Your employees’ performance is affected by all sorts of factors. First, it’s affected by their overall well-being. Physically healthy employees are more likely to be productive and engaged at work. But did you know that their dental health can also impact their job performance?
That’s right. Poor dental health can lead to many problems for your employees. Here’s how that can happen.
Poor Dental Health and Employee Performance
Most employers tend to overlook dental health as a factor in employee productivity. But the truth is, it can have a profound effect. You first need to know that poor dental health can lead to presenteeism.
Presenteeism
If your business is new, and you’re new to running a business, there’s a good chance that you don’t know about presenteeism. It’s when employees are physically present at work, but they’re not mentally or emotionally engaged. For example, if an employee is experiencing severe tooth pain but is still at work, then they can’t concentrate on their work. So dental health is a significant factor in this that it’s responsible for about 50% of presenteeism cases in companies.
Absenteeism
The other thing you need to know is that poor dental health can also lead to absenteeism. Absenteeism is when employees are absent from work, usually because they’re sick. The relationship between poor dental health to this is pretty self-explanatory. If an employee is in so much pain that they can’t come to work, they will have to take time off. Research has shown that employees with untreated dental problems are three times more likely to take time off work.
Now that you know how important dental health is for your employees let’s look at five ways you can improve it in your company.
Offer Free Dental Services
One way to improve dental health in your company is to offer free dental services. Did you know that majority of your senior employees would lose their teeth by their late 50s? This is why offering your company dental implants as a free dental service can be an excellent boon for senior and more experienced applicants. It’s a great way to attract applicants and retain employees in your company. Furthermore, it can also increase productivity in your company. This is just one example of how free dental services can affect your company’s bottom line.
Encourage Healthy dental habits
Another way to improve dental health in your company is to encourage healthy dental habits. You can do this in several ways. First, you can send out regular reminders to employees about the importance of dental hygiene. You can also set up dental hygienist stations in the workplace where employees can get their teeth cleaned regularly. Finally, you can offer incentives for employees who practice good dental hygiene.
If you want to step this out, offer dental insurance to your employees. This incentivizes them to take care of their dental health and can increase productivity in your company.
Educate Your Employees
One of the best ways to improve dental health in your company is to educate your employees about it. Many people don’t realize how important dental health is. They brush their teeth every day, and they think that’s enough. But there’s more to it than that. Different types of dental problems can only be prevented with proper education. For example, gum disease is a significant problem that leads to tooth loss. But it’s also preventable with the proper dental care. Educating your employees about dental health will make them more likely to take care of their teeth and avoid dental problems.
Make Dental Health a Priority
If you want to improve dental health in your company, you need to make it a priority. This means setting up regular dental check-ups for your employees and providing them with the necessary resources to care for their teeth. It also means making dental insurance a part of your benefits package. By making dental health a priority, you’re sending a clear message to your employees that you care about their dental health and that you’re willing to invest in it.
Have a Dental Health Month
Finally, you can improve dental health in your company by having a dental health month. This is a great way to raise dental health awareness and get employees to take care of their teeth. During dental health month, you can offer free dental services, send out educational materials, and give prizes to employees who practice good dental hygiene.
Making dental health a priority in your company is essential to the well-being of your employees. By taking these steps, you can improve the dental health of your employees and increase productivity in your company.