Connecting with dental patients through the art of quilting

I was a shy girl growing up. That changed when I became a dental hygienist. Silence can become deadly for a patient, especially if they are nervous. Of course, if I could talk about dentistry and what was going on in their mouth I would, but a nervous patient often needs a distraction. Very often our conversations would divert to quilting. Patients often implied that if I could make award-winning quilts by hand, then they had the confidence that I had the fine motor skills to take care of their dental hygiene needs. This connection helped built trust and played a huge role in treatment acceptance as they trusted me like family. In fact, many of my patients have seen me for 20 years and switched practices to do so.

As I approached 35 years of practicing, I gradually reduced my hours and planned for retirement. Besides being passionate about my chosen career, I am obsessed with quilting. My employer encourages me to display my quilts at the front desk and in my operatory, which all the patients seem to enjoy.

Connecting quilting to patients

I wanted to show how much my patients mean to me and decided to collect ties from them to make a special quilt. What they showed me was how much I mean to them! The ties kept coming in. I had a patient in their 70s who brought in three ties from his late father who died when he was 14 years old. Another patient brought in her father’s ties neatly folded in a shoe box with tears in her eyes. These were precious gifts that were given to me, and I took this very seriously. Patients signed a label for the back of the quilt, and I included information about their loved one if applicable.

Connecting quilting to dentistry

My quilt design used many different concentric geometric shapes in a variety of bright colors. It wasn’t until I finished the red oval border that I got my idea on how to quilt it. The red oval looked like the lips of a large open mouth, and I knew that I needed to quilt with a dental theme. My mom’s response was, “You are going to ruin a perfectly good quilt!” It took over two years to complete, and my husband named the quilt “’Tie-ing’ Patients with Patience.” At its first competition it won a first-place ribbon as well as viewer’s choice! People enjoyed hearing the story of the quilt and finding all the hidden dental “treasures.”

Traditional hand quilting is often predictable, but I like to hand quilt with a more innovative approach. My quilt design included six different tooth-numbering systems, the tooth fairy, dental anatomy (uvula, tonsils, circumvallate papilla, tooth buds, permanent and deciduous dentition), restorative dentistry (braces, root canals), dental conditions (occlusal and interproximal decay, P. gingivalis, S. mutans, abscesses, impacted teeth), dental tools (air/water syringe, mirror), and dental hygiene products (toothpaste, mint floss, floss threaders). There is even an 18” strand of actual waxed mint dental floss on the back label! My patients enjoy finding their ties in the quilt and knowing that any lost loved ones have been honored in some small way.

The relationships that dental hygienists develop with their patients are both meaningful and impactful. I could not have chosen a better and more fulfilling career!

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in RDH eVillage newsletter, a publication of the Endeavor Business Media Dental Group. Read more articles and subscribe.