Sucking Sound Coming From Your Hygiene Teams Production '
As a Senior Practice Analyst, I look at a lot of dental practices. Over the past several years, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend: a massive hole in hygiene production. The worst part is that most doctors don’t even know it’s happening. Almost every dentist is blind to it. Granted, it’s not your fault. It’s not exactly something you can look at the schedule and see. This is so often overlooked and secretly destructive because it can’t be seen on the schedule at all. Worse still, the busier your hygiene team, the more likely your practice is suffering. If you look at an average practice, you’ll see there are 1,500–2,000 active patients (those who have had at least one appointment over the past 18 months) per doctor. Unless you specialize in pediatric dentistry, the mix is usually made up of 75–85 percent adults (over 18 years old), with the remainder coming from patients’ children. This means most practices have 1,150–1,700 adult patients. On the surface, this looks perfectly healthy … except when you start to look at the numbers behind the numbers. Practices will typically have a 1.1–1.5 multiple between adult patients and adult prophies per year. The above average will yield 1,265–1,725 (1.1 x 1,150 to 1.5 x 1,150) to 1,870–2,550 (1.1 x 1,700 or 1.5 x 1,700) adult prophies every 12 months. While most dentists are happy with this level of performance, it’s less than half of what could or should be happening in your hygiene department (with respect to number of prophies … not even taking into account the underdiagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease). Bare minimum, adult patients should be seen twice a year (a completely arbitrary number introduced into society by Pepsodent’s marketing). The reality is that there are 29 classifications of patients who would live healthier and potentially even longer lives if seen on three-month
hygiene recall (perio patients, smokers, diabetic patients, ortho patients, and patients with a family history of TIA, stroke, or heart disease, just to name a few). These classifications are compounded by the statistics reported in JADA regarding the prevalence of periodontitis in adult patients (e.g., 47.2 percent of all adults over the age of 30 suffer from chronic periodontitis). It’s rare that a patient should only be seen twice a year. In fact, if you’re not recommending that your patients receive more frequent cleanings (and in some instances, periodontal treatment), you may be committing dental malpractice. For the complete list of classifications of patients who would benefit greatly from more frequent recall, go to InsidersCircle.com and enter ”29 Classifications” into the SEARCH box, then choose “29 Classifications of Your Patients That MUST Be on 3-Month Hygiene Recall.” All that aside, the biggest reason why you want to keep patients coming back to see your hygienists 2–4 times a year is simple: It serves the mutual best interests of your patients’ health and your practice. Hygiene is the gateway to dentistry. In other words, the more patients your hygienists see, the more you’ll have patients who end up in the doctor’s chair. More importantly, each time you see that patient, it’s another opportunity to speak with them about needed care and get them scheduled for it. In order to maximize hygiene recall — and as a result, help your patients achieve their best possible long-term health and longevity — use the “How to Double Hygiene Recall” team training and watch your entire practice revenue skyrocket! Go to InsidersCircle.com Site Map Goldmine Underground Team Training Toolkit 009 “How to Double Your Hygiene Recall.”
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