Dentists ‘changing their approach due to fear of online reviews’

Dental professionals are becoming increasingly concerned by negative reviews published online and are often changing the way they practise in order to reduce this risk.

This is according to a new report from the Dental Defence Union (DDU), which surveyed 90 members and found that 30.8 percent of those polled felt that online patient reviews were detrimental to the dentist/patient relationship.

By contrast, 28.6 percent felt the opposite, saying critical patient reviews could help dentists understand the needs of their patients. Half of the respondents stated said they had made some changes to their processes to avoid negative feedback, including making more detailed notes and communicating more carefully with patients.

Customer service issues were found to be the main reason for negative reviews, followed by competence or conduct issues and failures to treat patients.

The DDU responded to the findings by calling on dentists who are concerned about these issues to contact the union for advice.

Leo Briggs, deputy head of the DDU, said: "We speak to tens of thousands of members every year, so we can often pre-empt the kinds of problems that can cause members worry. Consequently, we encourage them to call for advice and support as early as possible."

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