Raabiha Maan explains how the principle of habit stacking can help you handle the emotional ups and downs of working in dentistry.
At 9am, a woman slammed the surgery door behind her, cheeks flushed. ‘Why can’t I have this on the NHS?’ she demanded. Ten minutes later, I was helping her breathe through her fear of needles and she was apologising for her anger.
By 11.30am, the next patient was grinning from ear to ear at their new smile, but it was a long and stressful case.
The very next patient quietly told me she’d lost her father, and we sat in that heavy silence together.
