Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles onions on a sesame seed bun. If you were a kid in the late seventies you know that this was the Big Mac commercial that played over and over. Almost everyone could recite the ingredients, and, unfortunately for our health, billions have been “served."
What does Mickey D’s have to do with an oral systemic dental practice?
Well, it is the best example of taking something that is generic and commoditized and making it specific, branded and valued by the industry and the consumer.
Bringing oral systemic health to the forefront of the consumers mind begins with the dental industry and the day-to-day in our practices. Organizations like American Academy of Oral Systemic Health and medical doctors, like Drs. Brad Bale and Amy Doneen, are bringing the latest science and business development standardization to practices.
Bringing oral systemic health into today’s dental practice isn’t something to get on board with, it is an obligation that we have as an industry. My dad had a heart attack at 59 that was preventable and is now hanging on by a stent 16 years later. The quality of his life was compromised because he didn’t know what he didn’t know.
I hear over and over from dentists that they practice oral systemic health and I get so excited and then I ask the litmus question, "What is your primary intention as a dentist?" and "What is the question you ask when you walk into a treatment room?"
Most will say they were trained to find the chief complaint and the question they ask "Is anything bothering you?" or "Does anything hurt?"
Game over, Ronald.
How to determine if you are truly a Level One Complete Health Practice:
- Your patients are healthier. You measure this by your case acceptance being at least 67% of patients accepting treatment. This means they understand the why behind your recommendation and they agree.
- You have a thriving profitable practice. Your scoreboard for how healthy you are getting your patients is directly related to your collections. Also, treatment planning is not influenced by what insurance or how much money a patient has. It is you job to let them know what is healthy and unhealthy and what to do to solve this problem. You will know if you are on the insurance treadmill with no off switch when you ask what insurance the patient has, what is most important to them in their dental home and why they are calling, all before their name.
- You have a balanced lifestyle. It is very difficult to give away something you don’t have for yourself. A Level One Complete Health Dental Practice puts the O2 mask on themselves first and then on their patients. The five domains of a healthy practice life are physical, financial, mental, social and spiritual.
Now that you have a better picture of the foundational Level One Oral Systemic Practice lets distinguish the keystones of a Level Two Complete Heath Practice.
- Consistent Screenings – Cancer, Blood Pressure & Blood Glucose
- Standardized Probing 2x a Year – Florida Probe Perio Charting has great tools to overcome time and team constraints
- Clinical Laboratory Testing on patients with active disease – OralDNA Labs is the best and work with you and your team to implement
- Inter-Professional Collaboration – Understanding the science, knowing how to connect with and how to set up co-management with a healthcare practitioner. Bale/Doneen offers 17 CE immersion courses 2x a year for dental and medical professionals, as well as monthly journal updates to get you and your team confident and always ahead of the curve
On a good day, dental teams save smiles and, now, on a great day they save lives. Bringing standardization to our industry as to what a Complete Health Dental Practice is will elevate our entire industry and have the word associated to dentists be health not pain. Supersize THAT.