Noise-induced Hearing loss in Dentists

Hearing Noise or Useful Listening?

Rebecca K. Horton, RDA

In the dental office, we are bombarded by noise all day long.  Did you ever stop to think how tired this makes you at the end of the day?

What if you could hear what you need to hear without all the distraction and exhaustion of that ceaseless, noisy racket?

What if instead of getting annoyed before lunch because you had a crying child patient, or kids in the reception area talking loudly, or doorbells, ringing phones, equipment in a ceaseless din, you had the serenity of speaking quietly to the patient you are working on and to the assistant you are working with?  Would that make a difference in your life?

I can remember when we installed Theta Systems’ color-coded call system so we wouldn’t be yelling at each other.  We would simply push the colored button and that person would appear.  Right?  Yes.  And then there were times when we all abused that system.  We’d lay down on that buzzer because we were already stressed out by 9:30 AM.  The day goes downhill from there.  You buzzed in an aggressive fashion, then the person responding caught your stress, then stress multiplied like Gremlins who ate after midnight. 

So all day long the stress breeds more stress until at the end of the day when you should be celebrating making it through the day successfully, you are so pissed off you can’t think straight. 

What do you have to lose?  What do you have to gain?  Is it possible to not be exhausted at the end of the day?  Or, if you’re tired, why can’t it be a good tired? Why would you not move mountains to gain control of this situation that repeats itself day in and day out in dental offices around the world?

The solution does not cost much.  How much does it cost to be exhausted and angry instead of peaceful and happy?