🐣☕️ The Oral Care Chit-Chat: Why did fish make our teeth so sensitive?

Imagine a little kid comes in for an appointment today and surprises you with this question: „Where do teeth come from?”.

What’s your go-to response?

A) You tell them a story about little seeds in their jaw that need healthy food and gentle care to grow and become super strong

B) You nonchalantly walk them through the five stages of odontogenesis

C) You go all the way back and say we have teeth because they used to grow on the skin of fish

Storytelling is obviously the best approach (learn more here), but you might be surprised to hear that all three are essentially correct. Even though B is just showing off and C just might give the kids nightmares.

New research from the University of Chicago looks to support the idea that teeth first evolved outside the mouth. Fossil analysis hints that the first tooth-like structures were sensory organs on the skin of fish that helped them be more sensitive to changes in the water. You can read more about dentin and ancient fish in this Nature study or in this New Scientist article.

Speaking of sensitive teeth, do you know how to recognise dental hygienists with a human-first approach? Their appointments take 10 more minutes, so they can talk to the teeth about their feelings.

How do you know if a study is relevant for your practice? You can start by checking if the research question is well-formulated. All good? Then go through the other nine tips in this guide. You can use them to double-check the study we shared above.

Today we have two book tips from Cassiana Tavares – a Portuguese psychologist coaching doctors and dentists in patient communication and care design at Tejo Saúde.

1. The Power of Habit

“An easy way to understand human behaviour through relatable examples. A great start for creating a human-first service to help our patients develop healthy habits.”

2. Patient-Perspective Care

“This book requires an honest interest in the topic to make the most out of it, but it’s the most promising paradigm in terms of patient experience at our practices. It’s based on a robust scientific approach yet clearly and concisely written.”

Want to have your recommendations featured in the next Chit-Chats? Here’s an easy 3-step guide to share your tips. If you tried before and had difficulties, try this link, we tried something different to make it smoother. In case you have some issues with the tool, feel free to reach out to: hello@curiosity.space

You’re going to want to clear your calendars! This is your invitation to unexpected chit-chats with high-performing oral care professionals🤝

Grab your spot

Ade🇨🇭🐠 See you next Monday and remember: All patients that leave your practice should leave with the feeling that you didn't just look at their teeth, but that you genuinely looked at them. 👀