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April 2009 | Dental Products Report
Word of Mouth

	Patients have the power,  but trials suggest they use it rarely.

Don’t panic… just push

Is there a new cure for anxiety-ridden patients?

by Thais Carter

What if I told you of a device that lowers your patient’s anxiety, boosts referrals, decreases cancellations and no-shows and improves productivity? According to Michael Edwards, The Dental Button does just that.

It may be a novel package, but over a year long trial The Dental Button has shown a substantial reduction in patient anxiety and an increase in productivity whether patients have mild, moderate or high anxiety.

The premise is simple: Many patients are anxious about dental procedures. The control The Dental Button provides drastically reduces their anxiety. As their anxiety is reduced, so is their perception of pain.

“Our industry is getting more competitive. Differentiation and patient centricity are leading factors in business growth,” Dr. Michael Edwards, creator of The Dental Button, said. “If, in a commodity-based dental market, I can differentiate through high tech and high touch, then I will have above normal success.”

Dr. Edwards’ research into psychology, describing the feeling of helplessness patients have while in the dental chair, were the stimulus for The Dental Button.

	Easy to use  The Dental Button can be installed quickly and easily in most operatories.

Dr. Edwards believes a product like this will help to increase patient tolerance of procedures as well as prevent cancellations and no-shows. The Dental Button hooks directly into a delivery system so that if the patient feels pain during a procedure or needs a break, he or she can push the button and stop the drill immediately. Testing with hundreds of patients over the last year confirms the button’s power to reduce anxiety and its potential to drive referrals.

But what about you, the dentist? Procedure interruption is a major concern. “Of the hundreds of patients who were suffering from anxiety and had the Dental Button in hand, very few pressed the button to stop the drill. These were the same people who previously would have been raising their hand to stop the dentist mid-procedure or need to be rescheduled and sedated. The most common reason for pressing the button was the anesthesia was wearing off. There was no mis-use reported.” Edwards said. “As for resuming the procedure, once the doctor has addressed the patient’s concern, he or she simply uses the foot reset switch and is up and running immediately.”

This soon-to-be-released product is currently in pre-sales at thedentalbutton.com, where you can get more information including patient feedback videos. 

Photos courtesy of The Dental Button.