Survey: Text messaging disrupts dental treatment

Aug 25, 2009

More than four out of five dentists surveyed by the Chicago Dental Society (CDS) revealed that patients send and receive text messages on their cell phones while receiving dental care.

The survey was conducted July 16-25 via e-mail among dentists in the CDS' Facebook fan page, according to the organization.

In addition to the dentists who said their patients regularly text in the dental chair, 46% said this habit hampers their ability to provide care, too. The high numbers of dental texters is also surprising given that 32% of the dentists indicated they have a cell phone/mobile device policy posted in a visible location in their office.

"We have signs up in the waiting room and directly in front of where the patient sits stating that they need to turn off their phones, but most simply ignore them," one survey respondent stated. Another dentist indicated texting or answering calls can be a real barrier to delivering care because "many times the patient sits up during treatment to answer a call or text."

But not every dentist views texting as a societal evil, the CDS noted. Cissy Furusho, D.D.S., a pediatric dentist in Chicago, said her young teen patients have mastered texting to the point that they don't even have to look down at their phone keyboard during treatment.

"This may surprise people, but most of my younger patients are far more polite than their parents," she said. "The kids never answer their phone in the chair while getting treatment, but it's very common for their parents to be holding lengthy conversations in the waiting room, making it sometimes difficult to discuss their child's care with them."

Even dentists who don't have a stated policy against texting and allow it say it still interferes with communication between dentist and patient.

"It's more difficult to communicate with a patient about recommendations," one respondent wrote.