Why work with physicians if you treat sleep apnea and TMD as a dentist?

To be productive, you ought to have a team acquire for each new technology, service, or program you intend to introduce into your practice. For your practice to successfully adopt an effective sleep program, you must have the support of your staff. For instance, if your team members aren’t enthusiastic about the opportunities a new Dental Sleep Medicine program offers, they won’t be inspired to contribute to the program’s expansion and success. And when patients feel the lack of this enthusiasm, they will decrease their likelihood of pursuing the associated therapy you advise and taking advantage of the innovative, life-altering treatments your organization is now providing.

Sometimes, it becomes very challenging for you to encourage your staff to accept and appreciate the new change. At this point, it can be a concern how to motivate them about implementing Dental sleep medicine. There is no need to worry because today, we have brought some tactics to cope with this hurdle. Follow these 3 tips to get your team excited about dental sleep medicine and soothe yourself by implementing them.

Can a dentist help with sleep apnea?

So the quick answer is yes, your dentist can diagnose and treat sleep apnea. Dentists play a crucial role in diagnosing people with OSA (Stuart F. Quan and Wolfgang Schmidt-Nowara, 2017). By practicing Dental Sleep Medicine, a dentist becomes eligible to deal with Obstructive Sleep Apnea disorder.

Compared to TMD therapy, oral appliances for OSA demand a greater level of collaboration between the dentist and the physician. Medical practitioners, including clinicians, dentists, physicians, and physical therapists, require more training and instruction in the evaluations, therapeutic interventions, maintenance, and recommendation of patients suffering from temporomandibular disorders (Improving TMD Health Care: Practice, Education, Access, and Coverage, 2020).

Now, the point is, why work with physicians if you treat sleep apnea and TMD as a dentist? So today, we are here with the answer to this question.

Reasons to collaborate with physician

A study’s results imply minimal interaction between dental staff and primary care physicians (Jackie Stuart, Ha Hoang, Len Crocombe & Tony Barnett, 2017). However, in collaboration with physicians, dentists can assist in the coordinated and proactive identification of OSA (Tammarie Heit, Bea Janine Tablizo, […], and Manisha Witmans, 2022).

• To be eligible for medical insurance coverage: Both from the perspective of patient care and medical insurance coverage, a relationship between dentists and physicians is essential. A patient should complete an overnight sleep study and receive a diagnosis or written order from a doctor for health insurance to reimburse for a specially manufactured mouth device to address OSA. According to guidelines issued by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine (AADSM), patients experiencing symptoms of OSA must undergo a face-to-face examination by a sleep medicine physician for diagnosis purposes, and they order oral appliances. (Ramar K, Dort LC, Katz SG, Lettieri CJ, Harrod CG, Thomas SM, Chervin RD., 2015)
• Providing proper treatment: Collaborate with other healthcare service providers to give your patients the highest-quality treatment possible. Whether tooth or face, collaborating with neighborhood healthcare doctors is crucial to providing patients with the best care and earning respect. In sleep medicine, dentists and physicians frequently collaborate as part of a multidisciplinary group to help patients who could benefit from dental appliances rather than just continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines (Ericka L. Adler, JD, 2017).
• Well informed-decision: Collaboration among healthcare professionals enables patients to choose a therapeutic approach they will most likely adhere to, improving the treatment of their sleep-disordered breathing.
• Improving the standard of care: Collaboration between the medical and dentistry fields is crucial for raising standards of wellness and system performance (Shinan Zhang, Edward CM Lo & Chun-Hung Chu, 2015).
• Patient referral: Continuity from different systems can be reached by enhancing referral and consulting between dentistry and medical facilities (Kathryn A. Atchison, R. Gary Rozier, and Jane A. Weintraub, 2018). The literature analysis revealed that adults and children seek treatment from non-dental health professionals for oral health issues (T. Barnett, Ha Hoang, J. Stuart, L. Crocombe, and E. Bell, 2014). So, if dentists and doctors have a good connection, they would refer oral-health patients to them.

Is there a connection between TMJ and sleep apnea?

It has been noted that people with sleep apnea (SA) have a higher incidence of temporomandibular disorders (Ju-Hui Wu, Kun-Tsung Lee, […], and Ming-Ju Tsai, 2020). The study revealed that SA patients had a higher risk of developing TMD in the future, leading experts to advise doctors caring for SA patients to be particularly aware of any potential associated chronic pain that may have an impact on sleep quality (Ju-Hui Wu, Kun-Tsung Lee, […], and Ming-Ju Tsai, 2020). Another research found a tangible link between OSA symptoms and TMD (Anne E Sanders, Roger B Fillingim, et al., 2013)

How do you develop a working relationship?

• Giving physicians and their employees the assurance that your organization will deliver first-rate quality care is crucial if you want to develop a collaborative connection.
• Use their language and submit narratives in the standard medical SOAP style that outlines your patients’ treatments. In this way, you may convince doctors that your practice has created appropriate standards for treatment.
• Building a trusting connection with a physician requires regular, comprehensive communication regarding a patient referral. For example, in a survey, 94.1% of pharmacists suggested the patient visit a dentist (P E V Maunder & D P Landes, 2005). Sometimes, a limitation of employees to inform primary care professionals about the approaching dental services contributed to the lack of contact between dentists and primary care professionals (Jackie Stuart, Ha Hoang, […], and Tony Barnett, 2017).
• Improved communication and referral channels between non-dental and dental providers would be made possible by better dental health education for non-dental care professionals in fundamental and preventative dental competencies (Jackie Stuart, Ha Hoang, […], and Tony Barnett, 2017).

Partnership with MedsDental billing company for billing of sleep apnea and TMD

To bill for patients with sleep apnea and TMD with accuracy and professionalism, MedsDental Dental Billing Company has offered its quality services for your dental practice. By partnering with us, your dentistry professional will reach the apex of profits and reimbursements. The company is dedicated to rendering each step of billing with expertise. From verifying insurance and submitting claims to receiving payments quickly, each step is done under HIPAA compliance to secure your patients’ data. Moreover, without charging any on-boarding fee, we boost your revenue by up to 30%. To process your billing efficiently, we implement the latest and most reliable software and other technology so that there is no delay in collecting money for the services you render. Our experienced coders remain updated with the latest coding rules and do this step carefully. In a nutshell, MedsDental billing is the appropriate choice for you as a reliable partner for your billing area because you won’t regret this decision anyhow.