There are a host of services available to promote great oral health and create beautiful smiles.

Is It Time To Expand Your Dental Practice Services?

Expanding the services you offer can be a great way to improve value for your current patients and pique the interest of prospective patients as well. Have you considered expanding the services in your dental practice?

Expand your dental practice services and you will expand your business

Here are a few things to consider:

1. Offer all new patients tooth whitening. 70% of patients when asked what they want to improve about their smile answered “whiter teeth!”
2. Offer intra-oral photos for all new patients and patients who have oral conditions that requirea  treatment plan
3. Offer your patients “Lifetime Smiles” which is the #1 system used to not only grow your new patient #’s but will help to greatly reduce your last minute appointment changes and no-shows

The above suggestions will not only enhance the value of your services but it will “WOW” your patients who in return tell all their friends and family about your dental practice.

There is a New Year around the corner. 2017 brings great hope for our economy and that means more patients asking for your services.

• How do you share with your patients the great services you provide?
• What new services will you provide in 2017
• Ex: be sure to look at the new CDT Insurance codes. For example the new Gingivitis Code. See our previous video/blog series

We’re Here For Your At Every Stage Of Your Business

No pun intended but………It’s never wise to bite off more than you can chew. Its important to understand that strategically expanding your services can yield huge dividends—for your patients and your business. If you have any questions about expanding the services your practice offers, let us know! We can guide you through all of your options and help you select the best solutions for your unique needs.

We’re grateful for our clients!

What is Your PLAN FOR SUCCESS IN 2017? Be sure to Join us and Your Colleagues for an All-Day Live Event January 6 or 13, 2017:

6 CE CREDITS, FOOD, PRIZES $50 and MORE Plus RECEPTION END OF DAY.

This is music to the dental professional’s ears because daily we see patients who need more than just a prophylaxis.

Many dental hygienists heard grief from patients who needed to return for a second prophy before their normal six-month routine hygiene appointment. These patients were possibly concerned because their insurance would not pay for a second prophy prior to six-months. There are many hygienists who admit to just scheduling their overdue “Gingivitis” patient for a six-month appointment rather than concern patients with an additional payment and one that “God forbid,” their insurance would not pay for!

Now we have a new CDT Code that we can use to bill and hopefully, receive reimbursement for this procedure.

This code is very important for hygienists to understand.

What Hygienists Need to Understand About the New Gingivitis Code 2017:

This code is dependent upon 2 factors:

1. Diagnosis

This means that the patient has a diagnosis that is “gingivitis” and not periodontitis.

This code is based on bone height or loss of: Gingivitis or Periodontitis.

Hygienists must measure the bone height. If your patient is healthy you will measure approximately 1.5-2mms when you measure from the alveolar crest to the CEJ.

You cannot render treatment unless you have a diagnosis.

2. Documentation

It is imperative that you document all of your findings (include your diagnosis) and this needs to be completed while your patient is in your office; not after they leave; later that day or later that week (Sorry! I see this happening too often when I am in dental offices).

This code is CDT Code D4346 and you can begin using this for the indications listed above.

I believe this will breathe fresh air into the treatment rooms of dental hygienists!

What Will Hygienists Do Differently?

First of all, for clinicians who have been concerned about payment for their patients and for those clinicians who are worn out from patients complaining “But My Insurance Won’t Pay For That!!” you have a great answer.

First of all, I hope that before any clinician picks up a curet they pick up a probe to discover what the patients’ oral condition is.

• Does your patient have BOP?
• Does your patient have an excessive amount of calculus (Sub and supra)?
• Does your patient use tobacco and require more than just a routine prophylaxis?
• Does your patient have systemic conditions that require more than a prophylaxis?

Next is to communicate with your patient: knee-to-knee and eye-to-eye before you pick up your curet to let them know what you “see” in their mouth:

• Does everything look healthy? Can you congratulate your patient on their great homecare?
• Is there active disease? And if there is active disease how can you show your patient what is going on in their mouth? (i.e. radiographs, pictures, intraoral photos, even a mirror, etc.)

Key here is to show your patient and talk about what is going on in their mouth before you begin your treatment- your hygiene service.

Now, you can share that you have a new insurance code and your office will bill for this service. Your office will do their very best to get reimbursement for the patients service today.

Let your patients know that insurance is a benefit, just like their vacation pay and 401k are benefits however, these benefits don’t cover 100% of the vacation or pay for their retirement when they do draw from their 401k one day in the future. No, dental insurance is another benefit and will pay only a certain amount. Tell your patients that you are doing your very best to take pictures and write copious notes to share with their insurance company so they will receive as much reimbursement as possible.

AND…. This appointment to treat the gingivitis is a great opportunity to show your patient how much you care because as dental professionals we are in the business of helping our patients live a healthier and longer life.

At today’s appointment to treat that gingivitis, you can now take extra time to share the good  news that with routine hygiene appointments and by returning in the next 1-4 weeks for a routine prophylaxis appointment, they have a much better chance to live a longer and healthier life.

Patients have no idea how good a clinician you are but they do know how you made them feel!

When you take the time to make your patients feel like they are very important and that you want to help them look and feel better, these patients will be your raving fans. These are the patients who continue returning to your office indefinitely. These are your patients who tell all their friends and family members how great you are!

Are you as excited about the new CDT Code as I am?

Please comment below and also be sure to subscribe to our YOUTUBE Channel when you watch the video message about the new CDT Code:

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE CDT CODE VIDEO MESSAGE

There is a new gingivitis code in 2017.

Thhe new gingivitis code is intended for patients who have moderate to severe gingivitis, inflammation and yet they do not have any signs of radiographic bone loss; no periodontitis.

Why was the procedure for “scaling in the presence of…generalized gingival inflammation” assigned a code in the CDT Code’s “D4000’s” (Periodontics) category rather than in “D1000’s (Preventive)?

Currently we have a code for healthy periodontium (D1110), codes for non-surgical periodontal therapy (D4341/D4342), a code for the maintenance of periodontally-involved patients who have undergone non-surgical periodontal therapy (D4910), and a code for gross-debridement (D4355).

We have never had a code to support insurance billing for a patient who does not fall into any of the above categories. The CMC has typically decided that gingival disease treatment should be coded using D1110 yet for many this has never made much sense.

The New Gingivitis Code 2017 is: D4346

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

The procedure is considered therapeutic for a patient in a diseased state, as noted by the following sentence in the D4346 descriptor – “It is indicated for patients who have swollen, inflamed gingiva, generalized suprabony pockets, and moderate to severe bleeding on probing.”

When a patient is diagnosed with generalized gingivitis following an oral evaluation this scaling procedure treats the generalized gingival inflammation and pseudopockets present.

In our next blog I will answer why it’s important that hygienists understand how to use this new code.

In this week’s blog I share three tips to get more patients to say “Yes” to your care. There are more but I will share three today.

TIPS TO GET DENTAL PATIENTS TO SAY “YES”

• Build rapport

This begins with new patients when they first call your office.

For routine patients it begins with the first 2 minutes that you have them in your office.

What exactly does rapport building mean?

Wikipedia defines rapport as:

“A close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other’s feelings or ideas and communicate well.”

In context of rapport with your dental patient this can mean taking time to understand what is important to them. For example: time, anxiety about the dental office or money.

• Find a unique connection.

This means that you discover something important to your patient in their life. It can be a new grandchild or maybe they are graduating from college. Really take some time (it should take about 2 minutes to find out what this is) to inquire about your patient; asking them about their life. It can be something as simple as what they did over the weekend.

It is possible that you like a dress they are wearing, a purse they carry or their hairstyle.

The point I am making is to acknowledge something important that you believe will be important to your patient. What brings harmony to a stressful situation?

(I say “stressful” because the dental office for many can be exactly this!)

• My third tip today is to create a partnership with your patient.

Say things like; “Mrs. Jones let’s look together. Let me show you what I see.”

Actually take a mirror and when possible an intraoral camera, to show patients what you see in their mouth. Let them be part of the decision making process.

When you follow just these three tips you will be more likely to hear more dental patients say “YES” to your care.

Let me know how it goes in your office when you use these three tips. I would love to hear from you!

One of our 1st keynote speakers was a lady named Laurie Guest. We discovered that she secret shopped many of the dental consultants businesses.

What can we learn from the ADA 2016?

There is one thing that our team at Dental Practice Solutions learned from our secret shopper experience:

• Quickly find a common thread with the person calling your office
• Find a way to make the caller feel comfortable
• Have a good connection with your caller – quickly
• Quickly express empathy when a caller expresses a challenge or pain

These calls to your office are are crucial for patients deciding to schedule a new patient appointment, it’s the reason they will return to your dental office and indefinitely.

The last quarter of each year is the perfect time to reach out to patients who have overlooked their dental visit.

Many patients who have dental insurance will need to use it or lose it so a call, email or text message is a great way to reach out.

BUT…………….Why after your patient has put off their dental appointment, would they want to return now?

What can you do and say to get patients back before the end of year?

What’s your plan to bring your dental patients back before the end of 2016?

As a dental hygiene consultant I recommend that you always give your patients a reason to return that includes a value to them and a benefit for why they need to complete treatment or continue seeing their hygienist routinely.

We have an acronym for this and we call it: PARVB

It stands for:

Patient

Appointment

Reason to return

Value

Benefit

How will you use PARVB?

PARVB works best when you have your patient seated in your chair.

You as the clinician need to understand what is valuable to your patient. For example:

• Is it important for your patient to have a beautiful smile?
• Is money important in making their decisions?
• What is valuable to your patient?
• How will completing that restoration benefit your patient?
  • Will your patient save money if they have the decay removed next week vs. wait until it causes pain and needs a root canal and crown? i.e. Cost more money to them!

When your patient is in the office as a patient write a PARVB and when a patient refuses to schedule or calls to change their scheduled appointment know what that patients PARVB is and state to your patient the exact reason they need to return and let that reason be the Value to your patient and state how it will benefit them.

Hope this helps you to keep your back door closed.

We follow Dr. Alex Middleton, the Guide, as he gives sage advice to his dentist friend, Dr. Edward Boyle.*

Alex sat with Dr. Edward Boyle in Java House in Nairobi, Kenya. They had just landed at Kenyatta airport the night before, stayed overnight at the Methodist Guest House in the posh Lavington district, and were awaiting the arrival of other mission team members from the US on British Air. They began to talk dentistry, what it was like back home and pretty soon the question that always came up was asked, “How do you do what you do so consistently? How do you achieve such high production numbers day in and day out?”  Alex answered by asking Dr. Boyle, “Why do you want to know? Why is it important to you to be more productive?” Then Alex asked the main question to Edward, “What is success to you?”

As they talked, the focus began to revolve around having time to do everything Edward wanted to do in life. His interests were many; his passion was great for serving others and being mission-minded topped the list. To that Alex asked, “Ed, how much free time is enough?” If you want a fulfilled life, you need to carve out a schedule that allows you to be fulfilled in each area of your life and if you need more time to do what is your passion; you need to find a way to support your “free time activities” with your “productive time activities.” Alex felt that Edward’s main need was to solve the engineering issues of being productive as a dentist so that he could also be productive in the social and spiritual arena. With this in mind, Alex began to develop a prescription for success for Dr. Boyle. This is the first prescription.

FACILITY:  THE TOUR – THE NPE

“What can I do to get to the next level?” Edward asked Alex. As they talked, Alex the Guide shared from the heart. He knew that to be successful, a dentist and team members have to connect with his or her patients on the first visit more than anything else. It sets the stage for all else to come in their business relationship.

“Borrowing” from Shakespeare, Alex explained that if life is but a play and we are all actors, then one of the most important plays is your New Patient Experience (NPE).  Yes, we look at the NPE as a play with a script, with actors coming on stage at their proper time, on cue at the right moment.  The end result of the NPE and the New Patient Tours through the office is a definitive result.

The tour of your office by your New Patient Coordinator establishes that you are unique.  Your expertise is showcased by demonstrated social proof on the walls.  Rapport is established and the goal of the tour is listening and understanding what drives and motivates the individual patient

The NPE has five parts:  1) The greeting; 2) the tour; 3) the interview; 4) the examination; and 5) the release.  Just like in Big Game fishing, you want the new patient to be let go from the practice unharmed, able to return again for their next visit.

Structure your NPE as if it were a play and expect to get rave reviews at the end. Your intent should be to deliver a Tony Award-winning performance with your team each and every day for each and every new patient you receive thereby establishing bonds of trust and rapport with the new patient.

With Alex’s description of the New Patient Experience, Edward saw that he could grow his practice to the next level by engaging his own patients in a more personal and in-depth manner. Alex was right that this would make it easier to treat patients when their wishes were more completely understood. Dr Boyle appreciated fully, “It’s not about me; it’s all about them.”

*Excerpt from The $10,000 A Day Dentist
Guest Author:  Dr Bill Williams

Dr Williams and Debbie Seidel-Bittke, RDH, BS invite you to discover more:

Remember to register now for each of their next three online events

1. Join us as we dig deeper into preparing for 2017: How to Create the $10,000 Day .
   Register for this Webinar on Oct 27^th 8:30 p.m. Eastern By Clicking Here
2. Then to register for our Best Marketing for 2017 Teleseminar #1 on Nov 1^st 8:30 p.m. Eastern   COMING SOON!
3. Finally Register for our Survival Tactics Teleseminar #2 on Nov 16^th 8:30 p.m. Eastern  COMING SOON!

Want to be sure you don’t miss any of the above? Call or Email Vanessa: 949-351-8741 or email: vanessa@dentalpracticesolutions.com

It marks a time for holidays and during October we have witches and brooms because in the United States Halloween is experienced like a major holiday .

Along with Witches and booms come lots of candy. And with candy comes sugar and sugar is a major cause of tooth decay. So what can we do to let the kids enjoy Halloween but make a fun event for families and their children to come by and drop off their Halloween Candy.

October is National Dental Hygiene Month and what a better opportunity to promote  caries prevention by hosting a “Halloween Candy Buy Back Party” at your office!

As a dental hygiene consultant and someone who supports your dental practice growth, I believe October is the perfect time of year  to invite patients, friends and the community, to your office for an special party. End of the year;  November is a great time to invite children to come by and  drop off their Halloween candy. In return for the kids dropping off their candy they get money and a valuable prize in return.

PUT A HALT TO CHILDHOOD TOOTH DECAY

Did you know that tooth pain is the #1 reason children miss school? Here is a plan to put a halt to the tooth decay.  This is plan is called the Halloween Candy Buyback program and I am going to suggest a little twist to what you may know about this Halloween Candy Buy back event.

I want to suggest that you invite the trick or treaters to come by your office after they have collected all their candy. It can be a week night or a Saturday, for a few hours, that you invite the neighborhood kids to come by, swap those sweets for cash and prizes. You weigh their candy on a scale and in return you give them; let’s say for example, $1 for every pound of candy.

Here’s a little twist I want to include and this is where you will exchange the candy collected for fruits and vegetables and donate to a shelter in your area.

During the month of October you want to let all your patients know about the candy drop off; The Halloween Candy Buy Back Party. Invite your patients and the community to come by your office on a speicfic day for about  three or four hours for example, every hour you give away prizes.

PRIZES IN RETURN FOR CANDY

Did you know that tooth pain is the #1 reason children miss school? Here is a plan to put a halt to the tooth decay.  This is plan is called the Halloween Candy Buyback program and I am going to suggest a little twist to what you may know about this Halloween Candy Buy back event.

I want to suggest that you invite the trick or treaters to come by your office after they have collected all their candy. It can be a week night or a Saturday, for a few hours, that you invite the neighborhood kids to come by swap those sweets for cash and prizes. You weigh their candy on a scale and in return you give them; let’s say for example, $1 for every pound of candy.

Here’s a little twist I want to include and this is where you will exchange the candy collected for fruits and vegetables and donate to a shelter in your area.

During the month of October you want to let all your patients know about the candy drop off; The Halloween Candy Buy Back Party. Invite your patients and the community to come by your office on a specific day for about three or four hours for example, and every hour you give away prizes.

PLAN THE DENTAL PRACTICE OPEN HOUSE AS A TEAM

Meet with your team and decide what you can give away besides just the money in exchange for the candy. Maybe for all new patient appointments, scheduled with doctor exam, radiographs and at least a prophylaxis appointment, you give these new patients free tray whitening. Maybe you will give away a power toothbrush. Be creative, make it fun and think outside the box on this one.

So here’s the thing………you swap out the candy which causes tooth decay……and in return you can donate to a shelter or good cause and if you wish you can donate to the troops overseas. It’s up to you, what you decide to do with all that candy that’s left in your office.

I can assure you that if no one else is doing this in your community, when the 5:00 news catches on to what you are doing and when this hits your local community newspaper, and other community websites, this experience will be the talk of your town!

What’s In This for You?

What’s in this for you and your dental practice?

I can tell you that our clients who have been doing this over the years always get many overdue patients back on the schedule and they always have new patient appointments scheduled during the event. And besides creating a stronger brand for your dental practice in the community, you are helping to lower the incidence of tooth decay.

BTW: Is your office planning a Halloween Candy Buy Back Party? We love to share your photos in our weekly newsletter so please take some pictures of your party and send them to us so we can share with the dental world! Email us.

Hope to see you on the other side here. We look forward to sharing your Halloween Candy Buy Back story in November. If you are reading this because you saw it on our YouTube channel please hit the subscribe button so you don’t miss any of our weekly training and informative videos. See you next week!

What I am talking about here today is a paradigm shift to embrace the theory of more = less.

Yes, more money into your bank account with less work.

This seems to be a road less have traveled. Is it human nature that causes us to think we must work more to produce more?

Let’s create a new paradigm shift today and I invite you to consider how you can work less and have much more than you imagined possible.

On Wednesday October 5^th Dr. Bill Williams and Debbie Seidel-Bittke, one of Dentistry Today’s Top Dental Hygiene Consultants, will show you how to focus on specific strategies that are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Sit down with us for about 90 minutes and we’ll show you the Top Ways to Add $500,000 to Your Practice This Year.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN ON THE WEBINAR

We will share with you not only how Dr. Bill Williams took his dental practice from ‘broke’ to over 5million dollars in 5 years but Debbie will show how your dental hygiene department can be a major center of influence to grow your dental practice.

I want you to hear about some of the strategies Dr. Bill Williams has used to grow his dental practice to over 5 million dollars annually. These are the things that will bring more patients into your dental practice.

We will talk about New Patients and you will want to know about the important centers of influence that keep these patients returning to your office—indefinitely. This is not only a systems approach but there are 2 major centers of influence to make this system one of the most successful systems in your dental practice.

Debbie, will share her “Down-to-a-Science Time Management” Formula so the hygienist(s) have a seamless process to provide optimal care for their patients and this formula keeps your team working like a well-oiled machine.

Be sure to register for this one-of-a-kind webinar and you will walk away with a plan of action and many more bonuses which you can begin implementing right away.

The name of this webinar is: Top Ways to Add $500,000 to Your Practice This Year

REGISTRATION

Be sure to click this link to register and you will immediately receive information that will boost your productivity today: http://bit.ly/Add500kAnnually

I hope you will join us down the road less traveled. There is a new path we have cleared for you. Come follow us Wednesday October 5, 2016.

The idiom “Different strokes for different folks,” can be used to explain a successful patient treatment plan.

What I saying here is that it really depends upon the person delivering the message to the patient as well as what is going on with your patient that day and generally, in their life.

• Are you speaking to a stressed-out, anxious patient?
• Did your patient just lose their job or are they going through a divorce?
• Are they having a bad day?
• Are you running late and feeling rushed?
• Are you having a bad day?

Everyone has their own biases, life-experiences and even just plain ‘ole “baggage.” Life gets in the way of how we react, the  messages we might deliver to our patients and what the patient may hear: the good and the bad.

There is no secret sauce to the question about successful treament plans. Bottomline: people buy what they want not what they need.

So the question lies inside this: “How do we get our patients to want the services we offer?”

Your Steps to Success and Getting Them to “YES!”

Let’s reverse engineer this.

Imagine that you are doing a remodel on your home. Do you begin with an architect or an interior designer? How do you know the best place in your blue print to design the kitchen and the bathrooms? Where do you put the garage? Should you have floor to ceiling windows or sliders? Are hardwood floors or tile the best option?

In order to create a plan for your patient, you need information and there is a best time during the patient appointment to get that information.

Ponder this:

How does your patient feel inside that day? Are they having a good day or a bad day?

How will your patient feel after they leave your office?

As a dental hygiene consultant, I believe that the first “hello” will make or break the opportunity for you to get your patient to “YES!”

When you greet your patients, do you stand behind the door and call your patients name or do you walk out into the reception area, shake your patients hand and provide a warm welcome? I am referring to old and new patients; young and old.

When your patient is seated in the chair, at what point do you recline them back in the chair to begin your assessments and the patient service (Prophy, scaling and root planing, etc.)?

You can use all the elegant communication skills you know but if you don’t follow the appropriate steps before you present the patients treatment you will not be as likely to have patients schedule and pay for treatment.

Imagine this like a baby who will crawl before they walk and walk before they run.

The best part; what makes life easier for dental professionals, is when you have spent time to dial into the patient experience and a down-to-a-science plan for how you treat all of your patients.

There is a specific system the entire team needs to create to improve your percentage of patients who will schedule and pay for treatment.

Just like you probably watched team sports in the recent Olympics, dentistry is also a team sport.

Hmmm….Maybe there is a secret.

Let me rephrase what could be a well-kept secret: Every member of your team needs to be working toward the same goal: “Creating longer, healthier lives, beautiful smiles and a rewarding career for dental professionals.