By Mayoor Patel, DDS, MS
You’re excited to advance your dental practice with new service offerings, so you sign up for continuing education (CE) courses. After completing each course you head back to your office excited to share what you learned, but your staff doesn’t seem as enthusiastic about this new information as you do. Why? Because you didn’t include them in the learning process. When it comes to continuing education it is vital to the success of your office to include your dental team members, such as your dental assistant and hygienist.
Dental Assistant
Your go-to person should ALWAYS know what is going on in your dental office. If you’re pumped up after learning about sleep apnea and/or TMD, shouldn’t your assistant be, too? Bring your assistant to all courses so they, too, can be on the same page as you. After all, your assistant will be completing most of the steps included in treating sleep apnea, such as creating the oral appliance molds.
Dental Hygienist
Who interacts with patients the most? Your hygienist! With the most access to patients, hygienists are often the first to notice signs of sleep apnea, so why haven’t they joined you in learning about sleep apnea? While joining you is essential, there are also classes designed specifically for hygienists for the best learning possible. Stay tuned for those upcoming dates from Nierman Practice Management to be announced.
Patel
The topic of sleep apnea might not be the first thing that comes to mind when a patient visits the dentist, but it should be. Dental sleep medicine continues to advance each year, and having your hygienist receive proper education, training, and CE certification allows for proper care for patients. By understanding sleep apnea, it is impossible to ignore signs and symptoms of this potentially deadly conditions. Hygienists should incorporate initial screenings for sleep apnea in order to catch the first signs of a problem.
Office Manager/Billing
Yes, even your office manager and billing coordinator should be involved. After all, how are your patients going to receive insurance coverage? Bring them with you to learn about sleep apnea, but to also learn how to properly use the billing system. For example, there are Dental Writer (by Nierman Practice Management) courses available that teach your team how to use the database properly in all cases—it’ll prepare everyone for success.
The more your office or billing manager knows about sleep apnea, the better prepared they will be to not only provide educational information, but to properly bill patients and their insurance. Once a patient likes, trusts, and believes in your entire dental team, you have created a patient for life.
Visit my upcoming lectures page or Nierman Practice Management to find available courses. Together we can create a successful dental team.
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