Cliff's Notes

The Tip of The Sword! & What is Brain Pad?

 

Cliff’s Notes for April 3, 2011

….. E-Blast…..

 

Cliff Marsh, Henry Schein ……Cell: 201-321-7494……Fax: 201-262-2210…..E-mail: cliff.marsh@henryschein.com

http://www.cliffsnotesblog.wordpress.com

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” 

T.S. Eliot

        

In This Week’s Issue

• Dentistry – The Tip of the Sword!
• Product Review – Brain Pad!

 

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Dentistry – The Tip of the Sword!……………………………………………………….

Dentistry has changed dramatically over just the past several years. Sometimes, the “new” techniques are not that much better than the old except that they may save chair time allowing you to see more patients (classic practice management). However, diagnostics and preventive medicine hang heavy in the air and they may the most effective tools in separating you from “the rest of the pack”. Why should a quality patient come to you and not the office down the street? There are a lot of reasons, from marketing to physical appearance, but maybe the most overlooked reason is your approach to Systemic Healthcare and your average standard of care.

I don’t like the word “dentist”. You are a physician, a healthcare professional that specializes in oral disease just as a cardiologist specializes in heart disease. I’m pretty confident that you know about the relationship between the two but I’ll bet you never really connected the professional dots. Let’s face it, how many cardiologists do you associate with? Aren’t they just as important to your patient’s health as an endodontist or oral surgeon?

Now I am going to re-state my belief that “Dentistry is the Forefront of Preventive” and maybe it is time you considered looking deeper into advanced diagnostics.  I have told this story to a lot of people over the past 4 years. For those of you that have heard it, please remember that it happened 7 years ago and way are that much further into the technological revolution.

“The dental office was in a suburb of Baltimore Maryland. The 20 year old Ritter Panoral had seen its last scan. The doc was in practice for 20 years and planed on being there for another 15 so he thought it was time to start going digital. He purchased a new digital panoramic unit (the cost in 2004 was about $50k). Two weeks after the installation and training a patient came in for a routine crown prep. The office noticed that the patient was due for a Pan/FMX so prior to seating they used their new digital pan. The staff set up the patient in the operatory and had the digital scan on the monitor ready for the doc. When the doc sat down and reviewed the scan, he noticed something that he felt should be questioned and asked the patient if they could postpone the procedure. The patient (62 year old male) and his family have been with the practice for 10 years. There were no concerns in any of the medical history but the doc had a concern on the scan. He sent the digital scan to the patient’s medical doctor and re-scheduled the patient for the following week.

 

Later on near the end of the day, the medical doctor called the dentist. He said that in 18 years of practicing medicine he never had a dentist send him a patient. He told the dentist that their patient was going into surgery at 7:00 AM to clear out the 75% blockage in both cardiac arteries, you may have saved his life.”

I am sure that the dentist in the story slept well that night and I am quite sure that his life was changed. The digital pan gave the dentist the opportunity to see things he never could. By utilizing the new diagnostic tools available to you, your practice can develop a new face and raise the level of importance in your patient’s lives.

Outside of Intraoral Digital Imagining, we now have Oral DNA testing, Laser Carries Detection, Velscope Tissue Scanning and the list continues. Let’s face it, how many healthcare professional see a normal healthy patient on a regular basis, as often as dentists. Maybe it’s time to take your standard of care to the next level.

Product Review: Brain Pad!………………………………………………………….. 

When I was a kid, after school we played stickball and two hand touch football in the street. We used the telephone poles as goals and the street curbs were the goal lines. Today, I never see the kids playing outside. The organized extracurricular activities keep them inside or on the athletic field. As a healthcare professional it has become your responsibility to inform parents and kids about the dangers of sports related injuries and the need for protection.

My kids attended, and one still does, high profile schools with 1^st class athletic teams. My 2^nd son played football for a “perennial powerhouse” where he earned a state championship ring. In his first season as a freshman, I was stunned when he got his helmet, pads and auxiliary equipment and quickly went to the sporting goods store to buy quality protective gear.

Now, let’s think about what we do for a living. The mouth, teeth and jaw are all subject to impact trauma. Your cost on a Brain-Pad Professional Mouth Guard is less than $25.00 and it is the best insurance you can offer your athletically driven patients. This is preventive medicine.

Brain Pad Protective & Performance Mouth Guards create a safety space at the base of the skull while stabilizing the jaw.

 

Sunday April 3, 2011………………………………………………………

Spring has arrived! The Cherry trees are starting to bloom. Enjoy the day and please be safe.

Cliff Marsh

Henry Schein Dental

P.O. Box 663 / 45 Rt. 46 East, Suite 605

Pine Brook, NJ 07058

Cell: 201-321-7494

Fax: 201-262-2210

cliff.marsh@henryschein.com

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April 3, 2011 - Posted by Cliff's Notes Blog | Uncategorized