On a day in 1985, a young woman made an appointment with a highly-recommended dentist. She was in her 20s; the dentist, at 35, was a few years older than his patient. Over the next 30 years, the woman trusted her dental health to the dentist. With his professional skill, he kept her teeth and gums healthy; provided her with fillings; installed a couple of crowns; and deftly and painlessly completed a root canal.
With alternative approaches to everyday medicine becoming more popular, you may consider adding some holistic touches to your practice. Before you modify your way of doing business, you should consider some important points.
In our busy world, people are constantly hounded with demands. They must juggle work, family responsibilities, recreational activities and other commitments. With these important aspects of life clamoring for attention, sometimes simple things are lost along the way. Regular doctor's appointments, teeth cleanings, vision care appointments, and other preventive health care measures can fall through the cracks.
The minority community faces many challenges when it comes to dental health. Oral health in the U.S. has improved over the past half-century. But it’s still a significant public health issue, and it affects low-income and minority populations in particular. When it comes to minority dental health, there are barriers to receiving care.
The American Optometry Association considers MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015), a fairly recent healthcare payment reform, to be a big win for optometrists. Why? Because it distinguishes optometrists as physicians. Why is this important? It means that while optometrists are subject to the quality standards established by the new legislation, they are also eligible for the incentives that will be awarded to clinicians who meet the standards. As a result, it’s important for optometrists to understand this reform, the criteria that’s used to evaluate the overall quality of a physician’s services and the two avenues they can use to grow their payments from this federal health insurance program.
A concerned parent of a young soccer star is with his child at your office with damage to his teeth. “But he was wearing a mouth guard…” the father explains. Despite the good intentions of this dad, and many parents and guardians with like thinking, what they don't know is that not all mouthguards are created equal.
April marks Child Abuse Awareness Month. As professionals who typically have frequent contact with children, dentists are obligated to document and report suspected cases of abuse in all states. They are not obligated to prove abuse or neglect, but just to report what is suspected. Dental hygienists may be similarly obligated, depending on the state in which they work.
It is estimated that 90 million or more Americans snore and about 30 million suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA causes both physical and emotional issues that go beyond just the patient, but impact the entire family. Symptoms that are experienced as a result of OSA and Sleep Disordered Breathing Syndromes (SDB) include:
Topics: dentistry, sleep apnea, dentistry and sleeping
Which of the five senses do people worry about losing the most? Vision. When talking with your patients, it’s important to remind them about taking good care of their vision. Without vision, life becomes infinitely more challenging. In addition to the loss of independence, vision loss can also lead to:
Topics: vision issues and driving, vision benefits, eye health awareness, vision
March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month, which is a time to raise awareness about standard eye safety protocols, review training for employees that involves eye safety in the workplace and double check that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements are being met by places of work. As an eye care provider, this is a good time to talk with your patients about keeping their eyes safe at work.
