Your waiting room sets the tone for your patients’ visits. It’s the first place they’ll be in your practice and can be a spot where a lot of your patients prepare themselves for what’s about to happen. For some, teeth cleaning is no big deal. For others, the anticipation of drilling and being poked at can be anxiety-inducing.
The right dental office music is the perfect way to move your patients towards feelings of relaxation without prompting them in any way. Some subtle tricks and tips can impact patient behavior in ways you may not expect!
Setting the right mood in your waiting room can create a more pleasant experience for everyone involved. To do this, however, you’ll not only need to know how to pick the best music for your dental office but also how to manage it conveniently.
Why does your dental office music matter?
The right dental office music playlist can combat dentophobia
Dentophobia is an extreme or excessive fear of the dentist. While most of us can say with confidence that we prefer not to deal with fillings and root canals, nearly 36% of Americans have a chronic fear of the dentist's office. About 3% of adults avoid visiting the dentist altogether due to this fear.
People with dentophobia can experience these feelings as a result of traumatic or stressful events in the past associated with anesthetics, blood or the feeling of choking during dental work. For others, sensory overload that stems from the noise of drill work can also be a trigger for feelings of stress and anxiety.
Nonetheless, oral health is an important part of well-being, and most adults are recommended to see their dentist twice a year. So, how can your office help anxious patients combat these feelings and receive the care they need?
Playing relaxing dental office music in the waiting room is just one way to help calm your patients. Research from Stanford University suggests that the effects of music can be as powerful as some medicinal treatments
Relaxing dentist office music can help bring your patients back to the present moment, make them aware of their feelings and feel more comfortable. Researchers recommend music with slow, steady beats to help calm listeners down. This includes light jazz and classical music, as well as stringed instruments and flutes. Natural sounds like thunder, storms and crashing waves have similar effects. These strategies are especially effective when they are paired with visual cues, like nature imagery.
Dentist office music helps employees too
An unavoidable truth about dental work is that it can be loud and tedious. While your patients may benefit from the anxiety-reducing effects of relaxing music, your hygienists and receptionists might prefer something more upbeat to get through the day.
Uptempo music has been linked to increased movement and reduced stress from activities. The right dentist office music can keep your employees’ energy levels up and help them complete their tasks promptly.
Music also has the added benefit of providing some privacy for staff and their activities. Music can reduce intrusive or annoying sounds, which is well-needed at a dental practice.
What is the best music for dental offices?
When it comes to picking the best music for your dental office, there are a few guidelines researchers recommend for targeting calming behaviors in patients.
Music that is 60 beats per minute can induce alpha brain waves, the brainwaves that are associated with relaxation and consciousness. While it can be difficult to determine music by this exact measure, music by the following artists has been shown to increase relaxation in listeners:
- Enya
- Coldplay
- Adele
- Mozart
Nature sounds have similar effects, and it’s likely not a surprise to most of us that this is the case. Reconnecting with nature is a common calming strategy and has been shown to reduce our “fight or flight” instincts. In a study of 117 adults, five minutes of calm nature sounds was shown to activate the part of the brain that increases awareness of external conditions.
This means that listeners spend less time fixating in their mind, reducing anxiety. So, if your nervous patient is reading, watching a screen or playing a game on their phone, the relaxing sounds of a babbling brook can help them fixate on the task at hand rather than the anxiety of their next filling.
UPshow Premium Audio helps build your atmosphere
Pair your music and digital signage in one platform
Dental office music can have a huge impact on the atmosphere, especially when it comes to reducing patient anxiety. Your digital displays offer a lot to your environment, but why not add music to the mix, too? With UPshow Premium Audio, you can couple your digital signage with music channels!
Picking an all-in-one signage and music solution for your office is the easiest way to synchronize media in your practice. You can play relaxing nature sounds and accompany them with corresponding natural imagery to create a rounded experience.
You can get started streaming music from your on-premise TVs in minutes. Just choose your station and your music will play seamlessly with your digital displays, enhancing the audio-visual experience of your dentist's office.
Pick from a wide variety of dental office music playlists
While recommendations for how to leverage music to combat patient anxiety exist, picking the right dental office music playlist and the resultant listening experience can depend on who your patients are. For example, playing classical music in a pediatric dental office may be ill-fitting.
Fortunately, it’s easy to create an effortless listening experience with UPshow Premium Audio. With 50 channels of fully licensed, commercial-free music, you can pick the perfect listening experience for your practice. It’s as easy as picking a curated station with the music of your selected genre.
Here’s how you can add variety to your listening experience:
- Play a classical or easy listening station when you have high-anxiety patients
- Boost everyone’s mood after a long day at the office with today’s top hits
- Get your office in the holiday spirit with curated holiday stations
Control the best music for your dental offices from one location
You may have more than one practice, but your patient experience should be consistent.
If you’ve built an established list of patients, they likely expect the same quality and level of care that your practice has to offer wherever they are receiving service. A consistent patient experience isn’t just about the dentist they are seeing, it’s also about the atmosphere and experience they have in your dental practice.
UPshow makes it easy for you to ensure that all of your patients feel comfortable and calm wherever they receive care. UPshow Premium Audio offers advanced features that make it possible for administrators to select and play the best music for dental offices, regardless of their location. It’s the perfect way to ensure that your waiting room is in line with your brand.
There’s no need for guesswork or discretion from your reception staff, all you have to do is pick the station you want to stream across your location. It ensures that everything your practice plays is fully licensed, ad-free and appropriate.
Try out a demo of UPshow for your dental office music
Your patients deserve quality care in a practice that makes them feel comfortable and calm. Choosing the right dental office music playlist helps create the perfect environment for anxious patients; this is easy with UPshow Premium Audio’s 50 channels of ad-free licensed music from a range of genres. It’s the perfect solution to pair with your dynamic digital displays for a rounded waiting room experience. Ready to get started? Try a risk-free demo today!
