Dental Health, The Big Picture

 

Those are the concepts that are important for both the profession and the public to understand because the public cannot afford the cost of catastrophic dental reconstructive treatments caused by years of poorly done or delayed treatments.

 

These costs can rival that of the most expensive luxury cars.  Although some may be able to afford those expenses, those who can represents a very small fraction of our society leaving the vast majority with unnecessary pain, suffering, debilitation, loss of function and unaffordable costs.    

 

A secondary problem is caused by the dynamics of our third party reimbursement and doctor selection systems that lets marketing and other parties’ interests trump any kind of linkage to patient treatment outcomes or results. This means that the patient’s best long-term interests are not being served as the primary goal.  

 

The only real long-term solution to this problem is to get ahead of the game.

 

Early Education

Early Aggressive Intervention

Understanding Foundational Issues

Consistency of Higher Quality Results

The Treatment of Oral Conditions as an Integral Part of the Body

 

Early Education:

Dental disease is fundamentally a contagious bacterial biofilm disease that takes advantage of developmental defects in the natural enamel formation of the teeth.

 

The early education of our children and grandchildren in the areas of biofilm removal, disease prevention and diet are the most effective first steps in a lifetime free of disease.

                                                                                                            (read more)

 

Early Aggressive Intervention:

The early aggressive opening and obliteration of these developmental enamel defects is the most conservative, durable and cost effective dental treatment. It stops the destructive breakdown of the teeth and eliminates the reservoirs that reseed the mouth with disease causing organisms.                                                                                   (read more) 

 

Understanding Foundational Issues

As a profession we have failed to or lost our understanding that the bacterial contamination of dentin is a completely different process than the acid dissolving process that destroys hard enamel.  This oversight has led to consistent and predictable durability issues with shortened time periods between costly retreatments.

 

The early diagnostic teachings of disassembly and removal of old restorations and the cleanout of all bacterial contamination of dentin and other damaged tooth structure needs to be done before an evaluation or correct determination of what treatment is needed. This necessary step has completely been lost to the billing reimbursement system that cut it out of third party payments or insurance re-imbursements.

 

These are the basic exploratory procedures necessary to accurately decide what should or needs to be done. Instead high ticket and frequently unnecessary procedures that are poorly executed are done for the survival of the provider based on direct third party interference.                                                                                          (read more)   

 

 

Consistency of Higher Quality Easily Obtainable Results

How do you change the dynamics of the system?

 

The use of documentation has been completely turned a round and used to interfere with treatment and payment as a method of controlling that treatment and cost to the dental insurance provider.

 

Far to often unnecessary treatment, the wrong treatment or poor treatment get the same coverage or a higher reimbursement then the best treatment for the patient completed at the highest standard.

 

 

X-rays, written evaluations and chart documentation have a place in diagnosis and record keeping, but photographic documentation is far easier for everyone to understand and allows evaluation of need, understanding of process and a far superior evaluation for comparison of outcomes by all parties involved; the provider, the patient and the dental carrier.                                                                                                      (read more)

 

 

 

The Treatment of Oral Conditions as an Integral Part of the Body

Dentistry is as much a sub-specialty of medicine as any other area in the field of medicine. The oral environment has as many if not more observable diagnostic signs or symptoms of systemic health or illness as anywhere else in the body. Oral conditions directly affect the rest of the body and the systemic bodies health directly affects the oral health.  The linkages and cross influences as well as the ability to diagnosis systemic conditions from the airway and dental structures is significant.     (read more)