Monthly Archives: January 2012
The Importance of Practice Promotion
As we near the end of the first month of 2012 the dental press and business magazines are full of the need for the promotion of dental practices and businesses. One particular article in the dental press stated that “there are not many practices in the UK that would say ‘No’ to attracting more patients”. Increasing patient numbers leads to an increase in turnover and profit and once there are sufficient patients to cover overheads any additional patients means income which goes straight to the bottom line. How can a practice attract new patients? Word of mouth? Yes, this is effective and also satisfying when … Continue reading
Positive Thinking!
The current doom and gloom in the media at present is enough to make even the most cheerful person sink into the depths of despair! Continuing problems with the Euro, a shipping disaster, a major supermarket issuing a profits warning and unemployment up again – the list goes on and on! Christmas is now well and truly over and the New Year no longer seems new, so, in the long dark evenings what is there to cheer everyone up? One of the major UK dental magazines has just landed on my desk and in the current climate I hardly dared open it, but courage was … Continue reading
Health Seeking Activity is a Major Factor on Health Care Purchasing
The Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, DC recently reported that 50% of American adults seek information about a personal health concern from a source other than their doctor. And nearly two in five American adults reported seeking health information on behalf of another person in the previous 12 months. Health seeking activity seems to have declined modestly since the recession and in tandem with the decline in print media. However, ten years ago only 38% of American adults reported any health seeking activity. The Center found that more information is sought on the Internet and less from print media. Those most actively … Continue reading
Fluoride for the High Risk Adult Patient – Does it Work?
The December 2011 issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry offers a systematic review of studies of fluoride’s preventive effect in high risk adults. 1 (Prevora’s therapeutic indication defines high risk with two examples: having 3 or more cavities at the start of the treatment plan or suffering from dry mouth). Here are the findings of the systematic review:
Dentistry in a Decade
In a short article in the December 2011 issue of Dental Update, two dental students in the U.K. have prognosticated about their new profession. They identify some major trends over the next ten years in delivering dental care to an aging U.K. population.1 The restorations in many older patients will need replacement. There will be a shift, subsequently, to maintaining new restorations until end of life. An increasingly acidic diet (attributed to austerity and the price of food) will increase caries increment and caries prevalence. These trends will surely raise interest in more preventive care by both the adult patients, and under capitated reimbursement, by … Continue reading
Health Risk Assessments
The concept of risk assessment in managing chronic diseases has been around for many years. For example, it was first introduced by Canadian employers in the 1980s as a way of changing the behaviour of employees. The early experience of health risk assessment was often disappointing. Without financial incentives and clear alternatives to treatment, behaviour of the patient, and often the provider, rarely changed sufficiently to make a difference. Unless the patient can see a direct self-interest, an affordable alternative to treatment and/or a financial gain to change, old habits eventually resume. So why bother doing a short risk assessment of your adult patients for … Continue reading
Why She Buys
I am frequently struck by how rarely the older woman is portrayed in the media, particularly when it comes to personal services like dental care. In family dentistry, the all-too-common imagery involves children. For example, posters in bus shelter or flyers in the mail from dental offices use a young family or just as often, young kids on a swing. This approach ignores the fundamentals of demographics and income distribution in North American and European economies. The reality is that older women are now more numerous in many communities than children, have far more funding available for dental services, and generally are more in need … Continue reading
Dental Phobia
It is no secret that many people are scared of visiting the dentist! The reasons for this are many; it could be a bad experience from childhood, the sound of the drill or just the thought of treatment. Whatever the reason too many people do not visit their dentist regularly or forego a necessary treatment. The result is poor oral health with all the problems that brings! Working out where the problem lies can help overcome the fear and now the British dental Health Foundation is offering the following information for those who are afraid of dental treatment.
The Trucker and the Scot
Among the icons of unhealthy lifestyle, the American trucker and the Scottish male are perhaps the most popular. Both are associated with poor diet, smoking, inactivity, obesity and early morbidities. But it seems these icons may no longer exemplify health-avoiding behaviour. Rather they just might represent just the opposite: a change in lifestyle to emphasize health maintenance. Two recent reports brought this to my attention. The New York Times reports the trucker is trying to amend his ways of fast food and no exercise: “Now transportation carriers, industry organizations and even truck stops are unrolling initiatives to help truckers slim down, shape up and improve … Continue reading
The Risks Sugary Drinks Pose to Women
We hear much about the risk of sugary drinks in relation to good oral health but now a new study has found that women who drink two or more sugary drinks per day may be at higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. The study from the Northwestern University’s Department of Preventive Medicine in Chicago was presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Session (2011) in Orlando, Florida. The study compared middle-aged and older women who drank two or more sugar sweetened drinks per day to those who drank one or less. They found that those drinking two or more drinks were significantly more likely … Continue reading