Suffolk dental practices hoping to make patients feel less anxious by introducing Basil the beagle to treatment rooms
A host of dental practices in Suffolk are taking part in a pilot programme to determine the efficacy of using pet therapy to help patients feel more relaxed.
Community Dental Services CIC have welcomed a new recruit to the team in the form of Basil the beagle. Basil, who is six years old, is specially trained, and he will join his owner, senior dental nurse, Jacci Plant, at work over the coming weeks. CDS-CIC runs eight dental clinics in the region, and the team is hoping that having Basil around will help to ease anxiety and make the prospect of going to the dentist less stressful for nervous patients.
Jacci has been interested in pet therapy for a long time, and she recently decided to train as a pet therapy practitioner. She said that Basil has the perfect calm temperament, and she wanted to see if he could make a positive difference in the same way as dogs that have been used previously in other clinical settings. Dental therapy dogs are used widely in the US, and recently, Australian dentists have started introducing pets to nervous patients. Therapy pets have been proven to reduce anxiety significantly, and they can be particularly comforting for children and patients who have additional needs.
Jacci has been working for CDS for 17 years and she is looking forward to introducing Basil to patients the team feels may benefit from interaction with a new canine friend. Basil can accompany patients to the dental chair and stay with them if they would like him to. They can pat and stroke him while they have treatment, and hopefully, this will help them to feel calm and more confident and comfortable.
The pilot has been welcomed by local dentists, including Susan Gonsalves, from Chantry Clinic in Ipswich, who described it as a “brilliant idea.”
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