Page 77 - The Dental Entrepreneur

The Dental Entrepreneur

I could write volumes about what I see as the fulfillment of my prediction of 2009 but I will save
that for my next book, web portal and iphone app. Its all in development right now. Join the
AAOSH group and find a mentor. This will be a required group for anyone who will be
successfully self employed going forward. http://www.aaosh.org

Some Bullet Points From My Presentation:” The Business of Dental Hygiene.”

•Your periodontal program is the entry point and foundation for everything that happens in your
practice.

•It is the initial point of contact and all case acceptance pivots off of it.

Hygiene Operations Manual

I think that the dental hygiene department should be looked upon as a business within a
business or a free standing entity so to speak. With that in mind, a separate operations manual
should be developed.

A great starting point should be the goals and objectives that you have for new patients that
come to your practice. Define what a healthy mouth looks like to you and work backwards with
various treatment goals and objectives. Is a bloody prophy acceptable? It is the vast
majority of practices in America today. So what must you know about the hygiene depart?

The Hygiene Duties Include

•Building and maintaining an ongoing relationship with the patient

•Educating and pre accessing a variety of parameters

•Motivating and providing ongoing emotional support

•A hygienist should be fully empowered to practice to the full extent of their license. I would say
that over 90% of hygienist are under utilized in most practices. No wonder they are looked at
as being over paid. This is our ignorance on the part of the doctor and nothing more. The
following chart will gave a side by side comparison of what capabilities the dental hygienist
has. You tell me, which column would you want to practice under. The 10 patients a day
treadmill or 6-7 patients of super comprehensive care. This is a no brainer.

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