There are a growing number of clinics that seem to focus only on the “bottom line” – seeing as many patients as possible per day – which puts them and their patients at risk. Slow Dentistry is aimed at creating a global network of like-minded dentists, dental surgeons, clinicians, practice managers or small business owners and hygienists that want to distinguish themselves from their peers in their region by committing to practising a form of dentistry that is patient-centric in terms of hygiene and safety. To achieve that, 4 very simple and universally accepted cornerstones were created that can be applied in any country, under any circumstance and do not require any special technology or training. 

The premise is for this work ethic to be as ubiquitous as possible and allow the largest number of members to join. We believe that dentists who practise the 4 Slow Dentistry cornerstones, taught in every school around the world, care a little bit more for themselves, their team and their patients and, as such, practise higher standards of care. They are different from those that focus on filling out paperwork and performing treatments simply for profit. A Slow Dentistry clinic usually works with less stress and is more profitable in the long run. Slowing down also brings greater work-life balance and immediate benefits for mental health. We are not about working slow. We are about working safe.

Slow Dentistry was founded in 2015 by Dr. Miguel Stanley and Nina Blaetler. Our website domain, slowdentistry.com, was first registered in 2010, and the European trademark was registered in March 2015. It started as a grassroots movement that was shared on stage thanks to Dr. Miguel Stanley’s extensive international lecture circuit, which contemplated advanced implant dentistry and cosmetic dentistry, backed by digital dentistry.

Dr. Stanley’s focus has always been on doing things properly and ethically, and whenever he spoke about Slow Dentistry, the feedback was always amazing. Soon, many like-minded clinicians demonstrated their interest in the movement and were invited to be Honorary Global Ambassadors and asked to help spread the word. Before the pandemic of 2020, the message of slowing down to properly disinfect rooms in between appointments was easily overlooked by many practitioners who were more focused on seeing as many patients as possible. We now know how crucial it is to properly disinfect between consultations. 

Nina Blaetler has extensive experience in education and is a lecturer at Zürich University, and it has been her lifelong ambition to build impactful organisations. After a bad experience at a dentist many years ago, who did not follow our simple cornerstones, she felt compelled to change this so that patients around the world all get a fair chance at safe and quality oral healthcare.

The Slow Dentistry work ethic is supported by the 4 Slow Dentistry cornerstones:

1. Room Disinfection
2. Proper Anaesthesia
3. Rubber Dam
4. Informed Consent

Read more about our cornerstones here.

We have received hundreds of emails from dentists around the world affirming that if they were to practise Slow Dentistry, they would not be able to meet their financial obligations at the end of the month. Many clinics also work with government programmes where they are obliged to meet a certain standard of units of care per month. Dentistry should never be about just making profit or complying with a statistic. Dentistry is a noble science that is aimed at providing care to patients that trust us to do the best for them. A patient should not have to be concerned if you are going to make rash decisions that could lead to poor quality healthcare or worse, the possibility of cross-contamination. 

If you work in a clinic that does not allow you to place a rubber dam to protect your patient’s tooth from saliva, or from the materials you are using, then it might be time to change that. If you own a clinic that is more focused on seeing 30-40 patients a day per chair in order to keep costs down and profits stable, then it might be time to change your business strategy – this is not what you learned at dental school or university, and your patients deserve basic quality care. 

Implementing the Slow Dentistry cornerstones adds no more than an extra 15-20 minutes to each consultation time and dramatically improves the levels of quality and safety, while also reducing stress in the workplace. Perhaps you might have to raise your fees a bit to compensate for this. Even if you have to charge extra for a rubber dam, feel free to do so but at no point should it not be made available to patients. Maybe you will have to start talking to your patients about safety more. Especially after the global pandemic, we are certain that patients do not want to take risks with disinfection protocols. Safe, trustworthy and gold standard oral healthcare is crucial to patients.

In the long run, Slow Dentistry clinics are more productive, more profitable and have better results. They also have happier patients. Maybe it’s time to make a change?

Many practitioners have alerted us to the fact that they have already been practising the 4 cornerstones throughout their careers. They feel that they shouldn’t have to pay to become a member of an organisation that is doing something that is part of their personal philosophy. To all those dentists, we applaud you! However, you are probably alone in your region and have difficulty explaining to your patients why other clinics can offer cheaper prices for what seems to be the same procedure. By becoming a Slow Dentistry member, you can very easily explain to your patients that the extra time you invest comes at a price. But never at the cost of their safety or hygiene. 

It becomes a very practical way to explain that clinics offering similar, yet much cheaper services, are most probably cutting corners on safety measures such as the rubber dam or disinfection times in between appointments and that is why they can charge less. Joining us will help you win this discussion.

Dentistry is becoming more and more advanced in terms of technology. This is fantastic, as we now have tools that can help us speed up and diversify our protocols and processes. It might seem confusing to have the entire industry talking about the benefits, in terms of speed, that technology can afford us and then be a part of the Slow Dentistry Global Network. One thing we have learned from all of our members is that it takes a lot of time to adequately select the right technology for your clinic, to set it up, to properly use it, and then to train your team. Most patients take things for granted. The truth is, for every new piece of technology in a clinic, things actually tend to slow down in the beginning precisely because it takes time to adapt.

It takes time for you to implement these technologies into your workflow and really maximise them. It takes time to properly use an intraoral scanner. It takes time to properly analyse a cone beam CT or design a smile on a specific software. Yet all of these things greatly improve the treatment workflow, quality and outcome. Yet you have no way of explaining to your patient how valuable that extra time really is. This is what Slow Dentistry is all about. Giving value to that time.

Compliance is one of the most common questions we get. Until we have devised mechanisms using the Internet of Things that can monitor and control, without being invasive or infringing upon privacy, we will be dependent on the integrity of our members to commit faithfully to their word, based on the ethical principles that guide all doctors and dentists, going back to our Hippocratic oath “do no harm”. 

Our 4 cornerstones help you keep track of this. By applying them, you will be in effect, “doing no harm”. We also believe that thanks to our continuous promotion, aided by our member clinics around the world, the public will gain a bigger perception of what we stand for. As such, in due course patients will be able to spot the dos and don’ts of a member clinic. Much like they do if a clinic promotes reduced waiting times, yet they are kept waiting. The public is becoming more aware of their rights, and at Slow Dentistry we urge patients to share both their negative and positive experiences. Be sure to drop us a line.

Dentists have one of the most stressful professions in the world, suffering from chronic burnout, depression and even suicide. Slow Dentistry believes that it is not the profession that is causing extreme stress, but the way that we manage our day-to-day practice. We believe that it is the over-stacking of patients and trying to completely fill our agendas striving for profit, credits or even simply to help others. 

Whatever the reason, the truth is as humans, and as dentists, we cannot take on such heavy workloads with such a difficult and complex job at hand. Especially because we are also treating humans, and each patient is a completely different individual with different energies, health issues, psychological issues and the array of problems they could have in their mouth is immense. 

In addition to improving the standards of oral healthcare in practices across the globe, thanks to our easy to implement cornerstones, Slow Dentistry wants to ensure that by slowing down, you and your team will have more time to take a breather and engage with your patients, experience less stress, enjoy your practice more and establish a strong work-life balance with immediate benefits for your mental health. Slow Dentistry always gives you something to smile about.

The Slow Dentistry Mental Health Hotline was created by a group of caring professionals within our network that are committed to talking to any member that is suffering from burnout, extreme stress, depression or worse, in complete confidentiality. We have set up a list of colleagues that you can email at any time with your problems and to whom you can safely give out your WhatsApp number. They will reach out within 24 hours to talk to you and help you with your issues. Slow Dentistry is 100% committed to the mental wellbeing of all our practitioners.