Rhona Eskander explains how she is ensuring she empathises with her patients and breaks down any barriers they have to dental treatment.
If you work in dentistry, are up to speed on the industry’s movers and shakers but haven’t heard of Rhona Eskander, then you haven’t been properly paying attention.
A multi award-winning dentist, the private practice owner has, since qualifying from Leeds in 2010, undergone extensive postgraduate training. She has also become a key opinion leader for numerous oral health companies, co-founded an eco-friendly toothpaste tab company and, where she can, provides much-needed pro bono dental care for refugees.
In 2015, she began practising at Chelsea Dental Clinic. She purchased the boutique practice five years later, since then she has created her signature ‘Chelsea look’.
Rhona was one of the first dentist adopters of Instagram and has developed a highly polished and engaging professional profile. As a result, she’s amassed a following of an incredible 108k. This makes her very much the darling of media outlets.
She’s often their ‘go to’ expert on dental treatments, regularly making TV appearances, featuring in beauty magazines, commenting in the national press, and interviewed frequently by health and beauty journalists for countless media platforms.
Her counsel is sought on aesthetic procedures, smile makeovers, teeth whitening and orthodontics (she’s a platinum level Invisalign provider).
In fact, so synonymous is she with the concept of a healthy smile as part of our overall wellbeing that beauty industries have showcased her own personal lifestyle as well as her business acumen.
Building an armour of steel
Rhona is smashing those glass ceilings with aplomb and seemingly blazing a trail for the women who follow in an industry not always kind to those on whom the spotlight shines.
As a consequence of the critical voices, she has seemingly developed an armour of steel. Although has been frank and open about her own mental health challenges on her Instagram account.
In fact, it is in this honest and immensely empathetic approach to her fellow human beings that seemingly passes under the radar. But, for Rhona, it’s very much where her strength lies.
An early advocate of ‘Slow Dentistry’, she’s a clinician who prides herself on delivering considered, minimally invasive treatments. She helps patients achieve the outcomes they desire. All whilst giving due consideration to other influencing factors as well as any trepidation.
She also has an innate understanding of people’s apprehension about a role she coveted from an early age, having enjoyed work experience with her dentist aunt.
Now a dental phobia-certified dentist, Rhona has a wealth of experience in delivering high-end cosmetic makeovers to her clients. But she also treats more challenging patients who present in the chair, often lacking the confidence and trust required to undergo the whole gamut of treatments she offers.
She has such a positive passion for her craft. It is difficult to see how she succeeds in connecting with those less enthusiastic.
But she is happy to dig deep and pull on her experiences both within and outside of the profession she so evidently loves.
‘Everything is science based’
‘Strangely, my empathy comes from my passion for the arts,’ Rhona says.
‘At school, I was into English literature and philosophy. The skills you develop learning those subjects is built on understanding the depth and dynamics of characters and how multi-factored human beings are.
‘This, in turn, helps me understand the complexity that comes with interacting with other people. This is not something we learn at dental school.
‘As clinicians, we are encouraged to treat everything scientifically. It is a very factual profession, so we look at disease and pathology and how to treat it and everything is science based.
‘But the mouth is attached to a body and people come to us with a plethora of issues, especially in aesthetic dentistry. So it is important to appreciate the complexity that comes with this.’
Empathising with patients
Empathy also comes in the form of active listening. Without these soft skills, Rhona believes dentists can lose patient’s trust at the first hurdle.
‘We should treat every single patient as we would family and friends. Break down barriers for those who fear the person behind the “scary” mask.
‘We should also avoid jargon and ensure we put things in layman’s terms and use phrases so our patients understand.’
Nudging towards digital dentistry
Arguably, the pandemic has nudged dentistry towards a more digitally-driven delivery – with technology playing a huge part in ensuring confidence in the chair.
For Rhona, the tools she uses to ensure this comfort are as key to her dentistry as her clinical choices. This is why The Wand has become a key component of every patient journey.
A system of anaesthesia delivery that is discreet (it’s shaped like a pen) and therefore less daunting to patients, The Wand, says Rhona ‘has been an incredible addition to my multi-specialist practice’.
‘One of the biggest barriers to dental care is the fear of injections and the needle.
‘The Wand is better from an aesthetic point of view. It doesn’t conform to people’s perceptions of what a needle looks like.
‘And because local anaesthetic (LA) is delivered slowly, it helps patients relax into the procedure.
‘Since I have to do a lot of LA, it’s been incredible in providing pain-free palatial injections. This means the teeth can be numbed and the temporaries removed quite easily. It allows the patient to see the full effect of the teeth in their mouth before they approve of the veneers.
‘This is an imperative part of what I do. Ultimately, The Wand has taken away that first barrier where people are worried that I am going to hurt them but, after using it, they trust me with the more invasive procedures later on.’
Embracing dentistry
The pandemic has made people more aware of the way they look and feel and gave them the time to ruminate on this.
Rhona says: ‘There is definitely now a willingness and openness to embrace healthcare. This has had a really positive impact on my business.’
Adopting the latest technology to ensure the best possible patient experience is evidently the way forward.
For more information on The Wand visit www.dentalsky.com.
