Dr. Rob Veis

Today, every dentist is constantly faced with new challenges. Some of these (such as early tooth loss, drifting teeth, tipped molars, posterior bite collapse, anterior flaring, and occlusal trauma) represent easy opportunities to add to practice income. You can handle clinical situations like these in one of two ways: you can remain a "drill and fill" dentist and refer your patients to a specialist, or you can provide your patients with the comprehensive care they need yourself and get out of the "basic box" of dentistry.

Dramatically Expand Your Practice
What would you think if I said I could expand your practice, increase your referrals and dramatically improve your income by getting you to make one change in the way you do business? All you need to do is change your initial patient screening form!

After teaching treatment planning and diagnosis for many years, I have come to the conclusion that we make two critical errors. Our first mistake is that we assume that our patients know what we can do for them. Our second error is we forget to ask our patients what it is that they actually want. The best way to eliminate these problems? Use your initial patient screening form to probe for information and educate your patients.

Ten Key Statements and Questions
To help you stimulate an energetic discussion, I have recommended ten statements and questions to add to your existing screening form. Once you add these questions, you will be surprised to learn what your patients really wish you could do for them. I also guarantee that you will be performing a lot more dentistry than just drilling and filling.

1. With early intervention, we can often prevent the need for unnecessary extractions and years of orthodontic care. Would you be interested in helping your child grow up with straight teeth and a beautiful smile?
Interceptive orthodontics is often the key to preventing a serious malocclusion in the permanent dentition. The good news is that early treatment is usually easy and can be done rapidly and inexpensively. Although fees are always subject to the cost of doing business in your area, if the fee range was between $300 and $800, just two patients a month could conservatively add $12,000 a year to your bottom line.

2. If there was one thing you could do to improve your smile, what would it be?
This is probably the most important question you can ask your patients. You will be amazed by their answers. Some hate the color of their teeth. Others wish they could have just one tooth moved. Whatever their answer is, it should open up a discussion about today's cosmetic dentistry and all the things you can do to improve their appearance.

3. Would you like to straighten your teeth?
The results to this simple question will shock you. Although adults are sometimes unwilling to undergo complete orthodontic care, most would love to improve the way their teeth look. Fortunately, there are many minor tooth movement procedures that will give your patients the esthetic result they are demanding and will make them ecstatic about their smiles.

Depending on the complexity of the case, fees for adult minor tooth movement may range between $500 and $1500. These cases can be the bread and butter of your practice. Once you are looking for them, don't be surprised if you begin to start one case a week. At an average fee of $750, you can expect to add $39,000 to your yearly gross production.

4. Are you interested in having whiter teeth?
The introduction of vital tooth bleaching opened the door for thousands of people to enjoy the benefits of whiter teeth. The power of a whiter, brighter smile cannot be understated. Just watch the change in a patient's self-image when they see their beautiful new smile.

How much should the patient be charged for this procedure? To determine this, ask yourself. What are my overhead expenses? How much time will I spend with the patient? How much chair time will be consumed? If you are charging $500 and you treat just two patients a month, you will add an extra $12,000 a year to your gross income.

5. Are you involved in any sports activity?
Due to the diversity of sports that can produce oral trauma, every patient in your practice who is involved in any athletic activity where contact can be made or a fall can occur should be using a dentist-made custom athletic mouthguard. Some examples are baseball, basketball, boxing, rugby, hockey, squash, soccer, racquetball, tennis, lacrosse, karate, judo, volleyball, touch and contact football, bicycling, and skating.

Many Doctors make mouthguards for their patients at or below cost because of their effectiveness as a marketing tool. Some marketing ideas I have found effective include: offering this service to local gyms and sports clubs; becoming a school dentist; giving talks to community service clubs (i.e., Rotary); making the service available to neighborhood sports teams (i.e., hockey). This is a great way to generate new patients.

6. Many people grind their teeth or clench their jaws together unconsciously while they sleep. Do you ever wake up in the morning with sore teeth or sore facial muscles?

7. Have you ever been in an accident or received a blow to your face?
Splints are used to achieve a variety of objectives in the general practice. Bruxism splints are used to prevent excessive tooth wear, tooth mobility, and loss of tissue attachment. Stabilization splints are used after periodontal surgery to distribute forces, decrease trauma, and aid in the healing process. In orthodontics, splints are frequently used as a form of final stabilization. TMJ Dysfunction is another medical problem regularly treated with splint therapy. You can even use a splint to re-establish a patient's vertical dimension. In order to treat these problems, you must first diagnose them. The first step in making a diagnosis is asking the right questions. These two questions are just samples of the type of questions you should be asking every patient to see if they would benefit from splint therapy. Just one splint of any type per week will add over $20,000 to your bottom line at year's end. If you choose to do TMJ therapy, one patient per month will add an additional $40,000 or more.

8. Did you know that snoring is often the first indication of a potentially life threatening disorder called "Obstructive Sleep Apnea? Do you snore?

9. Do you wake up feeling tired in the morning even though you have had 7 to 8 hours of rest?
Research has shown that many appliances are quite effective in treating snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. In fact, sleep appliances offer several advantages over other therapy choices. They are inexpensive, non-invasive, easy to fabricate, reversible, and quite well accepted by patients. As a general dentist, you should play an active role in screening, diagnosing, and treating snoring and sleep apnea. An excellent protocol for the use of dental appliances has been established by the Sleep Disorders Dental Society. I highly recommend that you follow their guidelines. Snoring and apnea problems represent a huge hidden source of income in your practice. Remember one in every ten people snore and one in every hundred people suffers from obstructive sleep apnea. All you have to do is check your patients for symptoms.

10. Today, it is considered the standard of care to offer patients the option of having an implant when they have lost a tooth. If you have lost a tooth or are now wearing a partial or complete denture, you may be a candidate for dental implants. Would you be interested in learning more about this exciting new technology?
I have never met a dentist that did not have at least several patients that could benefit from implants. In most practices, there are dozens of candidates for implants and the income potential is considerable. Integrating implants into your routine treatment will open up a whole new world of restorative dentistry for you. Instead of leaving an area untreated or placing a compromised bridge or partial, you now have the flexibility to offer your patients ideal prosthetic care. Happy patients refer. This is one of the best bottom-line building procedures you can add to your practice.

In summary, I have tried to give you an idea of how adding a few questions to your screening form can open up treatment opportunities that should dramatically affect your income. Add the figures up yourself. Even being extremely conservative, by adding interceptive orthodontics, cosmetic tooth movement, sports protection, splint therapy, sleep apnea, and implants to your practice, even if you do just one of every procedure mentioned a month, you will change your bottom fine by over $150,000 a year!!!