How your dental team should handle the everyday medically complex patient

About this episode

This episode discusses how dental teams should adapt to the increasing prevalence of medically complex patients and improve communication and understanding within the team.

The medically complex patient is no longer the exception in dentistry — it's the new normal. In this episode of the DrBicuspid.com podcast, Editor-in-Chief Kevin Henry sits down with DrBicuspid hygiene editor Dr. Kelly Tanner, PhD, RDH, to talk about how the entire dental team needs to be thinking differently about the patients walking through the door. Dr. Tanner breaks down why the medical history form is far more than paperwork — it's a decision-making tool that the front desk, assistants, hygienists and doctors all need to be reading together. She explains how a patient's medication list can explain nearly everything the clinical team is seeing in the mouth, and why systemic literacy has to be a whole-team skill, not just a clinical one. The conversation also covers how trust shapes patient disclosure, how morning huddles can help teams get ahead of complex appointments, and why communication — truly reading and connecting with patients — may be the most undertrained skill in dentistry today. What's covered: Why the "routine" dental patient is increasingly rare How the medical history form should function as a team communication tool The connection between medications and…

People in this episode

Host: Kevin Henry

Guest: Dr. Kelly Tanner

Topics covered

• medically complex patients
• dental team communication
• patient care
• medical history forms
• systemic literacy
• trust in patient disclosure

Keywords

• medically complex patients
• dental team
• communication training
• medical history
• patient care
• medication list
• trust
• systemic conditions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DrBicuspid

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