On Being Diplomatic:

[Optixx]

I'd like to hear all you friendly, funny, sometimes sarcastic Optiboarders give me a polite version on how to tell a patient his breath stinks so bad I am about to hurl on his shoes, to please stop asking questions as his breath smells like something died inside his mouth!

[Geirskogul]

You pull the "Am I a dentist? No, I'm an Optometrist" schtick with, perhaps, a "how often do you brush?" question followed up by "Oh, I mean 'how often do you change your cl solution?'", but only after you wait long enough to see his response.

[chip anderson]

Back in the 70's there was a place you could call and list people with "Bad Breath Anomomus" They would send free samples of whatever mouthwash they were pushing with letter telling them of thier halitosis. Must have got a lot of people P.O.'s quick, only lasted a month.

Chip

[optilady1]

You could put a huge bowl of mints on your dispensing desk, and any time a particularly foul pt came in, grab one for yourself and offer one to them at the same time. Insult yourself, saying something like, 'Sorry, just had a huuuge tuna sandwich. Don't want to kill you with my breath'

[chip anderson]

One must be extreemly careful about this and other related things. One never knows the circumstances of another person's life. The patient may have dental, or medical condition that is the cause of the problem. I see some patients who have enough body odor to make you believe that they haven't had a bath in a week. However it's possible that some are so poor or uneducated that they don't have proper plumbing (and yes, despite being in Mississippi, most of us do have indoor plumbing, AC and other modern things), they may still have a old family tradition that Saturday night is the only night for a bath.
I can remember over the years fussing at a young lady for twitching as I was taking K readings. Shortly found out that she had a neurological contition that caused this. Getting impatient with a young aphake who wouldn't read the chart, only to have the patient's mother tell me "he can't read yet." only to notice that the patient was 5 and I didn't fit contact on many 5 year olds. Have confused birthmarks for bruises, etc. Wondered if the patient had a colostomy, maybe they had and I shure didn't want to embariss them by asking. I have one female singer that wears perfume so strong and so obnoxious that the whole office gaggs a little for hours after she leaves. However otherwise she is a good customer and in her culture (I am told) this is quite common.

Best just suck it up and remember these are customers or patients, not social contacts and we are dependent on them, not the other way around.

Chip

[NeGlassesGirl27]

Bad smells/scents get to me pretty quick like. I used to work with a guy who had a medical condition that he couldn't control his body odor. He poured on cologne and deodorant at work but nothing ever helped. I did feel really sorry for him but it was horrific. I have also worked with those patients that their breath smells like they haven't drank any liquids for about a week. You know..that really dry smell like when you have strep throat.

Unfortunately, I really don't think there is a "polite" way of telling a patient (or co-worker) that their breath smells. I wish there was because I would be all over telling people that! :bbg: Also, the same goes for myself. If I am drinking coffee or what not..I always pop in a stick of gum before I help a patient. A nice minty breath can go a long ways

[DragonLensmanWV]

You could put a huge bowl of mints on your dispensing desk, and any time a particularly foul pt came in, grab one for yourself and offer one to them at the same time. Insult yourself, saying something like, 'Sorry, just had a huuuge tuna sandwich. Don't want to kill you with my breath'

Ooh! That's a good one!

[Geirskogul]

The mint thing may work best.

Here's a trick: when you're out trying to get the ladies/guys, and you're talking to a small group of them, either yawn or fold your arms. If someone is paying attention to you, or sees you as being higher on the totem pole, they'll unconsciously do the same thing, usually within 30 seconds. Those people (or that person) are the ones you want to focus your attention on, as they're following you.

You can see this happen anywhere someone is in a group of people, and it can be any action. Watching eye exams I notice that if our doctor hunches forward in his stool, the patient will do the same if they don't have a phoropter in front of their face. They'll also emulate the "stance" of the doctor, either legs wide apart or close together. I'm sure the same would happen with mints. Great to figure out who's interested in who.

[opticianbart]

You could put a huge bowl of mints on your dispensing desk, and any time a particularly foul pt came in, grab one for yourself and offer one to them at the same time. Insult yourself, saying something like, 'Sorry, just had a huuuge tuna sandwich. Don't want to kill you with my breath'

We did that sometimes at my first optical shop. And I'll never forget one of the first things we learned from the training manager. "If anyone EVER pulls out a mint/gum/whatever and offers you one, take it. It's probably a hint."