplified this but the point is that the Why must resonate. And that can be different for many people. The key is to finding the explanation that resonates with the most people.
Similar Experience ...
Lee,
I had a similar experience with my dental hygienist this year, too. But mine was about flossing ... and not why it was good to do, but about the technique. Flossing has always been a "pain" to do so it usually didn't get done. I expressed that sentiment to her and she made a recommendation. This time it wasn't just a recommendation (like using other flossing devices). It was more of an explanation.
The hygienist explained that most people try to floss with their index fingers. She continued to explain that males (with their larger fingers) tend to fumble in their mouths when flossing and get frustrated. She suggested to wrap the floss around my middle fingers and point my index fingers out when flossing. This actually works for me and I floss a lot more regularly now :)
That simple explanation made all the difference in the world for me.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Scott
"The Why"
Simplicity at its finest. With so much information coming at us all the time, this is a nice reminder of "why" we should be clear and concise. It works!
Great Insight
Little things like that is what makes you so good at explaining things. Picking up on what that dentist did differently makes all the difference.
Great post leelefever.
A simple explanation
In lieu of a picture, an explanation that answers the why is a strong motivator in many instances especially this one. Young children go through a stage of questioning, WHY?....and we as adults and teachers/mentors owe it to them, when possible to clarify. It may be tedious, but this is building a foundation to learning and it's not expensive, nor complicated. If we did this more perhaps learning problems in their futures will be diminished.
Toddlers and toothbrushing
Okay, speaking of toothbrushing, your post made me think about the importance of brushing our little ones' teeth. But how on earth do you get a toddler to cooperate with toothbrushing?!? Feel free to share ideas!
Maybe I need to start a blog post on this topic to get suggestions, lol
Momma
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http://www.engineeradebtfreelife.com/
The reason is important for the memory
Great example, not heard that one before, but do I find myself asking the dentist why.
Sometimes I wish I hadn't like for example where the needle goes in the lower jaw...
I also know that as I get older the 'why' when going to the dentist is more relevant than it was when I was younger.
When I was younger I was happy to get through the dentist check without a care as to why.
As I got older then the circumstances might dictate how 'interested' I was when at the dentist, how busy I was, how much it would affect me now rather than later.
What is important for my learning is for someone to explain in a simple way why.
In this example the words are enough to get the strong message.
That is what makes your videos are so powerful, you explain in simple ways visually and with strong examples to demonstrate the why...
Just a little extra effort
is all it takes. This story ties is well with what you do. Giving a simple explanation is so much more effective than barking something at someone.
My dentist visit
Here recently I went to the dentist for the first time in a couple of years. Come on, you can't say that you have never skipped a couple of visits to the dentist. Anyways, since I am self employed as a mortgage broker I didn't have an dental insurance. Boy that was a bad idea! As it turns out, I have a couple more cavities than I anticipated and the bill was a real wallet emptier. So, I know now not only to brush better, but always keep up with your dentist visits.
Dentists Get real
It just isnt sustainable any more. I didnt go to dental school to give explanations, I'm paid to practice my craft not give advice. Everybody knows to brush their teeth and not eat too many sweets.
Simple Explaination
When I was younger I had a dentist give me a quick and simple explaination - he told me to only brush the teeth that I wanted to keep. It worked, I still have all of them.
2-minute timer
What worked for me is a 2-minute timer. It came in a package with a toothbrush. I bought two sets for my kids, who never used them (of course), so I started to. I get rave reviews from the hygienist and dentist. Believe me, two minutes of brushing is a LONG time; you get to every external part of every tooth just to pass the time.
Simple Explanation
That is excellent - I love it
Good Advice, Bad Information
I am a dentist, and while I understand that the point of your posting was to demonstrate the importance of explaining the reason for an action, I could not in good conscience let your information go uncorrected.
You see, pushing saliva onto teeth is not the reason for cavity formation. In fact, that could not be farther from the truth. Saliva consists of protective minerals and proteins that work to strengthen the outer layer of the teeth (the enamel), not to weaken them. The reason for the build-up of tartar is that saliva is not selective...it make the plaque harder and stronger as well - thus the increased tartar accumulation.
If saliva caused cavities, we would all have cavities all the time. The reason many elderly people experience an increase in cavity incidence is that many medications are anti-cholinergic in nature, and cause a drop in the production of saliva. Less saliva - more susceptibility to the acid attack of bacteria - more cavities.
I sincerely hope that you misunderstood what your dentist said, and that he/she is not passing that information off as the truth!
All that said, I sincerely agree with the application of why to any and all requests. Just seems to work out better.
The why: Great post for parents of toddlers
I have a 20-month old son.
Every day he teaches me the depths of love, and patience. Explaining the why is often inconvenient. And with a toddler, has to be repeated / followed-up on.
But as illustrated with most of the comments to this post - a simple, effective explanation can change a life.
Why explain why?
Because it's always (eventually) worth it.
Keep explaining, Lee.
How come my dentist never
How come my dentist never told me anything about this? Sheesh. This is now my trivia of the day. Thanks for sharing, Leelefever!
take care a teeth
take care our teeth not only with brushing everyday, but take a good care how important to take care about brush and part of teeth we have to know. a lot of thing with why can we know if we want to know or until someone tell us why and we know what we don't know like a dentist.