After the multiple-month lockdowns of 2020 people are clamoring to see a dentist. The high-demand combination of essential dental services and elective cosmetic work has many clinics booked to the teeth, so to speak. But while you’re taking care of hundreds of patients per month you may be impacting your own physical functioning. For this reason, regular physiotherapy should become an integral part of your life. Here’s why.
3 Reasons Why Dentists and Dental Practitioners Should Make Physical Therapy a Part of Their Normal Health and Wellness Regime
Dentists Experience a Distinct Set of Injuries
If you assumed the technically proper squatting body position when attending to patients they (and your dental hygienists) would look at you very strangely. Instead, you find yourself leaning, twisting, and hunched over when inspecting the oral cavities of those who sit comfortably in your chairs. You also have to elevate your arms and perform intricate movements with your wrists and fingers which adds a lot of stress to the joints and ligaments that connect the carpal, metacarpal, and “finger” bones in your hands. Repeating this on a daily basis results in cumulative trauma, injury, and chronic pain.
Here is a general list of chronic pains commonly experienced by dental professionals:
- Neck pain
- Lower back pain
- Upper back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Wrist pain
- Hand pain
- Referred pain in the elbows, hips, forearms, ankles, and more
If you experience any (or some combination) of the chronic pains detailed above then you will not be able to care for your patients with the expert hand that they are accustomed to for much longer. Do them and yourself a huge favor by making physiotherapy a part of your ongoing regime. Regular physiotherapy sessions will not only repair an existing injury, it will prevent them from reoccurring, while keeping other potentially harmful injuries from happening in the first place.
Set an Example for Your Clinic’s Staff
Your clinic has dental hygienists, dental assistants, laboratory technicians, and receptionists, and if you are a part of a group practice there are also colleagues in the mix. When you see a physiotherapist on a regular basis you can set a grand example for all others in your clinic setting.
Your staff and fellow professionals experience relatively the same overuse injuries and subsequent forms of chronic pain. So while you may be a fine-tuned machine after a number of sessions with a physiotherapist, they will not be. One weak link in the chain is like a abscess tooth in the oral cavity that is your clinic. The results may include excessive use of sick days, extended leaves, lower productivity, and poorer patient care.
Not only can you lead by example, you can initiate a group physiotherapy program for your staff and colleagues. If your clinic is located in the Greater Vancouver area please contact Absolute PhysioCare to discuss corporate plans.
Help You Enjoy Hard Earned Leisure Time
You help people from all walks of life on a daily basis and therefore deserve the reward of leisure time. Not to generalize, but there’s a good chance that this leisure time involves swinging a golf club or tennis racket. If that’s the case, your physiotherapist can also make sure that your physical functioning is optimized for both activities so that you can be more competitive on the green, hardcourt, or clay. View more on how physiotherapy can improve your golf or tennis game. Of course, not all dentists spend their Sundays immersed in those activities, but as you know regular physio will also ensure optimal performance for all others – including jogging, hiking, swimming, paddling, or whatever else it is you do to wind down from a long week in scrubs or lab coats.
In the same manner that you recommend that patients come in for a check-up more often, you too need to see a physiotherapist more than twice a year. Contact Absolute PhysioCare for an initial consultation to get started.