CALLING ALL DENTISTS
Whether you are providing Dental Sleep Medicine (DSM) services in your office already, or you’d like to learn to be proficient and do more, or are just a beginner or haven’t yet made an appliance, most would agree, that gaining a greater knowledge base will help make life more productive and less stressful.
Most would also agree that DSM services are not only likely to become an increasingly important part of a dental practice, but that the enormous need and want is here already.
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Do you want to stay competitive practicing Dental Sleep Medicine ?
Do you want to provide a fully comprehensive sleep service without leaving your present care model and practice mix, and without turning your practice on it’s end?
Do you want to protect your dental work using Dental Sleep Medicine?
Do you want to introduce a potentially profitable service for the good of your patient’s health, and your patient’s dental work – much of which you’ve carefully provided yourself?
Do you want to see your practice thrive?
Do you want to continue to develop your practice in the community and enjoy its growth, increasing your referral sources, and all with minimal outlay in time and cost to maintain a worthwhile dental service?
As a dentist, do you want to maintain ‘your edge’ in your community?
Do you want to avoid being the “last on the block” to provide such a service, unsure how best to implement one? Concerned too that medico-legally you might not be considered to be providing the standard of care now expected of a dentist of your standing?
Do you want to avoid struggling unnecessarily with new technology?
Would you like to know how to do this, become an expert in your field, protect yourself from up and coming medical and dento-legal claims and become more profitable too, all without “going back to school” or breaking the bank?
As a dentist, do you want to know where to start well with Dental Sleep Medicine, first time?
I’ve met many dentists who want to give their patients their best, but don’t know exactly how to start – without spending countless hours – much potentially wasted, if it doesn’t work out.
Do you want to save time and money learning productive procedures?
Dentists are busy and don’t want to get into trouble with patients complaints nor do they want to turn their practice management “upside down”either, we all know that it’s hard enough keeping on an ‘even keel’ in todays uncertain world of change in the profession.
We all know that things are changing in dentistry and are well aware that tomorrow’s practice will not reflect todays’ in general clinical practice.
What’s the easiest, quickest, cheapest and most effective way of learn and implementing Dental Sleep Medicine into your dental practice? What will provide the best and most long-term support too?
There are some excellent courses, generally expensive but what ‘continuing education’ isn’t these days? The cost of education is expensive and one always has to be watchful of the ROI of courses – many of us exceed required points and those of us who don’t look to the most meaningful for our practices. The other problem is that even the “hands on, over your shoulder” (that tend to be even more expensive), don’t always have follow up (unless it’s ‘up sell’ to the next expensive course). We all know that its possible to pay thousands for courses only to return to the practice on Monday morning facing the barrage of existing cases – how do you suddenly do an “about face”?
As a dentist, do you want to avoid the stress of complaints and side-effects?
What happens when something goes wrong- can you call the course presenters to solve your problem? We need a very insightful, practical approach for DSM education with support all the way, otherwise this discipline can move to one where we wished we’d never bothered. This is sometimes true even of some who have already made a number of appliances!
Some clearly have commercial sales overtones (sometimes blatant) and most dentists would prefer not to face this. Finally, it’s all very well spending a weekend course somewhere (or even a “mini-residency”) but what about when you get home?
As a dentist, do you want your team supporting you rather than you supporting them?
What about your team, patients, screening, testing, diagnosis, treatment planning, consent, instructions, payment, appliances, follow up, more testing, adjustment, maintenance and side effects and complications? A crown seems so much easier doesn’t it? The ramifications of DSM are clear though, there is a great deal of dysfunction to be treated and orthodontics and only dentistry will become busier than ever.
Do you want to provide a ‘second-to-none’ Dental Sleep Medicine service that brings in new patients and makes your existing patients glad that you’re their dentist?
We can’t ignore the fact that you may save your patient’s marriage, health or life, you may retain a patient who would otherwise have gone elsewhere, losing their (and their family) patronage and potential profitability, and built a reputation for providing care, up and beyond your peers.
As a dentist, do you want to remain legally safe?
Does it concern you that you may be risking legal liability by not doing, or incorrectly doing treatment – leaving yourself open to legal action both by potential error and or omission? With the increase in dental litigation, it probably should. This is true of our regulatory bodies too – do you want to comply with their guidelines and regualtions to avoid unnecessary hassles?
Lets be realistic about Dental Sleep Medicine
I’m hopeful but realistic too. If only 10% of the people who need our services turned up on Monday morning, our practices would either ‘not know where to start’, or be totally overwhelmed, so what about if 20% or even 30%attended – that scenario of unprepareness doesn’t make sense on any level does it?
Dental schools have started to teach it, but just what level of proficiency keeps you out of trouble? Somewhere along the line this need and demand is coming, and when it does, it will be those that are ready, organised, experienced and skilful who will benefit.
We all provide cancer screening even though more of our patients will die from complications of obstructive sleep apnea, than from oral cancer (I’m not telling you to stop doing cancer screening!)
Your solution to implementing Dental Sleep Medicine practically and easily.
The solution is fairly straightforward. Get your team involved, learn, earn and work online and get network sharing and support, the more the better, but how? As busy professionals, we need an approach that is reasonably priced in time, finances and commitment.
As a profession we are by our very nature rather insular and while we still do your own thing, such an approach has to be individually sculpted while we always must all remain pointing in the same general direction.
At the very least, you’re protecting yourself with both your duty of care and standard of care, at best you’re providing a second-to-none service to the very people who need your help the most.
Such an approach was collaborative from discussions with friends across Canada, the US, UK, Australia and Europe. I’d like to invite you to join our DSM network to benefit yourself, your practice and your patients, without leaving your office, travelling and therefore spending a great deal of money, time and commitment which are all in short supply. Together, we can impact so many people’s lives, let’s start now!