Prevora Blog

Hello everyone,

Please see below for the press release that began circulating yesterday that is talking about some of the market research that was conducted by CHX Technologies in collaboration with Ipsos-Reid. I think that you will find the content very informative.

Take care,
Tyler

For immediate release: October 20, 2008 Toronto

Boomers & Seniors Are Looking for More Preventive Dental Care

Dental care is a major component of the Canadian healthcare system. It accounts for 7% of total spending,rivals the nation’s budget for heart disease and cancer, and becomes vital to overall health as Canadians grow older. It is increasingly clear, for example, that healthy gums and teeth are linked to a healthy heart. Dental benefits, moreover, are the second most expensive benefit cost for Canadian employers and are thereby important to the competitiveness of the Canadian economy.

As people age, their preferences for health care services and a healthy lifestyle change. The Boomers, for example, take multivitamins like no other age group, clog the local gym at mid-morning and regularly visit the Internet for health care information. Boomers are the new healthcare consumers who ask for second opinions and are more demanding of healthcare providers.

In this context, it is important to know what Boomers and Seniors want from their dental services – a topic for which there is little or no information. To find out, CHX Technologies, a dental pharmaceutical company, commissioned Ipsos-Reid, the leading Canadian market research firm, to conduct a national survey of Canadians aged 40+ about their preferences for dental services. The results are insightful and instructive not only to Canadian dental offices, but also to the overall Canadian healthcare debate.

The survey found the following:

— 41% of Canadians aged 40+ have had a filling or a crown put in over the past year.

— The most common method for which Canadians over the age of 40 pay for their dental services is out of pocket, with 37% reporting this is how they usually pay. This number increases to six in ten (59%) among those 70+.

— Over the past two years, one quarter (24%) of Canadians aged 40+ have spent more then $400 out of their own pocket on dental services.

— If they had to purchase a dental plan for their family, 75% said that it was important that this plan include filling for cavities, while 74% stated that it was important that this plan included prevention of gum disease. Other important factors include oral cancer diagnosis (66%), a new preventative program for tooth decay (63%), crowns (53%), dental implants (40%), and cosmetic services such as whitening (25%)

— Half (50%) said that they would follow their dentists recommendations for purchasing a new preventive coating to reduce their chances of further decay at the gum line. One in five (21%) would pay for this new preventive coating regardless of whether insurance would cover it or not..

— Six in ten (59%) Canadians aged 40+ expressed interest in Partners in Prevention, a growing network of Canadian dental offices which provide prevention services to people over 40. Four in ten said they would want their dentist to join Partners in Prevention or would ask their dentist if they were going to become a Partner in Prevention. Two in ten (18%) said they would either visit a Partner in Prevention or select a Partner in Prevention as their new dentist.

The Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,048 Canadians aged 40 and over was conducted on-line over 7 days in mid July, 2008. An unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire adult population aged 40+ in Canada been polled.

For more information on this survey visit www.partnersinprevention.ca or www.Ipsos-Reid.ca, or contact

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I was recently in a dental clinic and one of the hygienists asked me: What is this “Partners in Prevention” thing that I keep hearing about?

I explained to her that Partners in Prevention is a growing network of dental professionals throughout Canada who are trained to provide more preventive services to older adult dental patients. I talked to her about how the program is a unique education, training and promotion program designed to expand those dental services most preferred by Boomer Plus patients (those age 40+).

This network responds to the most significant opportunity now in dental care — more prevention to an aging community.  The hygienist I was speaking to agreed that older patients tend to “disappear” from the normal recall pattern in her office — seniors just don’t visit the office as much as younger patients do. And with more and more seniors, her hygiene team was beginning to wonder about its bookings.

I asked this hygienist if she and her hygiene team had ever asked these older patients what they preferred in their dental care? She said, rather embarrassed, that she had never thought of doing so. I said that our company had asked many older Canadians this fundamental question in several surveys and found that overwhelmingly, these older patients wanted more prevention, far more than other dental services such as cosmetics, implants, crowns, etc.

So, with the aging of her patients, this hygienist understood the importance of shifting her efforts to new preventive services such as Prevora, the antibacterial tooth coating which is the only approved preventive treatment for root caries.

This conversation with the hygienist explains the rationale to Partners in Prevention. It is a network  of dental offices shifting their services to more preventive care, as this is what their aging community best responds to.

Our company’s ongoing market research has indicated that 8 out of 10 of older patients want to pursue preventive strategies and almost all of them are willing to pay for this, regardless of insurance. In a recent survey conducted by Ipsos – Reid, it was demonstrated that 2 out of 10 patients would look for a dental office that is a Partner in Prevention and 4 out of 10 will ask you about it and expect your clinic to be a part of this growing network.

What is the cost of joining the Partners in Prevention network?  There is no charge for the following services but every Partner is committed to recommending prevention of root caries with Prevora, when it is appropriate. And given that Prevora is the only proven and approved preventive treatment for this most common disease in aging Canada, that commitment only makes sense.

The Partners in Prevention program means you will be raising the profile of your clinic in your community. You will be improving the level of care you provide to your patients while developing a more efficient and productive hygiene department, gaining the required continuous education credits and at the same time increasing the value of your practice.. There are a wide range of services within the Partners in Prevention program that are offered at no charge to a partner practice some of which are listed below.

Partners in Prevention consists of education programs that include:
● Semi-annual Educational Seminar Series
● Guest Lecture Series
● Lunch and Learn Sessions
● Training Sessions
● Hygienist education courses

As well there are education resources consisting of:

A Partners in Prevention Monthly Newsletter, a Partners in Prevention website, a Prevention of root caries video and a Prevora video, Patient brochures, Prevora poster and a Prevora blog.

Along with this there will be extensive training on identifying the patients at risk, counseling patients on appropriate preventive therapy and the application of Prevora – the only approved treatment for the prevention of root caries.

Once your clinic is on board with the Partners in Prevention program it will be included in:

• On-page advertising in your local newspaper media
• Inserts listing the Partner in Prevention clinics in your local newspaper media

At the end of my chat with this hygientist, it was clear to her that becoming a Partner in Prevention was a way to set a new standard of care for their older patients. A standard of care that they want and are willing to pay for.

I hope that this helps out with your understanding of what the Partners in Prevention is all about and if you would like more information see the website www.partnersinprevention.ca 

Take care,
Tyler

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Some recent surveys on dental benefits in Canada report the following:

Although estimates vary widely about the amount of the increase, it is generally accepted that dental benefit costs and health benefit costs continue to rise each year. The Toronto Board of Trade reported that 78% of employers had seen their costs increase in 2007; the Conference Board of Canada reported increased costs by 51% of employers. (Toronto Board of Trade, Benefits and Employment Practices: volume 6 of the Compensation survey for the Toronto Region, 2007 and Conference Board of Canada, Compensation Planning Outlook 2008).

Past cost containment strategies such as increased co-payments and deductibles, lagging the provincial fee schedule, etc. are considered inadequate to limit cost increases. Benefits consultants such as Buck Consultants are now urging employers to augment their efforts by emphasizing prevention and education in their benefits plans. The growth of wellness programs, fitness centres, vaccination programs, and health counseling and education are the evidence of the new priorities in benefit plans. (Buck Consultants, Canadian Health Care Trend Survey Results 2008, p. 7).

16.4% of GTA employers plan to introduce a dollar limit/cap on coverage for specific benefits in 2008; 16.4% also plan to introduce or increase employee contributions. 17.6% plan to introduce a wellness/health promotion program. (Toronto Board of Trade, Benefits and Employment Practices: volume 6 of the Compensation survey for the Toronto Region, 2007.)

Flexible benefits plans appeal to employers (who see them as a cost-saver) and employees (who see them as providing more control and value) . Hewitt Associates, a benefits consulting firm, reported in 2006 that 38% of Canadian employers offered flexible benefits, with an expected increase to 64% by 2009. (Hewitt Associates, Attracting and Retaining the New Workforce, 2006)

A new twist on flex benefits is the Health Spending Account (HSA) or Health Care Spending Account (HCSA). Typically, the HSA is offered alongside traditional health care and dental benefit plans, allowing employees to draw on the funds allocated to their account to pay for expenses not covered by the standard plans – for example, deductibles, co-payments, as well as any other eligible health supplies or services not covered by a government or private plan.

Ellen Whelan, a benefits consultant with Mercer HR Consulting, has written that Health Spending Accounts will be become much more common for providing retirement benefits in the future (Ellen Whelan, “Balancing Act” in Benefits Canada November 2006. p. 105).

According to Statistics Canada, one third of Canada’s population will be 50 years and older by 2012, and there will be more seniors than children in our country. The coming wave of retirements of baby boomers is well-documented. Yet only 16% of surveyed GTA employers offered dental benefits to their retired workers in 2007, according to the Toronto Board of Trade. In an Ontario-wide survey which focuses on smaller employers, the Central Ontario Industrial Relations Institute report that 20.2% of employers offer dental benefits to salaried retirees and 18.3% of employers offer them to hourly retirees. (Central Ontario Industrial Relations Institute, Annual Survey of Salaried Employees in Ontario, 2008 and COIRI, Annual Survey of Hourly-Paid Employees in Ontario, 2008).

The low rate of dental plan coverage for retired workers (16% vs. 83% for active salaried employees in the GTA) is a stark example of the effect of cost containment efforts by employers. From this low base, another 3.3% of GTA employers plan to eliminate benefits for future retirees in 2008. (Toronto Board of Trade, Benefits and Employment Practices: volume 6 of the Compensation survey for the Toronto Region, 2007.)

In the GTA in 2007, 83% of employers offered at least a basic level dental plan by to their salaried workers and 47% of employers offered the same to their hourly workers. 51% of employers offering plans provided 100% coverage; for the remainder who offered co-insurance, the most common co-insurance level was 50%. (Toronto Board of Trade, Benefits and Employment Practices: volume 6 of the Compensation survey for the Toronto Region, 2007.)

Elizabeth Perry

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“As I Think, Therefore I Am”

Have you ever wondered why your patients seem to think that it is o.k. to cancel their hygiene appointments or simply not show up? Nothing hurts, it’s JUST a cleaning, it’s not important. Or perhaps it’s because they have been hearing the same message communicated in the same way during each appointment and they have stopped listening.

In many ways, it is our own fault that patients don’t value appointments when we continue to call it a cleaning. How can we expect our patients to think any differently about hygiene appointments when we don’t communicate the true value? We must believe in the value of our services before our patients will.

Dental Hygienists do much more than clean teeth and they are not just tooth cleaners! They are highly trained, specialized health care therapists who promote oral health, prevent infection, perform therapeutic procedures, prevent disease, etc. Think about this, would you refer to a Registered Nurse as a bandage changer, an intravenous starter, a bed-pan changer, a medicine giver…..?

According to the definition of the CDHO -

“A dental hygienist is a registered oral health professional who performs a variety of roles including clinical therapy, health promotion, education, administration and research in a variety of practice environments. In all roles and practice environments, the dental hygienist works with the client/patient and other health professionals and using a problem-solving framework, bases all decisions, judgments, and interventions on current dental hygiene research and theory. As a registrant of a self-regulating profession, a dental hygienist must practice safely, ethically and effectively for the promotion of the oral health and well-being of the public”

As dental professionals, we must believe in the value of our services and communicate these important messages to our patients. Often our belief in our own services is clouded by our prejudgments which make our practices insurance driven and not patient focused. This allows the individual diagnosis and treatment plan to be dictated by insurance benefits and not the clinical needs of the patient. We make this problem worse by submitting predeterminations to insurance companies to “see” if the treatment is “covered.” That is clearly a prejudgment on our part that we think the patient won’t value the treatment unless their insurance company does.

Reality Check

In today’s economy we are facing a major economic downturn. Employers are faced with very tough choices and to avoid employee lay-offs, employers have to look at ways to reduce costs. One relatively easy way to cut costs is to reduce benefits plans. The most expensive component of a group benefits plan is the dental benefit and it is the first to be cut by plan administrators. Dental practices that are assignment based and insurance driven are at risk and will feel the impact of the economic downturn unless they change the way they think about their services and their patients.

The Canadian population is aging rapidly. The aging baby boomers have increased clinical needs and usually do not have dental benefits. They value prevention, health, esthetics and are willing to invest in purchases that fit with their active lifestyles. This important demographic group understands that prevention of disease is the key to good health. This is the demographic group has the highest percentage of wealth in our country. They value prevention, which is evident in the fact that they are the most likely group to get a flu shot, take a multivitamin, exercise and perhaps even take an aspirin per day as part of a heart health regimen. Today’s dental patients are well informed about tooth decay, its causes and implications including financial impact. Aging baby boomers are willing to invest in their continued good health and longevity and the combination of reduced benefits and increased awareness in prevention sets the stage for prevention.

When was the last time that this important target group has been offered a new preventive service?

There is a proverb that states “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Make your practice value driven by helping your patients to understand the value of preventive services offered by your highly skilled, specially trained regulated health care therapists – your dental hygienist.

Sandie Baillargeon

Business Analyst/Dental Practice Management Coach
(905) 336-7624
(905) 336-7938

visit my website at www.dentalofficeconsulting.com

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