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DEMANDING TIMES DEMAND DISCIPLINE AND PERSEVERANCE

The world continues to struggle to come to The situation however, seem to be brighten-
terms with the upshot of the pandemic. We ing up now. Going by our own Dental
live through these extraordinary times in Practice Covid Impact Survey, more than
which an astonishing amount of writing has 60% dentists have conveyed that their rev-
appeared and continues to do so on the enue collection is between 50% to 75%, of
impact of Covid on our life. The sheer what is was the same time last year, before
amount of content created on Covid is the Covid outbreak.
DR. SUSHANT UMRE
incredible. Be it professional journals or
mainstream journalism, both print and But it’s been horrendous to perform dental
“EMPATHY IS A COGNI- online, television and social media, the pan- surgery wearing all that suffocating protec-
TIVE ATTRIBUTE, NOT A demic still occupies almost all platforms of tion, like multiple masks, face shields etc.
PERSONALITY TRAIT”. public and private discourse. So it’s hard not With our eyes often watering and glasses fog-
CLINICAL EMPATHY IS to deliberate on it as I begin to write my first ging, we operate on people who are awake
editorial of 2021. and nearly always nervous. To top it all our
THE ABILITY TO STAND high speed machines need to stay precise and
IN A PATIENT’S SHOES Now we have a vaccine. The latest discussion drill only the required dental tissues and stay
AND CONVEY AN is on its safety and efficacy. As far as usefulness away from delicate anatomic structures and
UNDERSTANDING OF is concerned, time will only tell. As a benefici- organs like a tongue, which has its own
THE PATIENT’S SITUA- ary of the first dose and waiting for the second mind.
shot, can I have my guard down? Definitely
TION AS WELL AS THE
DESIRE TO HELP. not. With stories of newer deadlier strains of Though, unlike our colleagues from the
the virus emerging and reinfections in Covid other medical fraternities, masks and gloves
recovered patients, and with the example of come easy to us. We have been wearing pro-
the developed world under siege, I don’t think tection against viruses for a long time. But
we can have our guard down for a long time the addition of N95s and face shields have
to come. And as far as safety of the vaccine is been quite stifling.
concerned, I am quite sure it’s safe. With
minor side effects and sporadic reactions It’s natural to feel burnt out in these very
which possibly all inoculations have, Covid demanding times and losing it on your
vaccine seems to be quite innocuous. patients, auxiliary staff and family, which is
unfair to all these people. Practice empathy,
Amongst the medical professionals, we den- how much ever exasperated you get. I have
tal surgeons were probably the hardest hit by read somewhere “Empathy is a cognitive
Covid 19. Firstly, because this virus is known attribute, not a personality trait”. Clinical
to get transmitted mainly by the oropharyn- empathy is the ability to stand in a patient’s
geal route. Hence patients were and are shoes and convey an understanding of the
frightened of visiting us, dreading getting patient’s situation as well as the desire to
infected in our clinics. We ourselves are a help. Clinical empathy was once dismissively
worried lot of caregivers, anxious not to get known as “good bedside manners” and tra-
infected from the patients. But the good ditionally regarded as far less important than
news is that there is not one dental office till technical acumen. Increasingly, empathy is
date that has been reported or identified as a now considered essential to establishing
hot spot across the world. trust, the foundation of a good
doctor–patient relationship. In my opinion,
The business aspect suffered, with the scarce empathy helps us to stay calm and stay
footfall of the patients, meaning lesser work happy.
amounting to lesser income, whereas, on the
other hand there has been an additional Isn’t that a happy pill to swallow?
expense towards disposables.

Dental Practice // January-February 2021 // Vol 17 No 4 65