Dental Sleep Medicine is a developing necessity in dental treatment services. Dental sleep medicine is a growing field, as evidenced by the formation of professional, scientific societies nationally and globally (Wasundhara A. Bhad, Nikita Baheti, Santosh J Chavan, dr.Siddharth Sonwane, 2020). Dental Sleep Medicine Institutes across the globe emphasize treating sleep-related breathing problems such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea using mouth appliance therapies and upper airway surgery (Ghizlane Aarab & Frank Lobbezoo, 2018). Dentists are in a strong position to assess patients, refer them to the appropriate care, and in many situations, administer therapy to prolong patients’ lives and enhance their wellness (Aoife Brid Stack, 2022). For a dentist, it remains a concern to expand your dental sleep clinic because it is a challenging task to compete in this era. That’s why we are here to explain some tips for growing your dental sleep medicine practice so that you can take your DSM practice to another level of success.
How to grow dental sleep medicine
All across the world, children frequently have a traumatic dental injury (TDI). (Austė Antipovienė, Julija Narbutaite, Jorma I Virtanen, 2021) Falls, baseball injuries, bicycle accidents, and other incidents can all result in common pediatric trauma. Children can experience dental damage due to their uneven balance and inexperience with walking. According to a study, falling is the primary factor in 56% of TDI cases. (Austė Antipovienė, Julija Narbutaite, Jorma I Virtanen, 2021)dental trauma is classified depending on the extent of the tissue damage and the severity of the injury, which in turn depends on which tissue or tissues have been affected.
1. Education
The field of dental sleep medicine is expanding, and educational institutions should pay more attention (N. Karimi, N. Mehta, S. Pagni, Ekaterini Antonellou, E. Doherty, L. Correa, 2019). Dental sleep medicine is a highly interdisciplinary field that requires its practitioners to have a depth of professional medical knowledge (Frank Lobbezoo, Nico de Vries, […], and Ghizlane Aarab, 2020).
- First and foremost, we recommend concerned dentists train themselves and their employees about the current state of dental sleep medicine.
- There should be training for everybody, from the front desk to the back office.
- Dentists must complete training in dental sleep medicine to treat patients with oral appliance treatment for sleep-related respiratory issues (Nancy Addy, Kathleen Bennett, et al., 2018).
2. Internal marketing
- Raising awareness through patient educational resources is one of your marketing techniques for individuals who already make up your patient base.
- Utilizing your employees as awareness instructors is also a marketing tactic.
- To do this, ensure that you and your personnel are knowledgeable when it comes to talking about the CPAP choices you may offer and the significance of receiving treatment.
- By taking these steps, you will raise patient preferences and expectations that they will have their sleep-breathing difficulties evaluated as part of routine dentist appointments and, if necessary, provide treatment.
- With your current patient base, you will gradually establish a reputation for offering dental sleep.
3. External marketing
The most significant marketing source for fresh dental sleep sufferers is word-of-mouth recommendations. Regular patients and local physicians are the elements for this.
- Older patients who receive sleep medicine are often satisfied and appreciative. They may be essential to recommendations for other patients to come to your office.
- Be sure you are famous for providing excellent collaborative care since this will encourage referrals from your medical professional.
- The ideal strategy is to collaborate with a medical consultant or a team of sleep physicians, who can also provide the client with the necessary screening methods, such as sleep tests, interpretations, or telemedicine if they don’t already have one. Primary care physicians use their professional competence to send patients to the most suitable specialist at the appropriate moment (Paul Coulthard et al., 2000).
4. Price your sleep appliances accordingly
How much you charge for your sleep appliances is heavily influenced by the location of your practice. According to a study, there are regional price trends for dental supplies and a wide range in prices across the nation (Smith, S., Jiang, J. J., Normand, C., & O’Neill, C, 2022). It would be the best strategy to keep the price low because if your patients cannot pay for the therapy, your practice will not expand.
5. Follow your patients
Oral appliance treatment is a method of controlling chronic illness. The diagnosis and treatment of SRBD are changing rapidly; keeping up with new advances and monitoring your patients’ improvement is part of a professional’s responsibility.
6. Use technology to your advantage
During the previous few decades, new technologies have evolved dramatically. They are currently implemented in dental offices and help with everyday practice; the significant innovations in this field are primarily digital technology (Imane Boujoual, 2018). Dentists must continuously stay updated on the latest technological developments (Mateusz Switała, Wojciech Zakrzewski, et al., 2022). By utilizing technology, you may stand out from the competition and demonstrate to your patients that you have put money into giving them the ideal service possible.
7. Utilize your hygienists
Better sleep must be beneficial for everyone, from young children to older people, and good sleep hygiene will play a significant role in attaining that aim (Eric Suni, 2022).7 In the dental sleep practice, hygienists play a considerable part. Most dental hygiene programs in the United States incorporate dental sleep medicine (Brittany Minichbauer, Rose D Sheats, et al., 2015). In addition to discussing OSA risks, symptoms, physician referrals, and possible treatments, dental hygienists will use questionnaires and other techniques to determine if a patient has OSA during an inspection (Elizabeth Collins Kornegay, Jennifer L Brame, 2015). They have plenty of opportunities to evaluate patients for sleep apnea because they are in charge of reviewing the patient’s medical and dental history at every session. The test might be as easy as going over inquiries like:
- Have you ever been suspected of snoring?
- Have you ever had a sleep-breathing disorder diagnosed?
- Have you ever had a sleep study?
- Do you drowse during the day?
- Do you ever have headaches in the morning?
- Have you ever woken up to someone coughing or gasping?
- Have you ever been informed that you stop breathing while you sleep?
If a patient responds “yes” to any previous inquiries, the hygienist would look into the matter further and inform the dentist of any information that may point to the necessity for a sleep study or oral appliance therapy.
Outsource your dental sleep medicine billing services with MedsDental billing company
To run your dental sleep medicine practice smoothly, it is the best option to gain assistance from a trustworthy 3rd party billing services provider. MedsDental Dental Billing Company will be the right approach for you. We assist our partners by providing them with precise and timely sleep-medication claims submission services. Our expertise guarantees that claims are filed on time and accurately using HIPAA-compliant services to avoid future insurer rejections. We use cutting-edge technologies and techniques to provide customers with an extremely impressive sleep medication billing audit. When we collect fees and explanations from customers, we review each entry for accuracy and approve it as soon as possible. We offer our consumers very adaptable and reasonable price alternatives that will precisely fit their needs and budget without costing any onboarding fee. Being a licensed company, we guarantee that every service we offer will be of the highest caliber and error-free. So collaborate with us and improve your organization’s reimbursement by up to 30%.
