Solstice Provider Blog

Oral health is essential to overall health and wellbeing. However, access to quality oral health care is a challenge for many communities. It leads to inequalities in oral health outcomes.

36% of Americans - more than a third of the population - do not go to the dentist each year. That number jumps to 50% for lower incomes households. This reality has led to initiatives like the ADA’s Action for Dental Health program.

While patients might be returning to your door now that COVID-19 vaccines are available, the economic impact the pandemic had on them might not be over. Dental care can be pricey, especially in conjunction with job or insurance loss. So here are 4 things you can do to make the dental procedures your patients need more affordable and accessible.

As non-essential healthcare services have opened back up around the country, dental offices have reopened to find they don’t have adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to comply with the additional PPE needed to meet COVID-19 requirements. Whether offices donated excess PPE to frontline hospital workers or just didn’t have extra PPE stockpiled before they closed their doors, they are now struggling to get the PPE they need to keep their patients and their staff safe. The cost for PPE has inflated greatly, and providers are having to ask some difficult questions. Some dentists have even had to start charging their patients a PPE fee to combat these costs. While dentists navigate this issue, it can be an additional challenge to stay up to date on the news and resources addressing this issue. To help, here are three updates you should monitor that might affect your practice as the PPE shortage progresses.

We are now over two months into COVID-19 affecting our lives and practices. While things are starting to reopen and you are headed back to the office, it’s more important than ever to stay diligent and creative for your patients’ and staff’s safety and comfort.

As a dentist, you’re always keeping your ear to the ground for the latest industry news and trends. A popular topic lately is dentists who don’t recommend participating in dental insurance networks - meaning they wouldn’t accept Dental HMO (DHMO) or in-network Dental PPO (DPPO) benefits. The mindset for not participating in these networks has gained traction in the dental community with the recent increase in holistic dentistry practices. Per the Holistic Dental Association’s (HDA) website, around 30% of their registered dentists who disclosed don’t accept dental insurance[1]. Whether you are a holistic dentist or not, this statistic shows that some dentists feel disconnected from traditional insurance provider networks. So, what exactly is the value of being a part of an insurance network? Here are a few of the benefits, and why you should be a part of a dental insurance network.