Solstice Provider Blog

As a dentist, you may find yourself in awkward or uncomfortable situations with patients during your career. It can be difficult to remain professional when you have patients who:

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.

Several dental offices have started to reopen across the country with many changes to their protocols to comply with guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Dental Association (ADA). These guidelines and resources are general recommendations for dental offices to consider as they design and implement their own protocols. Feel free to use them as you slowly open your office back up to patients or keep them in mind when creating your reopening plan!

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.

The field of dentistry is continuously transforming with changes in population demographics, consumer rights and national public policy. However, such changes bring new challenges for dentists and their practices. How do you stay relevant in the evolving world of medical services? The following are seven challenges facing the dental industry in 2020: 

When it comes to marketing your dental practice, it's crucial to maximize your online presence. While every online outlet, from websites to Instagram, can boost your exposure, LinkedIn stands out for dentists. With its professional focus and millions of global professionals using it, LinkedIn offers unique benefits such as industry-specific networking and recruitment opportunities, making it a platform you can't afford to ignore.

As a dentist, you’re used to adapting to the needs of your patients and their expectations. But COVID-19 is bringing an extra set of challenges for you and your staff as you continue to meet your patients’ needs effectively. As we adjust to this new reality, here are three challenges dental offices are facing during COVID-19 and some advice on how to approach them!

High-tech innovations are constantly changing the way you do business. To be successful in your practice, it’s important that you make continuous improvements in the services you provide to your patients, including upgrades to technology in your business.  

It’s the foundation of the advice you provide to dental patients: floss regularly. Floss for healthier gums, plaque removal, and fresher breath. Only four of 10 Americans floss once a day or more, and 20 percent say they NEVER do.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) defines special health care needs as “any physical, developmental, mental, sensory, behavioral, cognitive, or emotional impairment or limiting condition that requires medical management, health care intervention, and/or use of specialized services or programs. National Center for Health Statistics claims that one in five persons within every age, race, gender, and sexuality report having a limitation that substantially impact their daily activities. Oral health is a pillar of a person’s overall well-being, but many people with disabilities struggle to find a dental office that is accessible to them.

The obstacles those with disabilities have in obtaining accessible dental care include: transportation or parking issues; inaccessible exam equipment; narrow or small offices; absence of a support person; denial of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters; inaccessible paperwork; confusion about medical instructions; trauma triggers; and negative attitudes and ignorance about disability.

What do we mean by accessibility?

The ADA guidelines state that medical and dental practices must offer “full and equal access to their health care services and facilities.” This includes physical access, communication access, and both mental and emotional access.