Spanish Subtitles Now Available with Patient Education Videos

As part of the evolution of the Patient Education platform, dentists can now communicate with patients through Spanish-language subtitles on animated videos – making chairside discussions and case presentations even more engaging.

The new feature, sparked by Spear member requests, is currently enabled on nearly 160 chairside videos and will be included with all future Patient Education chairside video releases. Now, dentists have the added option to empower patients to understand their conditions and feel a greater ownership of their oral health, which helps them feel more partnered with their doctor and more likely to refer the practice to friends and family. (Visit our updated Patient Education overview page for more detail on how the videos help shape patient confidence.)

Today, the U.S. has more Spanish speakers than Spain – and the second-most in the world after Mexico, according to a study by the Instituto Cervantes research center . There are currently 41 million native Spanish speakers living in the U.S. today – and another 11.6 million people who are bilingual, many of whom are the children of Spanish-speaking immigrants.

“For me being able to offer this feature to our patients in our multiple offices in Mexico surely takes the experience to a whole new level, as our patients will grasp the content beyond any doubt,” said Spear Resident Faculty member Dr. Ricardo Mitrani, whose practice is based in Mexico City.

“Up until now, every team member who presented the videos had to do a simultaneous translation to patients who did not fully understand English,” Dr. Mitrani said.

Now, Spear member doctors and their teams can drive patient engagement among Spanish-language patients by simply turning on closed-captioning functionality. From the “cc” icon at the bottom of the screen, select “Espanol” from the menu to turn on subtitles.

The Spanish-language subtitle feature is available for Patient Education chairside videos. The platform also provides doctors and their teams with a library of lobby videos that are ideal to stream via Apple TV and Fire TV Stick to the monitors in the waiting room.

Dr. Mitrani added that the new Spanish-language captioning feature will benefit patients who’ve lived in other countries, many of whom are familiar with subtitles from watching movies.

“It becomes a basic cognitive process that for some individuals ties the auditory and visual components together,” Dr. Mitrani said. “Having the option of subtitles will dramatically enhance the educational experience as it leaves no potential language barrier for those individuals who may be shy to ask for a meaning of a word.”

In dentistry, stronger communication enables doctors to connect with patients and forge a relationship built on trust and value.

According to two recent surveys to gauge patient impressions of the Patient Education platform, more than 90% of people who view the videos claim they feel better prepared to discuss treatment options with their doctors.