Clear your mind – yes, really!

It's easy to have a mental brown-out in the dental office.

You had what you thought was going to be an easy extraction booked in at 10.00am. But, the bone turned out to be hard like concrete and the roots turned out to be crumbly like chalk.

You finally get it done but you're 20 minutes late and sweating. You've kept a new patient waiting way past their appointed time and the staff are getting antsy.

What to do?

The temptation is to rush on ahead trying desperately to catch up but I'm going to suggest something slightly different.

Before seeing any patient – but especially a new patient and especially when you feel under pressure – take a moment to clear your mind. If you don't then you will very likely make mistakes and have trouble truly understanding what the patient has to say.

All you have to do is stop for a few seconds, take a breath, slow down and let whatever went before drop away.

Some people call it mindfulness. I just think of it as mentally clearing the deck before taking on some new work.

I've done it for years and find the benefits are three:

• I'm less stressed at the end of the working day.

• I'm less tired at the end of the working day.

• I make better connection with the patients – I understand their needs much better.

It doesn't take long. Just 5 seconds or so after each patient. You should try it.