Sir, wearing layers of obstructive personal protective equipment makes verbal and non-verbal communication much more difficult. Consequently, people who are deaf or have hearing loss may experience a disproportionate reduction in their quality of care, since mask wearing prevents lip reading and reduces clinicians' and nurses' speaking volume.1
I recently treated a patient with hearing loss, and found success using the 'LiveTranscribe' app which listens to the conversation in real time and instantly converts it to text which the patient can read on their phone.2 The app does have some issues deciphering dental jargon, however, all in all it is a great communication adjunct. Furthermore, we agreed on hand signals during procedures, adapted from the 'DentiSign' dental sign language tool. It is simple, can be learned in mere seconds, and makes a huge difference in patient care.3
It was recently reported that the NHS had received 250,000 clear face masks to support people with hearing loss.4 We should all hope this gets extended to dental practices because clear face masks could do the world of good for those often forgotten about in our new normal society.
References
British Dental Association. Coronavirus. Available at: https://bda.org/coronavirus (accessed November 2020).
Norback R. Live Transcribe for iOS Launches on Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Available at: https://medium.com/earagami/live-transcribe-for-ios-launches-on-global-accessibility-awareness-day-92cc9cf1f601 (accessed November 2020).
DentiSign. DentiSign: The Dental Sign Language. Available at: http://dentisign.weebly.com (accessed November 2020).
Bissett G. NHS receives 250,000 clear face masks to support people with hearing loss. Available at: https://www.dentistry.co.uk/2020/09/08/nhs-receives-clear-face-masks/ (accessed November 2020).
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Mistry, N., Gartshore, L. Hearing loss help. Br Dent J 229, 699 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-2458-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-2458-x