A conversation with Daniel Caga, a private dentist who is aiming to make dentistry more accessible to sign language users (BSL)

Hi Daniel, thanks for chatting to me. I found you online as the ‘signing dentist!’ Can you tell us a bit about what you do?

Sure! My name is Daniel Caga and I am a private restorative dentist who currently works at 606 Dental Practice in Solihull. I also work as a clinical tutor teaching undergraduate dental students at Birmingham Dental School.  I provide general dentistry in practice and I receive referrals from colleagues for more complex treatments.

What sparked your initial interest in learning BSL?

I met my wife whilst at college and she had a deaf cousin called Katie.  I have basically grown up alongside BSL, watching my wife communicate with her cousin.  She has also worked in a deaf school in Birmingham (Longwill School of the Deaf).

Over the years, throughout college and university and also since qualifying (2012) I have gained a basic knowledge of BSL. But I was so busy with my undergraduate and postgraduate education that I never had the time to invest in competing any formal qualifications in BSL.

My spark and inspiration is my wife and her cousin Katie! I have naturally grown up around Katie who is a similar age to myself and Danielle. However, I have never really been able to communicate independently with her.

Even when I met Danielle’s colleagues from Longwill, I was unable to communicate with them!  I was the silent individual at the dinner table being unable to take part in the conversations, or being reliant on Danielle to sign for me.

Danielle recently wanted to progress with her BSL knowledge and skills and complete her MA in Interpreting and it was at this point I felt my time had come to start formally learning BSL.

There is a massive gap in communication with deaf patients in dentistry. This is something I want to tackle and improve.

So I found multiple reasons to learn BSL, firstly I could utilise this skill with Danielle, finally being able to communicate with Katie and also attempt to improve deaf awareness and the importance of BSL for our deaf patients in my profession.

Where are you training and how are you finding the course so far?

Originally, I used the www.british-sign.co.uk website and completed most of their course (before I started my Level1).  They also were very helpful and kindly allowed me to use some images off their website for an article I wrote about BSL and Dentistry.

I do believe this website is fantastic for those who want to get into BSL and would recommend people check it out.

I have recently passed my BSL Level 1 at BID in Birmingham and I am proud to continuing this learning journey starting Level 2 in June. The course was fantastic.

From the first session, I enjoyed the peacefulness of the learning environment as it was silent. It brought individuals together to develop a new skill.

There are individuals from all walks of life within the group.  It was great to start the course with limited experience, being unable to communicate with my tutor and finish the course being able to actually have a conversation with him.  It is an achievement I am very proud of.

Do you think there are enough BSL-using dentists?

I do not believe there are enough BSL using dentists in my profession.  I am sure there are some and actually there is one dentist on my course who works part time at Birmingham Dental School too.

This has been fantastic as it made it easier to create a connection during the Level 1 course as we had something familiar to talk about.

There are simply not enough dental care professionals using BSL, this includes dentists, dental hygienists, hygiene and therapists, nurses, treatment coordinators, practice managers or receptionists.

Again this is something I am passionate changing as research shows, individuals who are deaf do suffer poorer dental and general health.
There are multiple reasons for the lack of BSL using dentists. Firstly, BSL should be taught at school.  Not at dental school – at primary school.   Simply by doing this the government can significantly reduce the communication barrier present in our society full stop.

I believe BSL should be taught alongside English.  Again by doing this the communication barrier will be reduced and in the future more dental professionals will be naturally BSL trained.

This will take many years to occur obviously.  But currently, within dentistry there is a lack of teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in topics such as BSL.

It is simply not taught and this is a big aim of mine – to change this and get BSL into the undergraduate degree courses as well as in postgraduate or continuing professional development (CPD) courses.

Ironically we do get taught about communication barriers and barriers that affect access to dentistry for our patients.  But we still have not incorporated BSL into the dental curriculum.

Raising awareness of the importance of BSL within my profession is vital.  But we need others to value and see this importance too!  If we do not value BSL as a population, not just in the dental profession, we will not want to learn it or see the amazing benefits of learning it.

I enjoy just seeing how being able to communicate with a deaf individual makes them happy!  It is all about inclusion. It’s a fantastic feeling! I want to take that feeling, and bring it into my clinical environment. I want to be able to offer a clinical setting where deaf patients feel valued and respected by ME being able to communicate in their primary language!

Generally speaking would you say dentistry is an accessible career, for deaf people / sign language users?

Unfortunately I do not feel dentistry as a profession provides any accessible career opportunities for deaf people or BSL users.  Whether this is becoming a dentist, hygienist, hygiene therapist, nurse, practice manager or treatment coordinator.

The communication barrier is simply prohibitive. This could change again by basically teaching BSL to our children in school and to then incorporate BSL into the undergraduate courses.

What do you hope to achieve with your BSL?

Firstly, I want to be able to talk with Katie more confidentially.  When I married Danielle, I decided I wanted to specifically address Katie in my wedding speech.  So I asked my wife’s friend to teach me the basic signs for my speech and I signed to Katie before finishing my speech. This was great as I was able to increase Katie’s involvement in our special day!

Secondly, I also want to be able to go for a meal with Danielle’s BSL using friends and not be the odd one out who is unable to sign!  I want to be included too.

Thirdly I want to show my daughters the importance of BSL too.  I want them to grow up signing and for them to potentially complete their BSL courses in due time (if they are not taught it at school.

Because if Danielle and I can teach them and show them the value it has, then they will be able to increase inclusion in society too.

Finally, I want to bring BSL into dentistry!  I want the profession to embrace it and value it as this will help combat the communication barrier present currently in dental health.

In doing this we can help improve the oral health of our patients.  I want to get involved in organising and running courses either at university or via CPD courses to bring BSL to the profession.

What sort of response have you had from the BSL using community since sharing your signed videos online?

I have received a positive response from the BSL using community on my Instagram account (@drdanielcaga) and many individuals have commented and congratulated me on my BSL Level 1.

I have also actually had a new deaf patient join my practice who I have been treating now.  This has been fantastic become I am now breaking the communication barrier (with the help of Danielle) and access barrier and getting patients through the door.

I hope more will follow. But I also want more individuals to share my videos and get the word around to their friends that there is someone trying.

What’s next for you in terms of your career?

I hope to solidify my clinical skills in dental implantology, and develop my BSL skills further (at least to Level 2.) I aim to promote BSL and dentistry further, whether this involves writing more articles on the topic, a clinical guide maybe for the dental team, or even organising and running dental courses.

I want to promote BSL within the profession!  I have previously contacted a few individuals to see if they could help me generate a clinical guide (i.e. creating the various illustrations form dentally related signs) but unfortunately nobody has been able to help me on this front.  If there is anyone who can help me please let me know!

What would be your ultimate aim in regards to BSL and dentistry?

Ultimately I would like to see more members of the dental team using BSL. I am lucky, I have access to Danielle, so if I need help communicating I can organise this.

However, most practices will not consider the use of an interpreter (mainly due to cost) and creates a barrier.

If we can raise the awareness and value of BSL communication in our teams we can cut out the communication barrier deaf patients face in our practices.  This will mean more patients will visit the dentist.  This hopefully will lead to improvements in the oral health of the deaf population.

Daniel Caga can be found on Instagram @drdanielcaga and he works at his dental practice in Solihull.